INTRODUCTION HIV testing and counseling is a critical component of the overall response to the HIV epidemic in low and middle income countries. To date, little attention has been paid to the role of private for-profit providers in HIV testing. METHODS We use data from Demographic and Health Surveys and AIDS Indicators Surveys to explore the extent to which this sector provides HIV testing in ...

BACKGROUND The main service provider for childhood immunization in Sri Lanka is the government sector. However, utilization of private sector for childhood immunization is increasing rapidly. Existing national immunization data does not routinely include statistics on private sector immunization delivery adequately. OBJECTIVE To estimate the proportion of children immunized in the private sec...

Drug information service is a dedicated and specialized service provided by pharmacists to enhance knowledge of medicines use, promote rational prescribing among prescribers, and reduce medication errors. Saudi Arabia has a National Drug and Poison Information Center (NDPIC) responsible for answering drug queries. There is a lack of literature that reports the current scenario of drug informati...

Mobile health (mHealth) is an emerging field devoted to the use of mobile and wireless devices to affect health outcomes, health care services, and health research. Despite great promise, little research has examined its effectiveness. It is the authors' view that the full potential of mHealth has yet to be realized in research and practice. This Perspective article explores when and for whom m...

During the transition period, the Romanian medical system, subject (like other areas) to a process of reform, had to go through a difficult path, not without obstacles (malpractice, underfunding, embezzlement scandals in the media etc.). Consequently, Romania has faced (and unfortunately still is still facing) the massive exodus of health professionals to countries where they can benefit from b...

The World Health Assembly passed a resolution on the importance of engaging with the private health sector. However, the reality is that universal health coverage aspirations are particularly challenging when there is a significant private health sector. This sector in South Africa suffers from rapidly increasing costs, inflation and volume of services (unnecessary medical tests or treatments)....

This paper gives an overview of e-government development in Estonia. The analysis incorporates both public sector initiatives and private sector developments which have contributed to the evolution of e-government. Private sector agents are seen as endogenous, not exogenous, in explaining e-government performance. Ultimately, the development of Internet banking by the private sector was fundame...

This paper offers an evaluation of e-government in Estonia, which is usually seen as the most outstanding exemplar in Central and Eastern Europe. The analysis incorporates both the public sector initiatives and developments in the private sector in contributing to the evolution of e-government. Private sector agents are seen as endogenous, not exogenous, in explaining the e-government performan...

BACKGROUND In Uganda and elsewhere, the private sector provides an increasing and significant proportion of maternal and child health services. However, little is known whether private care results in better quality services and improved outcomes compared to the public sector, especially regarding care at the time of birth. OBJECTIVE To describe the characteristics of care-seekers and assess ...

background india’s health sector witnessed some major policy changes in 1990s that aimed at making health services more accessible to the population.   methods in this paper, i tried to present some preliminary results of the significant changes that occurred between 1995/6 and 2004, especially in relation to the question of access to healthcare for the poor and rural population using data from...