Using data from the 60(th) round of the National Sample Survey of India (2004), the study investigates the incidence and correlates of 'catastrophic' maternal expenditure (ME) in India. Data on ME come from 6879 births that took place during 365 days prior to the survey. The study adapts earlier definitions and methods for catastrophic total health care expenditure to measure 'catastrophic' ME ...

BACKGROUND Brazil boasts a health scheme that aspires to provide universal coverage, but its surgical system has rarely been analysed. In an effort to strengthen surgical systems worldwide, the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery proposed a collection of 6 standardised indicators: 2-hour access to surgery, surgical workforce density, surgical volume, perioperative mortality rate (POMR) and prot...

BACKGROUND A key objective of universal health coverage is to address inequities in the financial implications of health care. This paper examines the level and trend in out-of-pocket spending (OOPS) on health, and the consequent burden on Nepalese households. METHODS Using data from the Nepal Living Standard Survey for 1995-1996 and 2010-2011, the paper looks at the inequity of this burden a...

INTRODUCTION National health accounts (NHAs) provide useful information to aid in understanding the health care financing system. This article aims to present a profile of health system financing in Dubai using data from the NHA. We also aim to compare the provider structure of financing schemes in Dubai with those of the State of Qatar and selected Organization for Economic Cooperation and Dev...

BACKGROUND As the world's largest developing country, China has entered into the epidemiological phase characterized by high life expectancy and high morbidity and mortality from chronic diseases. Cardiovascular diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, and malignant tumors have become the leading causes of death since the 1990s. Constant payments for maintaining the health status of a ...

background health literacy presents an enormous challenge in the delivery of effective healthcare and quality outcomes. we evaluated the impact of low health literacy (lhl) on healthcare utilization and healthcare expenditure.   methods database analysis used medical expenditure panel survey (meps) from 2005-2008 which provides nationally representative estimates of healthcare utilization and e...

BACKGROUND Studies on economic impact of sickle cell disease (SCD) are scanty despite its being common among children in developing countries who are mostly Africans. OBJECTIVE To determine the financial burden of SCD on households in Ado Ekiti, Southwest Nigeria. METHODS A longitudinal and descriptive study of household expenditures on care of 111 children with SCD managed at the pediatric...

BACKGROUND Patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) incur huge expenditures for diagnosis and treatment; these costs can be reduced through a well-designed and implemented social health insurance mechanism. The State of Chhattisgarh in India successfully established a partnership between the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) and the Health Insurance Programme, to form...