INTRODUCTION Trained human resources are fundamental for well-functioning health systems, and the lack of health workers undermines public sector capacity to meet population health needs. While external brain drain from low and middle-income countries is well described, there is little understanding of the degree of internal brain drain, and how increases in health sector funding through global...

BACKGROUND The role of the private health sector in developing countries remains a much-debated and contentious issue. Critics argue that the high prices charged in the private sector limits the use of health care among the poorest, consequently reducing access and equity in the use of health care. Supporters argue that increased private sector participation might improve access and equity by b...

Evidence that the private health sector is a key player in delivering health services and impacting health outcomes, including those related to HIV/AIDS, underscores the need to optimize the role of the private health sector to scale up national HIV responses in lower-income countries. This article reviews findings on the types of HIV/AIDS services provided by the private health sector in devel...

Discussions on the health-disease process and health promotion indicate the need to reach beyond the limits of the health sector itself to link knowledge from various fields in order to promote better health conditions for the population. Inter-sector approaches have thus emerged as a new rationale for guiding public policies. This study aimed to analyze the implementation of inter-sector actio...

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)....

BACKGROUND The major objectives of this study were to evaluate the existing primary health care service provisions in the public and private sector and utilization of the services, and to assess the existing manpower and material resources. METHODS Data were collected through interviews with the primary health care providers. Data were also collected from the records maintained at the polycli...

International collaborative health research is justifiably expected to help reduce global health inequities. Investment in health policy and systems research in developing countries is essential to this process but, currently, funding for international research is mainly channelled towards the development of new medical interventions. This imbalance is largely due to research legislation and po...

BACKGROUND Physician tracking systems are critical for health workforce planning as well as for activities to ensure quality health care - such as physician regulation, education, and emergency response. However, information on current systems for physician tracking in sub-Saharan Africa is limited. The objective of this study is to provide information on the current state of physician tracking...

Union strategy and structure in a decentralised environment: An exploratory study of the Community and Public Sector Union Michael O’Donnell, John O’Brien* and Anne Junor* Australian National University and The University of New South Wales* The paper examines the strategic and organisational responses of the union covering Australian Public Service (APS) employees, the Community and Public sec...