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Financing health care in the Sudan: Some recent experiments in the central region
Author(s) -
Bekele Abraham,
Lewis Maureen A.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
the international journal of health planning and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1099-1751
pISSN - 0749-6753
DOI - 10.1002/hpm.4740010204
Subject(s) - revenue , business , health care , government (linguistics) , public health , health services , population , health policy , central government , population health , service delivery framework , christian ministry , service (business) , finance , public economics , economic growth , economics , local government , public administration , medicine , environmental health , political science , marketing , nursing , linguistics , philosophy , law
The macroeconomic difficulties facing the developing countries are having a direct impact on these countries' public health programs. Reduced budgets and rising demands for health care are forcing health ministries to either cut back on already inadequate health care services or identify alternative sources of revenue. This article describes and analyzes a set of experiments designed and implemented by the Sudan's Central Province that have effectively raised the operating budget of the regional health ministry. The seven experiments encompass imposition of fees, cost containment efforts, and local taxes earmarked for health. Together, the revenue generating efforts have improved the efficiency of service delivery, ensured more efficient resource allocation, raised much needed revenue for the health system, and honored the government's commitment to make free health care available to the Sudanese population.