The objective of this research is to generate new evidence on financial implications of medicines out-of-pocket (OOP) payments for households. Another objective is to investigate which disease conditions contributed to a significant proportion of households’ financial burden.

Original Source

A key component of achieving universal health coverage is ensuring that all populations have access to quality health care. Examining where gains have occurred or progress has faltered across and within countries is crucial to guiding decisions and strategies for future improvement. We used the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016 (GBD 2016) to assess personal health-care access and quality with the Healthcare Access and Quality (HAQ) Index for 195 countries and territories, as well as subnational locations in seven countries, from 1990 to 2016.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death globally, accounting for one in every three deaths, with nearly half of deaths in lower-income countries among people younger than 70 years. WHO has identified the elimination of industrially produced trans fat (an artificial product contained in partially hydrogenated oils) from the food supply as an effective and cost-effective intervention to prevent cardiovascular disease.3 Industrially produced trans fat causes an estimated 540 000 deaths each year worldwide.