Healthcare in contexts of poverty and conflict

This dissertation is composed by a set of studies on access to and preventive healthcare in contexts of poverty, conflict and complex demographic history. The first chapter dedicates to traditional healing practices and their role in the modern world. Using data from Indonesia, results show demand for traditional treatment changes with medical treatment prices and supply, which should be considered for policy purposes. The second chapter studies the introduction of a co-payment component in hospital costs for Palestine refugees living in Lebanon. Patients changed their healthcare provider after the policy and evidence suggests inequalities in access to care deepened. The third chapter describes the type of households living in these camps and identifies differences between male and female-headed families in terms of budget management and mental health. We find evidence that women leaders are more fragile in terms of income and mental health compared to their male peers. The fourth and final chapter evaluates the impact of an intersectoral intervention to tackle substance abuse among teenagers in Brazil. The experiment decreased the adolescents consumption frequency and we believe more actions of this type should be considered for similar settings.