Capabilities and health

Sen's capabilities approach offers a radical generalisation of the conventional approach to welfare economics. It has been highly influential in development and many researchers are now beginning to explore its implications for health care. This paper contributes to the emerging debate by discussing two examples of such applications: first, at the individual decision making level, namely the right to die, and second, at the social choice level. For the first application, which draws on Nussbaum's list of capabilities, it is argued that many capabilities are ambiguously or indirectly related to the right to die, but the ability to form a concept of the good life and plan one's own life provides a direct justification for such a right. In the second application, the focus is specifically on healthcare rationing and it is argued that, although not committed to age based rationing, the capabilities approach provides a more natural justification of age related access to health care than the fair innings argument, which is often used to justify the alleged ageism inherent in quality adjusted life years (QALY) maximisation.     

The challenge of "sperm ships": the need for the global regulation of medical technology

This paper discusses the notion of using international shipping legislation to provide healthcare technologies to inhabitants of a country on a ship in international waters based just outside the country's border. This allows technologies that would otherwise be unavailable, regulated or banned to the citizens of a particular nation to be available, just offshore. This is because in international waters ships are governed by the laws of their home nation not those they are nearby. We focus on the example suggested recently in the UK of "sperm ships", flying Danish flags to circumvent IVF regulation in the UK. While we acknowledge that this general strategy could be used to do good by providing healthcare where it would not be otherwise available, it also provides a significant challenge to the effective sovereignty of the state and its ability to regulate healthcare technologies for the benefit of its citizens. We discuss this challenge to the regulation of healthcare and suggest a few tentative solutions.     

Low risk research using routinely collected identifiable health information without informed consent: encounters with the Patient Information Advisory Group

Current UK legislation is impacting upon the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of medical record-based research aimed at benefiting the NHS and the public heath. Whereas previous commentators have focused on the Data Protection Act 1998, the Health and Social Care Act 2001 is the key legislation for public health researchers wishing to access medical records without written consent. The Act requires researchers to apply to the Patient Information Advisory Group (PIAG) for permission to access medical records without written permission. We present a case study of the work required to obtain the necessary permissions from PIAG in order to conduct a large scale public health research project. In our experience it took eight months to receive permission to access basic identifying information on individuals registered at general practices, and a decision on whether we could access clinical information in medical records without consent took 18 months. Such delays pose near insurmountable difficulties to grant funded research, and in our case 560,000pound of public and charitable money was spent on research staff while a large part of their work was prohibited until the third year of a three year grant. We conclude by arguing that many of the current problems could be avoided by returning PIAG's responsibilities to research ethics committees, and by allowing "opt-out" consent for many public health research projects.     

上海实施国家基本公共卫生服务项目十年效果评价

目的 上海自1997年开始探索建立基本公共卫生服务体系以来,逐步建立健全基本公共卫生服务的网络体系。通过梳理过去十年的基本公共卫生服务项目数据,了解上海实施基本公共卫生服务项目十年的实施效果,总结上海提供基本公共卫生服务的特点,为后期更有效的提供卫生服务提出政策意见。 方法 收集2009—2019年度上海实施基本公共卫生服务项目的数据,通过年度纵向分析,获得十余年间各项指标具体变化及整体趋势,通过Wilcoxon秩和检验比较本市全面推广家庭医生制度前后各项指标数值的差异。 结果 上海开展的国家基本公共卫生服务项目数历年始终为100%。十年间,居民健康档案的建档人数逐年上升至1 992.01万人。妇女、儿童、高血压和糖尿病患者等重点管理对象的服务数量均达到国家要求的水平,孕产妇死亡率下降至3.51/10万,婴儿死亡率下降至3.06‰。儿童健康管理率达到98.47%。高血压和2型糖尿病患者管理率分别达84.77%和87.37%。Wilcoxon秩和检验表明,家庭医生制度的落地之于孕产妇死亡率、婴儿死亡率的下降及早孕建册率、产后访视率、高血压管理人群血压控制率等指标的提高,差异均具有统计学意义(均P<0.05)。 结论 上海实施基本公共卫生服务项目取得了显著成效,但仍需在电子健康档案标准化建设、公共卫生经费监管考核机制、强化公共卫生服务人才的引进力度等方面继续改进。      

英国基本医疗卫生体制及其改良对中国全科医学发展的启示

英国全科医疗是国家卫生服务体系（National Health Service,NHS）的基石,不过近年出现了全科医生短缺的情况。对此,NHS进行了全面改良,提出了《五年发展规划》和《全科医学发展规划》。本文拟立足于此,结合英国前沿学术成果,介绍英国基本医疗卫生体制及其近五年改良的新举措,并与我国全科医学的发展现状相比较,以期为我国全科医学的进一步发展带来启示。     

Influenza vaccination

Cost-effectiveness analysis was used to evaluate influenza vaccination. From 1971-1972 through 1977-1978, vaccination of an elderly person 65 years of age or older saved net medical care costs while improving health. Vaccination of younger high-risk adults aged 15 through 64 years also improved health for a low net cost per year of healthy life gained. By covering influenza vaccination during those years, the Medicare program would have incurred a net cost for each vaccination of $13 per year of healthy life gained for medical costs connected with influenza and $791 per year gained including costs of treating other illnesses in later life. The analysis indicates the need for epidemiologic research on the extent of influenza and the mechanism of its spread. The results also raise the issue of public policy to promote influenza vaccination among high-risk persons as a low-cost, preventive technology.     

