Even in mature health systems, universal access to frontline health services remains largely aspirational. Most countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have few general...
In many low, and middle-income countries (LMICs), rapid urbanization, population growth, and changing lifestyles are driving a growing burden fueled by noncommunicable disease and injury, while poor sanitation...
In low, and middle-income countries, policymakers have long struggled to extend quality frontline care to remote, rural communities. Confronting poor infrastructure, health worker shortages, and limited...
Rapid demographic change, particularly aging populations and a growing burden of chronic disease and multi-morbidity, are straining even the most sophisticated primary health systems. Many frontline health...
In low, and middle-income countries, distance and cost can keep people in rural communities from seeking and receiving care, even from the frontline health system. Even where public health facilities exist...
In rapidly growing urban centers, most residents are near health services. Nonetheless, a range of social and financial constraints can deter individuals and families from seeking care, preventing timely...
Rural areas can face acute human resource shortages of doctors, nurses, and other health professionals. Health workers may perceive rural postings as low-status, offering few professional opportunities...
In mature health systems, specialty care systems are well developed but integration between primary care and specialty services can be poor or nonexistent, leading to missed referrals, duplication of basic...
A move from the countryside to a metropolis can offer new opportunities, but it can also expose an individual to new lifestyles and behaviors that put health at risk. Increased rates of behavioral risk...
By 2050, sixty-eight percent of the world's population is expected to live in urban areas. As countries grow and urbanize, their disease burden shifts toward noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Health workers...
In mature health systems, emerging health innovations require an adaptive and robust regulatory regime, alongside accreditation standards that are useful to consumers, to scale effectively. New health...
Addressing the burden of chronic disease begins at home. Many of the leading causes of ill health in member countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are caused, at...
Wealthy countries are aging rapidly, driving higher usage of health services. Most members countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have expanded medical education...
Urbanizing countries can struggle to ensure uniform minimum standards of care quality particularly when the private sector grows quickly but unevenly, with limited government capacity for robust oversight...
Accreditation and re-accreditation requirements differ in existence, scope, and use across and within countries. These differences affect facilities and cadres of workers at all levels. Estimates approximate...
In the fragmented care systems of rapidly growing cities, patients can get lost in the shuffle. A cornucopia of providers is spread across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, making it difficult...
In the most resource-constrained settings, where the first five years of life represent a critical window of vulnerability, the ability to adopt healthier behaviors in the home can determine whether a...
In poorly resourced rural areas, most local health services are ill-prepared to manage severe complications or offer emergency surgical care. Saving lives in an emergency requires timely and appropriate...
The frontline of the health system comprises the primary health care (PHC) system, the networks of frontline health workers, and other public- or private-sector services or institutions that serve as first-touch...