Mortality associated with alternative policy options for primary care and the Mais Médicos (More Doctors) Program in Brazil: forecasting future scenarios

Objective.

To forecast the impact of alternative scenarios of coverage changes in Brazil’s Family Health Strategy (Estratégia Saúde da Família) (ESF)—due to fiscal austerity measures and to the end of the Mais Médicos (More Doctors) Program (PMM)—on overall under-5 mortality rates (U5MRs) and under-70 mortality rates (U70MRs) from ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs) up through 2030.

The More Doctors Program and the health of indigenous peoples: the case of Alto Solimões, Amazonas, Brazil

Objective.

To describe the effects of the More Doctors Program (PMM) on the health of indigenous groups in the Alto Rio Solimões Special Indigenous Sanitary District in Brazil.

Methods.

The present descriptive study was based on individual interviews with health care professionals and users, direct field observation, and analysis of health records and secondary health care data.

Social and political crisis in Chile: the demand for universal access to health and universal health coverage

In Chile, economic development has not resolved deep inequalities. Today, attempts are being made to solve an intense political and social crisis sparked in October 2019 by a hike in public transport fares. A decade after initial implementation of the last health system reform, this continues to be a priority area of public concern––and part of what citizens are now demanding. This social movement is proposing new reforms that will require consensus in order to be viable from a technical and political standpoint. The necessary changes in the health field cannot be postponed.

Telehealth and hepatitis C treatment for indigenous communities in the United States

To the editor: In the United States (US), an estimated 2.4 million persons have chronic infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV).(1) The number of deaths from HCV-related mortality is greater than that of HIV and tuberculosis combined.(2) Treatment with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), usually 1-3 pills a day for 8 or 12 weeks, can cure over 95% of patients.(3) Successful treatment of HCV has been shown to greatly reduce liver-related as well as all-cause mortality.(4) American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people have over twice the national rate of HCV-related mortality.(5) The largest h

Lancet Commission on Hypertension Group position statement on the global improvement of accuracy standards for devices that measure blood pressure

The Lancet Commission on Hypertension identified that a key action to address the worldwide burden of high blood pressure (BP) was to improve the quality of BP measurements by using BP devices that have been validated for accuracy. Currently, there are over 3 000 commercially available BP devices, but many do not have published data on accuracy testing according to established scientific standards. This problem is enabled through weak or absent regulations that allow clearance of devices for commercial use without formal validation. In addition, new BP technologies have emerged (e.g.

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