title: Working with funding agencies in the delivery of healthcare in the Asia Pacific region.
abstract: Australia is one of the healthiest countries in the world, although we have a long way to go before the health of Indigenous Australians matches that of the population as a whole. In 1999-2000, the Commonwealth Government spent 8.5% of GDP on healthcare, ranking our health spending among the highest in the world. By contrast, many people living in our region are burdened by emerging epidemics, such as HIV/AIDS, diseases associated with economic and industrial development, and problems of communicable disease and nutritional deficiencies. For decades, many Australians have been working towards improving health in these developing countries by providing their knowledge and expertise. While the financial resources for healthcare are largely the responsibility of individual national governments, the international system plays an important role in assisting developing countries to improve their health standards. From our own experiences of working with AusAID and the World Health Organization on two projects to eradicate iodine-deficiency disorders in China and Tibet, we illustrate how health professionals can work with international aid agencies to deliver healthcare and make a difference to the lives of people in developing countries.
authors.affiliation: Australian Centre for Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (ACCIDD), Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research (ICPMR), Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia. muli@icpmr.wsahs.nsw.gov.au
authors.forename: Mu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Creswell J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Eastman
mesh_terms: D001208:Asia; D001315:Australia; D002202:Capital Financing; D002681:China; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics*; D005381:Financing, Organized; D005102:Health Expenditures; D006801:Humans; D018609:Tibet