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This paper describes measures adopted by OECD countries in the health sector in response to the economic crisis which began in 2008: increase and diversification of revenues collected for health, increases in user charges, reductions in staff, salaries and prices of health goods and services; and policies aiming to increase health systems efficiency. It then reviews the impact of these policies on health spending trends.

Developing a vaccine against HIV is one of the greatest challenges the scientific community faces today. Several vaccine candidates have undergone preliminary safety and immunogenicity studies in humans. Research teams are ready to test these vaccines in the field, yet the scientific community is divided as to whether efficacy trial should begin. This paper addresses the complex scientific and ethical issues raised by clinical trials. Considering the pressure to act rapidly to solve the crisis, scientists need to hold to the fundamental principles that guide decisions in biomedical research: respect for persons, beneficence and justice. Because these studies need to enroll a large number of subjects, prospective vaccines will need to be tested in developing, as well as industrial countries. The international community needs to work to ensure that the populations that accept the risk of the research receive the full benefit of that research and, that the vaccine proven successful, be made accessible and affordable to people in less economically developed situation.

"Our paper investigates the effect of land shortage in the Saguenay region [of Quebec, Canada,] upon the household structures, more precisely on the frequency of a) complex structures, b) celibacy, c) cohabitation with strangers (non-relatives). The data come from 28 parish censuses of the period 1881-1931. For each of these three indicators, findings show that the saturation of arable land did not entail significant changes." (SUMMARY IN ENG)

The results of public opinion surveys were used to assess the variation in views and attitudes toward the environment among different social strata in several countries. The developed countries have recently become concerned about the disappearance of the rain forests, but mere survival is more of a preoccupation for the majority of Brazilians than damage tot he rain forest. A survey of a representative national sample during the 1989 presidential election indicated that fewer than 10% of Brazilians considered ecological problems among the 3 major national problems. But in a survey to determine which environmental problems in Brazil were considered most serious, burning of the tropical forest was identified by the greatest proportion of respondents, 19%, followed by industrial pollution of rivers and cities, 17%. Surveys in 1990-91 in Great Britain indicated in contrast that some 92% of respondents were in favor of 1 or more measures to limit deterioration of the tropical forest, such as limiting importation of wood from countries not protecting their forests or contributing funds to ecological groups. Opinion surveys in British Columbia, whose main economic activity is forestry, showed that 40% of respondents considered ecological problems to be the most serious, ahead of unemployment, the economy, or social services. But specific questions on clear cutting of forests, preservation of old forest in Vancouver, or pollution controls for the paper industry, which closely affected the local economy, divided opinion and probably demonstrated a desire to protect the environment without too greatly disturbing the local economy. Study of the reactions of developing country populations to environmental problems is difficult because of language and cultural barriers, political instability, war, natural catastrophes, and difficulty of establishing representative samples, among other factors. Results of a study of the opinion of the Maya population of southern Mexico and northern Guatemala on deforestation, land use, and development are expected to appear shortly. A study in Lima identified the proliferation of refuse in the street as the worst ecological problem for 42%, followed by air pollution caused by automotive exhausts for 30%. Only 1% believed disappearance of the rain forest to be the principal problem. The ordering of ecological problems was significantly influenced by social class. A comparison of the views on ecological problems of opinion leaders and the general public was conducted in 1988-89 in 16 countries on 4 continents. In most cases, the opinions of the leaders corresponded to those of the general public. Most respondents in all countries except Saudi Arabia considered their environment of average quality, and a majority believed that the place where they lived had worsening environmental conditions over the past decade. Majorities in all countries except Japan stated they support organizations that protect the environment.

This article outlines a new system for computerized family reconstitution. It has been developed in the last 10 years by a multidisciplinary team of Quebec researchers belonging to the Inter-University Research Center on Populations (SOREP). Basically, this system is characterized by 1) an attempt to computerize as much as possible every step involved in the process of reconstitution, 2) a set of tools devised for identifying and measuring all forms and degrees of similarity between names and surnames, 3) a technique to process cases of ambiguous links, 4) a set of programs used to assess the quality of the data and the strength of the links created, and 5) an attempt to maximize the performance of the linkage work in terms of both efficiency and accuracy. The system has been designed to support several kinds of analyses, from social history and demography to population genetics. The paper contains a brief overview of the current state of research in the field record linkage, an introduction to the Saguenay population register, and a description of the system itself which has utilized sucessfully in the last year on the 660,000 Saguenay parish records, covering the period 1842-1971.

