Central and eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union have faced profound challenges as a result of the political and economic transition. Human health and health
systems suffered in the region as policy makers struggled with profound structural changes coupled with reduced budgets, lack of appropriately trained staff, and rising poverty levels. Following this tumultuous period, comes a critical opportunity to assess the progress, challenges and achievements of health sector reform as well as to prepare for the next phases of reform. There is a need to monitor and evaluate health reforms in order to be aware of the impacts of the health system transition, either positive or negative. One of the ways to do it is to appraise fairness in health sector. Fairness, as an ethical issue, is a multi-dimensional concept. It includes equity in health outcomes, in access to all forms of care, and in financing; efficiency in management and allocation; for the public to be empowered to assure that its health is promoted, fairness must also include accountability. Finally, fairness also includes appropriate forms of patient and provider autonomy. This study aims to advance a proposal for assessment of the fairness of current health reforms in Azerbaijan Republic, one of those countries that underwent the transition period after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and where the equity, efficiency and quality of health care are highly in doubt. The methodology employed in this study protocol is the”Benchmarks of Fairness”, which was developed by Norman Daniels et al, and proposed as an evidence-based approach to assess the fairness in health sector in developing countries. All previous methods to assess equity in health are based on quantitative methods but have little knowledge about qualitative research. The Benchmarks of Fairness aims to explore the use of qualitative assessment and see how it complements the quantitative tool. Since we know the limitations of quantitative technique as well as the limitations of qualitative technique, combining both tools has proved
to give better insight on measurement of equity. This study protocol is prepared and will be checked in a pilot study. I am convinced that the data obtained from the benchmarks will be useful to monitor the impacts of health policy and to measure the distribution and size of health problems at different dimensions, and to set more feasible policy to promote equity in health in my country.