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ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE: To describe disability-related performance and inequality nationwide in Brazil, and the changes that took place between 2012 and 2019 after the introduction of Programme for Improving Primary Care Access and Quality (PMAQ). METHODS: We derived scores for disability-related care and accessibility of primary healthcare facilities from PMAQ indicators collected in round 1 (2011–2013), and round 3 (2015–2019). We assessed how scores changed after the introduction of PMAQ. We used census data on per capita income of local areas to examine the disability-specific care and accessibility scores by income group. We undertook ordinary least squares regressions to examine the association between PMAQ scores and per capita income of each local area across implementation rounds. RESULTS: Disability-related care scores were low in round 1 (18.8, 95%CI 18.3–19.3, out of a possible 100) and improved slightly by round 3 (22.5, 95%CI 22.0–23.1). Accessibility of primary healthcare facilities was also poor in round 1 (30.3, 95%CI 29.8–30.8) but doubled by round 3 (60.8, 95%CI 60.3–61.3). There were large socioeconomic inequalities in round 1, with both scores approximately twice as high in the richest compared to the poorest group. Inequalities weakened somewhat for accessibility scores by round 3. These trends were confirmed through regression analyses, controlling for other area characteristics. Disability-related and accessibility scores also varied strongly between states in both rounds. CONCLUSIONS: People with disabilities are being left behind by the Brazilian healthcare system, particularly in poor areas, which will challenge the achievement of universal health coverage.

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To investigate the costs and profile of patients who have filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Health for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) with the onasemnogene abeparvovec (Zolgensma®). METHODS This is a cross-sectional, descriptive study with a census design, based on records of lawsuits filed against the Ministry of Health between January 2019 and September 2022. Data was requested from the Ministry of Health via the Access to Information Act. Information was extracted on the epidemiological profile of the beneficiaries of the lawsuits, as well as the expenses spent by the Ministry of Health in cases where the requests were granted. RESULTS 136 lawsuits were identified, of which 113 (83%) were favorable to patients at a cost of R$ 944.8 million in the period analyzed. Demographic (gender and age), clinical (SMA subtypes, use of ventilatory or nutritional support), and lawsuit (type of legal service) characteristics were not associated with the granting of lawsuits. Prior use of medication (nusinersena or ridisplam) was associated with the dismissal of lawsuits. Of the 113 lawsuits granted in favor of patients, only six (5.3%) would meet the criteria currently established by the National Committee for Health Technology Incorporation - Conitec (children up to six months without ventilatory and nutritional support). R$ 146 million was spent on supplying Zolgensma to children over the age of two, which is outside the recommendation contained in the drug’s package leaflet. CONCLUSIONS The Ministry of Health incurs a high cost with the judicialization of Zolgensma for SMA, representing 2.45% of total spending on medicines in the Unified Health System, including spending by the three administrative spheres. Some of the lawsuits have been granted in disagreement with the criteria established by health technology assessment agencies and the drug manufacturer’s recommendations.

RESUMO A dengue representa um importante problema de saúde pública no Brasil devido às constantes epidemias causadas pela doença no País. Este estudo objetivou analisar o financiamento de pesquisas sobre dengue pelo Departamento de Ciência e Tecnologia do Ministério da Saúde e parceiros no período de 2004 a 2020. Analisou-se a tendência do financiamento por regressão linear generalizada do tipo Prais-Winster e sua distribuição entre as regiões e Unidades Federadas brasileiras, modalidades de contratação das pesquisas, instituições beneficiadas e temas estudados. Entre 2004 e 2020, financiaram-se 232 pesquisas (R$ 164,03 milhões), realizadas, em sua maioria, em instituições da região Sudeste (77,55%), abordando especialmente a temática controle vetorial (37,93%). A tendência de financiamento foi estacionária nos anos estudados. As chamadas estaduais foram a principal forma de modalidade de contratação das pesquisas (65,95%). Houve diferença estatisticamente significante na distribuição do valor financiado entre as modalidades de contratação, bem como no número de pesquisas financiadas e valor financiado entre as regiões brasileiras. Esses achados demonstram a importância de monitorar o financiamento de pesquisas sobre dengue no Brasil e de implementar estratégias de avaliação das pesquisas financiadas, para subsidiar e aprimorar a política de enfrentamento da doença e de seu vetor.

ObjectiveTo describe the profile of individuals with depression who received assistance at CAPS in Brazil between 2013 and 2019, focusing on their clinical and demographic characteristics, and to calculate the estimated coverage of CAPS across the national territory and its constituent federal units.MethodsDescriptive, ecological, time-series study with secondary data from national databases, referring to care provided at CAPS in the country for adults aged 18 years or over-diagnosed with depression (F32-32.9 and F33-F33.9). The estimated coverage of CAPS was calculated for 2013 and 2019 using registered and active services.ResultsThere was a 107% increase in the number of patients with depression receiving treatment at CAPS between 2013 and 2019. Women accounted for 77% of the patients, with the majority falling within the age range of 41 to 61years (49%). The predominant racial demographics were white (38%) and brown (34%). The diagnosis of depressive episodes was prevalent among 65% of the patients, and individual care was administrated to 75% of them. The presumed CAPS coverage was 71% in 2013 and increased to 87% in 2019 nationwide, although significant discrepancies were observed among different states.ConclusionProgress was evident in the implementation of CAPS across Brazil during the period spanning 2013 to 2019. Nonetheless, disparities persist among the federative units, and there remains an underutilization of group and family care within CAPS services.

Abstract Elective procedures were temporarily suspended several times over the course of the pandemic of COVID-19. Monthly data from the Unified Health System (SUS) were used for the period between January 2008 and December 2020 and the interrupted time series method was used to estimate the effect of the pandemic on the number of elective surgeries and elective procedures that were not performed. Considering a 9-month period, a reduction of 46% in the number of elective procedures carried out in the SUS could be attributed to COVID-19, corresponding to about 828,429 elective procedures cancelled, ranging from 549,921 to 1,106,936. To a full recovery of pre-pandemic performance, SUS would need to increase about 21,362 hospital beds, ranging from 12,370 to 36,392 hospital beds during a 6 month-period. This effort would represent an increase of 8.48% (ranging from 4.91 to 14.45%) in relation to the total number of SUS’s hospital beds in 2019. As a result, the pandemic will leave a large number of elective procedures to be carried out, which will require efforts by health agencies to meet this demand.

Neglected tropical diseases are a global public health problem. Although Brazil is largely responsible for their occurrence in Latin America, research funding on the subject does not meet the population's health needs. The present study analyzed the evolution of research funding for neglected tropical diseases by the Ministry of Health and its partners in Brazil, from 2004 to 2020. This is a retrospective study of data from investigations registered on Health Research (Pesquisa Saúde in Portuguese), a public repository for research funded by the Ministry of Health's Department of Science and Technology. The temporal trend of funding and the influence of federal government changes on funding were analyzed using Prais-Winster generalized linear regression. From 2004 to 2020, 1,158 studies were financed (purchasing power parity (PPP$) 230.9 million), with most funding aimed at biomedical research (81.6%) and topics involving dengue, leishmaniasis and tuberculosis (60.2%). Funding was stationary (annual percent change of -5.7%; 95%CI -54.0 to 45.0) and influenced by changes to the federal government. Research funding was lacking for chikungunya, Chagas disease, schistosomiasis, malaria and taeniasis/cysticercosis, diseases with a high prevalence, burden or mortality rates in Brazil. Although the Ministry of Health had several budgetary partners, it was the main funder, with 69.8% of investments. The study revealed that research funding for neglected tropical diseases has stagnated over the years and that diseases with a high prevalence, burden and mortality rate receive little funding. These findings demonstrate the need to strengthen the health research system by providing sustainable funding for research on neglected tropical diseases that is consistent with the population's health needs.

