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Public Health Policy and Medical Missions in the Philippines: The Case of Oral-Facial Clefting
Roger Lee Mendoza, MPA, PhD*
Mcgill University
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: profdrmendoza{at}yahoo.com.
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Abstract |
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This article examines the critical role of medical missions as alternative or proxy health delivery agencies in developing countries like the Philippines. Why and how they exist, what they can and cannot do, how they interact with the for-profit and public health sectors, and what challenges they face in the context of underdevelopment are analyzed by using a proposed structural–behavioral framework. We find that these missions can offer short-term benefits to specialized public health problems, such as oral–facial clefting, but depend on public and private partnerships and resources for long-term solutions. The article thus suggests that health care provision in developing countries should also be treated as a managerial issue. The challenge is for Third World governments to promote effective trisector collaborations, improve accessibility and adequacy of services, and support socially redistributive health policies.
First published on November 6, 2008, doi:10.1177/1010539508327028
Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health 2009;21:94.
A more recent version of this article appeared on January 1, 2009

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[Abstract]
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