We are unlikely, with current technologies, to have sufficient pandemic influenza vaccine ready in time to impact the first wave of the next pandemic. Emerging data show that prior immunization with an immunologically distinct hemagglutinin of the same subtype offers the potential to "prime" recipients for rapid protection with a booster dose, years later, of a vaccine then manufactured to matc...

the world health organization’s (who’s) world health report 2010, “health systems financing, the path to universal coverage,” promoted universal health coverage (uhc) as an aspirational objective for country health systems. yet, in addition to the dimensions of services and coverage, distribution of coverage in the population, and financial risk protection highlighted by the report, the conside...

Social security and social protection concepts are gaining importance, especially in the Pacific Island countries (PICs). The state-led welfare and social protection system is limited in PICs, where there has been a heavy reliance on traditional, informal and non-state social protection systems which are provided through extended family, kinship, and community. The aim of the paper is to examin...

The issue of access is an essential concern for any health care policy formulation and reform, especially in emerging nations such as India. It has been recognized that all people deserve access to similar levels and quality of health care services. Penchansky and Thomas (1981) recognized five dimensions of access to health services as affordability, acceptability, accommodation, availability a...

compassion is a complex process that is innate, determined in part by individual traits, and modulated by a myriad of conscious and unconscious factors, immediate context, social structures and expectations, and organizational “culture.” compassion is an ethical foundation of healthcare and a widely shared value; it is not an optional luxury in the healing process. while the interrelations betw...

The ever-growing implementation of information technologies in healthcare and medicine, especially the developments of electronic medical records (EMR) and the connection of clinical data bases, as well as the freedom these systems offer in relation to their usage force the development of new policy and security procedures for protection the privacy and confidentiality of medical data. As more ...