Cadernos de saúde pública
-
Cadernos de saúde pública · Jul 2009
Historical Article[Reflections on Brazilian National Health Reform after 20 years of experience with the Unified National Health System].
This article provides some reflections on the challenges that have arisen during 20 of experience with the implementation of Brazil's Unified National Health System and the significance of Constitutional provisions related to health for both academic research and health sector managers. The article discusses the main issues during these 20 years and how they are currently managed, and concludes by inquiring into the need for reconnecting health sector projects to a broader project for Brazilian society, without which the original proposals for health run the risk of becoming merely managerial ones.
-
Cadernos de saúde pública · Jan 2009
ReviewDengue in Southeast Asia: epidemiological characteristics and strategic challenges in disease prevention.
Dengue emerged as a public health burden in Southeast Asia during and following the Second World War and has become increasingly important, with progressively longer and more frequent cyclical epidemics of dengue fever/dengue hemorrhagic fever. Despite this trend, surveillance for this vector-borne viral disease remains largely passive in most Southeast Asian countries, without adequate laboratory support. ⋯ We also discuss a regional approach to active dengue virus surveillance, focusing on urban areas where the viruses are maintained, which may be a solution to limited financial resources since most of the countries in the region have developing economies. A regional approach would also result in a greater likelihood of success in disease prevention since the large volume of human travel is a major factor contributing to the geographical spread of dengue viruses.
-
Cadernos de saúde pública · Jan 2009
Multicenter Study[Spatial distribution of elderly individuals in a medium-sized city in São Paulo State, Brazil, according to key socio-demographic and morbidity characteristics].
Geographic Information Systems serve as important public health tools for analyzing population disease distribution and thus for identifying individuals with chronic non-communicable diseases. The current study performed a spatial analysis of the distribution of the population 60 years and older in the city of Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil, studying the socio-demographic profile and the presence of diabetes mellitus and arterial hypertension. ⋯ No spatial distribution pattern was found for elderly individuals with hypertension and diabetes, who were located heterogeneously on the map. The study suggests the use of geoprocessing techniques for digital mapping of areas covered by primary health care units, aimed at better monitoring of the distribution of elderly individuals with chronic diseases and their care by health professionals.
-
Cadernos de saúde pública · Jan 2009
[Patient satisfaction with pharmacy services: translation and validation of the Pharmacy Services Questionnaire for Brazil].
The aim of this study was to translate into Portuguese and validate the Pharmacy Services Questionnaire (PSQ). The instrument includes 20 questions that measure user satisfaction with pharmacy services, and is organized according to two factors. It uses a Likert scale of answers from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent). ⋯ The instrument obtained a Cronbach's alpha of 0.98 for the overall score. The pleasant exposure and treatment management variables showed alphas of 0.94 and 0.98. PSQ-Brazil shows adequate reliability and validity for use in the country.