Is private health care the answer to the health problems of the world's poor?

Kara Hanson

; Lucy Gilson

; Catherine Goodman

; Anne Mills

; Richard Smith ; Richard Feachem ; Neelam Sekhri Feachem ; Tracey Perez Koehlmoos ; Heather Kinlaw ; (2008) Is private health care the answer to the health problems of the world's poor? PLoS medicine, 5 (11). e233-. ISSN 1549-1277 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0050233

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The global burden of disease falls disproportionately upon the world's low-income countries, which are often struggling with weak health systems. Both the public and private sector deliver health care in these countries, but the appropriate role for each of these sectors in health system strengthening remains controversial. This debate examines whether the private sector should step up its involvement in the health systems of low-income countries.