The concept of Value-Based Medical Care originated in Western culture. It observes health care goods and services through the market perspective. Historically, Health Technology Assessment (HTA) is a complex procedure designed to evaluate real benefits of new medical technologies. It has evolved from the Evidence Based Medicine legacy of English epidemiologist Archie Cochrane and McMaster University of Canada. Throughout many decades since the Cold War Era throughout the Era of Accelerated Globalization, this methodology has spread worldwide. The process took place through the establishment of national HTA agencies (INAHTA network) primarily in rich OECD countries of North America and Western Europe. Much later it continued to take roots in Japan, Korea, the wider Far East Asia region and even later to Eastern Europe and Latin America.

The methodological principle of Cost-Effectiveness is one of the basic equations of theoretical health economics. It lies at the roots of HTA assessment of novel medical technologies. Dissemination of this valuable knowledge across LMICs (Low and Middle Income Countries) and Emerging Markets has contributed to far more informed resource allocation. Ultimately, such health policies in the long run have created an array of advantages such as wider citizen access to essential medicines. This has happened due to improved cost savings and better allocative efficiency. Yet these same methods have created moral dilemmas in cases where the only curable options for life-threatening diseases are expensive, novel, targeted biological drugs such as monoclonal antibodies. These huge budget technologies leave little room for affordability in low and middle-income nations. In such a landscape, even the wisest health policies leave many patients behind on lengthy waiting lists. These queues are caused by the financial constraints limiting access to basic medical care in other areas of medicine. This is the case with an array of technologies ranging from radiation oncology, surgical implantology in orthopedics and vascular surgery, rare diseases, invasive radiology imaging, or organ transplantation procedures. So far, higher citizen expectations are found in the most rapidly developing emerging nations such as the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa). The higher line of affordability has created pressures in two ways. First is the occurrence of catastrophic household expenditure due to the serious illness of a family member dragging entire families into poverty and debt. Another is increasing wealth inequality measured via Gini indexes. There is high and ever-growing number of out-of-pocket citizens spending in some of the leading Emerging Markets. It is one of the challenges questioning the long-term financial sustainability of these national health systems.

This Special Issue welcomes an array of contributions depicting any of the related public health issues described above. Original research and review articles are welcome.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Health financing and spending landscape worldwide
• Health expenditures in the emerging markets and LMICs (Low and Middle Income Countries)
• BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) nations and their contribution to the landscape of global health sectors
• Next Eleven (South Korea, Mexico, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Turkey, Vietnam) nations and their contribution to the landscape of global health sectors
• Sustainable Millennium Development Goals (SMDG) achievements across Low and Middle Income Countries worldwide
• Overachievement in terms of SMDG by the Republic of China
• WHO, GAVI Alliance, UNESCO and other multilateral agencies contribution to fighting poverty in LMICs
• Inequalities in access and affordability of medical care across LMICs
• Core non-communicable diseases (cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, mental illnesses, COPD) across LMICs
• Malaria, HIV/AIDS, and other major infectious diseases across LMICs and their impact on the sustainability of health systems
• Medical care and its effectiveness from the perspective of HTA in LMICs
• Health Technology Assessment dissemination across LMICs and Emerging Markets
• Cost-effectiveness principles dissemination across LMICs and Emerging Markets
• Population ageing consequences for the sustainability of contemporary health systems