Total health expenditure measures the final consumption of health goods and services plus capital investment in health care infrastructure. It includes both public and private spending on personal health care, and collective health service (public health and prevention programmes and administration). It excludes health-related expenditures such as training, research and environmental health. To compare health care expenditure across countries and time, health expenditure per capita is deflated by a national price index and converted to US dollars using purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rates. |