ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book illustrates how incomplete and apparently unreliable health status data, typical of any developing country, can be used as a basis for health planning and decision-making about resources allocation in the health sector. It shows how the deterioration of the country's formal economic and social infrastructure has caused communities to turn to self-help initiatives to meet basic economic and social needs. The book outlines an emerging system of prepaid medical care, including health insurance and other risksharing mechanisms, in the Lima/Callao metropolitan area. It analyzes the distribution of health care facilities in Peru, and finds that it bears little relation to population distribution. The book focuses on records of doctors from the registry of the Peruvian Medical Association, combined with data from voter registration files and the 1981 national census.