Health Policy

This important new textbook provides comparative and critical analysis of health care policy from high-income countries in Europe to low-income developing countries in the Global South. It integrates conceptual themes drawn from the fields of sociology, policy analysis, and political science to offer a unique combination of theory, historical background, and wider social commentary. The book is divided into three sections: Section I establishes the conceptual basis for the analysis of the health policymaking process, including implementation. Section II provides an introduction to the key elements of conducting a comparative health systems analysis, including chapters that provide examples of performance analysis in both high- and low-income developing countries. Section III examines key challenges now facing health policy-makers that include long-term social care provision, widening the scope of public health to address social inequalities in health outcome, the integration of genomic medicine within a health care system, and the establishment of an effective national pharmaceutical policy. Each chapter includes case studies, historical-institutional contexts, and summaries of key health policies. Detailed and clearly written, it is the ideal text for students across the health and social sciences in this expanding area of analysis.