Abstract We investigated the association of the new zero-tolerance drinking and driving law (Law 12,760, Dec. 2012) with hospital admissions due to road traffic injuries in Brazil by using interrupted time series from 2008 to 2019. We used linear regression designed to adjust for autocorrelation and Cumby–Huizinga test for residual autocorrelation. Newey–West standard errors was used to handle heteroscedasticity. We used ICD-10 codes for land transport accidents (V01–V89). The hospitalization rate was calculated per 100,000 inhabitants. The sources were the Hospital Information System and the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics. Pre- and postintervention consist of 59 and 85 months, respectively. For Brazil, the hospitalization rate was associated with a reduction of 0.34 (p = 0.097; 95% CI − 0.74 to 0.06) in the first month of the intervention (Dec. 2012), followed by a significant change in the hospitalization trend. Compared to the period prior to the intervention, the monthly trend was associated with a reduction of 0.05 (p

IntroductionAge-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an eye disease that occurs in patients over 50 years old. Early diagnosis enables timely treatment to stabilize disease progression. However, the fact that the disease is asymptomatic in its early stages can delay treatment until it progresses. As such, screening in specific contexts can be an early detection tool to reduce the clinical and social impact of the disease.ObjectiveAssess the effectiveness of screening methods for early detection of AMD in adults aged 50 years or older.MethodsA systematic review of comparative observational studies on AMD screening methods in those aged 50 years or older, compared with no screening or any other strategy. A literature search was conducted in the MEDLINE (via PubMed), Embase, Cochrane Library and Lilacs database.ResultsA total of 5,290 studies were identified, three of which met the inclusion criteria and were selected for the systematic review. A total of 8,733 individuals (16,780 eyes) were included in the analysis. The screening methods assessed were based on optical coherence tomography (OCT) compared with color fundus photography, and OCT and telemedicine testing compared to a standard eye exam.ConclusionThe systematized data are limited and only suggest satisfactory performance in early screening of the population at risk of developing AMD. OCT and the telemedicine technique showed promising results in AMD screening. However, methodological problems were identified in the studies selected and the level of evidence was considered low.

Anencephaly, encephalocele, and spina bifida are congenital neural tube defects and are the main causes of neonatal morbidity and mortality and impose a heavy economic burden on health systems. This study to estimates the direct costs of neural tube defects from the perspective of the Brazilian Ministry of Health, and the prevented cases and cost savings during the period in which mandatory folic acid fortification was in effect in the country (2010–2019). It is a top-down cost-of-illness oriented study based on the prevalence of the disorders in Brazil. Data were collected from the Brazilian Ministry of Health’s outpatient and hospital information system databases. The direct cost was estimated from the total patient-years, allocated by age and type of disorder. Prevented cases and cost savings were determined by the difference in the prevalence of the disorders in the pre- and post-fortification periods based on the total number of births and the sum of outpatient and hospital costs during the period. The total cost of outpatient and hospital services for these disorders totaled R$ 92,530,810.63 (Int$ 40,565,896.81) in 10 years; spina bifida accounted for 84.92% of the total cost. Hospital costs were expressive of all three disorders in the first year of the patient’s life. Between 2010 and 2019, mandatory folic acid fortification prevented 3,499 live births with neural tube defects and resulted in R$ 20,381,586.40 (Int$ 8,935,373.25) in hospital and outpatient cost savings. Flour fortification has proved to be a valuable strategy in preventing pregnancies with neural tube defects. Since its implementation, there has been a 30% decrease in the prevalence of neural tube defects and a 22.81% decrease associated in hospital and outpatient costs.

ABSTRACT: Objectives: To describe the profile of hospital deaths in Brazil according to cause of admission during the pre-pandemic (2019) and pandemic periods (2020).Methods: Descriptive study based on individual-level records of all hospital admissions with death outcomes reimbursed by the Brazilian National Health System in 2019 and 2020.Results: The number of hospital deaths increased by 16.7% in 2020 compared with 2019 (522,686 vs 609,755). Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was associated with 19.5% (118,879) of all hospital deaths in 2020, surpassing diseases of the circulatory system (15.4%, 93,735) and diseases of the respiratory system (14.9%, 91,035).Conclusions: COVID-19 was the main cause of death in public hospitals in Brazil in 2020.

ABSTRACT The study aims to investigate the flows of Covid-19 hospitalizations in the 450 Brazilian health regions and 117 health macro-regions between March and October 2020. This descriptive study includes all Covid-19 hospitalizations registered in the Influenza Epidemiological Surveillance Information System between the eighth and forty-fourth epidemiological weeks of 2020. In Brazil, 397,830 admissions were identified for Covid-19. Emigration was 11.9% for residents in health regions and 6.8% in macro-regions; this pattern was also maintained during the peak period of Covid-19 hospitalizations. The average evasion for residents of health regions was 17.6% in the Northeast and 8.8% in the South. Evasion was more accentuated in health regions with up to 100 thousand inhabitants(36.9%), which was 7 times greater than that observed in health regions with more than 2 million inhabitants (5.2%). The negative migratory efficacy indicator (-0.39) revealed a predominance of evasion. Of the 450 Brazilian health regions, 117 (39.3%) had a coefficient of migratory efficacy between-1 and-0.75, and 113 (25.1%) between-0.75 and-0.25. Results indicate that the regionalization of the health system exhibited adequate organization of healthcare in the territory; however, the long distances traveled are still worrisome.

Este artigo analisa a execução do PMAQ-AB a partir de sua contextualização em um cenário político nacional de profundas transformações, desde o reformismo fraco que promoveu lenta extensão de direitos até o contrarreformismo forte da restauração neoliberal. Para debater os elementos relacionados ao trabalho e às disputas pela distribuição dos recursos públicos, foi realizado estudo de caso com trabalhadores, gestores e conselheiros de saúde em duas capitais do nordeste brasileiro. Os resultados evidenciam o acirramento do conflito distributivo e o resultado desfavorável aos trabalhadores no contexto pós-golpe parlamentar de 2016. As dinâmicas locais expõem processos de contração salarial e individualização das relações de trabalho e a reafirmação da meritocracia como justificativa ideológica da precarização. A isso, trabalhadores se contrapõem pela reafirmação de sua condição coletiva de classe, em favor de benefícios derivados do PMAQ, como recomposição salarial para todos.

Abstract Background There is a growing body of literature that recognizes the importance of public engagement in health technology assessment. However, there is still uncertainty regarding how the results should be recorded, analyzed, and used by decision makers. Objective Synthesize the contributions of the Brazilian public (women, health professionals, managers, educational institutions, and companies) about the implementation of the National Clinical Guidelines for Care in Normal Birth from the public consultation carried out in Brazil. Method IRaMuTeQ software was used to organize and summarize the corpus based on three types of analysis: descriptive statistics; descending hierarchical classification; and specificities analysis. The public consultation was conducted in 2016 by the National Committee for Health Technology Incorporation (CONITEC) in the Brazilian public health system as part of the guideline development process. Results The corpus consisted of 303 texts, separated into 1233 text segments, 1081 of which were used, corresponding to retention of 87.67%. Five classes emerged from our analyses: mandatory presence of an obstetrician during labor and delivery in hospital settings; barriers and facilitators for guideline implementation; use of evidence—based practices by health professionals; progression of labor and delivery and women’s rights; and mobilization to promote the guideline For each class, the most frequent words and sentences with the highest chi-squared scores were presented. Barriers were associated with lack of financial resources, training and professional motivation, and facilitators with training to change the practices of health professionals. Obstetric nurses emerged as an alternative for supervising normal births as well as the mandatory presence of an obstetrician during childbirth in hospital settings. Conclusion Our findings summarize the contributions provided by the Brazilian public and shed some light on the barriers and facilitators of clinical guidelines for care in normal birth. These topics are not typically explored by quantitative studies. Including this information in the decision-making process would not only increase public engagement, but provide greater evidence for implementing the clinical guidelines nationwide.

