E-DRUG: Re: Rationing (cont)

[Timothy Dodd <Cath_and_Tim_Dodd@compuserve.com>]

E-DRUG: Rationing (cont)
------------------------

Dear E-druggers,

Foppe identifies health education and information as a way of limiting
demand for healthcare.  Without doubt these strategies do affect demand,
sometimes to decrease it and sometimes to increase it.  But it should also
be recognised that they are still strategies to limit (or ration) demand on
healthcare resouces.

In a large scale experiment in Oregon, just the approach described by Foppe
was used.  The population was educated and informed about the limits of
healthcare provision and asked to choose how the limits to the provision of
healthcare should be applied.  It was fine until the people fell sick, then
they wanted the limits to be changed in their favour!  Human nature getting
in the way of nice, organised rationing!!  Maybe it is true, healthcare
would be easy if it wasn't for the patients.

I am not for a moment saying the any of the ideas about education, etc are
bad.  Rather I am saying that it not as easy as it sounds and that we need
to clear in our understanding that 'rationing' in some form will always
exist.  Once we get that understood by a majority, it becomes less easy for
the politicians to manipulate that process to their own ends.

Tim Dodd
Training Advisor, Ghana National Drug Programme
Email: Cath_and_Tim_Dodd@compuserve.com
 
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