Theincreasingcostofhealthcareisofgreatconcerninmanyjurisdictions.Thereare several measuresthat canbeused todeal with escalating costswhilemaintaining or improving the efficiency of the system: these range from limits on demand and supply of health services to improved effectiveness and tighter administrative control. The variety of measures available has been tried with varying success in different settings. Becauseofthisprofusionofeconomicstrategiesandtheiraftermaths,itwouldbe helpful for policy-makers everywhere to become familiar with economic health – reform experiences and their outcomes. In this vein, the IHE sought to develop a book of comparative economic aspects of health care reform, presented in a systematic way, across a variety of countries. The book would be written by leading experts in their countries, and would provide in a readable form descriptions and analyses of recent reforms. This is the kernel that led to the present book. Severalquestionsguidedourinquiry.Isthereaconvergenceofeconomicpolicies amongcountries?Areanyofthestrategiesthathavebeenhighlightedbytheauthors becoming permanent fixtures on the health economic policy scene? The absence of evidence in this area has generated questions which seem to be on the minds of policy–makerseverywhere.Thereisaneedforinternationalscientificleadershipin the economic policy arena, as there is in many clinical fields. Wecouldnotcovereverycountrysowechosetofocusonalimitednumberbased on the fact that each has its own national health care system, is at a similar level of economic development, and has been known to employ a variety of strategies. Wehopethatthisvolumehelpstofillinthegapofknowledgeinthisarea,andthat the systematic approach that has been taken provides a useful tool for those interested in health care reform to get a better grasp of how policy makers have attacked this complex problem.