Universal health care in middle-income countries: Lessons from four countries.

BACKGROUND: In this paper, we review lessons learned about Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in middle-income countries, with specific reference to achievements and challenges observed during recent years in four middle-income to upper-middle-income countries - Mexico, Turkey, The Republic of Korea and Ukraine. Three of these countries - Mexico, the Republic of Korea, Turkey are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Ukraine has aspired to join Western institutions like the OECD since its independence in 1991. METHODS: The research included a combination of cross-sectional and longitudinal reviews of both statistical and contextual data, available from both published sources and available "grey literature" reports. RESULTS: Based on the research, we conclude the following. First, reaching UHC is achievable in middle-income and upper-middle-income countries. It is not an unattainable goal reserved for upper income countries. Second, successes and failures are evident both in the case of countries that pursue a contributory health insurance path to UHC and those that pursue a core government funding path. Third, the devil is often in the detail. De jure constitutional guarantees and national health legislation are often a necessary but do not constitute a guaranteed path to success without accompanying institutional measure to secure sustainability (political and economic) and supply and demand constraints in service provision and consumer/patient behavior. De facto, in most countries expansion in health insurance coverage does not happen "with the stroke of a pen" but require years of commitment and efforts to change the supply and demand after critical legislation has been enacted. Fourth, two major approaches dominate: incremental and "big bang" health system reforms. CONCLUSIONS: We caution against the pitfalls of over-attribution from drawing too strong conclusion from individual longitudinal country experiences ("over-determinism") and over-generalization from broad sweeping cross-sectional statistical analysis ("reductionism"). Every country is different and needs to find its own path towards UHC considering their contextual specificities, learning from the achievements and failures of others, but not try to copy their experiences.

Policies to mitigate health inequity: a comparison of Israel and 24 developing countries.

Efforts to mitigate health inequity are at the heart of health policy in Israel and in many developing countries seeking to advance toward universal health coverage. This commentary uses the conceptual framework and the description of health policy interventions presented in a recent IJHPR article to compare policies implemented by Israel's Ministry of Health during 2011-2014 with policies under implementation in 24 developing countries, and identifies key differences and similarities. It also identifies three areas of policy where Israel seems to have strong capacities that are in high demand in developing countries. Identifying these areas of policy could help design a menu for Israeli technical assistance in health policy.

Transforming Global Health by Improving the Science of Scale-Up.

In its report Global Health 2035, the Commission on Investing in Health proposed that health investments can reduce mortality in nearly all low- and middle-income countries to very low levels, thereby averting 10 million deaths per year from 2035 onward. Many of these gains could be achieved through scale-up of existing technologies and health services. A key instrument to close this gap is policy and implementation research (PIR) that aims to produce generalizable evidence on what works to implement successful interventions at scale. Rigorously designed PIR promotes global learning and local accountability. Much greater national and global investments in PIR capacity will be required to enable the scaling of effective approaches and to prevent the recycling of failed ideas. Sample questions for the PIR research agenda include how to close the gap in the delivery of essential services to the poor, which population interventions for non-communicable diseases are most applicable in different contexts, and how to engage non-state actors in equitable provision of health services in the context of universal health coverage.

High-intensity focused ultrasound treatment in refractory glaucoma patients: results at 1 year of prospective clinical study.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of the ultrasonic circular cyclo-coagulation procedure using high-intensity focused ultrasound by a miniaturized annular device containing 6 piezoceramic transducers in patients with refractory glaucoma. METHODS: This was a prospective interventional noncomparative study of 20 eyes of 20 patients with refractory glaucoma. All eyes were treated with 6 activated transducers operating at 21 MHz. Ultrasound biomicroscopy and a complete ophthalmic examination were performed before the procedure and at 1 day, 1 week, and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after the procedure. Primary outcomes were surgical success (defined as intraocular pressure (IOP) reduction from baseline ≥20% and IOP >5 mm Hg) at the last follow-up visit. Secondary outcomes were mean IOP at each follow-up visit compared to baseline, medication use, complications, and re-interventions. RESULTS: Intraocular pressure was significantly reduced (p<0.01) from a mean preoperative value of 36.4 ± 5.7 mm Hg to a mean postoperative value of 22.5 ± 10.3 mm Hg at 12 months. Four patients needed to be re-treated. The mean IOP reduction achieved was 38%. Surgical success was achieved in 13 of 20 eyes (65%). No major intraoperative or postoperative complications occurred. CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasonic circular cyclo-coagulation using high-intensity focused ultrasound delivered by a circular miniaturized device containing 6 piezoceramic transducers is an effective and well-tolerated method to reduce IOP in patients with refractory glaucoma.

