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This paper describes and analyzes the psychiatric reform process in three Latin American countries (Brazil, Chile and Colombia) based on the Caracas Declaration of 1990. It compares the psychiatric reform processes in these three countries and highlights the role of national mental health laws in these processes. Our goal when investigating the experiences in other countries of Latin America is to draw conclusions for the Argentine psychiatric reform and for the future of such reforms in the region.

This paper analyzes the main advances in health coverage and health services demand in Colombia using the 1997 and 2003 living standards surveys. The study showed an increase in health coverage associated with expansion of the subsidized care system, although a large proportion of the population is still not entitled to health care. The type of entitlement also directly affects the demand for services. There was an increase in preventive medical consultations in 2003 and a decrease in the use medical care for acute illness, due mainly to lack of money. Access to medicines increased from 1997 to 2003, as reflected by a decrease in out-of-pocket expenditure on medicines.

This paper analyzes the effects of health reform in Colombia on public health programs at the local level, particularly the Expanded Program of Immunization (EPI) and the tuberculosis control program. The research was developed in three health districts in two States by analysis of documents, direct observation, and longitudinal follow-up of the transition process. The health districts were unprepared for the change, resulting in insufficient technical skills among staff as well as lack of awareness of important elements in the new system, associated with a reduction in immunization coverage and tuberculosis case detection. Structural problems in the new system included loss of immunization opportunities and lack of examination of tuberculosis contacts. The potentialities of the new system were the local development of a new organizational structure and the improvement of the information system; a limiting factor was exposure of the health system to local political interests. The general conclusion is that the transition period takes far longer than anticipated and requires a much greater information flow to both the local level and the community. There are transitory but also structural maladjustments that require a political response.

Introduction and Objectives: Despite the magnitude of the Colombian health system reform, introduced in 1993, changes in specialized medical practice have not been evaluated. This paper is the follow-up of a similar study on the practice of neurology done by the authors before the reform., Material and Methods: Of the 62 members of the Colombian Association of Neurology living in Bogotá, 47 (76%) of them responded an anonymous survey inquiring on the characteristics of their medical practice and registering all the medical encounters during one week in October 1998., Results: Two thirds of the total working time is devoted by neurologists to clinical work. Half of the neurologists in the sample have invested in diagnostic equipment. There was no significant change in the total number of patients attended during the week, as compared with the 1993 study, and the diagnostic profile was similar. The proportion of private patients was significantly lower, while patients from prepaid medical schemes increased. Patients belonging to the Obligatory Health Plan, designed to cover lowest income population, and to prepaid medicine are not distributed homogeneously throughout all ages. The first year of life is particularly uncovered by the Obligatory Health Plan, while prepaid schemes do not address the problems of individuals age 60 or more., Conclusions: There has been a significant reduction in private practice compensated by an increase in prepaid medicine. There is no evidence of increased coverage for neurological disorders.