2nd Edition: Inequalities in Health Care
A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Care Sciences & Services".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2022)
Special Issue Editors
Interests: health economics; health systems; health policy; out-of-pocket payments; access; affordability; consumer preferences; equity
Interests: health economics; health and social policy; health care financing; financial protection; equity; out-of-pocket payments
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: informal patient payments; informality; integrity in medical education; mother and child health; healthcare governance; corruption in healthcare; medical education; social science and healthcare
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Poverty, deprived living conditions, low literacy, and unhealthy lifestyles commonly go hand in hand and jointly worsen one’s health status, which makes recovery from an illness prolonged and sometimes incomplete or even impossible. In low-resource settings, access to care is also challenging. Healthcare facilities might be difficult to reach because of a lack of transportation, inadequate communication, and poor road conditions. Those who can reach the facilities might be confronted with unaffordable out-of-pocket payments, a lack of skilled care providers, as well as a lack of equipment or inability to use the equipment available at the facilities due to staff shortage or technical problems. Limited facility capacity might even prevent the necessary basic isolation of patients with a contagious disease, resulting in further spread of the disease, and some patients might not even have the chance to receive adequate care or even any care at all, which can increase morbidity and mortality outcomes.
All these factors threaten the achievement of the universal health coverage goal, i.e., equal access to health services of sufficient quality to be effective, without suffering financial hardship. Strengthening the resilience and flexibility of the health system is an important future strategy. Thus, politicians, medical practitioners, public health experts, scientists, and industry should come together to establish effective mechanisms for continuous monitoring of health systems to promptly detect acute system gaps.
This Special Issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) focuses on the inequalities in the distribution of health resources and barriers to access to adequate healthcare services. We welcome research papers, reviews, case reports, and commentaries, especially those dealing with new approaches and insights. We will accept manuscripts from different disciplines, including but not limited to public health, health economics, health systems research, and healthcare management.
Prof. Dr. Milena Pavlova
Dr. Marzena Tambor
Dr. Tetiana Stepurko
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- equity
- health resources
- healthcare services
- out-of-pocket payments
- access
- affordability
- vulnerable groups
- financial protection
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