Is Health Inequality Across Individuals of Moral Concern?

The history of the documentation of health inequality is long. The way in which health inequality has customarily been documented is by comparing differences in the average health across groups, for example, by sex or gender, income, education, occupation, or geographic region. In the controversial World Health Report 2000, researchers at the World Health Organization criticized this traditional practice and proposed to measure health inequality across individuals irrespective of individuals’ group affiliation. They defended its proposal on the moral grounds without clear explanation. In this paper I ask: is health inequality across individuals of moral concern, and, if so, why? Clarification of these questions is crucial for meaningful interpretation of health inequality measured across individuals. Only if there was something morally problematic in health inequality across individuals, its reduction would be good news. Specifically, in this paper I provide three arguments for the moral significance of health inequality across individuals: (a) health is special, (b) health equity plays an important and unique role in the general pursuit of justice, and (c) health inequality is an indicator of general injustice in society. I then discuss three key questions to examine the validity of these arguments: (i) how special is health?, (ii) how good is health as an indicator?, and (iii) what do we mean by injustice? I conclude that health inequality across individuals is of moral interest with the arguments (b) and (c).     

上海现代医疗卫生服务业发展现状分析

该文在对现代医疗卫生服务业进行概念界定的基础上，综合分哲了现代医疗卫生服务业的特点，以及上海加速发展现代医疗卫生服务业所具备的有利条件和面临的制约因素.     

Changing health status and health expectancies among older adults in China: Gender differences from 1992 to 2002

Numerous studies document improvements in health status and health expectancies among older adults over time. However, most evidence is from developed nations and gender differences in health trends are often inconsistent. It remains unknown whether changes in health in developing countries resemble Western trends or whether patterns of health improvement are unique to the country's epidemiologic transition and gender norms. Using two nationally representative samples of non-institutionalized adults in China aged 65 years and older, this study investigates gender differences in the improvements in disability, chronic disease prevalence, and self-rated health from 1992 to 2002. Results from multivariate logistic regression models show that all three indicators of health improved over the 10-year period, with the largest improvement in self-rated health. With the exception of disability, the health of women improved more than men. Using Sullivan's decomposition methods, we also show that active life expectancy, disease-free life expectancy, and healthy life expectancy increased over this decade and were patterned differently according to gender. Overall, the findings demonstrate that China experienced broad health improvements during its early stages of the epidemiologic transition and that these changes were not uniform by gender. We discuss the public health implications of the findings in the context of China's rapidly aging population.     

Efficacy of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion in Type 1 diabetes: a 2-year perspective using the established criteria for funding from a National Health Service.

AIM: To determine the 2-year efficacy of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) following the current established criteria for funding of a National Health Service. METHODS: Longitudinal, prospective, observational unicentre study. Included in the study were 153 Type 1 diabetes (T1D) subjects, previously treated with multiple daily injections (MDI) of insulin, in whom CSII was started in accordance with the criteria for reimbursement of the Catalan National Health Service. At baseline, we recorded data on age, gender, duration of the disease, body mass index (BMI), insulin dose and indications for CSII. Glycated haemoglobin (HbA(1c)) and the frequency of hypoglycaemic events were used to assess glycaemic control. Quality of life was assessed using three different self-report questionnaires. After 24 months, these same items were remeasured in all subjects. Serious adverse events and injection-site complications were also recorded. RESULTS: In 96% of subjects, CSII indication included less than optimal glycaemic control using MDI. HbA(1c) fell from 7.9 +/- 1.3 to 7.3 +/- 1.1% (P < or = 0.001) after 24 months of CSII. Insulin requirements were significantly lower at the end of follow-up (0.55 +/- 0.21 U/kg body weight) in comparison with before use of CSII (0.70 +/- 0.20, P < or = 0.001). BMI increased from 24.0 +/- 3.1 to 24.4 +/- 3.2 kg/m(2) after 24 months (P < or = 0.025). The rate of episodes of diabetic ketoacidosis per year remained unchanged. Mild and severe hypoglycaemic episodes were significantly reduced. The scores in all subsets of the Diabetes Quality-of-Life (DQoL) questionnaire significantly improved after 24 months of CSII. CONCLUSIONS: CSII, commenced according to the criteria for a nationally funded clinical programme, improves glycaemic control and quality-of-life outcomes with fewer hypoglycaemic episodes in T1D subjects previously conventionally treated with MDI.     

