Coletiva de imprensa: anúncio da atualização das Fases do Plano SP 04/09/2020

O Governador João Doria anunciou nesta sexta-feira (4) a mobilização de 20 mil policiais para a Operação Independência. Ao longo de todo o feriado prolongado, ações integradas entre as forças de segurança e a Secretaria de Logística e Transportes vão garantir apoio a municípios do litoral e interior na fiscalização de medidas sanitárias contra o coronavírus e patrulhamento de rodovias. “Peço que todos tenham cuidado e zelo ao saírem de suas casas. Cada município tem o direito de estabelecer os seus limites para parques, praças, praias e calçadões. O Governo de São Paulo apoiará aqueles que solicitaram formalmente o apoio da PM no sentido de proteger a vida de seus cidadãos”, declarou Doria. “Por favor, tenham cuidado. Aglomerações colocam em risco a sua vida e as de outras pessoas. Usem máscara, sigam o exemplo correto e façam o distanciamento social de um metro e meio”, acrescentou. A Operação Independência teve início na madrugada desta sexta e se estende até o final da noite de segunda (7). Em Santos, as ações vão se prolongar até terça (8) devido ao feriado municipal em celebração a Nossa Senhora do Monte Serrat, padroeira do município. Além da atuação dos 20 mil policiais, as ações do Estado durante o feriado prolongado vão envolver o uso diário de 7,2 mil viaturas, 880 motocicletas, 35 montarias, 11 helicópteros Águia da PM e oito drones para monitoramento de pontos estratégicos nas rodovias e também nas áreas urbanas. “Desde o início da pandemia, o trabalho da Segurança Pública foi potencializado. Neste feriado, estamos focados em apoiar e contribuir com os agentes municipais no combate e fiscalização à pandemia”, afirmou o Secretário de Segurança Pública, General João Camilo Pires de Campos. “Estamos contribuindo para poupar vidas. A missão dos policiais é apoiar agentes municipais de saúde e segurança”, reforçou. A fiscalização de tráfego vai se concentrar em testes de bafômetro e verificação do uso obrigatório de cinto de segurança, assentos infantis e capacetes. Por dia, a previsão é de 160 pontos de fiscalização nas estradas e 1,5 mil em áreas urbanas. No litoral, a PM fará patrulhamento ostensivo em áreas de orla ou que concentram quiosques, bares e restaurantes. Haverá uso de megafones para divulgação de mensagens de conscientização e prevenção ao coronavírus e também apoio a equipes locais de Vigilância Sanitária e Guarda Civil. Por parte da Secretaria de Logística e Transportes, Artesp e concessionárias, as ações envolvem mensagens informativas via redes sociais e painéis rodoviários; fiscalização, socorro mecânico, guincho e ambulância; e monitoramento 24 horas nos CCOs (Centros de Controle Operacional). Nas praças de pedágio, haverá oferta de álcool em gel nas cabines, além da distribuição de 40 mil máscaras nos sistemas Anchieta-Imigrantes e Ayrton Senna-Carvalho Pinto.

The Privatization of Public Hospitals: Its Impact on Financial Performance.

This study examined the effects of public hospitals' privatization on financial performance. We used a sample of nonfederal acute care public hospitals from 1997 to 2013, averaging 434 hospitals per year. Privatization was defined as conversion from public status to either private not-for-profit (NFP) or private for-profit (FP) status. Financial performance was measured by operating margin (OM) and total margin (TM). We used hospital level and year fixed effects linear panel regressions with nonlagged independent and control variables (Model 1), lagged by 1 year (Model 2), and lagged by 2 years (Model 3). Privatization to FP was associated with 17% higher OM (Model 2) and 9% higher OM (Model 3), compared with 3%, 4%, and 6% higher OM for privatization to NFP for all three Models, respectively. Privatization to FP was associated with 7% higher TM (Model 2) and privatization to NFP was associated with 2% higher TM (Model 3).