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged health systems worldwide since 2020. At the frontline of the pandemic, healthcare workers are at high risk of exposure. Compliance with infection prevention and control (IPC) should be encouraged at the frontline. This systematic review aimed to assess the effects of dissemination interventions to improve healthcare workers’ adherence with IPC guidelines for respiratory infectious diseases in the workplace. Methods We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane COVID-19 Study Register. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cluster RCTs that assessed the effect of any dissemination strategy in any healthcare settings. Certainty of evidence was assessed using the GRADE approach. We synthesized data using random-effects model meta-analysis in Stata 14.2. Results We identified 14 RCTs conducted from 2004 to 2020 with over 65,370 healthcare workers. Adherence to IPC guidelines was assessed by influenza vaccination uptake, hand hygiene compliance, and knowledge on IPC. The most assessed intervention was educational material in combined strategies (plus educational meetings, local opinion leaders, audit and feedback, reminders, tailored interventions, monitoring the performance of the delivery of health care, educational games, and/or patient-mediated interventions). Combined dissemination strategies compared to usual routine improve vaccination uptake (risk ratio [RR] 1.59, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.54 to 1.81, moderate-certainty evidence), and may improve hand hygiene compliance (RR 1.70; 95% CI 1.03 to 2.83, moderate-certainty). When compared to single strategies, combined dissemination strategies probably had no effect on vaccination uptake (RR 1.01, 95% CI 0.95 to 1.07, low-certainty), and hand hygiene compliance (RR 1.16, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.36, low-certainty). Knowledge of healthcare workers on IPC improved when combined dissemination strategies were compared with usual activities, and the effect was uncertain in comparison to single strategy (very low-certainty evidence). Conclusions Combined dissemination strategies increased workers’ vaccination uptake, hand hygiene compliance, and knowledge on IPC in comparison to usual activities. The effect was negligible when compared to single dissemination strategies. The adoption of dissemination strategies in a planned and targeted way for healthcare workers may increase adherence to IPC guidelines and thus prevent dissemination of infectious disease in the workplace. Trial registration Protocol available at http://osf.io/aqxnp .

BackgroundPay-for-performance (P4P) programmes to incentivise health providers to improve quality of care have been widely implemented globally. Despite intuitive appeal, evidence on the effectiveness of P4P is mixed, potentially due to differences in how schemes are designed. We exploited municipality variation in the design features of Brazil's National Programme for Improving Primary Care Access and Quality (PMAQ) to examine whether performance bonuses given to family health team workers were associated with changes in the quality of care and whether the size of bonus mattered.Methods and findingsFor this quasi-experimental study, we used a difference-in-differences approach combined with matching. We compared changes over time in the quality of care delivered by family health teams between (bonus) municipalities that chose to use some or all of the PMAQ money to provide performance-related bonuses to team workers with (nonbonus) municipalities that invested the funds using traditional input-based budgets. The primary outcome was the PMAQ score, a quality of care index on a scale of 0 to 100, based on several hundred indicators (ranging from 598 to 660) of health care delivery. We did one-to-one matching of bonus municipalities to nonbonus municipalities based on baseline demographic and economic characteristics. On the matched sample, we used ordinary least squares regression to estimate the association of any bonus and size of bonus with the prepost change over time (between November 2011 and October 2015) in the PMAQ score. We performed subgroup analyses with respect to the local area income of the family health team. The matched analytical sample comprised 2,346 municipalities (1,173 nonbonus municipalities; 1,173 bonus municipalities), containing 10,275 family health teams that participated in PMAQ from the outset. Bonus municipalities were associated with a 4.6 (95% CI: 2.7 to 6.4; p < 0.001) percentage point increase in the PMAQ score compared with nonbonus municipalities. The association with quality of care increased with the size of bonus: the largest bonus group saw an improvement of 8.2 percentage points (95% CI: 6.2 to 10.2; p < 0.001) compared with the control. The subgroup analysis showed that the observed improvement in performance was most pronounced in the poorest two-fifths of localities. The limitations of the study include the potential for bias from unmeasured time-varying confounding and the fact that the PMAQ score has not been validated as a measure of quality of care.ConclusionsPerformance bonuses to family health team workers compared with traditional input-based budgets were associated with an improvement in the quality of care.

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To estimate the direct costs due to hospital care for extremely, moderate, and late preterm newborns, from the perspective of a public hospital in 2018. The second objective was to investigate whether factors associated with birth and maternal conditions explain the costs and length of hospital stay. METHODS This is a cost-of-illness study, with data extracted from hospital admission authorization forms and medical records of a large public hospital in the Federal District, Brazil. The association of characteristics of preterm newborns and mothers with costs was estimated by linear regression with gamma distribution. In the analysis, the calculation of the parameters of the estimates (B), with a confidence interval of 95% (95%CI), was adopted. The uncertainty parameters were estimated by the 95% confidence interval and standard error using the Bootstrapping method, with 1,000 samples. Deterministic sensitivity analysis was performed, considering lower and upper limits of 95%CI in the variation of each cost component. RESULTS A total of 147 preterm newborns were included. We verified an average cost of BRL 1,120 for late preterm infants, BRL 6,688 for moderate preterm infants, and BRL 17,395 for extremely preterm infants. We also observed that factors associated with the cost were gestational age (B = -123.00; 95%CI: -241.60 to -4.50); hospitalization in neonatal ICU (B = 6,932.70; 95%CI: 5,309.40–8,556.00), and number of prenatal consultations (B = -227.70; 95%CI: -403.30 to -52.00). CONCLUSIONS We found a considerable direct cost resulting from the care of preterm newborns. Extreme prematurity showed a cost 15.5 times higher than late prematurity. We also verified that a greater number of prenatal consultations and gestational age were associated with a reduction in the costs of prematurity.

Abstract Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has spread throughout more than 160 countries, infecting millions of people worldwide. To address this health emergency, countries have organized the flow of production and innovation to reduce the impact on health. This article shows the response of the Brazilian scientific community to meet the urgent needs of the public unified health system [SUS], aiming to guarantee universal access to an estimated population of 211 million. By December 2020, Brazil had recorded more than six million cases and approximately 175,000 deaths. Methods We collected data on research, development and innovation projects carried out by 114 public universities (plus Oswaldo Cruz Foundation [Fiocruz] and Butantan Institute), as reported on their websites. Additionally, we examined the studies on COVID-19 approved by the National Comission for Research Ethics, as well as those reported on the Ministry of Education website as of May 15, 2020. Results The 789 identified projects were classified according to research categories as follows: development and innovation (n = 280), other types of projects (n = 226), epidemiologic research (n = 211), and basic research on disease mechanisms (n = 72). Most proposals focused on the development and innovation of personal protective equipment, medical devices, diagnostic tests, medicines and vaccines, which were rapidly identified as research priorities by the scientific community. Some promising results have been observed from phase III vaccine trials, one of which is conducted in partnership with Oxford University and another of which is performed with Sinovac Biotech. Both trials involve thousands of volunteers in their Brazilian arms and include technology transfer agreements with Fiocruz and the Butantan Institute, respectively. These vaccines proved to be safe and effective and were immediately licensed for emergency use. The provision of doses for the public health system, and vaccination, started on January 17, 2021. Conclusions The mobilized Brazilian scientific community has generated comprehensive research, development and innovation proposals to meet the most urgent needs. It is important to emphasize that this response was only possible due to decades of investment in research, development and innovation in Brazil. We need to reinforce and protect the Brazilian science, technology and innovation system from austerity policies that disregard health and knowledge as crucial investments for Brazilian society, in line with the constitutional right of universal health access and universal health coverage.

ABSTRACT OBJETIVE Analyze the implementation of the strategy e-SUS Atenção Básica (e-SUS AB – e-SUS Primary Care) in Brazil between the first years of the system, from 2013 to 2019. METHODS This is a quantitative, descriptive, and exploratory study. We considered official data from the Ministry of Health, submitted by Brazilian municipalities, in the period from April 2013 to December 2019. We categorized the municipalities as ‘not implemented’, ‘initial implementation’, ‘partial implementation’ and ‘implemented’ according to the criteria defined in this study. We also verified whether the type of municipality, according to the IBGE classification, influenced the degree of implementation of the e-SUS AB strategy. We performed descriptive analyses and investigated the association between the degrees of implementation of e-SUS AB and the typology of the IBGE classification and characterization of rural and urban spaces. RESULTS The implementation increased in the analyzed period. The implementation status of the e-SUS AB strategy in 2019 was ‘implemented’ in 20.2% (1,117) of the municipalities, ‘partial implementation’ in 32.9% (1,819), ‘initial implementation’ in 39.1% (2,159) and ‘not implemented’ in 7.8% (432). The South and Southeast regions presented the best implementation situation in all years, and the states of Rio Grande do Sul, São Paulo and Santa Catarina reached a higher percentage of municipalities with ‘implemented’ status in 2019. CONCLUSIONS We confirmed the progress in the implementation of the e-SUS AB strategy over the years. Most of the municipalities are between the status ‘initial implementation’ and ‘partial implementation’. Therefore, we conclude that investments in technological resources, training of professionals, and support are necessary to qualify the implementation and use of information systems in the country, especially for the e-SUS AB strategy.

