Health Care

• World's largest publicly funded health service
• Good healthcare should be provided for all, regardless of wealth
• Exception of prescriptions and optical and dental services
• NHS remains free at the point of use for anyone who is resident in the UK
• 63.2 million people
• Based on three core principles:
• Meets the needs of everyone
• Free at point of delivery
• Based on clinical need, not ability to pay
• NHS employs more than 1.7 million people
• 1 million patients every 36 hours
• Funding from taxation
• 1948 (when launched) had a budget of £437 million
• 2012/3 - £108.9 billion
• No dscrimination when a resident of one country of the UK requires treatment in another, but patient move back to home country when fit enough to be moved

• One of world's most effective and efficient
• 2004, 7 deaths for every 1000 children aged <5 - a decrease from 46 such deaths 40 years earlier
• one of highest life expectancys - 77
• Community based polyclinic - 498 nationwide serving a catchment area of between 30,000 and 60,000 people.
• Polyclinics also act as organsational hub for 20-40 neighbourhood based family doctor and nurse offices & research and teaching centres for medical, nursing and allied health sciences students. - backbone of Cuba's health system.
• Offers 22 services
• Help other issues such as quiting smoking - counselling 

• Main characteristics
• 4 tier health care system
• 56 rural hospitals, 927 public and private health care centres, 55 district hospitals, 8 provincial hosipitals, 4 general hosipitals and 5 central hosipitals located in major cities. 
• Hyperinflation - hospitals not able to get basic drugs and medicines
• More or less collapsed
• Gains on national health were eroded by impact of HIV/AIDS pandemic & economic crisis since 2000
• Emigration of doctors and people with medical knowledge
• August 2008 - struck by ongoing cholera epidemic
• Been focussing on Goal 4 and 5 of the MDGs - reduce child mortality and improve maternal health care.

Types of healthcare

• Primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary levels
• Church based clinics, hospitals etc
• Financial planning issues
• Imbalance between curative and preventative services
• Community involvement 

Disadvantages

• Not free - 3rd poorest country in the world
• Level and quality of healthcare system drastically effected by political conditions
• Dependent on private expenditure
• Emigration of nurses out of Zimbabwe
• Masculinity barrier - men refuse to use HIV services in Zimbabwe
• Many emigrated to find higher salaries and better working conditions
• 2000-2010 - less than 2 doctors to every 10,000 people 
• 80% midwife positions remain vacant
• Hyperinflation & lack of harmony between gov & ministries make buying healthcare resources hard

Advantages

• Range of healthcare providers compares favourably to other African countries
• Rural areas have a range of health care available
• WHO, World Bank and Unicef are launching a revival of the Zimbabwean health sector over the next 3 years - aiming to reduce maternal mortality rate by 17%