Health reform seeks broad improvements in Chile

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Reform ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Health Systems ◽  
Sick People ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Improve Access

Subject Health reform in Chile. Significance On April 22, President Sebastian Pinera announced two initiatives to reform Chile’s private and public health systems. The first would end years of discrimination and spiralling costs for affiliates of private health insurers, known as ISAPREs. The second aims to improve access and coverage for users of the national health service by strengthening the role of FONASA, the institution which finances the public health system. Impacts Greater competition may deepen the controversial concern that ISAPREs “cannot afford to incorporate sick people”. Fiscal revenues will fall if affiliates leave FONASA in large numbers, as expected. The delay for new ISAPRE members to access all benefits has been called discriminatory and will be a focus of debate in Congress.

Governance structure and public health provision

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 426-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
David John Sheard ◽  
Gregory Clydesdale ◽  
Gillis Maclean
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Governance Structure ◽  
Health Board ◽  
Health Providers ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Public Health Provision

Purpose A key question in the provision of public health concerns how that provision is governed. The purpose of this paper is to examine the governance structure of a public health board and its perceived impact on the efficacy of clinical operations. Design/methodology/approach Structural issues examined the level of centralisation and public participation, and whether governance should occur through elected boards or appointed managers. These issues were examined through multiple lenses. First was the intention of the structure, examining the issues identified by parliament when the new structure was created. Second, the activities of the board were examined through an analysis of board meetings. Finally, hospital clinicians were surveyed through semi-structured interviews with both quantitative and qualitative questioning. Findings A contradiction was revealed between intention, perception and actual activities. This raises concerns over whether the public are significantly informed to elect the best-skilled appointees to governance positions. Practical implications This research holds implications for selecting governance structures of public health providers. Originality/value Few studies have looked at the role of a publicly elected healthcare governance structure from the perspective of the clinicians. Hence, this study contributes to the literature on healthcare structure and its impact on clinical operations, by including a clinician’s perspective. However, this paper goes beyond the survey and also considers the intention of the structure as proposed by parliament, and board activities or what the board actually does. This enables a comparison of intention with outcomes and perception of those outcomes.

Is the country-level income an important factor to consider for COVID-19 control? An analysis of selected 100 countries

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Veli Durmuş
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Income Group ◽  
Health Security ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Income Groups ◽  
Incidence And Mortality

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to evaluate the association between economic activity in a country, as measured by the gross domestic product (GDP) and the control of the COVID-19 pandemic outcomes, as measured by the rate of incidence and mortality increase per 100,000 population in different countries using up-to-date data, in the light of public health security capacities including prevention, detection, respond, enabling function, operational readiness, as measured by the 2019 State Party self-assessment annual reporting (SPAR) submissions of 100 countries.Design/methodology/approachFor this analytical study, multiple linear regression analyses were performed for each variable with the COVID-19 incidence and mortality rates, while controlling for Human Development Index (HDI) and GDP.FindingsCountries with higher income levels were significantly more likely to have a higher incidence and mortality rate per 100,000 population. Among the public health capacity categories, prevention of the infectious disease and detection of the pathogens were significantly associated with lower incidence and mortality of the COVID-19 pandemic. The country-level income was found to be an important negative predictor of COVID-19 control.Practical implicationsThese findings present to decision-makers in organizing mitigation strategies to struggle emerging infectious pandemics and highlight the role of country-level income while trying to control COVID-19. In order to determine the priority settings for the fight against pandemic, national policy-makers and international organizations should notice that countries in a high-income group had better health security capacities than that of other income groups, particularly in low- and lower-middle-income groups. The results of the capabilities of health security by the income group can assist health policy makers and other international agencies in resource allocation decisions and in mitigating risk with more informed resource planning.Social implicationsThe income level of countries may have a positive effect on public health strategies to mitigate the risk of infection of COVID-19. This study may assist the local public authorities to gain a better level of understanding on the relationship country-level income and COVID-19 outcomes in order to take appropriate measures at the local level. The results also highlighted the importance role of public health security capacities for the pandemic control policy.Originality/valueAlthough previous studies have examined to assess the public health capability by country-level and to describe cases and deaths by continent and by country, very limited studies have evaluated the rate of incidence and mortality of COVID-19 by country-level income and by health expenditure using the data on the health security capacities with analytical and practical approaches.

Anticipating on a post covid-19 world and the pivotal role of science and technology

Coronaviruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 01 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saeed Khan ◽  
Tusha Sharma ◽  
Basu Dev Banerjee ◽  
Scotty Branch ◽  
Shea Harrelson
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Pivotal Role ◽  
Public Healthcare ◽  
Healthcare Organizations ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Outbreak Management ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Health Crisis ◽  
Future Outbreak

: Currently, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has transformed into a severe public health crisis and wreaking havoc worldwide. The ongoing pandemic has exposed the public healthcare system's weaknesses and highlighted the urgent need for investments in scientific programs and policies. A comprehensive program utilizing the science and technologydriven strategies combined with well-resourced healthcare organizations appears to be essential for current and future outbreak management.

Social versus Private Insurance

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Pestieau ◽  
Mathieu Lefebvre
Keyword(s):  
Social Insurance ◽  
Private Insurance ◽  
Population Ageing ◽  
Fiscal Competition ◽  
Public Insurance ◽  
The Public ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
The Family ◽  
Private And Public

This chapter looks at the role of the public versus the private sector in the provision of insurance against social risks. After having discussed the evolution of the role of the family as support in the first place, the specificity of social insurance is emphasized in opposition to private insurance. Figures show the extent of spending on both private and public insurance and the chapter presents economic reasons to why the latter is more developed than the former. Issues related to moral hazard and adverse selection are addressed. The chapter also discusses somewhat more general arguments supporting social insurance such as population ageing, unemployment, fiscal competition and social dumping.