RESUMO O QualiSUS-Rede buscou qualificar a atenção e a gestão em saúde via organização das redes de atenção. O objetivo do estudo foi analisar o processo de formulação e implementação do QualiSUS-Rede relacionado à gestão. Trata-se de estudo qualitativo, de base documental. Fez-se uso da análise estratégica, considerando suas três dimensões: pertinência do problema priorizado; pertinência do objetivo e das soluções propostas; pertinência das parcerias. Aplicou-se a análise estratégica de forma hibridizada com a teoria de mudança em seus três eixos: cadeia de efeitos e seus condicionantes, modo de funcionamento e as interações entre os atores. Elaborou-se a linha do tempo do QualiSUS-Rede, identificando os eventos críticos. Como resultado, verificou-se que o QualiSUS-Rede obteve pertinência nas três dimensões da análise estratégica. No entanto, as evidências apontam que, em intervenções futuras, os seguintes aspectos precisam ser observados: i) a agilização dos tempos institucionais; ii) a fragilidade do modelo institucional de monitoramento e avaliação; e iii) dificuldade das instâncias envolvidas com a gestão de riscos, especialmente daqueles originários das transições governamentais. O uso de múltiplas estratégias metodológicas, com base na teoria da intervenção, considerando a cadeia de efeitos e causalidades, mostrou-se potente para explicitar a teoria e o modelo de gestão no QualiSUS-Rede.

RESUMO A pesquisa translacional surgiu com o objetivo de reduzir o tempo entre a pesquisa básica e a sua aplicação clínica. Para os medicamentos, esse tempo pode chegar a décadas, o que denota a necessidade de se avaliarem possíveis barreiras por meio da pesquisa translacional. Objetivou-se revisar a literatura para identificar as etapas da pesquisa translacional, bem como os atos normativos, as políticas públicas de saúde e os principais atores no contexto brasileiro. Para a identificação de modelos da pesquisa translacional, realizou-se revisão com busca sistemática nas bases PubMed, Embase e Lilacs, sendo selecionadas 23 publicações. Sítios eletrônicos oficiais foram consultados para o levantamento das políticas e dos atores. Como resultados, a literatura inicialmente apontava uma etapa (da bancada ao leito), incorporando recentemente a síntese de pesquisas e a avaliação de impacto na saúde pública como etapas adicionais. Diversos atores são transversais na pesquisa translacional, como universidades, instituições de pesquisa e agências de fomento. Observa-se que o Brasil instituiu políticas importantes nas áreas de assistência farmacêutica, pesquisa, ciência, tecnologia e inovação em saúde, o que pode potencialmente integrar recursos, atores e esforços visando à aplicação prática de resultados para melhorar as condições de saúde e de vida da população.

Although clinical and epidemiological aspects of oral cancers (OC) are well-documented in the literature, there is a lack of evidence on the economic burden of OC. This study aims to provide a comprehensive systematic assessment on the economic burden of OC based on available evidence worldwide. A systematic review was conducted. The population was any individual, who were exposed to OC, considered here as lip (LC), oral cavity (OCC), or oropharynx (OPC) cancer. The outcome was information on direct (medical and non-medical) and indirect (productivity loss and early death) costs. The data sources included Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane, BVS, and NHS EED. A search of grey literature (ISPOR and INAHTA proceedings) and a manual search in the reference lists of the included publications were performed (PROSPERO no. CRD42020172471). We identified 24 studies from 2001 to 2021, distributed by 15 countries, in 4 continents. In some developed western countries, the costs of LC, OCC, and OPC reached an average of Gross Domestic Product per capita of 18%, 75%, and 127%, respectively. Inpatient costs for OC and LC were 968% and 384% higher than those for outpatients, respectively. Advanced cancer staging was more costly (from ~22% to 373%) than the early cancer staging. The economic burden of oral cancer is substantial, though underestimated.

Background In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic paralyzed the world and exposed the fragility of health systems in the face of mass illness. Health professionals became protagonists, fulfilling their mission at the risk of physical and mental illness. The study aimed to evaluate absenteeism indirectly related to SARS-CoV-2 infection in a large population of health care professionals. Methods An observational longitudinal repeated measures study was performed, including workers linked to 40 public university hospitals in Brazil. All causes of absenteeism were analyzed, focusing on those not directly attributed to COVID-19. Results for the same population were compared over two equivalent time intervals: prepandemic and during the pandemic. Findings A total of 32,691 workers were included in the study, with health professionals comprising 82.5% of the sample. Comparison of the periods before and during the pandemic showed a 26.6% reduction in work absence for all causes, except for COVID-19 and mental health-related absence. Concerning work absence related to mental health, the odds ratio was 39.0% higher during the pandemic. At the onset of the pandemic, there was an increase in absenteeism (all causes), followed by a progressive reduction until the end of the observation period. Interpretation Work absence related to mental illness among health care professionals increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the need for health care managers to prioritize and implement support strategies to minimize absenteeism.

IntroductionAlcohol consumption is the main risk factor for death and disability in the world population between 15 to 49 years old, is related to more than 200 causes of death, and has an important economic impact on the health and social security systems. In 2016, three million deaths were attributable to alcohol worldwide and 131.4 million DALYs. In Brazil, alcohol consumption per inhabitant was 7.8 liters in 2016; and the prevalence of abusive consumption was 17.1% in 2019.ObjectiveEstimate the costs attributable of alcohol consumption in the Brazilian population 18 years-old and over, in the period 2010 to 2018.MethodsThis is a prevalence-based cost-of-illness study, with a top-down and retrospective approach, including direct costs (hospital and outpatient) and indirect costs (absenteeism from work) related to alcohol consumption. A list of diseases and conditions for which alcohol is a risk factor was used, and the Population Attributable Risk (PAR) was calculated to estimate what portion of the cost of these diseases is attributable to alcohol consumption. Prevalence was calculated by sex and level of alcohol consumption, based on data from the 2019 National Health Survey. Relative risk data were identified by disease/injury and level of daily consumption obtained from the Global Burden Disease study in 2017. The cost data used are from the Brazilian Unified Health System and social security system. All costs were adjusted for inflation for the period and converted to purchasing power parity.ResultsPrevalence data revealed that 73.6% of the Brazilian population reported not consuming alcoholic beverages, which included 62.9% of men and 83.0% of women. The lowest values for the PAR were found at the consumption range of 60 grams per day. Although the 12 grams per day consumption category is the least in terms of the quantity of alcohol consumed, it is one of the main ones in terms of PAR, given the higher prevalence of consumption. The total cost attributable to alcohol between 2010 and 2018 was Int$ 1,487,417,115.43, of which Int$ 737,834,696.89 was for hospital expenses, Int$ 416,052,029.75 for outpatient care, and Int$ 333,530,388.79 due to absenteeism from work.ConclusionFew comprehensive studies of alcohol-related costs have been developed, which suggests a knowledge gap in Brazil and worldwide and indicates the need for more research in this area. Understanding the economic impact of alcohol consumption is essential to help measure this public health problem in all its aspects and encourage implementation of public policies.

Abstract Background Public engagement in health technology assessment (HTA) is increasing worldwide. There are several forms of public engagement and it is not always possible to determine which stakeholders participate in the HTA process and how they contribute. Our objective was to investigate which types of social representatives contributed to the public consultation on the incorporation of Trastuzumab for early-stage breast cancer treatment within the public health system in Brazil, held in 2012 by the National Committee for Health Technology Incorporation (CONITEC). Methods A mixed methods approach was used to analyze social representativeness and the composition of the corpus from the public consultation, which consisted of 127 contributions. Three types of analysis were performed using IRaMuTeQ software: classic lexical analysis, descending hierarchical classification and specificities analysis. The contributions were clustered according to the main categories of discourse observed, into four social representation categories: 1) patient representation/advocacy; 2) pharmaceutical industry/advocacy; 3) healthcare professionals; and 4) individual contributions. Results Category 1 contained words related to increased survival due to use of the drug and a low score for words pertaining to studies on Trastuzumab. The word “safety” obtained a positive score only in category 2, which was also the only category that exhibited a negative score for the word “risk”. Category 3 displayed the lowest scores for “diagnosis” and “safety”. The word “efficacy” had a negative score only in category 4. Conclusions Each category exhibited different results for words related to health systems and to key concepts linked to HTA. Our analysis enabled the identification of the most prominent contributions for each category. Despite the promising results obtained, further research is needed to validate this software for use in analyzing public contributions.

