Some sort of medical infrastructure has existed in all modern states and dependent territories. However, healthcare systems that provide legal entitlements to medical care at least for specific groups of the population, and that regulate access to and provision of healthcare on a national level only came into existence at the end of the nineteenth century.

In our chapter, we trace the global emergence of healthcare systems and test whether their introduction date is related to a diffusion process through networks of trade, culture or health-related cooperation, or whether it is mainly influenced by domestic medical needs, capabilities, and wealth.

• Polte, Alexander, Sebastian Haunss, Achim Schmid, Gabriela de Carvalho and Heinz Rothgang. 2022. “The Emergence of Healthcare Systems” In Networks and Geographies of Global Social Policy Diffusion: Culture, Economy, and Colonial Legacies, eds. Michael Windzio Ivo Mossig Fabian Besche-Truthe and Helen Seitzer. Cham: Palgrave, 111–138.