In Tlaxcala, Mexico, 80% of the children who died from diarrhoea or acute respiratory infections (ARI) in 1992-1993 received medical care;in more than 70% of cases it was provided by a private general practitioner (GP...
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In Tlaxcala, Mexico, 80% of the children who died from diarrhoea or acute respiratory infections (ARI) in 1992-1993 received medical care;in more than 70% of cases it was provided by a private general practitioner (GP). The present study evaluated the quality of case management by private and public GPs to children under Five years of age with diarrhoea and ARI. During the clinical observation, the treatment and counselling given to the mother were assessed with the WHO guidelines as reference standard. A total of 41 private and 40 public GPs were evaluated for the management of diarrhoea, and 59 private and 40 public GPs for the management of ARI. For diarrhoea, half of the private GPs gave inadequate rehydration therapy, 63% gave incorrect advice on diet, 66% and 49% made an incorrect decision in the prescription of antimicrobial and symptomatic drugs, respectively. Public GPs generally performed better in diarrhoea management: 7% gave inadequate rehydration therapy, 13% gave wrong advice on diet, 3% made a wrong decision in the prescription of symptomatic drugs and 28% gave a wrong decision in antimicrobial prescription. In the management of ARI, 66% and 58% of private GPs made a wrong decision in the prescription of antimicrobial and symptomatic drugs, respectively, compared to 30% and 20% of public GPs, respectively. Counselling to the mother given by both private and public GPs was considered inadequate in most cases of diarrhoea and ARI. These results clearly show that private doctors, as important providers of medical care, need to be included in the strategies to improve the quality of care of children with diarrhoea and ARI. Future research needs to address the determinants of the clinical practice of private doctors in countries like Mexico.
The private health sector has been growing rapidly in many low and middle income countries, yet not enough is known about its sources of finance or characteristics of its users. Moreover, health care reform measures a...
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The private health sector has been growing rapidly in many low and middle income countries, yet not enough is known about its sources of finance or characteristics of its users. Moreover, health care reform measures are leading to alterations in the mix of public and private finance and provision, increasing further the need for information. This paper presents and evaluates some research methods which can be used to collect information relevant to considering policies on the public/private mix. They comprise a household survey, a health diary and interview survey, a bed census, and a health resource survey. Each method is described as it was used in a study in a large urban setting in Thailand, and strengths and weaknesses of the methods are identified. The use of data to estimate the shares of public and private finance and provision, and particularly private sources of finance of public hospitals and public sources of finance for private hospitals, is demonstrated. Policy issues highlighted by the data are identified.
Objective: To explore the type of private practice supplementary income-generating activities of public sector doctors in the Portuguese-speaking African countries, and also to discover the motivations and the reasons...
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Objective: To explore the type of private practice supplementary income-generating activities of public sector doctors in the Portuguese-speaking African countries, and also to discover the motivations and the reasons why doctors have not made a complete move out of public service. Design: cross-sectional qualitative survey. Subjects: In 1996, 28 Angolan doctors, 26 from Guinea-Bissau, 11 from Mozambique and three from S Tome and Principe answered a self-administered questionnaire. Results: All doctors, except one unemployed, were government employees. Forty-three of the 68 doctors that answered the questionnaire reported an income-generating activity other than the one reported as principal. Of all the activities mentioned, the ones of major economic importance were: public sector medical care, private medical care, commercial activities, agricultural activities and university teaching. The two outstanding reasons why they engage in their various side-activities are 'to meet the cost of living' and 'to support the extended family'. Public sector salaries are supplemented by private practice. Interviewees estimated the time a family could survive on their public sector salary at seven days (median value). The public sector salary still provides most of the interviewees income (median 55%) for the rural doctors, but has become marginal for those in the urban areas (median 10%). For the latter, private practice has become of paramount importance (median 65%). For 26 respondents, the median equivalent of one month's public sector salary could be generated by seven hours of private practice. Nevertheless, being a civil servant was important in terms of job security, and credibility as a doctor. The social contacts and public service gave access to power centres and resources, through which other coping strategies could be developed. The expectations regarding the professional future and regarding the health systems future were related mostly to health personnel issues.
Federal expenditures for home health care have been increasing at an annual rate of 30% per year since 1974, and are predicted to continue to increase more rapidly than expenditures for other health services in the fu...
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This paper aims to review the role of private practitioners and their interactions with public health services in developing countries, focusing largely on the Asian region. Evidence on the distribution of health faci...
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This paper aims to review the role of private practitioners and their interactions with public health services in developing countries, focusing largely on the Asian region. Evidence on the distribution of health facilities. manpower, health expenditures and utilization rates shows that private practitioners are significant health care providers in many Asian countries. Limited information has been published on interactions between public and private providers despite their co-existence. Issues related to enforcement of regulations, human resources, patient referrals and disease notifications, are examined.
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