This study aimed to determine levels of health insurance coverage in low- and middle-income countries and how coverage varies by people’s sociodemographic characteristics. We conducted a population size-weighted, one-stage individual participant data meta-analysis of health insurance coverage, using a population-based sample of 2,035,401 participants ages 15-59 from nationally representative household surveys in fifty-six countries during the period 2006-18. One in five people (20.3 percent) across the fifty-six countries in our study had health insurance. Health insurance coverage exceeded 50 percent in only seven countries and 70 percent in only three countries. Substantially more people had public health insurance than private health insurance (71.4 percent versus 28.6 percent). We found that men and older, more educated, and wealthier people were more likely to have health insurance; these sociodemographic gradients in health insurance coverage were strongest in sub-Saharan Africa and followed traditional lines of privilege. Low- and middle-income countries need to massively expand health insurance coverage if they intend to use insurance to achieve universal health coverage.

Population-based cancer survival is a key metric of the effectiveness of health systems in managing cancer. Data from population-based cancer registries are essential for producing reliable and robust cancer survival estimates. Georgia established a national population-based cancer registry on 1 January 2015. This is the first analysis of population-based cancer survival from Georgia.

Sex work sites have been hypothesised to be at the root of the observed heterogeneity in HIV prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa. We determined if proximity to sex work sites is associated with HIV prevalence among the general population in Zimbabwe, a country with one of the highest HIV prevalence in the world.

Air pollution is a leading cause of death globally and has resulted in the loss of millions of healthy years of life. Moreover, the health burden has fallen disproportionately upon people in many low- and middle-income countries, where air quality continues to deteriorate. To assist authorities and civil society in improving air quality, World Health Organization has published the first global update to its 2005 air quality guidelines based on a significantly improved body of evidence. To facilitate the implementation of the World Health Organization Global Air Quality Guideline recommendations, this article summarizes the purpose and rationale of the quantitative air quality guidelines and interim target levels for six key pollutants: particulate matter 2.5, particulate matter 10, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and carbon monoxide. In addition, good practice statements are established for the management of pollutants of concern that lack sufficient evidence to substantiate numerical targets.