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The strongest economic crisis ever known, started in 2008, destroyed much of the social achievements. Although the European Union had to deal with this situation by designing common policies, the member states have handled this crisis in many different ways. Nevertheless, not all the countries had the same possibilities for manage their economic policies inside a common currency area. These states involved in the EuroZone have faced some restrictions due to their belonging to a currency area, so they have had to design alternative economic policies to the monetary one. The main objective of this paper is to assess the acceptance of the restrictive policies on public health expenses due to economic crisis and the implemented economic policy, from the point of view of citizens. This paper hypothesized that this acceptance or not depends on citizens perception of adequate use of the public health care system. A survey was conducted among the main social actors involved on healthcare system: the general population and health professionals. And for testing the hypotheses a means comparison ( t -test and ANOVA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) has been developed using data from that survey. Outcomes from those econometric exercises show a general disagreement with the cuts in health expenses, but in a level very related with citizen’s perceptions of overuse of public health services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health insurance expansions can improve health outcomes by increasing access to healthcare. This is especially true among the poorer segments of the population, who may not be able to afford the cost of healthcare, or might lack the information about where to seek proper medical care. In this paper we examine whether increased access to health insurance has historically reduced height inequality by promoting body growth, particularly among poor individuals, and so enhanced their height, a widely used and well-established anthropometric health and well-being indicator. We draw on data from a large global panel of countries for which we could measure height inequality. Our evidence documents that indeed within-country differences in height inequality decreased following health insurance expansions towards near-universal coverage. • First study: health insurance reduces height and health inequality. • Large global sample over 200 years. • "Big picture" of health inequality in the long run. • Instrumental variable techniques suggest causal relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent attention to Millennium Development Goals by the international development community has led to the formation of targets to measure country-level achievements, including achievements on health status indicators such as childhood immunization. Using the example of immunization in India, this paper demonstrates the importance of disaggregating national averages for a better understanding of social disparities in health. Specifically, the paper uses data from the India National Family Health Survey 1992–93 to analyze socioeconomic, gender, urban-rural and regional inequalities in immunization in India for each of the 17 largest states. Results show that, on average, southern states have better immunization levels and lower immunization inequalities than many northern states. Wealth and regional inequalities are correlated with overall levels of immunization in a non-linear fashion. Gender inequalities persist in most states, including in the south, and seem unrelated to overall immunization or the levels of other inequalities measured here. This suggests that the gender differentials reflect deep-seated societal factors rather than health system issues per se. The disaggregated information and analysis used in this paper allows for setting more meaningful targets than country averages. Additionally, it helps policy makers and planners to understand programmatic constraints and needs by identifying disparities between sub-groups of the population, including strong and weak performers at the state and regional levels. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper investigates the extent of socioeconomic inequalities in antenatal care use and related medical procedures in Brazil and India, which represent transition economies with contrasting geographical and sociocultural composition and health care provision. Concentration indices and regression analyses applied on recent Demographic Health Survey data reveal high and proportionate distribution of antenatal coverage in Brazil, whereas the Indian case present problems of both scale and equity. Inequalities in access to four or more antenatal visits are significantly pronounced in India, and in Brazil the differences are significant only for those who had six or more visits. Brazil''s universal healthcare model which proved effective in promoting equitable distribution of antenatal care could be implemented in India. Future interventions should emphasis quality of care in monitoring essential antenatal services especially targeting the poor and deprived communities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: 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 attention in health economics. This paper examines inequality and polarisation in responsiveness, bridging this gap in the literature and contributing towards an integrated analysis of health systems performance. It uses data from the World Health Survey to measure and compare inequalities in responsiveness across 25 European countries. In order to respect the inherently ordinal nature of the responsiveness data, median-based measures of inequality and polarisation are employed. The results suggest that, in the face of wide differences in the health systems analysed, there exists large variability in inequality in responsiveness across countries. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper proposes a new approach to the measurement of inequality and inequity in the delivery of health care based on contributions from the literature on poverty and deprivation. This approach has some appealing characteristics: (1) inequity is additively decomposable by population subgroups; (2) the approach does not rely on socio-economic ranks; (3) it provides a graphical representation of the distribution of inequity; (4) it offers a range of indices consistent with dominance. An empirical application is provided investigating the effect of the GP fundholding reform on equity in English NHS. The results show that the most equitable GP practices self-selected into the scheme in 1991; evidence of an inequity-reducing treatment effect as well as a self-selection effect are found in 1992 and 1993; the self-selection process reduces and no evidence of a treatment effect is present thereafter. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The expenditures for hospital drugs are continuously increasing, and grow much faster than the global hospital budgets do. This explosive growth is caused mainly by a few so-called ‘expensive drugs’ of which the oncolytics form the main part. The global budgets should stimulate more effective provision of care (‘technical efficiency’), however the room for technical efficiency is decreasing. Hospitals thus have to make impossible choices, so that eventually equal access can no longer be guaranteed. If no other policies are applied, health care goals will no longer be met. This paper tries to map the contours of the current problem and its possible solutions. It is time governments take up their responsibility and take back control. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]