How resilient is health financing policy in Europe to economic shocks? Evidence from the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2008 global financial crisis.

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered an economic shock just ten years after the shock of the 2008 global financial crisis. Economic shocks are a challenge for health systems because they reduce government revenue at the same time as they increase the need for publicly financed health care. This article explores the resilience of health financing policy to economic shocks by reviewing policy responses to the financial crisis and COVID-19 in Europe.

Improving clinical practice in primary care for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases: a multi-actor approach to two regional pilot projects in Kazakhstan.

Improving access to quality services is integral to achieving better outcomes for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). In Kazakhstan, like other countries with historically centralized governance models, key to improving quality is instilling a common and shared understanding of the roles and responsibilities in correspondence with the multifaceted nature of quality of care. This review details the experience of two pilot projects implemented in Kazakhstan's regions of Kyzylorda and Mangystau over a three-year period with the aim to improve clinical practice through a multi-actor, multi-intervention approach.

Addressing the double-burden of diabetes and tuberculosis: lessons from Kyrgyzstan.

Background: The incidence of diabetes and tuberculosis co-morbidity is rising, yet little work has been done to understand potential implications for health systems, healthcare providers and individuals. Kyrgyzstan is a priority country for tuberculosis control and has a 5% prevalence of diabetes in adults, with many health system challenges for both conditions.

Methods: Patient exit interviews collected data on demographic and socio-economic characteristics, health spending and care seeking for people with diabetes, tuberculosis and both diabetes and tuberculosis.

Tajikistan: Health System Review.

The pace of health reforms in Tajikistan has been slow and in many aspects the health system is still shaped by the countrys Soviet legacy. The country has the lowest total health expenditure per capita in the WHO European Region, much of it financed privately through out-of-pocket payments. Public financing depends principally on regional and local authorities, thus compounding regional inequalities across the country.

Coping with the economic burden of Diabetes, TB and co-prevalence: evidence from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Background: The increasing number of patients co-affected with Diabetes and TB may place individuals with low socio-economic status at particular risk of persistent poverty. Kyrgyz health sector reforms aim at reducing this burden, with the provision of essential health services free at the point of use through a State-Guaranteed Benefit Package (SGBP). However, despite a declining trend in out-of-pocket expenditure, there is still a considerable funding gap in the SGBP.

Good Health at Low Cost 25 years on: lessons for the future of health systems strengthening.

In 1985, the Rockefeller Foundation published Good health at low cost to discuss why some countries or regions achieve better health and social outcomes than do others at a similar level of income and to show the role of political will and socially progressive policies. 25 years on, the Good Health at Low Cost project revisited these places but looked anew at Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kyrgyzstan, Thailand, and the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, which have all either achieved substantial improvements in health or access to services or implemented innovative health policies relative to their neighbours. A series of comparative case studies (2009-11) looked at how and why each region accomplished these changes.

Diabetes in Kyrgyzstan: changes between 2002 and 2009.

Health system reform in Kyrgyzstan is seen as a relative success story in central Asia. Initially, most attention focused on structural changes, and it is only since 2006 that the delivery of care and the experience of health service users have risen on the agenda. One exception from the earlier period was a rapid appraisal of the management of diabetes, undertaken in 2002.

Kyrgyzstan: Health system review.

Kyrgyzstan has undertaken wide-ranging reforms of its health system in a challenging socioeconomic and political context. The country has developed two major health reform programmes after becoming independent: Manas (1996 to 2006) and Manas Taalimi (2006 to 2010). These reforms introduced comprehensive structural changes to the health care delivery system with the aim of strengthening primary health care, developing family medicine and restructuring the hospital sector.

Trends in out-of-pocket payments for health care in Kyrgyzstan, 2001-2007.

Within the countries of the former Soviet Union, the Kyrgyz Republic has been a pioneer in reforming the system of health care finance. Since the introduction of its compulsory health insurance fund in 1997, the country has gradually moved from subsidizing the supply of services to subsidizing the purchase of services through the 'single payer' of the health insurance fund. In 2002 the government introduced a new co-payment for inpatients along with a basic benefit package.

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.

Patients' preferences for healthcare system reforms in Hungary: a conjoint analysis.

Objectives: To illustrate how conjoint analysis can be used to identify patient preferences for healthcare policies, and to measure preferences for healthcare reforms in Hungary.

Data Source/study Setting: Data was collected via a mail-based survey and a direct survey administered in a rheumatology out-patient centre in Flór Ferenc County Hospital, Budapest, Hungary (n = 86).

Study Design: We designed and administered a conjoint analysis to the study population.