The impact of user fees on health service utilization in low- And middle-income countries: How strong is the evidence?

Bulletin of the World Health Organization

Volumn 86, Issue 11, 2008, Pages 839-848

  Lagarde, Mylene ^a   Palmer, Natasha ^a  

^a LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE AND TROPICAL MEDICINE   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY; HEALTH SERVICES; INCOME DISTRIBUTION; TIME SERIES;

ARTICLE; DATA BASE; DEVELOPING COUNTRY; ECONOMICS; HEALTH CARE COST; HEALTH CARE ORGANIZATION; HEALTH CARE UTILIZATION; HOSPITAL CHARGE; HOUSEHOLD; LITERATURE; LOWEST INCOME GROUP; OUTCOME ASSESSMENT; SOCIAL STATUS; SOCIOLOGY;

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES; FEES AND CHARGES; FINANCING, PERSONAL; HEALTH SERVICES; HEALTH SERVICES ACCESSIBILITY; HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH; HUMANS; PATIENT ACCEPTANCE OF HEALTH CARE;

EID: 54849426513     PISSN: 00429686     EISSN: 15640604     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2471/BLT.07.049197     Document Type: Article

References (45)

1. Our common interest: report of the Commission for Africa. London: Commission for Africa; 2005.
2. Macroeconomics and health: investing in health for economic development: Report of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health. Geneva: WHO; 2001.
3. Ellis RP. The revenue generating potential of user fees in Kenyan government health facilities. Soc Sci Med 1987;25:995-1002. PMID:3423850 doi:10.1016/0277-9536(87)90004-9
4. Litvack JI, Bodart C. User fees plus quality equals improved access to health care: results of a field experiment in Cameroon. Soc Sci Med 1993;37:369-83. PMID:8356485 doi:10.1016/0277-9536(93)90267-8
5. Financing the health sector in developing countries: an agenda for reform. Washington, DC: The World Bank; 1987.
6. Gilson L. Government health care charges: is equity being abandoned? A discussion paper. London: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; 1988.
7. Gertler P, Locay L, Sanderson W. Are user fees regressive? The welfare implications of health care financing proposals in Peru. J Econom 1987;36:67-88. doi:10.1016/0304-4076(87)90044-3
8. Yoder RA. Are people willing and able to pay for health services? Soc Sci Med 1989;29:35-42. PMID:2740926 doi:10.1016/0277-9536(89)90125-1
9. Russell S, Gilson L. User fee policies to promote health service access for the poor: a wolf in sheep's clothing? Int J Health Serv 1997;27:359-79. PMID:9142607
10. User fees: paying for health services at the point of use [position paper]. London: Save the Children, UK; 2005.
11. Savedoff WD, Levie R, Birdsall N. When will we ever learn? Improving lives through impact evaluation. Washington, DC: Center for Global Development; 2006.
12. Duflo E, Glennerster R, Kremer M. Randomized evaluations of interventions in social science delivery. Development Outreach March 2004. Available from:http://www1.worldbank.org/devoutreach/march04/ [accessed on 3 September 2008].
13. Lavis J, Davies H, Oxman A, Denis JL, Golden-Biddle K, Ferlie E. Towards systematic reviews that inform health care management and policymaking. J Health Serv Res Policy 2005;10 S1;35-48. PMID:16053582 doi:10.1258/ 1355819054308549
14. Creese AL. User charges for health care: a review of recent experience. Health Policy Plan 1991;6:309-19. PMID:10115978 doi:10.1093/heapol/6.4. 309
15. Sepehri A, Chernomas R. Are user charges efficiency- and equity-enhancing? A critical review of economic literature with particular reference to experience from developing countries. J Int Dev 2001;13:183-209. doi:10.1002/jid.726
16. Hutton G. Is the jury still out on the impact of user fees in Africa? A review of the evidence from selected countries on user fees and determinants of health service utilisation. East Afr Med J 2004;81:45-60.
17. James CD, Hanson K, McPake B, Balabanova D, Gwatkin D, Hopwood I, et al. To retain or remove user fees? Reflections on the current debate in low- and middle-income countries. Appl Health Econ Health Policy 2006;5:137-53. PMID:17132029 doi:10.2165/00148365-200605030-00001
18. McPake B. User charges for health services in developing countries: a review of the economic literature. Soc Sci Med 1993;36:1397-405. PMID:8511628 doi:10.1016/0277-9536(93)90382-E
19. Gilson L. The lessons of user fee experience in Africa. Health Policy Plan 1997;12:273-85. PMID:10176263
20. Ridde V. Fees-for-services, cost recovery, and equity in a district of Burkina Faso operating the Bamako Initiative. Bull World Health Organ 2003;81:532-8. PMID:12973646
21. Mbugua JK, Bloom GH, Segall MM. Impact of user charges on vulnerable groups: the case of Kibwezi in rural Kenya. Soc Sci Med 1995;41:829-35. PMID:8571154 doi:10.1016/0277-9536(94)00400-N
