OBJECTIVE To summarize the epidemiological situation of tuberculosis (TB) in Brazil, especially as it relates to the evolution of the health sector in recent decades, the process of health sector reform, and current proposals of the Brazilian Ministry of Health. METHODS A review was conducted of data from the Ministry of Health of Brazil on tuberculosis in the country over the last 20 years, ...

BACKGROUND Mental, neurological, and substance (MNS) use disorders are a leading cause of disability worldwide; specifically in Peru, MNS affect 1 in 5 persons. However, the great majority of people suffering from these disorders do not access care, thereby making necessary the improvement of existing conditions including a major rearranging of current health system structures beyond care deliv...

When employees without group health insurance buy individual coverage, they do so using after-tax income--costing them from 20% to 50% more than others pay for equivalent coverage. Prior to the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), several states promoted a potential solution that would allow employees to buy individual insurance through tax-sheltered payroll deduct...

It is hard to doubt that there is a widespread movement toward change regarding health care in the country. It is hard to detect when it started; it is obvious that we are in the midst of change but difficult to know where, difficult to know how much or how quickly change will cause recognizable difference. Some point to the upset senatorial victory of Harris Wofford in Pennsylvania as being th...

BACKGROUND In recent years use of family physicians has been determined as a start point of health system reform to achieve more productive health services. In this study we aimed to assess the cost-efficiency of the implementation of this plan in Fars province, southern Iran. METHODS This cross-sectional descriptive study was done in 2007 in 18 provincial health centers as well as 224 rural ...

BACKGROUND In this paper (initially presented at a symposium during the ICN Centennial Conference, 27 June-1 July 1999, London), we describe nurses' experiences in formulating a strategic plan for nursing development at the national level in Bahrain. AIM Specifically, we address the process undertaken to produce a comprehensive and integrated strategic plan directed at what nurses in Bahrain ...

The Medical Journal of Australia ISSN: 0025729X 30 December 1899 192 X 1-1 ©The Medical Journal of Australia 1899 www.mja.com.au Viewpoint listening, thinking, debate and deliberation, it is now taking action. This, the first in a series of announce Australian Government, focused on proposed changes and public financing structures. Public hospitals, gener primary health care, health workforce a...