Demand for Public Health Care in Pakistan

A health care demand model is estimated for each province in Pakistan to explain the outpatient visits to government hospitals over the period 1989–2006. The explanatory variables include the number of government hospitals per capita, doctors’ fee per visit at a private clinic, income per capita, the average price of medicine and the number of outpatient visits per capita in the previous period. All variables are significant determinants of the demand for health care in at least one province but their signs, magnitudes and the levels of significance vary. These variations may be attributed to cultural, social and religious factors that vary across provinces. Variations in health care quality offered at public hospitals may also be a factor. These factors and improved accessibility of health care facilities should be the focus of public policy aimed at increasing the usage of public sector health care facilities in Pakistan.Health Care, Hospitals, Human Resources, Policy, Public Health

Demand for Public Health Care in Pakistan

A health care demand model is estimated for each province in Pakistan to explain the outpatient visits to government hospitals over the period 1989-2006. The explanatory variables include the number of government hospitals per capita, doctors’ fee per visit at a private clinic, income per capita, the average price of medicine and the number of outpatient visits per capita in the previous period. All variables are significant determinants of the demand for health care in at least one province but their signs, magnitudes and the levels of significance vary. These variations may be attributed to cultural, social and religious factors that vary across provinces. Variations in health care quality offered at public hospitals may also be a factor. These factors and improved accessibility of health care facilities should be the focus of public policy aimed at increasing the usage of public sector health care facilities in Pakistan. JEL classification: I110, I180, O150 Keywords: Health Care, Hospitals, Human Resources, Policy, Public Healt

Reviewing the impact of the Confederation Bridge

Islands are the challenging targets of a global pursuit in the closing of gaps, their distinct geography so far having seemingly eluded and mocked both human ingenuity and terra firma. This article seeks to deconstruct the concept of the bridge as more than just a value-free symbol of inexorable technological progress, and uses islands as the reference point to flesh out such an argument. Bridges impact on the subtle balance between the characteristic ‘local–global’ nature of an island identity; such an impact is multi-faceted, complex and case-specific. These ideas are applied to the specific case of the Confederation Bridge, the 14-km structure linking Prince Edward Island to New Brunswick, and which celebrated its tenth anniversary in June 2007.peer-reviewe