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Public health policies have been a priority issue in Chile since 1950. Major progress has been made in basic aspects of public health, such as drinking water coverage and the prioritization of primary health care, leading to communicable disease control, the reduction of maternal and child mortality, and the elimination of malnutrition. Through a mixed health care model, Chile has met the commitment in the Declaration of Alma-Ata to the attainment of an "acceptable level of health for all the people," achieving the best health and socioeconomic indicators in Latin America. However, attaining an acceptable level of health in the population is an open-ended goal, and progress in this direction appears to have stalled in Chile. The challenge is therefore to define the new health goals for the country, which is no longer a lowincome country but an upper middle-income country with a different profile of health problems. Specifically, Chile must continue to improve health care for its population through health policies focused on non-communicable diseases (such as cardiovascular disease and cancer), health promotion, and disease prevention. To accomplish this, the Ministry of Health must modernize its management and resume its role as the overseer of health objectives, a role that has been eclipsed by its administrative responsibilities. It must do so without losing the complementarity achieved between the public and private sector in order to minimize the current limitations of the public system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To assess the correlation between the social determinants of oral health (SDOH) index and social indicators, indicators of oral health, and intermediary social determinants expressed by the indicators of the Government of Brazil's National Oral Health Policy. METHODS: This ecological study included 5 915 adults aged 35 to 44 years from 27 Brazilian capitals. Indicators of oral health outcomes-tooth loss, restored teeth, and dental care index (DCI)-were extracted from the 2010 National Oral Health Survey. Social indicators (structural social determinants) and indicators of the National Oral Health Policy were obtained from census data and from the Ministry of Health. RESULTS: A moderate Pearson correlation (r) was observed between SDOH and DCI (r = 0.580), restored teeth (r = 0.545), and tooth loss (r = - 0.490). The social equity component was strongly correlated to DCI (r = 0.856), restored teeth (r = 0.822), and tooth loss (r = - 0.665). These oral health outcomes were not statistically associated with the components related to primary and secondary oral health care. The social equity component explained 44% of the variance in tooth loss, 68% of the variance in the number of restored teeth, and 73% of the variance in DCI. CONCLUSIONS: A significant correlation was observed between SDOH and the social equity component with oral health outcomes in adults in Brazilian capitals. Therefore, equity policies should prioritize actions focused on the SDOH, such as increased sanitation coverage and water fluoridation, and on reducing poverty and regional inequities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To further understand the disease behavior of dengue by analyzing studies on dengue and geoprocessing, as well as socioeconomic and environmental indicators. Method. MEDLINE, SciELO, and Lilacs databases, as well as the CAPES dissertation databank, were searched using the following key words: dengue, geographic information system, spatial analysis, geoprocessing, remote sensing, and socioenvironmental indicators. A manual search of the bibliographies of select articles was also performed. All studies published in English, Portuguese, or Spanish, through December 2007, that focused on dengue, geoprocessing, and socioeconomic and environmental indicators were included. The relevant articles were grouped according to type (serologic surveys or secondary data analyses) and spatial analysis unit (municipality, health district, neighborhood, administrative region, census tracts, and city blocks). Results. Twenty-two studies from Latin America (19 from Brazil) were evaluated. Six were serologic surveys and 16 employed secondary data. Geographic information systems were employed in one survey, and 11 used secondary data analyses. Spatial clustering was similar in both types of studies. Poverty was not a major risk factor for the disease. Spatial heterogeneity of living conditions and incidence was reported by 15 of 16 studies with secondary data. Conclusions. Since the complexity of dengue is closely tied to the ecological characteristics of the environment, studies based on spatial clusters plus local environmental determinants provide a more comprehensive view of the disease. These studies also allow for the identification of spatial heterogeneity, shown to be a key to understanding how dengue epidemics develop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]