The authors argue that the American healthcare system has developed in a fashion that permits and may support ongoing, widespread inequities based on poverty, race, gender, and ethnicity. Institutional structures also contribute to this problem. Analysis is based on (1) discussions of a group of experts convened by the Office of Minority Health, US Department of Health and Human Services at a c...

In this article, we present an overview of the work being carried out by the EC-funded project IS4ALL (IST-1999-14101). Specifically, we describe the methodological frame of reference, which drives the project's objective to introduce universal access principles into the design of Health Telematics applications and services. Health Telematics is chosen due to some distinctive characteristics, s...

Introduction The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) is a financial protection scheme in India. It is aimed at protecting families below poverty line (BPL) against catastrophic health expenses. It also seeks to increase their access to healthcare and expand the choice of providers. We undertook a series of studies in Chhattisgarh to examine: a) the key issues in the design and implementation ...

Integrated health systems are considered part of the solution to the challenge of sustaining Canada's healthcare system. This systematic literature review was undertaken to guide decision-makers and others to plan for and implement integrated health systems. This review identified 10 universal principles of successfully integrated healthcare systems that may be used by decision-makers to assist...

An increasingly number of low- and middle-income countries have developed and implemented a national policy towards universal coverage of healthcare for their citizens over the past decade. Among them is China which has expanded its population coverage by health insurance from around 29.7% in 2003 to over 90% at the end of 2010. While both central and local governments in China have significant...

Such an alarming statement has not been challenged---in fact it is even more widely accepted today. Indeed, throughout wealthy countries (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) we hear the same kind of systemic problems: • many doctors are disgruntled, overworked and professionally unsatisfied; • nurses are restless and in short supply; • popular demands for more health spending...

This study conducts a cost-effectiveness analysis of a childhood universal varicella vaccination program in Brazil. An age and time-dependent dynamic model was developed to estimate the incidence of varicella for 30 years. Assuming a single-dose schedule; vaccine efficacy of 85% and coverage of 80%, the program could prevent 74,422,058 cases and 2905 deaths. It would cost R$ 3,178,396,110 and s...

With an annual birth rate of 12‰, or 16 millions, of all population (1.34 billions), and an implementation of universal healthcare policy for all rural residents in recent years, China is undergoing a dramatic and profound transition in perinatal and neonatal healthcare as a part of the global campaign for reduction in mortality of children under 5 years old. This review describes recent develo...

In 2011 Jain et al reported a 62% reduction of healthcare-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections that resulted from an intervention bundle. Here we present a mathematical model and prove, using parameters from the study by Jain et al, that the universal screen and isolate strategy can have contributed only marginally to the reduction in infections.

Combined antiretroviral therapy allows children with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to reach adulthood. We studied 45 adolescents at the time of transfer to adult care. Despite universal healthcare access, over two-thirds of the adolescents were failing treatment, which was manifested by detectable HIV-1 viral load, CD4 counts <200 cells/ mm(3), and/or triple-class drug resistance.