Health sector reform is defined as sustained, purposeful change to improve the efficiency, equity and effectiveness of the health sector. Any change is not reform. Changes that affect at least two of the elements namely; health financing, expenditure, organization regulation and consumer behavior justify to be called as health sector reforms. Suggested reforms before introduction must undergo a...

Spatial information describes the physical location of either people or objects, and the measured relationships between them. In this article, we offer the view that greater utilization of spatial information and its related technology, as part of a broader redesign of the architecture of health information at local and national levels, could assist and speed up the process of health reform, wh...

The health care system in Pakistan is beset with numerous problems--structural fragmentation, gender insensitivity, resource scarcity, inefficiency and lack of functional specificity and accessibility. Faced with a precarious economic situation characterized by heavy external debt and faltering productivity, Pakistan's room to maneuver with health sector reform is quite limited. Although the re...

In 1998 the Government of Bangladesh changed its health and population sector strategy from a project-oriented approach (the Fourth Population and Health Project--FPHP) to sector-wide management (the Fifth Health and Population Sector Programme--HPSP). This article describes the development and achievements of the tuberculosis programme during the FPHP, and discusses the potential opportunities...

One of China's great successes during the period of the command economy was to provide a large majority of its population with access to basic health services at an affordable price. This contributed to major improvements in the life of rural people. This issue of the IDS Bulletin asks whether China will be able to maintain cost-effective rural health services as it transforms itself into a mar...

BACKGROUND The National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), a compulsory formal sector scheme took over the management of the Community Health Fund (CHF), a voluntary informal sector scheme, in 2009. This study assesses the origins of the reform, its effect on management and reporting structures, financial flow adequacy, reform communication and acceptability to key stakeholders, and initial progress...

Introduction The purpose of this literature review is to review and synthesize published and unpublished literature examining the interaction between health sector reforms, gender and equity. The literature examined covers both developed and developing countries and includes the experience of a range of health systems as well as a variety of health sector reform strategies.

OBJECTIVES Despite certain reforms undertaken in Pakistan to reorient its health system, the health-related millennium goals lagged behind many neighbouring and regional countries. This study was conducted to understand the implications of government reforms including the devolution on the National Maternal Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) programme; and to determine donors' and development part...

Members of the 67th World Health Assembly in 2014 were presented with a framework document to guide World Health Organization (WHO) engagement with non-state actors, a key part of WHO reform kick-started in 2011. According to this document, non-state actors include four distinct constituencies: i) nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), ii) private sector entities; iii) philanthropic foundations;...