基层公共卫生人员心身健康状况分析

目的了解基层公共卫生人员心身健康状况及影响因素,为提高其健康水平和工作质量提供科学依据。方法应用中国心身健康量表,采用分层整群抽样的方式,抽取胶州、嘉祥、兖州和邹城疾病预防控制中心及下属防保站的公共卫生人员584名进行问卷调查。结果基层公共卫生人员心身障碍发生率为39.43%,其中最高为骨骼系统14.17%,其次为神经系统12.73%;呼吸系统、心血管系统、焦虑、抑郁、精神病性5项因子评分小于全国常模;运用二分类Logistic逐步回归分析显示,从事本行业年限的增加是引起眼和耳疾病的危险性因素（OR=1.067）,职务的增高是导致心血管系统（OR=1.878）、消化系统（OR=1.675）、精神病性（OR=1.841）疾患的危险性因素;核心家庭（OR=0.136）、扩展家庭（OR=0.143）是降低抑郁发生的保护性因素。结论相关部门应采取综合措施,从工作和家庭环境等方面入手,提高基层公共卫生人员的心身健康水平。     

中鼻道及其周围结构的解剖学观测

目的　探讨临床上经上颌窦口进入上颌窦诊疗的途径。方法　在 40例成人尸体颅矢状切面上 ,对中鼻道、半月裂孔、上颌窦口及其周围结构进行解剖学观测及上颌窦口的探针插入试验。结果　中鼻道、半月裂孔的长度分别为5 6.3 6± 2 .5 8mm、2 1.46± 1.79mm ;40例中 ,2 8侧 (70 .0 0 % )的上颌窦口位于半月裂孔的中 1/3部 ;12侧 (3 0 .0 0 % )的上颌窦口位于半月裂孔的后 1/3部。上颌窦口的形态不一。上颌窦口的前后径为 3 .14± 0 .47mm。上颌窦口距鼻腔底部、鼻小柱的距离分别为 3 0 .41± 2 .85mm、49.5 2± 2 .3 7mm。鼻小柱到上颌窦口与到鼻腔基底面连线的夹角为 40 .2± 3 .7°。 3 7侧 (92 .5 0 % )的上颌窦口能用直径≤ 2 .5mm的探针穿过。结论　经上颌窦自然开口行上颌窦口穿刺是安全、简便和有效的一种诊治方法。     

北京市东城区和平里社区居民慢性病防治探讨

为探索慢性病的防治方法，我们于１９８９￣１９９４年社区居民中开展了以高血压为主的循环系统慢性病防治课题，经过５年的干预，观察组与对照组居民及接受管理的高血压病人在减少吸烟，饮酒，控制食盐摄入，掌握慢性病防治知识等方面有显著性差异，取得了满意的结果，从而为今后全面开展慢性病防治积累了经验。     

The treatment of hypertension

1 A 'retrospective' of the development of the drug treatment of hypertension is presented from the early days of ganglion blockers to the present time together with a review of the evidence of benefit from treatment.
2 Current issues and debates are summarised including shortfalls in the control of hypertension in populations, difficulties surrounding the measurement of blood pressure, disagreement on the levels of blood pressure to treat, the goal blood pressures to aim at, issues surrounding lifestyle measures such as the low salt diet and low intensity exercise, and treatment with diuretics and with calcium antagonists.
3 A 'perspective' is presented on some avenues for progress in the years ahead. These will include the identification of genetic markers to determine the hypertensive individuals with the greatest risk of death and of cardiovascular complications.     

Medical education for minorities at a US medical school

The University of Washington School of Medicine (UWSM) has initiated new efforts to build a regional minority applicant pool and to expand its educational programmes to accommodate students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Specific interventions include: establishment of medical career planner position to coordinate region-wide outreach; pre-entry education; and support activities once enrolled. This study describes specific services and presents sociodemographic and performance data on 56 minority and 280 majority students entering the UWSM between 1981 and 1985. Economic status and educational background of minority students were significantly below that of majority students, several flexible academic policies enabled most students to achieve mastery in courses and to progress through the curriculum. The educational data base utilized in this study, and those at other institutions, can assume important roles in the identification of problem areas in the education of disadvantaged students and in evaluation of the interventions attempted.