Washington's privatization of liquor: effects on household alcohol purchases from Initiative 1183.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Washington Initiative 1183 (I-1183), a 2012 law that privatized liquor retail sales and distribution in Washington State, USA, has had two opposing effects on liquor purchases: it has increased access to liquor and imposed new fees on retailers and distributors. This study aimed to estimate the effect of I-1183 on monthly alcohol purchases during the post-I-1183 period (June 2012-December 2014) compared with the pre-I-1183 period (January 2010-May 2012). DESIGN: DIFFERENCES-IN-DIFFERENCES STUDY: Setting and participants The study included households participating in the Nielsen Consumer Panel Dataset living in metropolitan and surrounding areas in Washington State and 10 control states. Measurements Outcomes were alcohol purchases by type (ounces of liquor, wine, beer and total alcohol or ethanol). Findings I-1183 was associated with a 6.34-ounce (P < 0.001) and a 2.01-ounce (P < 0.001) increase in monthly liquor and ethanol purchases, respectively, per household in the post-policy period spanning 31 months compared with monthly purchases in control states. In a longitudinal subgroup analysis, low and moderate alcohol purchasers increased monthly purchases of ethanol and high purchasers decreased purchases of ethanol. Conclusions Enacting 'Washington Initiative 1183', a law that privatized sale and distribution of liquor and imposed new fees on retailers and distributors, appears to have been associated with an approximate 82% increase in monthly liquor purchases and 26% increase in monthly ethanol purchases by households in metropolitan and surrounding areas in Washington State, USA.

Price Changes in Washington Following the 2012 Liquor Privatization: An Update Through 2016 With Comparisons to California, Idaho, and Oregon.

BACKGROUND: Washington State ended their wholesale and retail monopoly on liquor on June 1, 2012, resulting in a 5-fold increase in liquor outlets in diverse store types. The legislation also included taxes at the wholesale and retail levels. This study seeks to investigate whether prices have changed from 2014 through 2016, as a follow-up to a previous study finding increases in prices from 2012 to 2014, compared to prices in other states. METHODS: We developed an index of 68 brands that were popular in Washington in early 2012. Data on final liquor prices (including taxes) in Washington and California were obtained through store visits and online sources between November 2013 and March 2014, and again between April and May 2016 for Washington only. Pricing data for Idaho and Oregon were obtained from the Statistics for Alcohol Management Database over both sampling periods. Primary analyses were conducted on the utmost brands available in the majority of the stores sampled. RESULTS: Liquor prices in Washington rose an average of 3.9% for 750 ml and 6.5% for 1.75-l containers overall from 2014 to 2016, while bordering states Idaho (+2.9%) and Oregon (+1.5%) experienced smaller increases for 750-ml and declines for 1.75-l containers (Idaho: -2.9%, Oregon: -4.9%). In the analyses of spirits prices in Washington compared to California, prices in California were 24.1% lower for 750-ml containers and 29.6% lower for 1.75-l containers. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate liquor prices in Washington have increased since our 2014 assessment at a larger percentage than prices in the neighboring control states Oregon and Idaho, with varying effects on brands, container sizes, and store types. We demonstrate privatization is associated with a different pattern of prices across store types than seen in California.

Hospital side hustles: Funding conundrums and perverse incentives in Tanzania's publicly-funded health sector.

