This is the companion to the comprehensive review of national health systems presented in Volume I. In that volume, the author analyzed the resources, organization, financing, management, and delivery of health services in 68 countries at diverse levels of economic development and political ideology. In Volume II, the principal issues in health systems across countries are carefully examined. These issues are categorized according to the several components by which national health systems may be analyzed. In the general field of health resources, Roemer discusses physicians and traditional healers, nurses, pharmacists, auxiliary health personnel, the background and distribution of hospitals and health centers, and the production and consumption of drugs. The sections of this important work elucidate the various issues surrounding the world's health systems. The scope and functions of Ministries of Health and social security programs for health care in different types of health systems are reviewed. The book recognizes the contributions of voluntary health agencies, as well as the characteristics of major services in the private sector of national economies. The serious implications of private profit in health systems and the benefits and difficulties of private/public sector relationships are also examined. This authoritative volume presents a global analyzation of economic and management support for national health systems including a discussion of world-wide expenditures according to the source of financing and the purposes for which money is spent. Special attention is also given to experiences in the delivery of health service including ambulatory and primary care, and equivalent analyses are made of world-wide delivery of hospital services, regionalization, and long-term care. Volume II concludes with a review of international health activities from the 19th century International Sanitary Conferences up to the present era of the World Health Organization. This critical work probes the political factors involved in this evolution. The last chapter summarizes major social trends in society, along with major trends in the health system components: resources, programs, economic support, management, and delivery of services.

At present, human society is facing a health care crisis that is affecting patients worldwide. In the United States, it is generally believed that the major problem is lack of affordable access to health care (i.e. health insurance). This book takes an unprecedented approach to address this issue by proposing that the major problem is not lack of affordable access to health care per se, but lack of access to better, safer, and more affordable medicines. The latter problem is present not only in the United States and the developing world but also in countries with socialized health care systems, such as Europe and the rest of the industrialized world. This book provides a comparative analysis of the health care systems throughout the world and also examines the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. - Examines the health care structure of the United States, Europe, and the third world, both separately and comparatively - Offers primary source insight through in-depth interviews with pharmaceutical and health care industry leaders from around the world - Carefully explains, in clear terms, the intricacies of the health care and pharmaceutical system and how these intricacies have led to the current crisis - Offers concrete, comprehensive solutions to the health care crisis

"This World Health Report was produced under the overall direction of Carissa Etienne ... and Anarfi Asamoa Baah ... The principal writers were David B. Evans ... [et al] -- t.p. verso.

Purchasing is championed as key to improving health systems performance. However, despite the central role the purchasing function plays in many health system reforms, there is very little evidence about its development or its real impact on societal objectives. This book addresses this gap and provides: ·A comprehensive account of the theory and practice of purchasing for health services across Europe ·An up-to-date analysis of the evidence on different approaches to purchasing ·Support for policy-makers and practitioners as they formulate purchasing strategies so that they can increase effectiveness and improve performance in their own national context ·An assessment of the intersecting roles of citizens, the government and the providers Written by leading health policy analysts, this book is essential reading for health policy makers, planners and managers as well as researchers and students in the field of health studies. Contributors: Toni Ashton, Philip Berman, Michael Borowitz, Helmut Brand, Reinhard Busse, Andrea Donatini, Martin Dlouhy, Antonio Duran, Tamás Evetovits, André P. van den Exter, Josep Figueras, Nick Freemantle, Julian Forder, Péter Gaál, Chris Ham, Brian Hardy, Petr Hava, David Hunter, Danguole Jankauskiene, Maris Jesse, Ninel Kadyrova, Joe Kutzin, John Langenbrunner, Donald W. Light, Hans Maarse, Nicholas Mays, Martin McKee, Eva Orosz, John Øvretveit, Dominique Polton, Alexander S. Preker, Thomas A. Rathwell, Sabine Richard, Ray Robinson, Andrei Rys, Constantino Sakellarides, Sergey Shishkin, Peter C. Smith, Markus Schneider, Francesco Taroni, Marcial Velasco-Garrido, Miriam Wiley

This brand new textbook presents a new approach to the teaching and understanding of global health. It describes the shared opportunities but also the problems that we all face, wherever we live, and the particular needs of the poorest people in every society. Covering subjects from epidemics and climate change, the need to staff and resource health services appropriately, the rich potential of science and technology, and the impacts of social and political change in the world around us, all is presented at a level appropriate for the student looking to gain an understanding of this broad and developing area.

