Comparative health policy /

Blank (public policy, Brunel Univ., UK) and Burau (public policy, Univ. of Aarhus, Denmark) have provided an extremely informative book that treats today's health care concepts and issues in 11 countries: Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Sweden, the UK, and the US. First, they address the growing number of people over age 80 in all countries, expected to reach 30 percent of populations by 2050, with women the predominant surviving group. Many comparisons among countries are made and include health expenditures; public satisfaction related to the amount of gross domestic product (GDP) spent on health care; country-specific health policies; political systems, ranging from concentrated to fragmented; GDP per capita; population, ethnic, and religious composition; sources of health care funding; types and settings of health services; competing goals of health care; public health and such worldwide problems as HIV/AIDS and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS); rationing of health care; and identifying "best" health systems. This book will interest health care professionals, administrators, and economists, among others. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. General readers, researchers, and professionals/practitioners. A. R. Davis emerita, Johns Hopkins University