Abstract Background The inadequate management of solid waste impacts populations’ health and quality of life, and disproportionately affects developing countries. This study aims to describe a protocol for epidemiological diagnosis, the purpose being to estimate the prevalence of chronic and communicable and non communicable diseases in waste pickers, and the occupational and environmental risk factors to which these are exposed. Methods This is a cross-sectional study, based on survey design in an area of extreme social vulnerability – the largest garbage dump in Latin America. Using a multidimensional research protocol, divided in three stages: 1- The identification of the subjects, and the scheduling of tests; 2- Situational diagnosis through interviews, anthropometric evaluation, measuring blood pressure, collecting hair and nail samples to detect exposure to heavy metals and undertaking laboratory tests; 3- The return of the waste pickers to receive the test results, followed by referral to the health team and to report occupational accidents. Results One thousand twenty-five waste pickers undertook tests and interviews. The majority were women (67.0%), with 36–45 years old (45.7%), and 96.0% had children. In total, 27.3% of the participants did not attend to any school and 47.7% were educated only up to primary level. The majority of waste pickers (68.70%) reported accidents and most of them (89.69%) were related to sharp objects. The mean time working in this open dump was 15 years. According the anthropometric measure, 32.6% were overweight and 21.1% were obese. The most common reported diseases were: osteomuscular disorders (78.7%); arboviruses (28.6%); episodic diarrhea (24.9%); hypertension (24.2%); bronchitis (14.3%); intestinal worms (12.6%) and diabetes (10.1%). According to the blood tests, the values outside the reference limits were: Uric acid (23.89%); creatinine (54.06%); GGT range (16.04%); SGOT - Serum Glutamic Oxaloacetic Transaminase (5.29%); SGPT - serum Glutamic-Pyruvic Transaminase (35.52%). Conclusions This study is the first to evaluate multiple risks and diseases in the majority of waste pickers working in the largest garbage dump of a continent. These findings highlight the importance to address urgently the environmental, social and health impacts related to the management of solid waste in developmental countries to protect these workers and their families.

Introduction Systemic arterial hypertension (SAH), a global public health problem and the primary risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, has a significant financial impact on health systems. In Brazil, the prevalence of SAH is 23.7%, which caused 203,000 deaths and 3.9 million DALYs in 2015. Objective To estimate the cost of SAH and circulatory system diseases attributable to SAH from the perspective of the Brazilian public health system in 2019. Methods A prevalence-based cost-of-illness was conducted using a top-down approach. The population attributable risk (PAR) was used to estimate the proportion of circulatory system diseases attributable to SAH. The direct medical costs were obtained from official Ministry of Health of Brazil records and literature parameters, including the three levels of care (primary, secondary, and tertiary). Deterministic univariate analyses were also conducted. Results The total cost of SAH and the proportion of circulatory system diseases attributable to SAH was Int$ 581,135,374.73, varying between Int$ 501,553,022.21 and Int$ 776,183,338.06. In terms only of SAH costs at all healthcare levels (Int$ 493,776,445.89), 97.3% were incurred in primary care, especially for antihypertensive drugs provided free of charge by the Brazilian public health system (Int$ 363,888,540.14). Stroke accounted for the highest cost attributable to SAH and the third highest PAR, representing 47% of the total cost of circulatory diseases attributable to SAH. Prevalence was the parameter that most affected sensitivity analyses, accounting for 36% of all the cost variation. Conclusion Our results show that the main Brazilian strategy to combat SAH was implemented in primary care, namely access to free antihypertensive drugs and multiprofessional teams, acting jointly to promote care and prevent and control SAH.

BackgroundAlmost 200,000 deaths from COVID-19 were reported in Brazil in 2020. The case fatality rate of a new infectious disease can vary by different risk factors and over time. We analysed the trends and associated factors of COVID-19 case fatality rates in Brazilian public hospital admissions during the first wave of the pandemic.MethodsA retrospective cohort of all COVID-19-related admissions between epidemiological weeks 10-40 in the Brazilian Public Health System (SUS) was delimited from available reimbursement records. Smoothing time series and survival analyses were conducted to evaluate the trends of hospital case fatality rates (CFR) and the probability of death according to factors such as sex, age, ethnicity, comorbidities, length of stay and ICU use.ResultsWith 398,063 admissions and 86,452 (21.7%) deaths, the overall age-standardized hospital CFR trend decreased throughout the period, varying from 31.8% (95%CI: 31.2 to 32.5%) in week 10 to 18.2% (95%CI: 17.6 to 18.8%) in week 40. This decreasing trend was observed in all sex, age, ethnic groups, length of stay and ICU admissions. Consistently, later admission (from July to September) was an independent protective factor. Patients 80+ year old had a hazard ratio of 8.18 (95% CI: 7.51 to 8.91). Ethnicity, comorbidities, and ICU need were also associated with the death risk. Although also decreasing, the CFR was always around 40-50% in people who needed an ICU admission.ConclusionsThe overall hospital CFR of COVID-19 has decreased in Brazilian public hospitals during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020. Nevertheless, during the entire period, the CFR was still very high, suggesting the need for improving COVID-19 hospital care in Brazil.

The efficiency of public policies includes the measurement of the health resources used and their associated costs. There is a lack of studies evaluating the economic impact of oral cancer (OC). This study aims to estimate the healthcare costs of OC in Brazil from 2008 to 2016. This is a partial economic evaluation using the gross costing top-down method, considering the direct healthcare costs related to outpatients, inpatients, intensive care units, and the number of procedures, from the perspective of the public health sector. The data were extracted from the Outpatient and Inpatient Information System of the National Health System, by diagnosis according to the 10th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases, according to sites of interest: C00 to C06, C09 and C10. The values were adjusted for annual accumulated inflation and expressed in 2018 I$ (1 I$ = R$2,044). Expenditure on OC healthcare in Brazil was I$495.6 million, which was composed of 50.8% (I$251.6 million) outpatient and 49.2% (I$244.0 million) inpatient healthcare. About 177,317 admissions and 6,224,236 outpatient procedures were registered. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy comprised the largest number of procedures (88.8%) and costs (94.9%). Most of the costs were spent on people over 50 years old (72.9%) and on males (75.6%). Direct healthcare costs in Brazil for OC are substantial. Outpatient procedures were responsible for the highest total cost; however, inpatient procedures had a higher cost per procedure. Men over 50 years old consumed most of the cost and procedures for OC. The oropharynx and tongue were the sites with the highest expenditure. Further studies are needed to investigate the cost per individual, as well as direct non-medical and indirect costs of OC.

Background Neural tube defects (NTDs) constitute the most frequent group among congenital malformations and are the main cause of neonatal morbimortality. Folic acid (FA) can reduce the risk of pregnancies affected by NTDs. Objective We aimed to investigate whether mandatory folic acid (FA) fortification of flours is cost-effective as compared to non-mandatory fortification, and to verify whether FA dosage, cost composition, and the quality of economic studies influence the cost-effectiveness of outcomes. Methods We conducted a systematic review. The protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD 42018115682). A search was conducted using the electronic databases MEDLINE/PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Scopus, and EBSCO/CINAHL between January 2019 and October 2020 and updated in February 2021. Eligible studies comprised original economic analyses of mandatory FA fortification of wheat and corn flours (maize flours) compared to strategies of non-mandatory fortification in flours and/or use of FA supplements for NTD prevention. The Drummond verification list was used for quality analysis. Results A total of 7,859 studies were identified, of which 13 were selected. Most (77%; n = 10) studies originated from high-income countries, while three (23%) were from upper-middle-income countries. Results of a cost-effectiveness analysis showed that fortification is cost-effective for NTD prevention, except for in one study in New Zealand. The cost-benefit analysis yielded a median ratio of 17.5:1 (0.98:1 to 417.1:1), meaning that for each monetary unit spent in the program, there would be a return of 17.5 monetary units. Even in the most unfavorable case of mandatory fortification, the investment in the program would virtually payoff at a ratio of 1:0.98. All FA dosages were cost-effective and offered positive health gains, except in one study. The outcomes of two studies showed that FA dosages above 300 μg/100 g have a higher CBA ratio. The studies with the inclusion of “loss of consumer choice” in the analysis may alter the fortification cost-efficacy ratio. Conclusion We expect the findings to be useful for public agencies in different countries in decision-making on the implementation and/or continuity of FA fortification as a public policy in NTD prevention.