开展健康信念模式教育对膀胱癌Bricker术后患者远期生活质量的影响

目的：采用健康信念模式开展健康教育对膀胱癌Bricker术后患者开展健康教育对远期生活质量的影响作用。方法：2011年1月~2012年6月本院膀胱癌行Bricker手术治疗的患者58例,术后回房麻醉清醒后采用“健康信念模式”开展健康教育。远期生活质量采用KPS他评量表测评。将患者的功能状态分成11个等级。测评的时间分别为：首次测评的安排在患者术后回房麻醉清醒后,病情稳定愿意配合的情况下进行。第二次测评为患者术后1个月,第三次测评为患者术后3个月,第四次测评为患者术后6个月,第五次测评为患者术后1年。将前后5次的测评结果采用统计学中的百分率分析资料。结果：患者术后3个月,65.51%的患者生活自理,17.24%的患者生活基本自理,另有17.24%的患者生活不能自理;术后6个月,100%的患者均生活自理;术后1年,仍然有93.10%的患者保持了良好的功能状态。结论：膀胱癌行膀胱全切加Bricke手术患者术后采用“健康信念模式”进行健康教育,可有效提高患者术后远期的生活质量。     

Doctors do not adequately look after their own physical health

Studies of doctors' health have emphasised psychological health, and limited data have been collected on their physical health status. Doctors often fail to follow current preventive health guidelines for their physical health. About half of doctors do not have an established relationship with an independent general practitioner. This would enhance their health and provide a means of ready access to the healthcare system should a problem arise.     

EBM and the health of Indigenous Australians

Implementing evidence-based medicine (EBM) in primary healthcare for Indigenous people will usually involve increasing services, particularly those for chronic conditions. As shown by the example of diabetes care, there are significant organisational, educational, economic, cultural and structural barriers to implementing EBM in many Indigenous communities. Many of these barriers could be reduced by better-organised service delivery systems at the community level, greater numbers of Indigenous health professionals and greater advocacy for healthy public policy by health services. There is evidence that delivering evidence-based primary healthcare, particularly for chronic diseases, can improve health outcomes in Indigenous communities. There is a need for more investment in strategies to implement EBM and evidence-based public health in Indigenous settings.     

Private health insurance and access to healthcare

The health insurance business in India has seen a growth of over 25% per annum in the last few years with the expansion of the private health insurance sector. The premium incomes of health insurance have crossed the Rs 8,000 crore mark with the share of private companies increasing to over 41%. This is despite the fact that from the perspective of patients, health insurance is not a good deal, especially when they need it most. This raises a number of ethical issues regarding how the health insurance business runs and how medical practice adjusts to it for profiteering. This article uses the personal experience of the author to argue that health insurance in an unregulated environment can only lead to unethical practices, further victimising the patient. Further, publicly financed healthcare which operates in an environment regulating both public and private healthcare provisioning is the only way to assure access to ethical and equitable healthcare to people.     

Ethical difficulties in clinical practice: experiences of European doctors

BACKGROUND: Ethics support services are growing in Europe to help doctors in dealing with ethical difficulties. Currently, insufficient attention has been focused on the experiences of doctors who have faced ethical difficulties in these countries to provide an evidence base for the development of these services. METHODS: A survey instrument was adapted to explore the types of ethical dilemma faced by European doctors, how they ranked the difficulty of these dilemmas, their satisfaction with the resolution of a recent ethically difficult case and the types of help they would consider useful. The questionnaire was translated and given to general internists in Norway, Switzerland, Italy and the UK. RESULTS: Survey respondents (n=656, response rate 43%) ranged in age from 28 to 82 years, and averaged 25 years in practice. Only a minority (17.6%) reported having access to ethics consultation in individual cases. The ethical difficulties most often reported as being encountered were uncertain or impaired decision-making capacity (94.8%), disagreement among caregivers (81.2%) and limitation of treatment at the end of life (79.3%). The frequency of most ethical difficulties varied among countries, as did the type of issue considered most difficult. The types of help most often identified as potentially useful were professional reassurance about the decision being correct (47.5%), someone capable of providing specific advice (41.1%), help in weighing outcomes (36%) and clarification of the issues (35.9%). Few of the types of help expected to be useful varied among countries. CONCLUSION: Cultural differences may indeed influence how doctors perceive ethical difficulties. The type of help needed, however, did not vary markedly. The general structure of ethics support services would not have to be radically altered to suit cultural variations among the surveyed countries.     