22. Collins D, Quick JD, Musau SN, Kraushaar K, Hussein IM. The fall and rise of cost sharing in Kenya: the impact of phased implementation. Health Policy Plan 1996;11:52-63. PMID:10155878 doi:10.1093/heapol/11.1.52
23. Benjamin AL, Sapak P, Purai JK. User charges and utilisation of obstetric services in the National Capital District, Papua New Guinea. Pac Health Dialog 2001;8:38-43. PMID:12017833
24. Moses S, Manji F, Bradley JE, Nagelkerke NJ, Malisa MA, Plummer FA. Impact of user fees on attendance at a referral centre for sexually transmitted diseases in Kenya. Lancet 1992;340:463-6. PMID:1354792 doi:10.1016/0140-6736(92)91778-7
25. Burnham GM, Pariyo G, Galiwango E, Wabwire-Mangen F. Discontinuation of cost sharing in Uganda. Bull World Health Organ 2004;82:187-95. PMID:15112007
26. Wilkinson D, Gouws E, Sach M, Karim SS. Effect of removing user fees on attendance for curative and preventive primary health care services in rural South Africa. Bull World Health Organ 2001;79:665-71. PMID:11477970
27. McDowall D, McCleary R, Meidinger E, Hay R. Interrupted time series analysis. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications; 1980.
28. Ojeda G, Murad R, Leon F, Williams T. Testing pricing payment systems to improve access and cost-recovery from Norplant. In: Association Pro-Bienestar de la Familia Colombiana (PROFAMILIA), PCII, International Planned Parenthood Federation Western Hemisphere Region (IPPF/WHR). USAID, Washington, DC; 1994.
29. Diop F, Yazbeck A, Bitrán R. The impact of alternative cost recovery schemes on access and equity in Niger. Health Policy Plan 1995;10:223-40. PMID:10151841 doi:10.1093/heapol/10.3.223
30. Bratt JH, Weaver MA, Foreit J, De Vargas T, Janowitz B. The impact of price changes on demand for family planning and reproductive health services in Ecuador. Health Policy Plan 2002;17:281-7. PMID:12135994 doi:10.1093/heapol/17.3.281
31. Abdu Z, Mohammed Z, Bashier I, Eriksson B. The impact of user fee exemption on service utilization and treatment seeking behaviour: the case of malaria in Sudan. Int J Health Plann Manage 2004;19 Suppl 1;S95-106. PMID:15686063 doi:10.1002/hpm.777
32. Kremer M, Miguel E. The illusion of sustainability. Q J Econ 2007;122:1007-65. doi:10.1162/qjec.122.3.1007
33. Bennett S. The impact of the increase in user fees: a preliminary investigation. Lesotho Epidemiol Bull 1989;4:29-37.
34. Issifou S, Kremsner PG. Impact of increasing consultation fees on malaria in Africa. Wien Klin Wochenschr 2004;116:332-3. PMID:15237660
35. Nabyonga J. Desmet M, Karamagi H, Kadama PY, Omaswa FG, Walker O. Abolition of cost-sharing is pro-poor: evidence from Uganda. Health Policy Plan 2005;20:100-8. PMID:15746218 doi:10.1093/heapol/czi012
36. Ellis RP, Chawla M. Demand side impacts: experiment in health care cost recovery in Niger. Bethesda, MD: Abt Associates; 1994.
37. McPake B, Hanson K, Mills A. Community financing of health care in Africa: an evaluation of the Bamako initiative. Soc Sci Med 1993;36:1383-95. PMID:8511627 doi:10.1016/0277-9536(93)90381-D
38. Russell S. Illuminating cases: understanding the economic burden of illness through case study household research. Health Policy Plan 2005;20:277-89. PMID:16000367 doi:10.1093/heapol/czi035
39. Gilson L, McIntyre D. Removing user fees for primary care in Africa: the need for careful action. BMJ 2005;331:762-5. PMID:16195296 doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7519.762
40. Sauerborn R, Nougtara A, Latimer E. The elasticity of demand for health care in Burkina Faso: differences across age and income groups. Health Policy Plan 1994;9:185-92. PMID:15726780 doi:10.1093/heapol/9.2.185
41. Pannarunothai S, Mills A. The poor pay more: health-related inequality in Thailand. Soc Sci Med 1997;44:1781-90. PMID:9194240 doi:10.1016/S0277- 9536(96)00287-0
42. O'Donnell O, van Doorslaer E, Rannan-Eliya R, Somanathan A, Adhikari SR, Harbianto D, et al. Who benefits from public spending on health care in Asia? EQUITAP project [working paper no. 3]. 2005.
43. Dixon-Woods M, Bonas S, Booth A, Jones DR, Miller T, Sutton AJ, et al. How can systematic reviews incorporate qualitative research? A critical perspective. Qual Res 2006;6:27-44. doi:10.1177/1468794106058867
44. Pawson R, Greenhalgh T, Harvey G, Walshe K. Realist review - a new method of systematic review designed for complex policy interventions. J Health Serv Res Policy 2005;10 Suppl 1;21-34. PMID:16053581 doi:10.1258/ 1355819054308530
45. Ranson MK, Sinha T, Morris SS, Mills AJ. CRTs - cluster randomized trials or "courting real troubles": challenges of running a CRT in rural Gujarat, India. Can J Public Health 2006;97:72-5. PMID:16512334