The 'watch dog' role of the media, the impact of migration processes, health care access for children in developing countries, mitigation of the effects of Global Warming are typical examples of governance issues – issues to be tackled at the base; issues to be solved by creating and implementing effective policy. prepares students to pave the road for innovative policy developments in Europe a...

Informal payments for health care are a growing concern in Albania and other transitional economy countries. Recent international studies have shown that informal payments can have negative effects on health care access, equity and health status by causing people to forgo or delay seeking care, or sell assets to pay for care. Many countries are putting in place reforms meant to reduce informal ...

BACKGROUND Informal payments for health care services can impose financial hardship on households. Many studies have found that the position within the household can influence the decision on how much is spent on each household member. This study analyses the intra-household differences in spending on informal payments for health care services by comparing the resources allocated between househ...

BACKGROUND Informal payments to health care providers have been reported in many African, Asian and European countries. This study aimed to investigate different aspects of these payments that are also known as under-the-table payments in Iran. METHODS This is an in-depth interview-based qualitative study conducted on 12 purposively chosen clinical specialists. The interviewees answered 9 que...

BACKGROUND Informal payments for health care, which are common in many countries, can have negative effects on health care access, equity and health status as they lead people to forgo or delay seeking care, or to sell assets to pay for care. Many countries are putting reforms in place with the aim of reducing informal payments. In order to be successful, such policies should be informed by the...

background and objectives: informal payment in the health settings is a significant challenge facing the health system, with consequences such as inequity in access to healthcare services, distrust to health care system, and dissatisfied customers. detailed identification of the nature of the problem is perquisite to developing relevant overcoming strategies. given that, this study aimed at pro...

Unfortunately, informal payments for health care are responsible for a considerable share of patients' out-of-pocket payments in Iran (1, 2). Almost all health care users and providers are familiar with such payments with the name of “under the table payments” in Iran (3). About half of Iranian health care seekers have faced with such payments at least one time during a year (2). Although the i...

BACKGROUND Informal payments in the health sector of many developing countries are considered as a major impediment to health care reforms. Informal payments are a form of systemic fraud and have adverse effects on the performance of the health system. In this study, the frequency and extent of informal payments as well as the determinants of these payments were investigated in general hospital...

Background and Objectives: Informal payment in the health settings is a significant challenge facing the health system, with consequences such as inequity in access to healthcare services, distrust to health care system, and dissatisfied customers. Detailed identification of the nature of the problem is perquisite to developing relevant overcoming strategies. Given that, this study aimed at pro...

Background: Out-of-pocket and informal payments are considered as 2 most important topics for equity in health care financing. Therfore, this study was conducted to systematically review and meta-analyze the status of these payments in Iran's health care system. Methods: Required data were collected through searching the following key terms: "Unofficial", "Informal Payment", "Iran", "Health Fin...