Preface to the 2019 Special Issue on Public Healthcare in the Developing World

This special edition of the Journal of Developing Societies offers a sampling from the best of recent scholarship on public healthcare issues from around the world. While there exist several good studies that access the damage that came to public healthcare in the 1980s and 1990s, the time of the free market or neoliberal policies, it is time now to take a fresh look. This special issue takes up several vital issues in global public health, with essays evaluating the situation on the ground in selected regions in the developing world. This introduction examines some of the common problems in providing heathcare in developing nations: the lack of funding for public healthcare systems, the fragmentation of service, rising out-of-pocket expenditures, the limited coverage of health insurance plans, and the links between poverty and poor health. Pathways to achieving universal access to good healthcare are evaluated, noting the success of systems that emphasize disease prevention; the provisioning of potable water and sanitation; and active community involvement. The political-economy of addressing these policy challenges is emphasized.