Following three decades of international financial institutions implementing austerity measures in sub-Saharan Africa, many health systems remain chronically underfinanced. During this period, countries like Tanzania have moved from a post-independence vision of a strong social sector providing free care for citizens, to a model of increased privatization of public health facilities, shifting the burden of self-financing to individual health facilities and the constituents they serve. Drawing on longitudinal ethnographic research and document analysis undertaken between 2008 and 2017 within three publicly-funded hospitals in north-central Tanzania, this article examines the actions and perspectives of administrators to explore how novel shifts towards semi-privatization of public facilities are perceived as taken-for-granted solutions to funding shortfalls. Specifically, hospital administrators used "side hustle" strategies of projectification and market-based income generating activities to narrow the gap between inadequate state financing and necessary recurrent expenditures. Examples from publicly-funded hospitals in Tanzania demonstrate that employing side hustles to address funding conundrums derives from perverse incentives: while these strategies are supposed to generate revenues to sustain or bolster services to poor clients, in practice these market-based approaches erode the ability of publicly-funded hospitals to meet their obligations to the poorest. These cases show that neoliberal ideas promoting health financing through public-private initiatives offer little opportunity in practice for strengthening health systems in low income countries, undermining those health systems' ability to achieve the goal of universal health care.

The Pay-Twice Critique, Government Funding, and Reasonable Pricing Clauses.

The federal government subsidizes the research and development of prescription medications. Thus, a captivating critique of expensive medications is that prices are too high because of taxpayer co-financing. This critique is often framed in terms of "paying-twice"-first for the research and second through the above market pricing of resulting products. Reasonable pricing clauses-which place some kind of pricing limitation on the exercise of license or patent rights governing a federally funded medication-are one proposed policy tool for addressing the pay-twice critique. This article provides increased analytical clarity as well as historical context to present-day debates about the privatization of federally funded research and prescription drug pricing. It makes three arguments. First, despite its pervasiveness and intuitive plausibility, the pay-twice critique is subject to differing interpretations which has important implications for the appropriateness of proposed solutions. Second, despite their initial attractiveness, the costs, necessity, and effectiveness of reasonable pricing clauses render the wisdom of this policy tool uncertain. However, third, given continued interest in reasonable pricing clauses, the NIH's previous experience with such a policy offers some useful lessons.

Future considerations for clinical dermatology in the setting of 21st century American policy reform: Corporatization and the rise of private equity in dermatology.

Within the past 2 decades, for-profit financial groups have become increasingly involved in health care. Outlier dermatology practices with high volumes of well-reimbursed procedures are attractive to consolidation backed by private equity. With fewer choices for independent or group private practice, junior dermatologists are increasingly seeking employment without ownership in private equity-backed corporate groups whose primary fiscal responsibility lies with their investors. Medicare's response to corporatization and consolidation has already changed the practice of dermatopathology. Dermatologists should be aware of this history, given the ability of corporations and private equity groups to shape the present and future of our field.

[Social Healthcare Organizations: a phenomenological expression of healthcare privatization in Brazil]. / Organizações Sociais da Saúde: uma expressão fenomênica da privatização da saúde no Brasil.

The study analyzed the expansion of Social Healthcare Organizations (OSS in Portuguese) in Brazil from 2009 to 2014. The ten largest OSS were measured according to their budget funding and their qualifications as non-profit organizations were explored, considering evidence of their expansion and consolidation in the management and provision of health services via strategies proper to for-profit private enterprises. The study is descriptive and exploratory and was based on public-domain documents. In their relations with government, the OSS have benefited from legal loopholes and incentives and have expanded accordingly. There has been a recent trend for these organizations to simultaneously apply for status as charitable organizations, thereby ensuring multiple opportunities for fundraising and additional tax incentives, permission to invest financial surpluses in the capital market, and remunerate their boards of directors. These organizations tend to concentrate in technology-dense hospital services, with clauses concerning increasing financial transfers to the detriment of other regulatory clauses, and special contract modalities for enabling services that are absolutely strategic for the overall functioning of the Brazilian Unified National Health System. Thus, in this study, the OSS are one component of the Health Economic and Industrial Complex, acting in management, provision, and regulation of services in a scenario of intensive commodification of health and the transfer of public funds to the private sector.

