Abstract: Various aspects of the prospects, activities, and limitations of health care programs, nationally and internationally, are addressed for students and practitioners of health care, as they relate various disadvantaged elements of the world populaton, including nations, minorities, the elderly, women, the poor, or those geographically isolated from health care opportunities. Ten principal themes are discussed in detail under 4 general sections of the text: 1) health and health care vs. environmental factors (the growing disparity and similarities between rich and poor nations); 2) access to and quality and cost of health care services in the US; 3) access to health occupations in the US and and 4) access to health care decision-making (mechanisms for making, implementing, and evaluating health care decisions; how alternatives for health care can be modified (legislative provisions, removal of barriers and constraints). The last 3 sections include discussions of international comparisons. ().