Our regional network, the Emerging Markets Health Network (EMHN) has published a new book, hooray!
It was formally launched last week, January 11 at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade in Calcutta. Among the major arguments of the book are: * Free trade is a powerful agent of improved health, via higher incomes and ‘knowledge spillovers’
* Asian governments stand to benefit from enormous savings if they properly open their health sectors to international trade
* Intellectual property provisions within international trade regimes have little bearing on access to medicines by the poor, and recent attempts by government to expropriate the property rights of foreign pharmaceutical companies are motivated more by industrial policy than concern for patients
* New technology rather than new regulation is the most sensible answer to stemming the global trade in fake and spurious medicines.
A longer discussion about the book is found here.
Details of the launch are found here. Photos below lifted from that link. Upper photo includes the two editors, Debashis Chakraborty (left most) and Philip Stevens (right most).
The book has seven chapters from eight contributors including the two editors, and me. The book should be ready for sale and distribution in the next few weeks. The publisher made only a few copies for the book launch.
My paper is 14 pages long including tables and references. I am posting below the first two pages :-)
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Universal Health Care and Private Provision in the Philippines
Bienvenido “Nonoy” Oplas, Jr.
I. Introduction
The
pursuit of universal healthcare (UHC) or “Kalusugan Pangkalahatan” in Filipino,
of providing each of the nearly 100 million Filipinos, access to good
healthcare when they need it, is a noble goal. It is a goal that is shared by all
stakeholders in the country.
The big
question is how to attain it at the most efficient and least costly way, both
to the government and households and taxpayers. The dominant thinking is to
follow the European and North American models of universal healthcare, in which
government takes the dominant role in the healthcare system, and most costs are
underwritten by the public purse. This
explains the rising budget for the Department of Health at the national level,
and health spending at the Local Government Unit levels. This is not
sustainable as the Philippine government is still heavily indebted, even though
the debt/GDP ratio has improved compared to a decade ago.
