Wanted: nurses

After Poland joined the European Union, emigration of healthprofessionals became one of the most controversial questionson the public agenda. Whilst this problem is generally perceivedas relating to the efflux of physicians in specific specialties,the phenomenon is even more widespread among nurses. In thecontext of an     

Wanted: hearts, minds and hands to give primary care.

In the French-speaking countries of Africa the application of the health-for-all strategy has been inconsistent because of economic difficulties and management problems. The latter require a change in outlook and a heightened sense of responsibility among service providers and programme managers. In order to obtain suitable personnel, the authorities should match training to needs and devise sound policies for health manpower development.     

Wanted

No abstract available for this article.     

Primary care: decentralization and efficiency

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the productive behavior of health centers in autonomous communities with competence in health is more efficient than that among centers belonging to Spanish public health system (INSALUD). METHODS: The technical efficiency of 66 health centers in Alava, Navarre and La Rioja was analyzed. Centers in autonomous communities that in 1997 had been granted complete authority from the central government to manage their healthcare services were compared with centers whose administration, in the same year, was still in the hands of INSALUD. The method used to measure and quantify the efficiency of these centers was data envelopment analysis. RESULTS: Nonparametric contrast of the health centers' mean efficiency rates revealed no significant differences in the (in)efficiency of centers from La Rioja, Navarre and Alava. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained from the model of efficiency measurement used did not indicate that decentralization improves the productive efficiency of primary care centers.