This special section, edited by Professors Margaret Whitehead and Göran Dahlgren, presents a series of eight articles (the first three in this Journal issue) about the equity impacts of different health care systems. The studies set out to develop ways of assessing the equity impact from a household perspective: in particular, the effect on families and communities in different socioeconomic circumstances. They all come under the umbrella of the Affordability Ladder Program, which encompasses studies in Asia and Africa, where some of the most strident neoliberal market reforms have been implemented. The policy options put forward in the articles, however, should have relevance not only for the African and Asian systems but also for high-income countries.
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