"The U.S. Bureau of the Census will use a post-enumeration survey to measure the coverage of the 1990 Decennial Census. The Census Bureau has developed and tested new procedures aimed at increasing the accuracy of the survey. This paper describes the new methods. It discusses the categories of error that occur in a post-enumeration survey and means of evaluation to determine that the results are accurate. The new methods and the evaluation of the methods are discussed in the context of a recent test post-enumeration survey."

"In this paper, we propose a model for investigating the effect of matching error on the estimators of census undercount and illustrate its use for the 1990 [U.S.] census undercount evaluation program. The mean square error [MSE] of the dual system estimator is derived under the proposed model and the components of MSE arising from matching error are defined and explained. Under the assumed model, the effect of matching error on the MSE of the estimator of census undercount is investigated. Finally, a methodology for employing the model for the optimal design of matching error evaluation studies will be illustrated and the form of the estimators will be given."

"This paper discusses methods used to handle missing data in post-enumeration surveys for estimating census coverage error, as illustrated for the 1986 Test of Adjustment Related Operations (Diffendal 1988). The methods include imputation schemes based on hot-deck and logistic regression models as well as weighting adjustments. The sensivity of undercount estimates from the 1986 test to variations in the imputation models is also explored." The test was carried out in Central Los Angeles County, California.

This paper aims at showing that the differences presently observed throughout the world between live birth sex ratios have existed, at least in part, in Western Europe too. The study of chronological series for Western countries with a relatively long registration has enabled the disclosure of significant evolutions over time. The increase of values slightly higher than 104 boys for 100 girls to values nearer to 106 has been observed in several countries, in particular in Belgium. Also included is a brief synthesis of differential factors in order to try to simulate the impact of the evolution of demographic parameters on the variations of masculinity at birth. Demographic factors include stillbirths, age of parents, and birth order, among others. The necessity of a multidimensional approach is stressed. (author's modified)

This paper provides an overview of the principal findings of recent Inter-university Population Research Centre studies of the Northeast part of Quebec province (Canada), and particularly the Saguenay region. These studies may be classified as the social history of population, historical demography, and population genetics. The purpose of the research is to study the population dynamics at the regional level from the 18th to the 20th centuries, to examine the structure and evolution of the gene pool. Focus is place on several defective genes, which cause very severe diseases in those regions of Quebec. The authors illustrate how population studies as such can help genetic epidemiology and preventive actions in general as well as ethical and legal issues raised by an approach relying on the use of a population register.

"This article outlines a new system for computerized family reconstitution. It has been developed in the last ten years by a multidisciplinary team of Quebec researchers belonging to the inter-university research center on populations (SOREP). Basically, this system is characterized by: a) an attempt to computerize as much as possible every step involved in the process of reconstitution, b) a set of tools devised for identifying and measuring all forms and degrees of similarity between names and surnames, c) a technique to process cases of ambiguous links, d) a set of programs used to assess the quality of the data and the strength of the links created, [and] e) an attempt to maximize the performance of the linkage work in terms of both efficiency and accuracy. The system has been designed to support several kinds of analyses, from social history and demography to population genetics. Our paper contains a brief overview of the current state of research in the field of record linkage, an introduction to the Saguenay [Canada] population register and a description of the system itself which has been utilized successfully in the last year on the 660,000 Saguenay parish records, covering the period 1842-1971." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND ITA)

"Between 1976 and 1981 many pople moved out of Quebec, especially anglophones. To the extent that a person's decision to stay or to move may be related to earnings prospects, earnings comparisons with individuals who lived in Quebec in 1981 may suffer from a selection bias. This paper analyses emigration from Quebec and earnings with a two-equation model, using a sample of men drawn from the from the 1981 [Canadian] census. It is found that a selection bias is indeed present for anglophones and that the returns to learning French may be underestimated when that bias is ignored."