Preconception health: a public health challenge

Minimal attention has been paid to preconception counseling even though good preconception health may be among the most important segments of a woman's life. Only in recent years have most healthcare providers, including obstetricians, realized that the initiation of health care and guidance after conception may be too late to prevent birth defects, low birthweight and infant mortality. The Oklahoma State Department of Health's Birth Defect Registry has developed a Women's Health Appraisal Questionnaire to assist physicians in identifying high-risk behaviors and other condition in the patient's environment that may be linked to detrimental outcomes to the fetus. The Women's Health Questionnaire can be offered to women of childbearing age in the waiting rooms of health clinics. The questionnaire takes about three to five minutes for the patient to complete. Free English and Spanish versions of the Women's Health Appraisal Questionnaire and other preconception tip booklets are being offered to physicians and health departments in Oklahoma. To order the preconception health questionnaire and booklets, there is an order form included in this journal.     

Advance directives and older people: ethical challenges in the promotion of advance directives in New Zealand

In New Zealand an advance directive can be either an oral statement or a written document. Such directives give individuals the opportunity to make choices about future medical treatment in the event they are cognitively impaired or otherwise unable to make their preferences known. All consumers of health care have the right to make an advance directive in accordance with the common law. When we consider New Zealand's rapidly ageing population, the fact that more people now live with and die of chronic rather than acute conditions, the importance given to respecting autonomous decision-making, increasing numbers of individuals who require long-term residential care, and financial pressures in the allocation of medical resources, there would seem to be a number of compelling reasons to encourage individuals to write or verbalize an advance directive. Indeed the promotion of advance directives is encouraged. However, caution should be exercised in promoting advance directives to older people, especially in light of several factors: ageist attitudes and stereotypes towards them, challenges in the primary healthcare setting, and the way in which advance directives are currently focused and formulated. This paper considers some of the specific challenges that need to be addressed if the promotion of advance directives are to improve outcomes of patient treatment and care near the end of life.     

北京大学医学部社区生活方式抽样调查

目的:摸清高校社区(不同于固定居民,社区流动人口较大)的生活方式疾病的基本情况及相关的行为因素,了解社区相关背景材料与社会支持系统,分析社区卫生服务的实际需求,确定优先解决的健康问题,为社区生活方式疾病的综合防治提供依据.方法:查阅医院、家属委员会、派出所、学生管理科等单位的有关资料.采用分层随机抽样,对社区居民生活方式疾病及相关危险因素进行问卷调查,并对学生和社区群众、职工进行深入访谈.结果:获得了北京大学医学部社会人口学诊断、流行病学诊断、行为与环境诊断、教育与组织诊断.结论:北京大学医学部社区的健康问题存在不良生活方式及一些行为危险因素,提示社区居民需要专业卫生服务,全人群中需要进行生活方式疾病的综合管理.     

社区卫生孕产妇保健的现状与影响因素分析

目的了解深圳市宝安区西乡街道孕产妇保健的现状,分析影响孕产妇保健的相关因素。方法对深圳市西乡医院33个社康中心2009年9月1日-2010年8月31日的《孕产妇系统管理表》进行回顾性调查和分析。结果6608例孕产妇,其中户籍常住人口189人,暂住人口1557人,流动人口4862人;孕产妇的初婚年龄平均为(25.8±3.2)岁;大部分孕产妇知晓避孕方法为宫内节育器,占51.85%;孕产妇在社康接受保健的资料显示,绝大多数人接受过产后访视,接受过儿童保健知识的健康教育;在医院接受孕期保健的人数和项目明显大于社康,影响社区卫生服务中孕期保健的主要障碍是服务资源不足,居民对社区妇幼医生的信任程度不够,社区孕产妇保健的宣传力度不够。结论有必要改革公共卫生经费和资源的投入,加强社区妇幼医师的职能,加强社区卫生服务中对孕产妇保健的指导和宣传工作,提高孕产妇孕期在社康管理的覆盖率。     

The decline in bulk-billing and increase in out-of-pocket costs for general practice consultations in rural areas of Australia, 1995-2001