neste trabalho buscaremos reconstruir o início do mercado brasileiro da internet. Para isso partiremos de matérias publicadas em sites de naturezas distintas, no período dos 15 anos iniciais do mercado da internet no Brasil. Essas notícias são importantes porque trazem questões situadas no tempo sobre o uso da internet por parte dos brasileiros, bem como o esforço do Estado na criação e controle do mercado da internet. Ainda, traremos dilemas que preocuparam os sujeitos nesse período, seja do ponto de vista dos impactos da internet e da tecnologia na vida de seus usuários, ou dos dispositivos jurídicos necessários para a proteção dos sujeitos no cotidiano da relação com a internet. Esses dados serão mobilizados na operacionalização de diferentes teorias da rede que estão em disputa no campo de produção de conhecimento da sociologia, os representantes são Castells, Elias, Granovetter e Latour. Dessa forma, através dessas teorias, iremos desnaturalizar as preocupações relacionadas ao uso da internet no Brasil, bem como relembrar que as questões que nos afligem hoje, na verdade, são antigas.

BackgroundLow Back Pain (LBP) is associated with an increase in disability-adjusted life years, and increased risk of disability retirement and greater absenteeism in Brazil. Hence, evidence on healthcare and lost productivity costs due to LBP is of utmost importance to inform decision-makers.MethodsCost-of-illness study with top-down approach, and societal perspective. We extracted data from National databases, considering the period 2012-2016. Outpatient expenses included clinical, surgical, diagnosis, orthosis/prosthetics, and complementary actions. Inpatient care expenses included hospital and professional services, intensive care unit, and companion stay. For productivity losses, duration of work absence and associated information (work-related and non-work-related; value of the sickness absence benefit; age; gender; and economic activity) were analyzed. Lost productivity costs were calculated multiplying the absence from work (days) by the daily-benefit.ResultsThe societal costs amounted to US$ 2.2 billion, and productivity losses represented 79% of the costs. Total healthcare expenses were estimated to US$ 460 million. We found more than 880,000 diagnostic images. Individuals with LBP were in total 59 million days absent from work between 2012-2016. The mean lost days absent from work per person, for each year investigated was, respectively, 88; 84; 83; 87; and 100. Men were more days absent from work than women. In addition, rural workers presented greater absence from work compared to other professional activities.ConclusionHealthcare expenses and lost productivity costs due to LBP were substantial, hence, there is a need for improvement of health services and policies to deal with this increasing burden of illness. We found an extensive use of diagnostic imaging, which is rather discouraged by clinical guidelines. We assume that men were experiencing high levels of back pain disability compared with women, as they presented greater absenteeism and higher lost productivity costs.

Regionalization is the integrated organization of a healthcare system, wherein regional structures are responsible for providing and administrating health services in a specific region. This method was adopted by several countries to improve the quality of provided care and to properly utilize available resources. Thus, a systematic review was conducted to verify effective interventions to improve health and management indicators within the health services regionalization. The protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42016042314). We performed a systematic search in databases during February and March 2017 which was updated in October 2020. There was no language or date restriction. We included experimental and observational studies with interventions focused on regionalization-related actions, measures or policies aimed at decentralizing and organizing health offerings, rationalizing scarce capital and human resources, coordinating health services. A methodological assessment of the studies was performed using instruments from the Joanna Briggs Institute and GRADE was also used to assess outcomes. Thirty-nine articles fulfilled the eligibility criteria and sixteen interventions were identified that indicated different degrees of recommendations for improving the management of health system regionalization. The results showed that regionalization was effective under administrative decentralization and for rationalization of resources. The most investigated intervention was the strategy of concentrating procedures in high-volume hospitals, which showed positive outcomes, especially with the reduction of hospitalization days and in-hospital mortality rates. When implementing regionalization, it must be noted that it involves changes in current standards of health practice and in the distribution of health resources, especially for specialized services.

BackgroundImproving access and quality in health care is a pressing issue worldwide and pay for performance (P4P) strategies have emerged as an alternative to enhance structure, process and outcomes in health. In 2011, Brazil adopted its first P4P scheme at national level, the National Programme for Improving Primary Care Access and Quality (PMAQ). The contribution of PMAQ in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals related to maternal and childcare remains under investigated in Brazil.ObjectiveTo estimate the association of PMAQ with the provision of maternal and childcare in Brazil, controlling for socioeconomic, geographic and family health team characteristics.MethodWe used cross-sectional quantile regression (QR) models for two periods, corresponding to 33,368 Family Health Teams (FHTs) in the first cycle and 39,211 FHTs in the second cycle of PMAQ. FHTs were analysed using data from the Brazilian Ministry of Health (SIAB and CNES) and the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE).ResultsThe average number of antenatal consultations per month were positively associated with PMAQ participating teams, with larger effect in the lower tail (10th and 25th quantiles) of the conditional distribution of the response variable. There was a positive association between PMAQ and the average number of consultations under 2 years old per month in the 10th and 25th quantiles, but a negative association in the upper tail (75th and 90th quantiles). For the average number of physician consultations for children under 1 year old per month, PMAQ participating teams were positively associated with the response variable in the lower tail, but different from the previous models, there is no clear evidence that the second cycle gives larger coefficients compared with first cycle.ConclusionPMAQ has contributed to increase the provision of care to pregnant women and children under 2 years at primary healthcare level. Teams with lower average number of antenatal or child consultations benefited the most by participating in PMAQ, which suggests that PMAQ might motivate worse performing health providers to catch up.

Abstract Background Rapid response in health technology assessment is a synthesis of the best available evidence prepared in a timely manner to meet specific demands. We build a consensus among Brazilian specialists in health technology assessment to propose guidelines for the development of rapid response. Methods Based on a systematic review that proposed eight methodological steps to conduct rapid response, we applied a modified Delphi technique (without open questions in the first round) to reach consensus among Brazilian experts in health technology assessment. Twenty participants were invited to judge the feasibility of each methodological step in a five-point Likert scale. Consensus was reached if the step had 70% positive approval or interquartile range ≤ 1. Results The achievement of consensus was reached in the second round. Between the first and the second round, we scrutinized all points reported by the experts. The Delphi panel reached consensus of eight steps: definition of the structured question of rapid response (with a restricted scope); definition of the eligibility criteria for study types (preferably systematic reviews); search strategy (language and data limits) and sources of information (minimum two); selection of studies (independently by two responders); critical appraisal of the included studies and the risk of bias for the outcomes of interest; data extraction from the included articles; summary of evidence; and preparation of the report. Conclusions The guidelines for rapid response in health technology assessment may help governments to make better decisions in a short period of time (35 days). The adoption of methodological processes should improve both the quality and consistency of health technology assessments of rapid decisions in the Brazilian setting.