Overcoming social segregation in health care in Latin America.

Latin America continues to segregate different social groups into separate health-system segments, including two separate public sector blocks: a well resourced social security for salaried workers and their families and a Ministry of Health serving poor and vulnerable people with low standards of quality and needing a frequently impoverishing payment at point of service. This segregation shows Latin America's longstanding economic and social inequality, cemented by an economic framework that predicted that economic growth would lead to rapid formalisation of the economy. Today, the institutional setup that organises the social segregation in health care is perceived, despite improved life expectancy and other advances, as a barrier to fulfilling the right to health, embodied in the legislation of many Latin American countries. This Series paper outlines four phases in the history of Latin American countries that explain the roots of segmentation in health care and describe three paths taken by countries seeking to overcome it: unification of the funds used to finance both social security and Ministry of Health services (one public payer); free choice of provider or insurer; and expansion of services to poor people and the non-salaried population by making explicit the health-care benefits to which all citizens are entitled.

Health-system reform and universal health coverage in Latin America.

Starting in the late 1980s, many Latin American countries began social sector reforms to alleviate poverty, reduce socioeconomic inequalities, improve health outcomes, and provide financial risk protection. In particular, starting in the 1990s, reforms aimed at strengthening health systems to reduce inequalities in health access and outcomes focused on expansion of universal health coverage, especially for poor citizens. In Latin America, health-system reforms have produced a distinct approach to universal health coverage, underpinned by the principles of equity, solidarity, and collective action to overcome social inequalities. In most of the countries studied, government financing enabled the introduction of supply-side interventions to expand insurance coverage for uninsured citizens--with defined and enlarged benefits packages--and to scale up delivery of health services. Countries such as Brazil and Cuba introduced tax-financed universal health systems. These changes were combined with demand-side interventions aimed at alleviating poverty (targeting many social determinants of health) and improving access of the most disadvantaged populations. Hence, the distinguishing features of health-system strengthening for universal health coverage and lessons from the Latin American experience are relevant for countries advancing universal health coverage.

CO2 laser-assisted deep sclerectomy in glaucoma patients.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of CO2 laser-assisted deep sclerectomy surgery (CLASS) in patients with open angle glaucoma. DESIGN: A prospective single-arm, nonrandomized clinical investigation for the evaluation of technology. METHODS: Fifteen eyes of 15 consecutive patients diagnosed with either primary open angle glaucoma or pseudoexfoliation glaucoma who were the candidates for glaucoma filtration surgery were included. Laser-assisted deep sclerectomy using a CO2 laser system was performed in all patients. A half-thickness scleral flap was created, the use of 0.04% mitomycin C for 60 seconds was left at the surgeon's discretion, and a CO2 laser with a beam-manipulating system was used to achieve deep scleral ablation and unroofing of Schlemm's canal zone. Visual acuity, complete ophthalmologic examination, and intraocular pressure (IOP) were measured and documented at baseline, 1, 2, 4, and 6 weeks and at 3, 6, and 12 months, respectively. Complete success was defined as 5≤IOP≤21 mm Hg and 20% IOP reduction with no medication at the 12-month endpoint visit. Qualified success was defined as a similar IOP reduction with medication. RESULTS: The preoperative IOP of 27.3±4.2 mm Hg (mean±SD) dropped to 15.0±3.7 mm Hg at 6 months and 16.6±3.4 mm Hg at 12 months postoperatively, yielding an average IOP reductions at 6 and 12 months of 13.1±4.3 mm Hg (45.1%; 95% CI, 11, 15.3) and 11.5±5.5 mm Hg (39.2%; 95% CI, 8.8, 14.3), respectively (P<0.001). The complete success rate after 12 months was 45.5%, whereas qualified success was 90.9%. Mitomycin C was used in 76.9% of the CLASS subjects.

Human aqueous humor phosphatase activity in cataract and glaucoma.

