Consensus guidelines for the use and interpretation of angiogenesis assays

The formation of new blood vessels, or angiogenesis, is a complex process that plays important roles in growth and development, tissue and organ regeneration, as well as numerous pathological conditions. Angiogenesis undergoes multiple discrete steps that can be individually evaluated and quantified by a large number of bioassays. These independent assessments hold advantages but also have limitations. This article describes in vivo, ex vivo, and in vitro bioassays that are available for the evaluation of angiogenesis and highlights critical aspects that are relevant for their execution and proper interpretation. As such, this collaborative work is the first edition of consensus guidelines on angiogenesis bioassays to serve for current and future reference

Private Health Insurance in France

While France has a universal public health insurance system, the coverage it provides is incomplete and the vast majority the French population has private complementary health insurance. Among OECD countries, the share of health care financed by private insurance is third highest behind the US and the Netherlands, two countries where private coverage is the primary source of payment for a large percentage of the population. France’s high rate of private insurance coverage is partly explained by historical factors and partly by the preferential tax treatment of employer-sponsored coverage. Because of the high rate of employerprovision – roughly half of all contracts are obtained through the workplace – coverage tends to vary with activity and industry classification. Historically, coverage was also positively related with income. In 2000, the French government introduced a new program, the Couverture Maladie Universelle (CMU), which extended eligibility for publicly funded ... Si la France a un système d'assurance maladie publique universel, la couverture qu'il propose n'est pas complète et la majorité de la population française a une assurance complémentaire privée. La France est le troisième pays de l'OCDE en ce qui concerne la part des dépenses de santé financée par l'assurance privée, après les Etats-Unis et les Pays-Bas, deux pays où l'assurance privée représente la seule source de couverture pour une grande partie de la population. L'importance de l'assurance privée en France s'explique pour partie par des facteurs historiques mais aussi par le traitement fiscal préférentiel dont bénéficient les assurances de groupe. Etant donnée qu'environ la moitié des contrats sont obtenus par le biais de l'emploi, la couverture est très liée à la participation au marché du travail et au secteur d'activité. Historiquement, le taux couverture de la population augmentait avec le revenu. En 2000, le gouvernement a mis en place un nouveau programme public, la ...

Delivering Better Health Services to Pakistan's Poor

Pakistan is not on track to achieve most Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) related to health, nutrition and population. Given its current rate of progress, in 2015 Pakistan's infant mortality rate (IMR) will be 65 deaths per 1,000 live births and the under-five mortality rate (U5MR) will be 78, considerably above the MDG4 targets of 33 and 43 deaths per 1000 births respectively. Pakistan will not achieve the MDG related to nutrition. The review aims to develop a limited set of practical options that will allow the government and other stakeholders to improve the availability and use of health services, especially for the poor. The report mainly focuses on synthesizing the available body of knowledge through review of existing studies, reports and research. The report starts with a description of the health and nutrition status of the population, Pakistan's fertility and growth rates and potential to benefit from a demographic dividend, the burden of diseases and trends in the past few years. The second and third chapters describe the performance of the public health care system over time, including coverage and utilization, quality of care, equity, and patient satisfaction and the impact of national programs. Chapter four discusses the financing of the sector, including overall trends, and the composition of public and private expenditures. Chapter five describes the organization and management of the sector and examines the role of government. Chapter six concludes by summarizing the key challenges facing the sector and suggesting a way forward

Contracting-in management to strengthen publicly financed primary health services--The experience of Punjab, Pakistan

Objectives In response to low utilization of primary health services in rural areas, the Government of Punjab contracted with a local non-governmental organization (NGO) to manage the basic health units in one district.Methods To evaluate the performance of the contractor, health facility surveys, household surveys, and routinely collected information were used to compare the experimental district (Rahim Yar Khan, RYK) with a contiguous and equally poor district (Bahawalpur, BWP).Results The evaluation found that contracting led to more than a 50% increase in out-patient visits in RYK compared to BWP. There was also increased satisfaction of the community with health services. Technical quality of care was equally poor in both districts and contracting also had little effect on the coverage of preventive services. The latter was likely the result of the NGO not being given managerial responsibility over vaccinators and other community health workers.Conclusions Despite methodological limitations, this study found that contracting in management achieved important goals at the same cost to the Government, implying a large increase in efficiency. Contracting in management worked reasonably well in this context and has now been significantly expanded. The approach provides a plausible means for large-scale improvements of poorly performing primary health care systems.Contracting Primary health care Management of health services Pakistan