By:Christopher Ekpo

Theorganizationof :People, Institutions andResources to deliverhealth careservices to meet thehealthneeds of target populations.

Good health,Responsiveness to the expectations of the population, and Fair financial contribution

(WHO, 2000).

Provision of health care services, Resource generation, Financing, and Stewardship.

(WHO,2000).

Other dimensions for the evaluation of health care systems include: Quality, Efficiency,Acceptability, andEquity.

Five primary methods of funding health care systems:Generaltaxation to the state, county or municipalitySocial health insuranceVoluntary or privatehealth insuranceOut-of-pocket paymentsDonationstocharities

Management directed through a set ofpolicies and plansadopted by government, private sector business and other groups in areas such as personal health care delivery and financing,pharmaceuticals,health human resources, andpublic health.

IRELAND

All persons resident in theRepublic of Irelandare entitled to health care through the public health care system. Managed by theHealth Service Executiveand funded by general taxation

A client may be required to pay a subsidized fee for certain health care received, this depends on income;Age, Illness or Disability

All maternity services are however paid for by the government, as well as health care of infants under 6 months of age. Emergency care is provided at a cost of 120 for a visit to hospitals Accident and Emergency departments. (Health Act, 2004).

Argentinas health care system is composed of three sectors:Thepublic sector, financed throughtaxes; Theprivate sector, financed through voluntaryinsurance schemes; and Thesocial security sector, financed through obligatory insurance schemes.

The Ministry of Health and Social Action (MSAS), oversees all three subsectors of the health care system and is responsible for setting of regulation, evaluation and collecting statistics

Health care provision inNigeriais aconcurrentresponsibility of the three tiers of government in the country;Federal(university teaching hospitals), State(general hospitals) andLocal government(health centers/dispensaries) (Akhter, 1991).

Historically, health insurance in Nigeria can be applied to a few instances: government-paid health care provided and financed for all citizens, health care provided by government through a special health insurance scheme for government employees and private firms entering contracts with private health care providers ( Vogel, 1993).

In May 1999, the government created theNational Health InsuranceScheme.The scheme encompasses government employees, the organizedprivate sectorand the informal sector. Legislative wise, the scheme also covers children under five, permanently disabled persons and prison inmates.

DoctorsNursesMidwives,ParamedicsDentists,Medical laboratory technologists,Therapists,Psychologists,Pharmacists,Chiropractors,Optometrists,Community health workers, Traditional medicine practitioners, and others.

Akhtar, R. (1991). Health Care Patterns and Planning in Developing Countries. Greenwood: Greenwood Press

Vogel, R.(1993). Financing Health Care in Sub-Saharan Africa. Greenwood: Greenwood Press

World Health Organization. (2000).World Health Report 2000 - Health systems: improving performance: Geneva, WHO Retrieved from:http://www.who.int/whr/2000/en/index.html