JISCMail - EHPG Archives

It features six short country snapshots, orginally commissioned by the Commonwealth Fund that look at recent developments and reform. There is also a contribution from historian Louis Galambos, who highlights challenges for the global vaccine industry and how these parallel past events.

Two articles look at how knowledge can better inform policy making: Hans Stein looks at the role of international organisations in public health research across the EU. He calls for more emphasis on ensuring that research is feasible, policy relevant and linked to the policy making process. Philipa Mladovsky and colleagues, meantime, argue that we are losing an opportunity to make use of much existing knowledge. The European Commission, they contend, should take measures to promote much more open access to data collected within Research Framework projects.

Elsewhere Brian Turner looks at recent debates and developments within the private health insurance market in Ireland, where the decision to commence risk equalisation payments led to the withdrawal of BUPA from the market and much legal action. We end with two articles looking at governance issues in the pharmaceutical sector and some of the policy challenges faced in central and Eastern Europe.