OBJECTIVE: To describe the changes in bulk-billing and out-of-pocket costs for Australian general practice consultations over the period 1995-2001. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of 1996-2001 survey data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH), linked with Medicare and Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) data on general practice consultations from 1995 to 2001. PARTICIPANTS: 22 633 women who gave consent to linkage of their ALSWH data with Medicare/DVA records. In 1996, women in the "young" cohort (n = 6219) were aged 18-23 years, those in the "mid-age" cohort (n = 8883) were aged 45-50 years, and those in the "older" cohort (n = 7531) were aged 70-75 years. OUTCOME MEASURES: Out-of-pocket costs paid by patients for general practice consultations, by calendar year, urban/rural area of residence, age, frequency of attendance, self-rated health, and education level. RESULTS: For each age group and year studied, the use of bulk-billing was lower in rural areas than in urban areas. For example, in 2000, the percentage of women in rural and urban areas, respectively, who had all their general practice consultations bulk-billed was 31% v 52% (young women), 24% v 45% (mid-age women) and 58% v 79% (older women). There has been a steady decline in bulk-billing for general practice consultations in rural areas since 1995. The average out-of-pocket cost per consultation for women in rural areas was higher than the cost for women living in urban areas. After adjusting for age, health and socioeconomic factors, women living in urban areas were more than twice as likely to have all their consultations bulk-billed as women living in rural areas: odds ratio (OR), 2.4 (95% CI, 2.1-2.7) (young women); OR, 2.5 (95% CI, 2.3-2.8) (mid-age women); OR, 2.6 (95% CI, 2.3-2.9) (older women). CONCLUSIONS: In Australia, the geographic differential in the cost of general practice consultations is widening. Policy changes are required to enable women in rural and remote areas to have access to affordable healthcare services.     

全民健康形势下上海市闵行区居民健康水平分析

 目的  通过分析上海市闵行区1993—2015年户籍居民死亡及2002—2015年传染病发病数据,评价居民的健康水平。方法  采用描述性流行病学方法对闵行区1993—2015年户籍居民人均期望寿命(average life expectancy,ALE)变化、死亡率水平、死因顺位变化及2002—2015年传染病发病情况、发病趋势进行分析。结果1993—2015年间,上海市闵行区全人群ALE从71.78岁上升到83.58岁,提高了11.80岁。其中,男性从67.34岁提高到81.37岁,提高了14.03岁;女性从76.22岁提高到85.89岁,提高了9.67岁。2015年上海市闵行区户籍居民粗死亡率为755.35/10万,比1993年上升21.45%,比2014年上升2.71%;同年,全人群标化死亡率为196.07/10万,比1993年下降54.17%,比2014年下降0.51%。2015年上海市闵行区户籍居民前5位死因依次为循环系统疾病,肿瘤,呼吸系统疾病,内分泌、营养和代谢性疾病(简称代谢病)及损伤中毒,占全人群总死亡数的91.33%。2002-2015年上海市闵行区共报告法定传染病23种,累计发病人数62 845例,死亡152例。传染病总报告发病率急剧增长,14年间增长291.98% (Z=10943.83,P＜0.001),标化后依然呈上升趋势。2015年传染病发病率前5位依次为手足口病(hand foot and mouth disease,HFMD)、猩红热、梅毒、肺结核和乙肝。结论  上海市闵行区多年来通过整合区域内各级医疗卫生机构的资源,全方位贯彻“将健康融入所有政策”的要求。居民人均期望寿命处于较高水平,慢性病综合防控和重大传染病的防控仍然是今后一段时期内公共卫生工作的重点。     

经济高速发展条件下的卫生人力供求关系

对经济高速发展条件下的卫生人力供求关系作量化研究如下：用比较研究法探讨浙江省到2020年卫生人力的发展目标。分析不同时期和不同来源的人口统计数据，对浙江卫生保健的服务人口数进行修正，用卫生人力／人口比值法对卫生人力需求进行仿真预测。研究表明：浙江省的卫生人力与经济发展水平不相适应，从2005年起连续15年医学类专业的年招生数比2004年增加800名，到2020年千人医生数可达发达国家1990年代的平均水平。     

Responsibility for health: personal, social, and environmental

Most of the discussion in bioethics and health policy concerning social responsibility for health has focused on society's obligation to provide access to healthcare. While ensuring access to healthcare is an important social responsibility, societies can promote health in many other ways, such as through sanitation, pollution control, food and drug safety, health education, disease surveillance, urban planning and occupational health. Greater attention should be paid to strategies for health promotion other than access to healthcare, such as environmental and public health and health research.     

从全球性突发事件看我国口腔医疗及公共卫生体系的现状和未来发展

为了助力"健康口腔",推动我国医疗及口腔公共卫生体系的发展,本文分析了国内外口腔医疗及公共卫生事业的发展现状,并从全球新型冠状病毒肺炎大流行这一重大突发公共卫生事件的角度出发,提出我国口腔医疗及公共卫生体系的未来发展方向,建议尽快建设以社区为基础、以预防为导向的中国特色口腔医疗及公共卫生体系,并将口腔与综合医疗保健有机...