ABSTRACT
The extensive size of private sector activity and deliberate policies promoting it, especially in low- and middle-income countries, have led to the increasing ‘marketisation’ of the health sector and a concomitant need for stronger regulation. The rationale for licensing is that consumers are unable to judge for themselves the quality of the professionals they seek services from. An expert evaluation of competence to practise which can be clearly signalled provides information with public good characteristics, since the information is non-rival. An important current debate that concerns the regulation of entry is that of ‘task shifting’. ‘Task shifting’ is one label to describe the reallocation of health provision roles from more expensive to less expensive health professionals, or from health professionals to lay health workers. The use of quality registers has also been discussed in terms of quality assurance.
