Reaching the Poor with Health, Nutrition, and Population Services : What Works, What Doesn't, and Why

Gwatkin, Davidson R. ; Wagstaff, Adam ; Yazbeck, Abdo S.

Washington, DC:World Bank

关键词: CASE STUDIES;    HEALTH CARE DELIVERY;    NUTRITION;    DEMOGRAPHICS;    POVERTY ALLEVIATING MECHANISMS;   

DOI  :  10.1596/978-0-8213-5961-7
RP-ID  :  34716

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Health services can make an importantcontribution to improved health conditions amongdisadvantaged groups. Yet as the contents of this volumemake clear, the health services supported by governments,and by agencies like ours too often fail to reach thesepeople who need them most. This is not acceptable. Nor needit be accepted. The studies presented here point to numerousstrategies that can help health programs reach the poor muchmore effectively than at present. In doing so, they stronglyreinforce the messages of the 2004 World Development Reportand other recent publications about the importance andpossibility of making services work better for poor people.Different views will be formed about which of the strategiesare most promising for a particular setting-whether, forexample, one would be best advised to follow Brazil'sapproach of seeking universal coverage for basic healthservices, Cambodia's strategy of contracting withnon-governmental organizations, Nepal's use ofparticipatory program development, or some other approach.The report provides a discussion on issues like these, inorder to build upon the important basic findings presentedherewith, i.e., that better performance is possible. Inbrief, better performance in reaching the poor is bothneeded and feasible. These are the two messages from thisreport that will be discussed further.