The WHO definition of the total health expenditure is the sum of public and private health expenditures as a ratio of total population. It covers the provision of health services (preventive and curative), family planning activities, nutrition activities, and emergency aid designated for health but does not include provision of water and sanitation.

Traditional medicine refers to all knowledge, skills and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures, whether they can be explained or not. These might be used to maintain health as well as prevent, diagnose, improve or treat physical and mental illness.

The treatment episode is a standard period of treatment during which a patient is given a specific medicine. Treatment episodes are used as a base for comparison in healthcare statistics, but are also an important feature for forecasting and quantification, the second step of the supply chain management cycle.