Bulletin of the World Health Organization
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Bull. World Health Organ. · Jun 2014
Relative health performance in BRICS over the past 20 years: the winners and losers.
To determine whether the health performance of Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa--the countries known as BRICS--has kept in step with their economic development. ⋯ When evaluating a country's health performance in terms of avoidable mortality, it is useful to compare that performance against the performance of other countries. Such comparison allows any country-specific improvements to be distinguished from general global improvements.
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Bull. World Health Organ. · Jun 2014
Time series analysis of the impact of tobacco control policies on smoking prevalence among Australian adults, 2001-2011.
To determine the impact of tobacco control policies and mass media campaigns on smoking prevalence in Australian adults. ⋯ Increased tobacco taxation, more comprehensive smoke-free laws and increased investment in mass media campaigns played a substantial role in reducing smoking prevalence among Australian adults between 2001 and 2011.
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Bull. World Health Organ. · Jun 2014
Progress towards universal health coverage in BRICS: translating economic growth into better health.
Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa--the countries known as BRICS--represent some of the world's fastest growing large economies and nearly 40% of the world's population. Over the last two decades, BRICS have undertaken health-system reforms to make progress towards universal health coverage. This paper discusses three key aspects of these reforms: the role of government in financing health; the underlying motivation behind the reforms; and the value of the lessons learnt for non-BRICS countries. ⋯ Negotiations between national and subnational entities have often been challenging but Brazil has been able to achieve good coordination between federal and state entities via a constitutional delineation of responsibility. In the Russian Federation, poor coordination has led to the fragmented pooling and inefficient use of resources. In mixed health systems it is essential to harness both public and private sector resources.
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Bull. World Health Organ. · May 2014
The global burden of disabling hearing impairment: a call to action.
At any age, disabling hearing impairment has a profound impact on interpersonal communication, psychosocial well-being, quality of life and economic independence. According to the World Health Organization's estimates, the number of people with such impairment increased from 42 million in 1985 to about 360 million in 2011. This last figure includes 7.5 million children less than 5 years of age. ⋯ The opportunity offered by the emerging global and high-level interest in promoting disability-inclusive post-2015 development goals and disability-free child survival is also discussed. Since the costs of rehabilitative services are so high as to be prohibitive in low- and middle-income countries, the critical role of primary prevention is emphasized. If the goals outlined in the World Health Assembly's 1995 resolution on the prevention of hearing impairment are to be reached by Member States, several effective country-level initiatives - including the development of public-private partnerships, strong leadership and measurable time-bound targets - will have to be implemented without further delay.