A pesquisa analisou o processo de expansão das Organizações Sociais da Saúde (OSS) no Brasil durante o período de 2009-2014. Para tanto, dimensionou as dez maiores OSS segundo recursos financeiros captados, explorou suas qualificações como entidades sem fins lucrativos, tomando em conta as evidências empíricas que apontam para sua expansão e consolidação no processo de gestão e prestação de serviços de saúde via estratégias próprias de organizações privadas lucrativas. O estudo é descritivo e exploratório, e foi realizado com base em fontes documentais de domínio público. No plano das relações com o Estado, as OSS têm se beneficiado das brechas e facilidades concedidas pela lei e apresentado uma notável expansão. Evidenciou-se um movimento recente das OSS pela busca concomitante da condição de entidades filantrópicas, assegurando múltiplas oportunidades de captação de recursos e de benefícios fiscais; a possibilidade de aplicação de excedentes financeiros no mercado de capitais; e a remuneração de seus corpos diretivos. Há uma concentração em serviços hospitalares com maior densidade tecnológica; nítida predominância de cláusulas respeitantes ao incremento de repasses financeiros em detrimento de outras cláusulas regulatórias; existência de modalidades especiais de contratos com serviços-meios absolutamente estratégicos para o funcionamento geral do Sistema Único de Saúde. Portanto, neste estudo as OSS se configuram como um dos componentes do Complexo Econômico Industrial da Saúde, nas vertentes da gestão, da prestação e da regulação de serviços, em um cenário de intensiva mercantilização da saúde e de transferência de fundo público para o setor privado.

La investigación analizó el proceso de expansión de las Organizaciones Sociales de Salud (OSS) en Brasil, durante el período de 2009-2014. Para ello, se dimensionaron las diez mayores OSS, según los recursos financieros captados, exploró sus características, como entidades sin ánimo de lucro, tomando en consideración las evidencias empíricas que apuntan a su expansión y consolidación en el proceso de gestión y prestación de servicios de salud, vía estrategias propias de organizaciones privadas con ánimo de lucro. El estudio es descriptivo y exploratorio, y fue realizado en base a fuentes documentales de dominio público. En el plano de las relaciones con el Estado, las OSS se han beneficiado de las brechas y facilidades concedidas por la ley y presentado una notable expansión. Se evidenció un movimiento reciente de esas organizaciones por la búsqueda concomitante de su condición como entidades filantrópicas, asegurando múltiples oportunidades de captación de recursos y de beneficios fiscales; la posibilidad de inversión de excedentes financieros en el mercado de capitales; y la remuneración de sus cuerpos directivos. Existe una concentración en servicios hospitalarios con una mayor densidad tecnológica; nítida predominancia de cláusulas, respecto al incremento de transferencias financieras, en detrimento de otras cláusulas regulatorias; existencia de modalidades especiales de contratos con servicios-medios absolutamente estratégicos para el funcionamiento general del Sistema Único de Salud. Por tanto, en este estudio las OSS se configuran como uno de los componentes del Complejo Económico Industrial de la Salud, en las vertientes de la gestión, de la prestación y de la regulación de servicios, en un escenario de intensiva mercantilización de la salud y de transferencia de fondos públicos hacia el sector privado.

Organizações Sociais da Saúde: uma expressão fenomênica da privatização da saúde no Brasil / Social Healthcare Organizations: a phenomenological expression of healthcare privatization in Brazil / Organizaciones Sociales de la Salud: una expresión fenoménica de la privatización de la salud en Brasil

