Aging is reviewed by a variety of disciplines; demographers, sociologists, economists, health scientists, and politicians. However, there are still great disputes over aging because of its economic roles, and health expenditures. Several questions about aging should be answered. Is aging an illness? Are aged people a burden to community? Is it a threat, or an achievement? (1). There are opposi...

The World Health Report 2000 proposed three fundamental goals for health systems encompassing population health, health care finance and health systems responsiveness. The goals incorporate both an efficiency and equity dimension. While inequalities in population health and health care finance have motivated two important strands of research, inequalities in responsiveness have received less at...

Many clinicians remain unsure of the relevance of measuring quality of life to their clinical practice. In health economics quality of life measures have become the standard means of assessing the results of health care interventions and, more controversially, the means of prioritising funding; but they have many other applications. This article--the first of three on measuring quality of life-...

1 Academic Unit of Health Economics and NICE Decision Support Unit, Leeds Institute of Health Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK 2 Centre for Health Economics, Department of Economics and NICE Decision Support Unit, University of York, Heslington, York, UK 3 Centre for Health Economics, Department of Economics, University of York, Heslington, York, UK 4 Department of Health Policy Managem...