Approaches to Universal Health Coverage and Occupational Health and Safety for the Informal Workforce in Developing Countries

Approaches to Universal Health Coverage and Occupational Health and Safety for the Informal Workforce in Developing Countries

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2016-07-06

Total Pages: 141

ISBN-13: 0309374065

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Universal health coverage (UHC) has been recognized by the World Health Organization as a key element in reducing social inequality and a critical component of sustainable development and poverty reduction. In most of the world UHC is sought through a combination of public and private-sector health care systems. In most low- and middle-income countries health systems are evolving to increasingly rely on the private sector because the public sector lacks the infrastructure and staff to meet all health care needs. With growing individual assets available for private-sector expenditure, patients often seek better access to technology, staff, and medicines. However, in low-income countries nearly 50 percent of health care financing is out-of-pocket. With the expected increase in the overall fraction of care provided through the private sector, these expenditures can be financially catastrophic for individuals in the informal workforce. In the global workforce of approximately 3 billion people, only 10 to 15 percent are estimated to have some type of access to occupational health services. The informal workforce is growing worldwide, and the degree to which its occupational health needs are satisfied depends on the capabilities of the general health care system. In July 2014, the Institute of Medicine held a workshop on approaches to universal health coverage and occupational health and safety for informal sector workers in developing countries. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions from this workshop. Approaches to Universal Health Coverage and Occupational Health and Safety for the Informal Workforce in Developing Countries identifies best practices and lessons learned for the informal workforce in developing countries in the financing of health care with respect to health care delivery models that are especially suitable to meeting a population's needs for a variety of occupational health issues, including the prevention of or mitigation of hazardous risks and the costs of providing medical and rehabilitation services and other benefits to various types of workers within this population. These experiences and lessons learned may be useful for stakeholders in moving the discussions, policies, and mechanisms forward to increase equitable access to quality health services without financial hardship for the informal workforce.


Global Occupational Safety and Health Management Handbook

Global Occupational Safety and Health Management Handbook

Author: Thomas P. Fuller

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2019-02-12

Total Pages: 401

ISBN-13: 0429509359

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This book was written with the belief that everyone globally has the right to a safe and healthy workplace. An 8-year old carrying bricks in the mid-day sun in Nepal, a pharmaceutical business executive on assignment in Bangladesh, or a mother polishing stone in her home in Tanzania; each has a fundamental right to a workplace free from risk of injury, illness, and death. Global Occupational Safety and Health Management Handbook is a broad presentation and discussion of the issues and obstacles facing the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) profession today in providing safe workplaces globally. Readers can use this book to find resources to assist in the development of their programs and to become informed about the basic structures of international OSH development and governance. Readers can also rely on this book to become more aware of global OSH issues and problems that they may be personally or professionally willing and able to help address. Seasoned OSH professionals can expect to learn about new ways to look at complicated and controversial topics. Young professionals and students can read this book to better understand the important global OSH interrelationships and challenges of the future. Features Serves as a one-stop resource for information on important international safety and health topics and issues Provides detailed information about international OSH tripartite, nongovernmental, and professional organizations Describes the various global OSH educational and professional development needs, and international approaches to expanding capacity and awareness of the profession Discusses controversial international OSH working conditions and explains their global impacts


Handbook of Socioeconomic Determinants of Occupational Health

Handbook of Socioeconomic Determinants of Occupational Health

Author: Töres Theorell

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-08-12

Total Pages: 704

ISBN-13: 3030314383

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This anthology provides readers of scientific literature on socioeconomic factors and working conditions with the newest knowledge in this field. Since our world is subjected to constant change in accelerating speed, scientific reviews and updates are needed. Fortunately, research methodology in epidemiology, physiology, psychology and sociology is also developing rapidly and therefore the scientific community can provide politicians and policy makers with increasingly sophisticated and exact descriptions of societal factors in relation to work. The anthology starts in the macro level sphere – with international perspectives and reviews related to working conditions in relation to political change (the fall of the Soviet Union) gender, age, precarious employment, national economy and retirement. Two chapters relate to national policies and activities in international organizations. The second part of the book relates to the meso level sphere – with reviews on social patterns in distributions of psychosocial and physical risks at work in general as well as reviews on noise, shift work, under/overemployment, occupational physical activity, job intensity (which may be a particularly important problem in low income countries), digitization in modern work, climate change, childhood determinants of occupational health in adult years and theoretical models currently used in occupational epidemiology - demand/control, effort/reward, organizational justice, psychosocial safety climate, conflicts, bullying/harassment. This part of the book ends with two chapters on interventions (one chapter on the use of cultural interventions and one on interventions and their evaluation in general) and two chapters on financial aspects of poor/good work environments and evaluations of interventions. In the third part of the book the micro level is addressed. Here mechanisms translating working conditions into physiology are discussed. This starts in general theory relating basic theories regarding energy storage and release to psychosocial theory (extension of demand control theory). It also includes regeneration physiology, autonomic nervous system function, immunology and adverse behaviour. Sections in the Handbook: Macro-level determinants of occupational health: Akizumi Tsutsumi, Meso-level determinants of occupational health: Morten Wahrendorf and Jian Li, Micro-level determinants of occupational health: Bradley J. Wright


Key Policies for Addressing the Social Determinants of Health and Health Inequities

Key Policies for Addressing the Social Determinants of Health and Health Inequities

Author: Matthew Saunders

Publisher: World Health Organization

Published: 2017-09-27

Total Pages: 92

ISBN-13: 9289052651

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Evidence indicates that actions within four main themes (early child development fair employment and decent work social protection and the living environment) are likely to have the greatest impact on the social determinants of health and health inequities. A systematic search and analysis of recommendations and policy guidelines from intergovernmental organizations and international bodies identified practical policy options for action on social determinants within these four themes. Policy options focused on early childhood education and care; child poverty; investment strategies for an inclusive economy; active labour market programmes; working conditions; social cash transfers; affordable housing; and planning and regulatory mechanisms to improve air quality and mitigate climate change. Applying combinations of these policy options alongside effective governance for health equity should enable WHO European Region Member States to reduce health inequities and synergize efforts to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.