Resumo: A pesquisa analisou o processo de expansão das Organizações Sociais da Saúde (OSS) no Brasil durante o período de 2009-2014. Para tanto, dimensionou as dez maiores OSS segundo recursos financeiros captados, explorou suas qualificações como entidades sem fins lucrativos, tomando em conta as evidências empíricas que apontam para sua expansão e consolidação no processo de gestão e prestação de serviços de saúde via estratégias próprias de organizações privadas lucrativas. O estudo é descritivo e exploratório, e foi realizado com base em fontes documentais de domínio público. No plano das relações com o Estado, as OSS têm se beneficiado das brechas e facilidades concedidas pela lei e apresentado uma notável expansão. Evidenciou-se um movimento recente das OSS pela busca concomitante da condição de entidades filantrópicas, assegurando múltiplas oportunidades de captação de recursos e de benefícios fiscais; a possibilidade de aplicação de excedentes financeiros no mercado de capitais; e a remuneração de seus corpos diretivos. Há uma concentração em serviços hospitalares com maior densidade tecnológica; nítida predominância de cláusulas respeitantes ao incremento de repasses financeiros em detrimento de outras cláusulas regulatórias; existência de modalidades especiais de contratos com serviços-meios absolutamente estratégicos para o funcionamento geral do Sistema Único de Saúde. Portanto, neste estudo as OSS se configuram como um dos componentes do Complexo Econômico Industrial da Saúde, nas vertentes da gestão, da prestação e da regulação de serviços, em um cenário de intensiva mercantilização da saúde e de transferência de fundo público para o setor privado.

Abstract: The study analyzed the expansion of Social Healthcare Organizations (OSS in Portuguese) in Brazil from 2009 to 2014. The ten largest OSS were measured according to their budget funding and their qualifications as non-profit organizations were explored, considering evidence of their expansion and consolidation in the management and provision of health services via strategies proper to for-profit private enterprises. The study is descriptive and exploratory and was based on public-domain documents. In their relations with government, the OSS have benefited from legal loopholes and incentives and have expanded accordingly. There has been a recent trend for these organizations to simultaneously apply for status as charitable organizations, thereby ensuring multiple opportunities for fundraising and additional tax incentives, permission to invest financial surpluses in the capital market, and remunerate their boards of directors. These organizations tend to concentrate in technology-dense hospital services, with clauses concerning increasing financial transfers to the detriment of other regulatory clauses, and special contract modalities for enabling services that are absolutely strategic for the overall functioning of the Brazilian Unified National Health System. Thus, in this study, the OSS are one component of the Health Economic and Industrial Complex, acting in management, provision, and regulation of services in a scenario of intensive commodification of health and the transfer of public funds to the private sector.

Resumen: La investigación analizó el proceso de expansión de las Organizaciones Sociales de Salud (OSS) en Brasil, durante el período de 2009-2014. Para ello, se dimensionaron las diez mayores OSS, según los recursos financieros captados, exploró sus características, como entidades sin ánimo de lucro, tomando en consideración las evidencias empíricas que apuntan a su expansión y consolidación en el proceso de gestión y prestación de servicios de salud, vía estrategias propias de organizaciones privadas con ánimo de lucro. El estudio es descriptivo y exploratorio, y fue realizado en base a fuentes documentales de dominio público. En el plano de las relaciones con el Estado, las OSS se han beneficiado de las brechas y facilidades concedidas por la ley y presentado una notable expansión. Se evidenció un movimiento reciente de esas organizaciones por la búsqueda concomitante de su condición como entidades filantrópicas, asegurando múltiples oportunidades de captación de recursos y de beneficios fiscales; la posibilidad de inversión de excedentes financieros en el mercado de capitales; y la remuneración de sus cuerpos directivos. Existe una concentración en servicios hospitalarios con una mayor densidad tecnológica; nítida predominancia de cláusulas, respecto al incremento de transferencias financieras, en detrimento de otras cláusulas regulatorias; existencia de modalidades especiales de contratos con servicios-medios absolutamente estratégicos para el funcionamiento general del Sistema Único de Salud. Por tanto, en este estudio las OSS se configuran como uno de los componentes del Complejo Económico Industrial de la Salud, en las vertientes de la gestión, de la prestación y de la regulación de servicios, en un escenario de intensiva mercantilización de la salud y de transferencia de fondos públicos hacia el sector privado.

Financialisation in health care: An analysis of private equity fund investments in Turkey.

