The International journal of health planning and management
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Int J Health Plann Manage · Jan 1996
Non-governmental organizations in international health: past successes, future challenges.
Non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, are increasingly instrumental to the implementation of international health programs. Following an overview of current conditions in global health and the problems that could be targeted by NGOs, this article describes the activities and philosophies of several representative approaches in this sector. The attributes of NGOs that increase their potential effectiveness are discussed, including ability to reach areas of severe need, promotion of local involvement, low cost of operations, adaptiveness and innovation, independence, and sustainability. A summary is provided of major future challenges in international health that may be addressed by NGOs, with particular emphasis on tobacco-related disease, communicable diseases and the AIDS epidemic, maternal mortality and women's health, injury prevention and control, and the need to secure durable financial support.
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Int J Health Plann Manage · Jan 1996
Experiences in paying for health care in India's voluntary sector.
This article summarizes the results of four in-depth case studies on the financing and costs of the health care programmes of well-known non-government organizations (NGOs) in India. These organizations have shown a high degree of creativity and innovation in developing varied sources of financing to reduce dependency and enable them to sustain their programmes. ⋯ Cost studies of the NGOs' health schemes indicate that they operate at least as efficiently as public services and primarily supplement rather than substitute for such services. Suggestions for further development of voluntary sector financing are put forward.