we typically think of acutely and chronically mentally ill patients as those who belong in psychiatric hospitals and the latter category of patients belonging in “regular” hospitals, but the intersection of physical and mental illness draws attention to important challenges for policy-makers and organizational leaders. this article illuminates some broad trends in the health status of people wi...

after having practicing and researching health economics for nearly 15 years now, it has become clear to me that the use of cost-effectiveness data in priority setting decisions is rather a rare than a common practice. the eckard et al.article though, describes a wonderful exception to this rule and a very good example of how it can be used when the conditions are right. however, do we fully un...

this perspective is an ethical brief overview and examination of “wellness” policies in the modern workplace using practical examples and a general application of utilitarianism. many employers are implementing policies that provide incentives to employees who lead a “healthy” lifestyle. the authors address how these policies could adversely affect “non-healthy” employees. there are a wide vari...

Vidhi Thakkar and Terrence Sullivan have done a careful and thought-provoking job in trying to establish comparable estimates of public spending on health services and policy research (HSPR) in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. Their main recommendation is a call for an international collaboration to develop common terms and categories of HSPR. This paper raises two additional q...

background the inclusion of cost-effectiveness data, as a basis for priority setting rankings, is a distinguishing feature in the formulation of the swedish national guidelines. guidelines are generated with the direct intent to influence health policy and support decisions about the efficient allocation of scarce healthcare resources. certain medical conditions may be given higher priority ran...

Background Many countries conduct Health Impact Assessment (HIA) of their projects and policies to predict their positive and negative health impacts. In recent years many guides have been developed to inform HIA practice, largely reflecting local developments in HIA. These guides have often been designed for specific contexts and specific need, making the choice between guides difficult. The o...

background national oral health policy was conscripted by the indian dental association (ida) in 1986 and was accepted as an integral part of national health policy (nhp) by the central council of health and family welfare in one of its conferences in the year 1995. objectives of this paper were to find out the efforts made or going on towards its execution, its current status and recent oral h...

inequalities in the social determinants of health (sdh), which drive avoidable health disparities between different individuals or groups, is a major concern for a number of international organisations, including the world health organization (who). despite this, the pathways to changing inequalities in the sdh remain elusive. the methodologies and concepts within system science are now viewed ...

background negotiations surrounding the trans-pacific partnership (tpp) trade and investment agreement have recently concluded. although trade and investment agreements, part of a broader shift to global economic integration, have been argued to be vital to improved economic growth, health, and general welfare, these agreements have increasingly come under scrutiny for their direct and indirect...