Policy and Institutional Challenges for Agromedicine

No abstract available for this article.     

Multisectoral (in)action: towards effective mainstreaming of HIV in public sector departments in South Africa

Whilst progress has been made, evidence of effective approaches to improve action on addressing the social and structural drivers of the HIV epidemic remains a priority, to meet the 2030 sustainable development agenda, and to achieve key HIV targets, including the 90-90-90 target and the Treatment as Prevention (TasP) intervention. With a focus on the public sector in South Africa, we critically reflect on the HIV mainstreaming approach, assessing its ability to augment multisectoral action on the response to HIV. We reflect on progress made in mainstreaming HIV in non-health sector departments, exploring factors that have enabled and hindered the process. We also highlight limitations in the adopted approach to mainstreaming HIV in non-health sector departments in South Africa; which currently promotes working in silos and does not encourage collaboration and partnerships. We propose a three-step approach to effective mainstreaming of HIV that will augment multisectoral action. The approach also contributes towards realising the sustainable development agenda of “leaving no one behind” and achieving the national and global targets on HIV that are embedded in collaborative efforts.     

Consumer Resources for Cancer on the World-Wide Web

Abstract

There is now a staggering amount of consumer health information relating to cancer available and accessible on the World-Wide Web (WWW or Web). The sheer quantity of information can sometimes make it difficult to locate the best sites for one's needs. The purpose of this article is to point out some of the more useful sites for obtaining cancer information and to highlight their special features. The WWW cancer resources are grouped into five sections: I. Major Sites; II. Sites for Specific Types of Cancer; III. Other Useful Sites; IV. Guides; and V. Collections.     

Changes in per capita alcohol sales during the partial privatization of British Columbia's retail alcohol monopoly 2003–2008: a multi-level local area analysis

Aim   To investigate the independent effects on liquor sales of an increase in (a) the density of liquor outlets and (b) the proportion of liquor stores in private rather than government ownership in British Columbia between 2003/4 and 2007/8.
Design   The British Columbia Liquor Distribution Branch provided data on litres of ethanol sold through different types of outlets in 89 local health areas of the province by beverage type. Multi-level regression models were used to examine the relationship between per capita alcohol sales and outlet densities for different types of liquor outlet after adjusting for potential confounding social, economic and demographic factors as well as spatial and temporal autocorrelation.
Setting   Liquor outlets in 89 local health areas of British Columbia, Canada.
Findings   The number of private stores per 10 000 residents was associated significantly and positively with per capita sales of ethanol in beer, coolers, spirits and wine, while the reverse held for government liquor stores. Significant positive effects were also identified for the number of bars and restaurants per head of population. The percentage of liquor stores in private versus government ownership was also associated significantly with per capita alcohol sales when controlling for density of liquor stores and of on-premise outlets ( P  < 0.01).
Conclusion   The trend towards privatisation of liquor outlets between 2003/04 and 2007/08 in British Columbia has contributed to increased per capita sales of alcohol and hence possibly also to increased alcohol-related harm.     

探索校地共建实现跨越发展

江苏大学附属医院针对本院发展现状,通过转变医院管理体制,实行校地共建,极大地推动了医院的建设和发展.两年来的工作实践表明,实行校地共建改革,进一步明确了医院发展方向,提升了医院社会知名度,保障了医院建设资金,扩大了医院基本建设空间,使医院步入良性发展轨道.     

政府干预和市场机制在降低中国药品价格中的作用

本文对近年来中国实行的直接和间接药品价格改革的政策进行了回顾，总结了药品降价、招标采购、药品收支两条线管理，平价药房等政策的成绩，存在的问题和争论的焦点。从理论上分析了药品降价和药品资源配置上政府失灵和市场失灵的主要原因。最后提出了在中国应以循证决策为基础，制定出符合我国国情的、可操作性的药品价格改革政策的重要性。     

Severe mental illness, statutory supervision and mental health nursing in the United Kingdom: meeting the challenge

Within the United Kingdom a combination of limited resources and public fears about the behaviour of mentally ill people living in the community has led the government to prioritize those with severe mental illness. In support of this legislation has been passed which provides for those mentally ill deemed 'at risk' to be supervized in the community against their will. This supervisory role will be mainly undertaken by mental health nurses. Through examination of relevant British and American literature, this paper argues that mental health nursing at a national level lacks a defined role which the new legislation may provide, thereby enhancing the profession's voice in overall mental health policy formulation. Such a role, however, also poses important questions for mental health nurses' practice, their relationships with users, colleagues and the wider society. Such issues may have unforeseen negative consequences for users. It is argued that the legislation will pose important dilemmas for mental health nurses in these domains. It is argued that a proactive research agenda needs to be established which is relevant and of use to practitioners when confronted with issues in their supervision role. Areas for future research are suggested.     

投资于健康的理念与策略

投资于健康，促进社会经济全面发展是社会发展与进步的目标与手段，动员社会各界投资于健康，尤其是明确政府在健康投资中的作用是实现健康投资目标的关键。通过确定健康投资的优选重点，措施和手段，通过在卫生资金筹集和卫生服务提供体系的制度创新，可以保障投资于健康目标的实现。     

Government health expenditures and health outcomes

This paper provides econometric evidence linking a country's per capita government health expenditures and per capita income to two health outcomes: under-five mortality and maternal mortality. Using instrumental variables techniques (GMM-H2SL), we estimate the elasticity of these outcomes with respect to government health expenditures and income while treating both variables as endogenous. Consequently, our elasticity estimates are larger in magnitude than those reported in literature, which may be biased up. The elasticity of under-five mortality with respect to government expenditures ranges from -0.25 to -0.42 with a mean value of -0.33. For maternal mortality the elasticity ranges from -0.42 to -0.52 with a mean value of -0.50. For developing countries, our results imply that while economic growth is certainly an important contributor to health outcomes, government spending on health is just as important a factor.     

衡阳市机关干部脂肪肝患病情况调查

目的 了解衡阳市机关干部脂肪肝的患病情况，为制定防治措施提供依据。方法 根据衡阳市机关干部健康体检数据进行统计分析。结果 机关干部脂肪肝的平均患病率为23．12％，且随年龄增长而升高，60-年龄组患病率达到最高，70-年龄组下降。男女两性总患病率无显著性差异，但男女各年龄组间患病率存在一定差异，男性患病率随年龄升高至40年龄组后呈下降趋势，女性患病率则持续上升至60～年龄组。脂肪肝组超重和肥胖人数的比例显著超过非脂肪肝组。结论 脂肪肝的患病率与性别、年龄及体重指数密切相关。