POVILL is an international partnership of 10 organisations contributing to efforts to reduce the incidence of severe poverty due to major illness and improve access by the poor to effective health services.
        Major illness in the family has become an important cause of household impoveri shment in China and the ex-command ec onomies of Southeast Asia, as these countries have managed the transition to a market economy. This is related to the low levels of government funding of health care and the rising cost of medical care The Governments of China and Cambodia have recently announced. major policy initiatives to address this problem and the government of Laos is considering similar action. The purpose of POVILL is to support the initiatives and assess their performance, whilst contributing to international knowledge about how to help households cope with major illness. The study will take place in rural areas in Cambodia, Laos and two provinces in Central China.