Int J Health Serv
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Britain's National Health Service (NHS) has been the subject of unprecedented market reforms, which have failed to solve its problems. The New Labour government elected in 1997 has halted the drive toward the marketization of health care and replaced cost with quality as the central concern of NHS administration and policy. Major changes are occurring in the regulation of professional activity, with profound implications for the medical profession and the health service. The authors discuss these changes and possible future problems for the NHS.
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Brewing since the advent of South African democracy in 1994 and promises of health sector transformation, an extraordinary drug war between President Nelson Mandela's African National Congress government and U. S. pharmaceutical manufacturers took on global proportions in 1998-1999. Within months of the passage of South African legislation aimed at lowering drug prices, the U. ⋯ S. government, and evaluates various kinds of resistance to U. S. corporate and government behavior. The case thus raises--not for the first time--concerns about contemporary imperialism ("globalization"), the role of the profit motive as an incentive in vital pharmaceutical products, and indeed the depth of "democracy" in a country where high-bidding international drug firms have sufficient clout to embarrass Vice President Al Gore by pitting him against the life-and-death interests of millions of consumers of essential drugs in South Africa and other developing countries.
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This is the second of a two-part report on the pharmaceutical industry. Part II begins with a discussion of foreign direct investment and inter-firm networks, which covers international mergers, acquisitions, and minority participation; market shares of foreign-controlled firms; international collaboration agreements (with a special note on agreements in biotechnology); and licensing agreements. The final section of the report covers governmental policies on health and safety regulation, price regulation, industry and technology, trade, foreign investment, protection of intellectual property, and competition.
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In this report the Labour Party give its view of the current status of the British National Health Service (NHS), and outlines its plans for the NHS under a Labour government. The values underlying the NHS - comprehensive health care, free at the point of use, based on need rather than ability to pay - have been betrayed. The truly national health service, created by a Labour government in 1948, has been replaced by a market-based service led by accountants. ⋯ Under the Tories, the NHS faces a future of privatization, competition, and markets, money wasted on bureaucracy, and the unfairness of a two-tier system. Under Labour, the NHS faces modernization, planned progress, money spent on frontline services, and excellence for all. Labour will follow a model of health care that is patient centered and community led, a properly coordinated and efficient public service.
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The last decade has been marked by a rapid growth in the women's health movement around the world. There has been a marked shift in activities away from the developed countries, as campaigns increase in intensity in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. ⋯ Both the goals of these campaigns and their methods vary with the circumstances of the women involved. But despite this diversity, common themes can be identified: reproductive self-determination; affordable, effective, and humane medical care; satisfaction of basic needs; a safe workplace; and freedom from violence.