Background: Oseltamivir and zanamivir are recommended for treating and preventing influenza A (H1N1) worldwide. In Brazil, this official recommendation lacks an economic evaluation. Our objective was to assess the efficiency of influenza A chemoprophylaxis in the Brazilian context.Methods: We assessed the cost-effectiveness of oseltamivir and zanamivir for prophylaxis of influenza for high risk population, compared to no prophylaxis, in the perspective of Brazilian public health system. Quality-adjusted life years (QALY) and effectiveness data were based on literature review and costs in Brazilian real (BRL) were estimated from official sources and micro-costing of 2016’s H1N1 admissions at a university hospital. We used a decision-tree model considering prophylaxis and no prophylaxis and the probabilities of H1N1, ambulatory care, admission to hospital, intensive care, patient discharge, and death. Adherence and adverse events from prophylaxis were included. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was converted to 2016 United States dollar (USD). Uncertainty was assessed with univariated and probabilistic sensitivity analysis.Results: Adherence to prophylaxis was 0.70 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.54; 0.83]; adverse events, 0.09 (95% CI 0.02; 0.18); relative risk of H1N1 infection in chemoprophylaxis, 0.43 (95% CI 0.33; 0.57); incidence of H1N1, 0.14 (95% CI 0.11; 0.16); ambulatory care, 0.67 (95% CI 0.58; 0.75); hospital admission, 0.43 (CI 95% 0.39; 0.42); hospital mortality, 0.14 (CI 95% 0.12; 0.15); intensive care unit admission, 0.23 (95% CI 0.20; 0.27); and intensive care mortality, 0.40 (95% CI 0.29; 0.52). QALY in H1N1 state was 0.50 (95% CI 0.46; 0.53); in H1N1 inpatients, 0.23 (95% CI 0.18; 0.28); healthy, 0.885 (95% CI 0.879; 0.891); death, 0. Adverse events estimated to affect QALY in –0.185 (95% CI –0.290; –0.050). Cost for chemoprophylaxis was BRL 39.42 [standard deviation (SD) 17.94]; ambulatory care, BRL 12.47 (SD 5.21); hospital admission, BRL 5,727.59 (SD 7,758.28); intensive care admission, BRL 19,217.25 (SD 7,917.33); and adverse events, BRL 292.05 (SD 724.95). Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was BRL –4,080.63 (USD –1,263.74)/QALY and –982.39 (USD –304.24)/H1N1 prevented. Results were robust to sensitivity analysis.Conclusion: Chemoprophylaxis of influenza A (H1N1) is cost-saving in Brazilian health system context.

INTRODUCTION:Diabetes is the most common cause of chronic kidney disease, with a high economic impact on health systems. OBJECTIVE:To estimate the cost of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) attributable to diabetes, stratified by sex, race/skin color, and age, from the perspective of the Brazilian public health system between 2010 and 2016. METHODS:Population attributable risk (PAR) was calculated from the Brazilian prevalence of diabetes and the relative risk (or odds ratio) of persons with diabetes developing CKD and ESKD as compared to non-diabetic subjects. The variables of interest were sex, race/skin color, and age. A top-down approach was used to measure the direct costs of the disease reimbursed by the Brazilian Ministry of Health, using data from outpatient and inpatient records. RESULTS:The cost of CKD and ESKD attributable to diabetes in the period 2010-2016 was US$1.2 billion (US$180 million per year) and trending upward. Female sex, age 65-75, and black race/skin color contributed substantially to the costs of CKD and ESKD (US$475 million, US$63 million, and US$25 million respectively). The clinical procedures accounting for the greatest share of disease-attributable costs are hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis. CONCLUSION:Diabetes accounted for 22% of the costs of CKD and ESKD. Female sex, age 65-75 years, and black race/skin color were the variables which contributed most to disease-related expenditure. The economic burden of CKD may increase gradually in the coming years, with serious implications for the financial sustainability of the Brazilian public health system.

This study analyzes the available evidence on the adequacy of economic evaluation for decision-making on the incorporation or exclusion of technologies for rare diseases. The authors conducted a structured literature review in MEDLINE via PubMed, CRD, LILACS, SciELO, and Google Scholar (gray literature). Economic evaluation studies had their origins in Welfare Economics, in which individuals maximize their utilities based on allocative efficiency. There is no widely accepted criterion in the literature to weigh the expected utilities, in the sense of assigning more weight to individuals with greater health needs. Thus, economic evaluation studies do not usually weigh utilities asymmetrically (that is, everyone is treated equally, which in Brazil is also a Constitutional principle). Healthcare systems have ratified the use of economic evaluation as the main tool to assist decision-making. However, this approach does not rule out the use of other methodologies to complement cost-effectiveness studies, such as Person Trade-Off and Rule of Rescue.

Objective: To analyze the expenditure of the Ministry of Health with osteoporosis treatment in the Brazilian Public Health System (SUS) in 2008-2010 triennium and estimate the influence of demographic, regional and disease related variables on average expenditure per procedures performed. Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study based on secondary data from DATASUS related to procedures for the elderly with a diagnosis of osteoporosis and related fractures. For the statistical analysis and multivariate model, Stata 11.0 was used. Results: According to the findings, 3,252,756 procedures related to the osteoporosis treatment among the elderly were carried out in Brazil during the 2008 - 2010 period, totalizing R$ 288,986,335.15. The age group that most had procedures was 60 - 69 years (46.3%); the population of 80 years or older showed the highest spending per procedure, around R$ 106 million in three years. The women were majority in terms of quantity (95.6%) and expense (76%) of procedures. The average cost per procedure showed a large gap between men and women, nearly 7 times (R$ 480.14 versus R$ 70.85, respectively). The ambulatory care procedures predominated in quantity (96.4%) and the hospital procedures predominated in resources (70.4%). It was found that there is no single standard for groups of procedures when these are analyzed separately. Conclusion: A disaggregated analysis of expenditure by procedures groups extracted from the SUS Management System of the Table of Procedures, Medicines, Orthotics, Prosthetics and Special Materials allowed a detailed overview of federal spending on the osteoporosis treatment in the elderly from Brazil.

O objetivo deste artigo é apontar a importância do CEIS tanto em termos sociossanitário quanto econômico. Ademais, pretende-se apresentar as principais medidas adotadas pelo governo federal para fomentar o CEIS, além de identificar alguns desafios que ainda persistem nessa área. Um CEIS nacional, associado com os estímulos e a regulamentação do Estado, tende a: i) estar mais próximo das necessidades em saúde da população; ii) fixar internamente recursos humanos de elevado capital humano; iii) ter efeitos positivos na renda interna, pela criação de empregos e geração de renda; iv) reduzir o déficit comercial crônico na balança comercial na rubrica da saúde; v) mitigar a dependência científica, visto que geralmente não há transferência tecnológica do exterior para instituições brasileiras. As políticas públicas adotadas pelo governo federal evidenciam que há um esforço articulado para fomentar o CEIS do país, a exemplo da Política Industrial, Tecnológica e de Comércio Exterior (2003), Política de Desenvolvimento Produtivo (2008), Plano Brasil Maior (2011), Decreto n. 7.546/11 entre outras. A despeito das políticas adotadas até então, permanecem dois desafios no âmbito do CEIS: i) padrão de inserção produtiva no cenário mundial e na divisão internacional do trabalho; ii) e baixa geração de conhecimento com pouca densidade de pesquisa e desenvolvimento.

O objetivo deste artigo é analisar as doenças negligenciadas no âmbito das políticas públicas que visam aprimorar os determinantes e condicionantes da saúde. Para tal, são analisados o Plano Brasil sem Miséria e Política Nacional de Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação em Saúde. O primeiro foi instituído com o objetivo de atingir a população com rendimento domiciliar igual ou inferior a R$ 70,00 por pessoa. O Plano está estruturado em ações nacionais e regionais baseadas em três eixos: i) garantia de renda ii) inclusão produtiva; e iii) serviços públicos. A segunda surge como um esforço interministerial – Saúde, Educação e Ciência e Tecnologia – para ratificar a importância do componente de ciência, tecnologia e inovação na saúde pública, visando desenvolver e otimizar os processos de produção e absorção de conhecimento científico e tecnológico pelos sistemas, serviços e instituições de saúde, centros de formação de recursos humanos, empresas do setor produtivo e demais segmentos da sociedade. Evidencia-se a necessidade de o SUS criar mecanismos de articulação para atingir o objetivo de mitigar os impactos negativos das doenças negligenciadas na população brasileira. Essa articulação não se restringe ao Ministério da Saúde isoladamente, mas com as demais instâncias do Estado, com os Ministérios da Educação, da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação, do Desenvolvimento, Indústria e Comércio Exterior, do Desenvolvimento Social e Combate à Pobreza. As duas políticas abordadas neste artigo sinalizam que é possível a cooperação das várias áreas da sociedade para a resolução desse problema específico da saúde.