The public's view of public health in mid-Victorian Britain

Urban History ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Sigsworth ◽  
Michael Worboys
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Working Class ◽  
Health Reform ◽  
Great Majority ◽  
Personal Hygiene ◽  
The Public ◽  
Victorian Britain ◽  
Physical Conditions ◽  
Public Health Reform

What did the public think about public health reform in mid-Victorian Britain? Historians have had a lot to say about the sanitary mentality and actions of the middle class, yet have been strangely silent about the ideas and behaviour of the working class, who were the great majority of the public and the group whose health was mainly in question. Perhaps there is nothing to say. The working class were commonly referred to as ‘the Great Unwashed’, purportedly ignorant and indifferent on matters of personal hygiene, environmental sanitation and hence health. Indeed, the writings of reformers imply that the working class simply did not have a sanitary mentality. However, the views of sanitary campaigners should not be taken at face value. Often propaganda and always one class's perception of another, in the context of the social apartheid in Britain's cities in the mid-nineteenth century, sanitary campaigners' views probably reveal more about middle-class anxieties than the actual social and physical conditions of the poor. None the less many historians still use such material to portray working-class life, but few have gone on to ask how public health reform was seen and experienced ‘from below’. Historians of public health have tended to portray the urban working class as passive victims who were rescued by enlightened middle-class reformers. This seems to be borne out at the political level where, unlike with other popular movements of the 1840s and after, there is little evidence of working-class participation in, or support for, the public health movement.

The 2016 Police and Crime Commissioner elections

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 41-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Joyce
Keyword(s):  
Public Awareness ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Source Material ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Government

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the 2016 elections for Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and to compare them with those that took place in 2012. It seeks to evaluate the background of the candidates who stood for office in 2016, the policies that they put forward, the results of the contests and the implications of the 2016 experience for future PCC elections. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based around several key themes – the profile of candidates who stood for election, preparations conducted prior to the contests taking place, the election campaign and issues raised during the contests, the results and the profile of elected candidates. The paper is based upon documentary research, making particular use of primary source material. Findings The research establishes that affiliation to a political party became the main route for successful candidates in 2016 and that local issues related to low-level criminality will dominate the future policing agenda. It establishes that although turnout was higher than in 2012, it remains low and that further consideration needs to be devoted to initiatives to address this for future PCC election contests. Research limitations/implications The research focusses on the 2016 elections and identifies a number of key issues that emerged during the campaign affecting the conduct of the contests which have a bearing on future PCC elections. It treats these elections as a bespoke topic and does not seek to place them within the broader context of the development of the office of PCC. Practical implications The research suggests that in order to boost voter participation in future PCC election contests, PCCs need to consider further means to advertise the importance of the role they perform and that the government should play a larger financial role in funding publicity for these elections and consider changing the method of election. Social implications The rationale for introducing PCCs was to empower the public in each police force area. However, issues that include the enhanced importance of political affiliation as a criteria for election in 2016 and the social unrepresentative nature of those who stood for election and those who secured election to this office in these contests coupled with shortcomings related to public awareness of both the role of PCCs and the timing of election contests threaten to undermine this objective. Originality/value The extensive use of primary source material ensures that the subject matter is original and its interpretation is informed by an academic perspective.

scholarly journals The Role of the Public Health Official in Communicating Public Health Information

2007 ◽  
Vol 97 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S93-S97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrique Regidor ◽  
Luis de la Fuente ◽  
Juan L. Gutiérrez-Fisac ◽  
Salvador de Mateo ◽  
Cruz Pascual ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Public Health Official ◽  
Health Official ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Health Information

scholarly journals Spontaneous Gac Mutants of Pseudomonas Biological Control Strains: Cheaters or Mutualists?

2011 ◽  
Vol 77 (20) ◽  
pp. 7227-7235 ◽  
Author(s):  
William W. Driscoll ◽  
John W. Pepper ◽  
Leland S. Pierson ◽  
Elizabeth A. Pierson
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Hypothesis ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Regulatory System ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Extracellular Metabolites ◽  
Mutualistic Interaction ◽  
Alternative Hypotheses

ABSTRACTBacteria rely on a range of extracellular metabolites to suppress competitors, gain access to resources, and exploit plant or animal hosts. The GacS/GacA two-component regulatory system positively controls the expression of many of these beneficial external products in pseudomonad bacteria. Natural populations often contain variants with defective Gac systems that do not produce most external products. These mutants benefit from a decreased metabolic load but do not appear to displace the wild type in nature. How could natural selection maintain the wild type in the presence of a mutant with enhanced growth? One hypothesis is that Gac mutants are “cheaters” that do not contribute to the public good, favored within groups but selected against between groups, as groups containing more mutants lose access to ecologically important external products. An alternative hypothesis is that Gac mutants have a mutualistic interaction with the wild type, so that each variant benefits by the presence of the other. In the biocontrol bacteriumPseudomonas chlororaphisstrain 30-84, Gac mutants do not produce phenazines, which suppress competitor growth and are critical for biofilm formation. Here, we test the predictions of these alternative hypotheses by quantifying interactions between the wild type and the phenazine- and biofilm-deficient Gac mutant within growing biofilms. We find evidence that the wild type and Gac mutants interact mutualistically in the biofilm context, whereas a phenazine-defective structural mutant does not. Our results suggest that the persistence of alternative Gac phenotypes may be due to the stabilizing role of local mutualistic interactions.

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