ABSTRACT
This chapter examines a variety of health care systems. Many industrialized countries either provide health care directly through the government or provide publicly funded health insurance with comprehensive coverage. Great Britain established its National Health Service (NHS) in 1946, and it provides health care to all British residents. The general practitioner (GP) serves as the gatekeeper to the health care system. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), China spends considerably more on health per capita than do India and Indonesia, but less than Japan. In urban areas, the three-tier network was composed of street clinics, district hospitals, and city hospitals. In rural areas it consisted of village clinics, township health centers (THCs) and county hospitals. Provincial and central hospitals provided high-level referral care. Under this system, the Ministry of Health or the local Bureau of Health managed the majority of the provider organizations.