Long-acting insulin analogues for type 1 diabetes (T1D) treatment have been available on the Brazilian market since 2002. However, the population cannot access the analogues through the public health system.To estimate the incremental budget impact of long-acting insulin analogues coverage for T1D patients in the Brazilian public health system compared to NPH insulin.We performed a budget impact analysis of a five-year period. The eligible population was projected using epidemiological data from the International Diabetes Federation estimates for patients between 0-14 and 20-79 years old. The prevalence of T1D was estimated in children, and the same proportion was applied to the 15-19-year-old group due to a gap in epidemiological information. We considered 4,944 new cases per year and a 34.61/100,000 inhabitants mortality rate. Market share for long-acting insulin analogues was assumed as 20% in the first year, reaching 40% in the fifth year. The mean daily dose was taken from clinical trials. We calculated the bargaining power of the Ministry of Health by dividing the price paid for human insulin in the last purchase by the average regulated price. We performed univariate and multivariate sensitivity analyses.The incremental budget impact of long-acting insulin analogues was US$ 28.6 million in the first year, and reached US$ 58.7 million in the fifth year. The total incremental budget impact was US$ 217.9 million over the five-year period. The sensitivity analysis showed that the percentage of T1D among diabetic adults and the insulin analogue price were the main factors that affected the budget impact.The cost of the first year of long-acting insulin analogue coverage would correspond to 0.03% of total public health expenditure. The main advantage of this study is that it identifies potential bargaining power because it features more realistic profiles of resource usage, once centralized purchasing is established as an economically sustainable strategy. Clinical guidelines restricting the use of insulin analogues would make the decision towards insulin analogue coverage more affordable.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a disease that causes reduced visual acuity and blindness. The new treatment options for AMD are not provided by the Brazilian public health system.To conduct a budget impact analysis of three scenarios for the introduction of AMD treatments: all the medications (verteporfin, ranibizumab, and bevacizumab-the reference scenario), ranibizumab alone, and bevacizumab alone.The basic assumption was that the Brazilian public health system would treat the entire target population with AMD aged > 70 years between 2008 and 2011. The size of the population of interest was estimated from official population projections and the prevalence of the disease was obtained from a systematic review. Medication prices were estimated by weighting their market values with correction factors to take account of the public procurement policy. The possibility of aliquoting bevacizumab was also considered. A panel of experts was consulted to estimate the market share of the different medications for the reference scenario. The incremental costs of the ranibizumab-alone and bevacizumab-alone scenarios compared to the reference scenario were calculated. Univariate sensitivity analyses were run to check the robustness of the model.In four years, the Brazilian public health system would have treated 1,136,349 individuals with AMD. The annual costs of treating one patient would have been US$476.65 for bevacizumab, US$11,469.39 for ranibizumab, and US$4,376.28 for verteporfin. The incremental cost of the ranibizumab-alone scenario would have been US$1,878,318,056.00 in four years, while the incremental cost for the bevacizumab-alone scenario would have been a reduction of US$4,978,326,359.00 (i.e., a cost saving) in the same period. The bevacizumab-alone option was found to represent a cost saving across sensitivity analyses.The introduction of bevacizumab for the treatment of AMD is recommended for the Brazilian Public Health System.

Obesity is a global public health problem and a risk factor for several diseases that financially impact healthcare systems.To estimate the direct costs attributable to obesity (body mass index {BMI} ≥ 30 kg/m2) and morbid obesity (BMI ≥ 40 kg/m2) in adults aged ≥ 20 incurred by the Brazilian public health system in 2011.Public hospitals and outpatient care.A cost-of-illness method was adopted using a top-down approach based on prevalence. The proportion of the cost of each obesity-associated comorbidity was calculated and obesity prevalence was used to calculate attributable risk. Direct healthcare cost data (inpatient care, bariatric surgery, outpatient care, medications and diagnostic procedures) were extracted from the Ministry of Health information systems, available on the web.Direct costs attributable to obesity totaled US$ 269.6 million (1.86% of all expenditures on medium- and high-complexity health care). The cost of morbid obesity accounted for 23.8% (US$ 64.2 million) of all obesity-related costs despite being 18 times less prevalent than obesity. Bariatric surgery costs in Brazil totaled US$ 17.4 million in 2011. The cost of morbid obesity in women was five times higher than it was in men.The cost of morbid obesity was found to be proportionally higher than the cost of obesity. If the current epidemic were not reversed, the prevalence of obesity in Brazil will increase gradually in the coming years, as well as its costs, having serious implications for the financial sustainability of the Brazilian public health system.

Nos últimos anos, muitos pesquisadores dedicaram atenção à questão da importância dos indicadores sociais na redução de doenças. O objetivo deste artigo é analisar a associação estatística entre os casos notificados de AIDS e algumas variáveis socioeconômicas. Foi analisada uma amostra de 1.994 municípios brasileiros com casos de AIDS informados em 1991 e 2000. As variáveis analisadas são: taxa de incidência de AIDS per capita; taxa de analfabetismo; Índice de Gini; renda per capita; acesso a eletricidade e televisão; esperança de vida ao nascer. A abordagem econométrica usada neste estudo foi modelo de dados em painel. Os resultados desta análise mostram que as variáveis socioeconômicas são importantes para entender a incidência dos casos de AIDS no Brasil, e são importantes para o desenho de políticas públicas para o combate do aumento da incidência de HIV/AIDS; além de mostrarem um padrão distinto ao encontrado na literatura para países africanos. In recent years, many researchers have devoted attention to the issue of the importance of social indicators in disease reduction. The objective of this paper is to analyze the statistical association between the reported AIDS cases and some socioeconomic variables. We analyzed a sample of 1,994 Brazilian municipalities with AIDS cases reported in 1991 and 2000. The variables analyzed are: AIDS incidence rate per capita, illiteracy rate, Gini Index, per capita income, access to electricity and television, life expectancy at birth. The approach used in this study was econometric panel data model. The results of this analysis show that socioeconomic variables are important for understanding the incidence of AIDS cases in Brazil, and are important for the design of public policies to combat the increasing incidence of HIV / AIDS, also show a distinct pattern to found in the literature for African countries. Keywords :HIV/AIDS, Socioeconomic Indicators, Public Health, Panel Data

Este trabalho tem o objetivo de analisar teórica e empiricamente a suposta relação positiva existente entre desenvolvimento financeiro e crescimento econômico. O sistema financeiro influencia o crescimento econômico devido às funções que este desempenha, tais como: a) mobilização de recursos; b) alocação dos recursos no espaço e no tempo; c) administração do risco; d) seleção e monitoração de empresas; e e) produção e divulgação de informação. Para analisar estes aspectos, aplicou-se a técnica de regressão quantílica, a partir de dados de 77 países, o que permitiu um mapeamento mais completo do impacto gerado pelas medidas de desenvolvimento financeiro na distribuição condicional da variável resposta (medidas de crescimento econômico). As estimativas obtidas permitem concluir que: a) há uma relação positiva entre desenvolvimento financeiro e crescimento econômico; e b) quanto maior o quantil (isto é, maior a taxa de crescimento econômico), maior é a contribuição do sistema financeiro para o crescimento econômico.

Em 2009, o Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF) convocou uma Audiência Pública para discutir a judicialização, quando foram ministradas 51 palestras. Utilizando o método descritivo-analítico, sistematizaram-se os argumentos, visando identificar potenciais medidas para contornar o problema e analisar o que foi feito até então. As políticas públicas possuem algumas falhas ao aplicar, no caso concreto, os princípios do SUS, e a judicialização deve ser vista como um instrumento excepcional, não como regra do sistema. As principais medidas adotadas foram o uso de evidência científica na tomada de decisão do Executivo e do Judiciário e a sustentabilidade do financiamento das aúde. Em ambos os casos, houve avanços significativos.

O estudo tem por objetivo analisar a eficiência da Atenção Primária à Saúde e de averiguar possíveis disparidades em saúde por meio de um estudo ecológico transversal baseado em dados dos municípios referentes ao IDSUS da atenção primária e no gasto total médio per capita, estratificado por região e grupos homogêneos, para o período 2008-2010. Observou-se a dificuldade de estruturação da atenção primária nas grandes cidades e no Norte; o favorecimento das transferências federais aos municípios com maiores necessidades; a maior eficiência foi encontrada no Nordeste e no grupo homogêneo de municípios com os piores indicadores socioeconômicos e de estrutura de saúde. Observaram-se, também, grandes disparidades entre as regiões brasileiras e os grupos homogêneos de municípios, segundo suas características socioeconômicas e de estrutura de saúde, no que se refere à eficiência da Atenção Primária à Saúde e à capacidade de aplicação de recursos próprios pelos municípios. Constatou-se, por fim, a existência de importante inexecução do valor transferido pela União para os municípios dentro do bloco de financiamento da Atenção Básica.