PURPOSE: To investigate the presence and activity of protein phosphatase-2A (PPase2A), protein phosphatase-2C (PPase2C), and protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) in the human aqueous humor (AH) of patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and cataract and to study the correlation between these phosphatases and the redox state of the AH. METHODS: Eighty-six cataract patients and 29 POAG patients who were scheduled for cataract surgery with or without glaucoma surgery were enrolled in the study. PPase2A, PPase2C, and PTPs levels in AH were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, Western blot analyses, and spectral METHODS: The redox state was measured by spectral and fluorescent methods. RESULTS: Phosphatase activity-positive results were significantly higher in AH samples from the POAG group (PP2A χ(2)(1) = 11.754, P < 0.01; PP2C χ(2)(1) = 8.754, P < 0.01; PTP χ(2)(1) = 11.073, P < 0.01). Western blot analysis revealed higher PP2C levels in the AH of glaucoma patients compared with PP2C levels in the AH of cataract patients (P = 0.012). Both oxidized/reduced glutathione ratios and superoxide dismutase levels in the AH were significantly higher in the glaucoma group than in the cataract group. Finally significant correlations were found between PP2A and PP2C, PP2A and PTP, and total antioxidant activity and PTP levels. CONCLUSIONS: There is a statistically significant difference between phosphatase levels in the AH of POAG patients and cataract patients. The phosphatase content of the AH represents tissue pathology, but their presence in the AH may be attributed to cell debris or to active signaling to other molecular events.

Evaluation of a new bioadhesive copolymer (ADAL) to seal corneal incisions.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and clinical tolerance of a new acrylic copolymer tissue adhesive, ADAL, in corneal surgery. METHODS: Corneal incisions were performed on 24 New Zealand albino rabbits. The incision was either sealed with ADAL bioadhesive, hydrated with balanced salt solution, or closed with 10-0 nylon surgical sutures. The incisions underwent weekly tensile strength testing and clinical, histopathologic, and confocal microscopy evaluations. RESULTS: Clinical evaluation revealed good sealing and no incision leakage in any group. There was no anterior chamber reaction in any case. Compared with the hydrated group, there was somewhat more incisional vascularization and localized corneal opacity in the ADAL group, but there were no cases of severe corneal opacity or neovascularization. On histologic analysis, a slightly larger inflammatory reaction was noted in the ADAL group compared with the hydrated group. Tensile strength during the first week was statistically significantly greater in the ADAL group (2.93 Newtons) than in the control groups (1.40 Newtons, hydrated group; 1.43 Newtons, sutured group) (P < 0.001). Confocal microscopy study revealed a unique dendritic keratocyte shape and structure resembling shiny crystalline particles after disappearance of the adhesive from the cornea. CONCLUSIONS: Corneal surgical incisions sealed with ADAL adhesive have superior tensile strength in the first postoperative week compared with incisions closed with sutures or hydrated with salt solution. Thereafter, findings in both groups became similar. The use of ADAL adhesive was not associated with any deleterious effects during the corneal incision-healing process compared with hydration or sutures.

Indocyanine green angiography in high myopia.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To evaluate indocyanine green imaging of choroidal changes in pathologic myopia and to compare it with fluorescein angiography. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The angiograms of all consecutive patients with pathologic myopia photographed with confocal indocyanine green angiography using a scanning infrared laser or ophthalmoscope from March 1997 to December 1999 were reviewed. RESULTS: Twenty-one patients (35 eyes) were included. Indocyanine green angiography was performed in 35 eyes and immediate sequential fluorescein angiography and indocyanine green angiography in 25 eyes. The lacquer cracks were demonstrated to radiate from the disc, at the papillomacular bundle, through the macula, and around the macula. Lacquer cracks were identified in 89% and 28% of the eyes, respectively. Choroidal neovascularization (CNV) was demonstrated in 57% of eyes by indocyanine green angiography and in 56% by fluorescein angiography. All of the CNVs were classic and were located within 300 microm of the foveal center. Seventy percent of the CNVs were delineated in lacquer cracks by indocyanine green angiography. Overall, 124 lacquer cracks were identified by indocyanine green angiography and only 14 by fluorescein angiography. Lipids or serous detachment were not observed. Retinal hemorrhages were noted in 22% and 28% of eyes with indocyanine green angiography and fluorescein angiography, respectively. CONCLUSION: Confocal indocyanine green angiography offers better delineation of lacquer cracks and the localization of the CNV in lacquer cracks than does fluorescein angiography.

La situación poblacional peruana: balance y perspectivas / The situation of peruvian population: balance and prespectives

Analiza la problemática de la población peruana y considera su probable desarrollo. Estudia la población del Perú y su evolución histórica, describe la situación poblacional durante 1940 a 1985. Asimismo, detalla aspectos del crecimiento poblacional y del contexto político