The World Health Report 2012, the biannual flagship report of the World Health Organization, focuses for the first time in its history on the theme of research for better health. Decisions on healthcare are still made without a solid grounding in research evidence, and an impetus is required for this state of affairs to change. Aimed at ministers of health, the report provides new ideas, innovative thinking, and pragmatic advice on how to strengthen health research systems.WHO and PLoS have launched an initiative to encourage researchers to complement and substantiate the key messages in World Health Report 2012 by creating a special WHO/PLoS Collection. PLoS invited the submission of papers, especially from low- and middle-income countries, on topics related to strengthening of key functions and components of national health research systems.The World Health Report 2012 focuses on eight specific areas, discussed in the editorial, within the theme of 'No Health Without Research.' We highlight below some examples of articles previously published in PLoS journals in these specific areas of interest.Now iMedPub brings this collection to you within a book.

Low- and middle-income countries face major challenges to their health systems. These include a high burden of communicable disease and an emerging non-communicable disease burden. This work deals with the elements of health care financing, focusing on middle- and low-income settings.

The World health statistics 2020 report is the annual compilation of health statistics for 194 Member States. It summarizes trends in life expectancy and causes of death and reports on progress towards the health and health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and associated targets.

“An essential and comprehensive guide for students and researchers in a range of health care disciplines investigating health services, health care and well-being.” Professor Robert J. Edelmann, Emeritus Professor of Clinical and Forensic Psychology, University of Roehampton, UK “An invaluable resource for students, researchers and practitioners from all health backgrounds and disciplines, who are involved in research to produce a robust evidence-base to inform the development, provision, delivery and evaluation of healthcare services.” Felicity Smith, Professor Emeritus of Pharmacy Practice, UCL School of Pharmacy, UK “The fifth edition of ‘Research Methods in Health’ continues to provide an excellent broad based introduction to the subject.” Virginia Berridge, Professor of History and Health Policy, Centre for History in Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK This bestselling book provides an accessible introduction to the concepts and practicalities of multi-disciplinary research methods in health and health services. The new edition has updated and expanded coverage of: •International examples, terms and approaches •Epidemiology and methods of tracing epidemics •Aging population demography and bio-demography •Evaluation and assessment of health services •Health services research and audit, including data generation •Methods of evaluating patients’ perspectives •Measuring quality of life outcomes •Health economics methods and applications •Quantitative and qualitative research Core processes and methodologies such as social research, mixed methods, literature reviewing and critical appraisal, secondary data analysis and evidence-based practice will be covered in detail. The book also looks at the following key areas of health research: •Health needs •Morbidity and mortality trends and rates •Costing health services •Sampling for survey research •Cross-sectional and longitudinal survey design •Experimental methods and techniques of group assignment •Questionnaire design •Interviewing techniques •Coding and analysis of quantitative data •Methods and analysis of qualitative observational studies •Unstructured interviewing The book is grounded in the author's career as a researcher on health and health service issues, and the valuable experience this has provided in meeting the challenges of research on people and organisations in real life settings. Research Methods in Health, Fifth Edition is an essential companion for students and researchers of health and health services at all levels, health clinicians and policy-makers with responsibility for applying research findings and judging the soundness of research. Ann Bowling is a sociologist, specialising in research on ageing, research methods, quality of life, public and social health. She was Professor of Health Sciences at the University of Southampton, UK (2012–17), where she is now Visiting Professor. Ann was awarded the Highly Commended book prize for the 4th edition of Research Methods in Health at the 2015 BMA Medical Book Awards.