Gaceta sanitaria
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To identify the psychosocial risk factors related to psychological demands perceived by specialist physicians from six public hospitals in the province of Valencia in Spain. ⋯ Hospital physicians report a large number of psychosocial risk factors. Some involve the characteristics of the medical profession (contact with suffering and death, responsibility for human life, uncertainty about diagnosis and treatment) and others concern work organization (workload and staffing shortages).
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Every year infectious diseases kill about 13 million people, about 30.000 deaths a day. Almost half of the victims are children younger than 5 years old, most of them belong to developing countries. Most of the premature deaths and the incapacity cases associated to infectious diseases could be avoided if the poor had access to medicines. ⋯ They have been press, taken to court and threaten of sanctions by the pharmaceutical industry and some developed countries governments. The decision of some developing countries to fight for their most needed people's health added to the international campaign for the access to essential medicines defended by some non governmental organizations like Act Up, Treatment Action Campaign, Doctors Without Borders and Intermon Oxfam have implied small victories on behalf of the poor countries access to medicines. But deeper changes in the patent rules and the investigation of the diseases of the developing world are needed to improve health in the developing countries.
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Comparative Study
Transformation and trends in preventive and social medicine education at the undergraduate level in a Brazilian medical school.
In the present study we discuss some transformations in undergraduate training in Preventive and Social Medicine in the Department of Social Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine of Ribeiro Preto, University of So Paulo, from 1993 to 1999. Aspects of the relationship between medical training and the reorganization of local services of the Brazilian national health system, and between graduate teaching in Preventive and Social Medicine and medical education as a whole are discussed. The crisis in Preventive and Social Medicine and its influence of medical training are evaluated. Trends for the application of a body of knowledge of the specialty and for the relationship between the department and the medical school are discussed.
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Comparative Study
[Risk factors associated to tuberculosis patients with positive sputum microscopy].
The main factor responsible for producing new cases of tuberculosis by exogen transmission is the existence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the sputum of tuberculosis patients. The objective of this study was to determine the risk factors associated to positive smear tuberculosis cases in Lleida (Spain). ⋯ HIV infection implies a reduced impact in endemecity of tuberculosis. Study of contacts and the implementation of directly observed treatment must be considered not only for coinfected HIV cases and IDU but also for adult males, especially those who consume alcohol, particularly when they have caverns.
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Identify factors explaining variability in prescribing costs after reviewing ecological data related to costs and socio-demographic characteristics of the health care zones in the autonomous region of Valencia, and explore the usefulness of using the model to set prescribing budgets in basic healthcare zones. ⋯ Socio-demographic factors and certain variables associated with health care utilization can be applied, within certain limitations, to set prescribing budgets in basic healthcare zones.