fasting is a form of islamic worship to approach god.  there is a direct relationship between fasting, abstaining from eating and drinking, and an individual’s health as well as his ill-health. therefore, it is of utmost importance in the islamic perspective to weigh the spiritual benefits achieved through fasting against its probable harmfulness to an individual’s health. regarding fasting, th...

BACKGROUND Both rising healthcare costs and the global financial crisis have fueled a search for policy tools in order to avoid unsustainable future financing of essential health benefits. The scope of essential health benefits (the range of services covered) and depth of coverage (the proportion of costs of the covered benefits that is covered publicly) are corresponding variables in determini...

OBJECTIVE To assess the degree to which the Chinese people are protected from catastrophic household expenditure and impoverishment from medical expenses and to explore the health system and structural factors influencing the first of these outcomes. METHODS Data were derived from the Fourth National Health Service Survey. An analysis of catastrophic health expenditure and impoverishment from...

BACKGROUND In 1995 the Committee of Enquiry into National Health Insurance (NHI) recommended that formally employed individuals and their employers be required to fund at least a minimum package of hospital cover for workers and their dependents. This has recently been echoed in a Department of Health policy paper on social health insurance. This research aims to define and cost a minimum packa...

Sanderson et al’s realist review of strategic purchasing identifies insights from two strands of theory: the economics of organisation and inter-organisational relationships. Our findings from a programme of research conducted by the RESYST (Resilient and Responsive Health Systems) consortium in seven countries echo these results, and add to them the crucial area of org...

Indian health system is characterized by a vast public health infrastructure which lies underutilized, and a largely unregulated private market which caters to greater need for curative treatment. High out-of-pocket (OOP) health expenditures poses barrier to access for healthcare. Among those who get hospitalized, nearly 25% are pushed below poverty line by catastrophic impact of OOP healthcare...

Under Oregon’s 1989 legislative package, the Medicaid portion of the Oregon Health Plan was only one of its two critical pieces. The other was the requirement that employers provide insurance to employees, with the prioritized list as the minimal benefit package. Small businesses lobbied for the repeal of this part of the legislation, and on January 1, 1996, it died. Gone was the hope of nearly...

statement of the problem oral health education may play an important role in the prevention of oral complications of diabetes mellitus. different methods have been used to present these educations purpose this study investigated the efficacy of oral health education package to increase knowledge of diabetic patients about oral health in iran. materials and methods in this experimental study, 37...