Author: World Bank. Population, Health, and Nutrition DepartmentPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Medical care
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
Financing Health Care in Latin America and the Caribbean with a Special Study of Costa Rica
Author: World Bank. Population, Health, and Nutrition DepartmentPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Medical care
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
Toward Universal Health Coverage and Equity in Latin America and the Caribbean
Author: Tania DmytraczenkoPublisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464804559
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 247
Book Description
Over the past three decades, many countries of Latin America and the Caribbean have recognized health as a human right. Since the early 2000s, 46 million more people in the countries studied are covered by health programs with explicit guarantees of affordable care. Reforms have been accompanied by a rise in public spending for health, financed largely from general revenues that prioritized or explicitly target the population without capacity to pay. Political commitment has generally translated into larger budgets as well as passage of legislation that ring-fenced funding for health. Most countries have prioritized cost-effective primary care and adopted purchasing methods that incentivize efficiency and accountability for results, and that give stewards of the health sector greater leverage to steer providers to deliver on public health priorities. Evidence from the analysis of 54 household surveys corroborates that investments in extending coverage are yielding results. Though the poor still have worse health outcomes than the rich, disparities have narrowed considerably - particularly in the early stage of the life course. Countries have reached high levels of coverage and equity in utilization of maternal and child health services; coverage of noncommunicable disease interventions is not as high and service utilization is still skewed toward the better off. Catastrophic health expenditures have declined in most countries; the picture regarding equity, however, is mixed. While the rate of impoverishment owing to health-care expenditures is low and generally declining, 2-4 million people in the countries studied still fall below the poverty line after health spending. Efforts to systematically monitor quality of care in the region are still in their infancy. Nonetheless, a review of the literature reveals important shortcomings in quality of care, as well as substantial differences across subsystems. Improving quality of care and ensuring sustainability of investments in health remain an unfinished agenda.
The Health Workforce in Latin America and the Caribbean
Author: Carmen CarpioPublisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464805954
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 133
Book Description
This report provides a status update on the human resources for health (HRH) sub-system in six Latin American and Caribbean countries: Colombia, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Panama, Peru, and Uruguay. The report structures its discussion around how the health workforce is financed, organized, managed, regulated, and performing. In the area of financing, the study presents the variety of contracting mechanisms, salary levels, and financial incentives offered across the countries and their role in being able to attract and retain health workers. On the organization of the HRH sub-system, the report looks at the skill-mix, training, and distribution of health care workers concluding that although the countries have made progress towards achieving key HRH targets and in making education more accessible, there continues to be limited absorption capacity for graduates, the Primary Health Care focus of training programs needs to be strengthened, and strategies to encourage rural service have not been able to fully address the gap in the distribution of health workers. In reviewing management strategies for HRH, the report presents how all countries have adopted the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel to recognize foreign-trained professionals to help address shortages and fill gaps of health worker presence in rural, remote areas. However, the countries continue to struggle with putting self-sufficiency policies in place to meet HRH needs such as the lack of promotion plans, limited non-monetary incentives, and the shortage of personnel for recruitment and eventual placement. In the area of regulation, the report presents the countries' efforts to reduce precarious employment and introduce HRH safety policies and legislation to regulate disputes and negotiations. On performance, the report found mixed results in the areas of access/availability to health workers and quality of care, factors discouraging dual practice, and unjustified absenteeism of health workers.
Health Care for the Poor in Latin America and the Caribbean
Author: Carmelo Mesa-LagoPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 248
Book Description
Financing Health Services in Developing Countries
Author: John S. AkinPublisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 9780821309001
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 104
Book Description
This report discusses several different approaches that support reforming health care services in developing countries. For some time now, health care services have been supported by government funds. As demands for improving health care services continue to increase additional demands will be placed on governments to respond. This, however, will not be easy. Slow economic growth and record budget deficits in the 1980's have forced reductions in public spending. Alternative approaches to finance health care services are needed. Such possible changes could involve: decentralization of federal government involvement; the promotion of nongovernment involvement; the imposition of user fees; and, establishing health insurance. Finally, the role of the Bank in pursuing new financing strategies is discussed.
Health Care Financing in Latin America and the Caribbean
Author: Sharon Stanton RussellPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Medical care
Languages : en
Pages : 40
Book Description
Financing Health in Latin America
Author: Ramiro GuerreroPublisher: Global Equity Initiative
ISBN: 9780982914434
Category : Cost and standard of living
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
The second of two volumes, this book analyzes health financing systems in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Peru. Highlighting opportunities for financial protection in health, the analysis describes success stories and obstacles, with cases that provide evidence for emerging regional trends.
Beyond Survival
Author: Truman G. PackardPublisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 082136572X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 196
Book Description
'Beyond Survival' breaks new ground in the ongoing debate about health finance and financial protection from the costs of health care. The evidence and discussion support the need to consider financial protection, in addition to health status, as a policy objective when setting priorities for health systems. This book reviews the Latin American experience with health reform in the last 20 years and the fundamentals of health system financing, using new evidence to show the magnitude and mechanisms that determine the impoverishing effects of health events (diseases, accidents, and those of the life cycle). It provides options for policy makers on how to protect, and help household to protect themselves,against this impoverishment. The authors use empirical evidence from six case studies commissioned for this report, on Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, and Mexico. This book provides policy makers with a solid conceptual basis for decisions on the contents of mandatory health insurance benefit packages, choices of financing mechanisms, and the roles of public policy in this field. 'Beyond Survival' provides an in-depth analysis of, and organizational alternatives for, risk pooling and health insurance for financial protection. It analyzes the urgent need to extend risk pooling to the informal sector, the challenges for current social insurance arrangements, and options for policy makers to effectively extend risk pooling to the informal sector.
Policy Choices and Practical Problems in Health Economics
Author: Catherine OverholtPublisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 9780821330128
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 246
Book Description
Conservation of biological diversity is important for sustainable development, and decentralization is a key aspect of good governance. Whether decentralization promotes conservation and if so, under what conditions, is the topic of this book. This study draws insights from field experience and traces the complex interactions among various factors involved, such as degree and type of decentralization, community participation, institutional capacity, and economic incentives. Local and international experts present case studies from experiences in Colombia, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, the Philippines, Russia, and Zimbabwe. Subsequent chapters review 32 World Bank and Global Environment Facility projects and their impact on habitat conservation, describe a possible model of a decentralized country, and look at lessons learned from the overall study.
Promoting Healthy Living in Latin America and the Caribbean
Author: María Eugenia Bonilla-ChacínPublisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464800170
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 249
Book Description
This book examines the health and economic impact of noncommunicable diseases in Latin America and the Caribbean and the governance challenges in designing and implementating multisectoral interventions to prevent these conditions, including policies to improve diet, increase physical activity, and reduce tobacco use and alcohol abuse.