Crossing the Global Quality Chasm

Crossing the Global Quality Chasm

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2019-01-27

Total Pages: 399

ISBN-13: 0309477891

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In 2015, building on the advances of the Millennium Development Goals, the United Nations adopted Sustainable Development Goals that include an explicit commitment to achieve universal health coverage by 2030. However, enormous gaps remain between what is achievable in human health and where global health stands today, and progress has been both incomplete and unevenly distributed. In order to meet this goal, a deliberate and comprehensive effort is needed to improve the quality of health care services globally. Crossing the Global Quality Chasm: Improving Health Care Worldwide focuses on one particular shortfall in health care affecting global populations: defects in the quality of care. This study reviews the available evidence on the quality of care worldwide and makes recommendations to improve health care quality globally while expanding access to preventive and therapeutic services, with a focus in low-resource areas. Crossing the Global Quality Chasm emphasizes the organization and delivery of safe and effective care at the patient/provider interface. This study explores issues of access to services and commodities, effectiveness, safety, efficiency, and equity. Focusing on front line service delivery that can directly impact health outcomes for individuals and populations, this book will be an essential guide for key stakeholders, governments, donors, health systems, and others involved in health care.


Social Health Insurance for Developing Nations

Social Health Insurance for Developing Nations

Author: William C. Hsiao

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13:

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Specialist groups have often advised health ministers and other decision makers in developing countries on the use of social health insurance (SHI) as a way of mobilizing revenue for health, reforming health sector performance, and providing universal coverage. This book reviews the specific design and implementation challenges facing SHI in low- and middle-income countries and presents case studies on Ghana, Kenya, Philippines, Colombia, and Thailand.


The Informal Economy Revisited

The Informal Economy Revisited

Author: Martha Chen

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-07-14

Total Pages: 323

ISBN-13: 0429575386

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This landmark volume brings together leading scholars in the field to investigate recent conceptual shifts, research findings and policy debates on the informal economy as well as future challenges and directions for research and policy. Well over half of the global workforce and the vast majority of the workforce in developing countries work in the informal economy, and in countries around the world new forms of informal employment are emerging. Yet the informal workforce is not well understood, remains undervalued and is widely stigmatised. Contributors to the volume bridge a range of disciplinary perspectives including anthropology, development economics, law, political science, social policy, sociology, statistics, urban planning and design. The Informal Economy Revisited also focuses on specific groups of informal workers, including home-based workers, street vendors and waste pickers, to provide a grounded insight into disciplinary debates. Ultimately, the book calls for a paradigm shift in how the informal economy is perceived to reflect the realities of informal work in the Global South, as well as the informal practices of the state and capital, not just labour. The Informal Economy Revisited is the culmination of 20 years of pioneering work by WIEGO (Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing), a global network of researchers, development practitioners and organisations of informal workers in 90 countries. Researchers, practitioners, policy-makers and advocates will all find this book an invaluable guide to the significance and complexities of the informal economy, and its role in today’s globalised economy. The Open Access version of this book, available at https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9780429200724, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license


The Global Informal Workforce

The Global Informal Workforce

Author: International Monetary Fund

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2021-07-23

Total Pages: 414

ISBN-13: 1513575910

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The Global Informal Workforce is a fresh look at the informal economy around the world and its impact on the macroeconomy. The book covers interactions between the informal economy, labor and product markets, gender equality, fiscal institutions and outcomes, social protection, and financial inclusion. Informality is a widespread and persistent phenomenon that affects how fast economies can grow, develop, and provide decent economic opportunities for their populations. The COVID-19 pandemic has helped to uncover the vulnerabilities of the informal workforce.


Health Insurance Handbook

Health Insurance Handbook

Author: Hong Wang

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2012-01-18

Total Pages: 141

ISBN-13: 082138953X

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Many countries that subscribe to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have committed to ensuring access to basic health services for their citizens. Health insurance has been considered and promoted as the major financing mechanism to improve access to health services, as well to provide financial risk protection.


Illicit Business

Illicit Business

Author: Anthea McCarthy-Jones

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-10-29

Total Pages: 170

ISBN-13: 1040134092

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Illicit business is big business. It covers a diverse range of activities from money laundering, drug trafficking and human trafficking through to the manufacture of counterfeit goods and the multiple activities in informal and shadow economies. This book introduces the world of illegal business. The authors contextualise the evolution in practices of illegal business around the world, highlighting the importance of organised crime, shadow economies, and informal sectors. Incorporating scholarly insights with real world examples, the book provides a much-needed business and economics analysis of a subject that is otherwise dominated by criminologists. With a range of case studies, this book provides a global approach that will be valuable reading for students seeking to understand the business of crime.