Public views of health system issues in four Asian countries.

To elicit the public's views on health system issues, we conducted an opinion poll survey in Bangladesh, Mongolia, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. We focused on health inequalities. The results show high levels of dissatisfaction with government health services in all four of the countries.

Who pays for health care in Asia?

We estimate the distributional incidence of health care financing in 13 Asian territories that account for 55% of the Asian population. In all territories, higher-income households contribute more to the financing of health care. The better-off contribute more as a proportion of ability to pay in most low- and lower-middle-income territories.

Catastrophic payments for health care in Asia.

Out-of-pocket (OOP) payments are the principal means of financing health care throughout much of Asia. We estimate the magnitude and distribution of OOP payments for health care in fourteen countries and territories accounting for 81% of the Asian population. We focus on payments that are catastrophic, in the sense of severely disrupting household living standards, and approximate such payments by those absorbing a large fraction of household resources.

Mobilising financial resources for maternal health.

Coverage of cost-effective maternal health services remains poor due to insufficient supply and inadequate demand for these services among the poorest groups. Households pay too great a share of the costs of maternal health services, or do not seek care because they cannot afford the costs. Available evidence creates a strong case for removal of user fees and provision of universal coverage for pregnant women, particularly for delivery care.

Effect of payments for health care on poverty estimates in 11 countries in Asia: an analysis of household survey data.

Background: Conventional estimates of poverty do not take account of out-of-pocket payments to finance health care. We aimed to reassess measures of poverty in 11 low-to-middle income countries in Asia by calculating total household resources both with and without out-of-pocket payments for health care.

Methods: We obtained data on payments for health care from nationally representative surveys, and subtracted these payments from total household resources.