The 2007-2008 global financial crisis revived interest in the impacts of financial markets and actors on our social and economic life. Nevertheless, research on health care financialisation remains scant. This article presents findings from research on one modality of financial investments in health care: global private equity funds' investments in private hospitals. Adopting a political economy approach, it analyses the drivers and impacts of the upsurge of global private equity investments in the Turkish private hospital sector amid the global financial crisis. The analysis derives from review of research and archival literature, as well as six in-depth interviews held with owners/executive board directors/general managers of the largest private hospital chains in Turkey and the general partners of their PE investors. The interviewing process took place between January and November 2016. All interviews were conducted by the author in Istanbul. The findings point to a mutually reinforcing relationship between neoliberal policies and financialisation processes in health care. The article shows that neoliberal healthcare reforms, introduced under consecutive Justice and Development Party (JDP) governments in Turkey, have been important precursors of private equity investments in healthcare services. These private equity investments, in turn, intensified and broadened the process of marketisation in health care services. Four impacts are identified, through which private equity investments hasten the marketisation of health care services. These relate to the impacts of private equity investments on a) advancing the process of chain formation by large hospital groups, b) spreading financial imperatives into the operations of private hospitals c) fostering internationalisation of capital, and d) augmenting inequities in access to health care services and standards.

KT&G: From Korean monopoly to 'a global name in the tobacco industry'.

Until the late 1980s, the former South Korean tobacco monopoly KT&G was focused on the protected domestic market. The opening of the market to foreign competition, under pressure from the U.S. Trade Representative, led to a steady erosion of market share over the next 10 years. Drawing on company documents and industry sources, this paper examines the adaptation of KT&G to the globalization of the South Korean tobacco industry since the 1990s. It is argued that KT&G has shifted from a domestic monopoly to an outward-looking, globally oriented business in response to the influx of transnational tobacco companies. Like other high-income countries, South Korea has also seen a decline in smoking prevalence as stronger tobacco control measures have been adopted. Faced with a shrinking domestic market, KT&G initially focused on exporting Korean-manufactured cigarettes. Since the mid-2000s, a broader global business strategy has been adopted including the building of overseas manufacturing facilities, establishing strategic partnerships and acquiring foreign companies. Trends in KT&G sales suggest an aspiring transnational tobacco company poised to become a major player in the global tobacco market. This article is part of the special issue 'The emergence of Asian tobacco companies: Implications for global health governance'.

'Preparing ourselves to become an international organization': Thailand Tobacco Monopoly's regional and global strategies.

The Thailand Tobacco Monopoly (TTM) controlled the country's tobacco industry from its formation in the 1940s, until the government dropped restrictions on imported cigarettes in the late 1980s in response to pressure from the United States. The TTM has since competed with transnational tobacco companies (TTCs) in a semi-monopoly market in which TTCs have steadily increased their market share. Coupled with a decline in national smoking prevalence, the result of Thailand's stringent tobacco control agenda, the TTM now accounts for a diminishing share of a contracting market. In response, the monopoly has looked to regional trade liberalisation, and proximity to markets with some of the world's highest smoking rates to expand its operations. Expansion strategies have gone largely unrealised however, and the TTM effectively remains a domestic operation. Using TTM publications, market and trade reports, industry publications, tobacco industry documents and other resources, this paper analyses TTM expansion strategies, and the limited extent to which they have been achieved. This inability to expand its operations has left the monopoly potentially vulnerable to global strategies of its transnational competitors. This article is part of the special issue 'The Emergence of Asian Tobacco Companies: Implications for Global Health Governance'.

The globalisation strategies of five Asian tobacco companies: a comparative analysis and implications for global health governance.

The global tobacco industry, from the 1960s to mid 1990s, saw consolidation and eventual domination by a small number of transnational tobacco companies (TTC). This paper draws together comparative analysis of five case studies in the special issue on 'The Emergence of Asian Tobacco Companies: Implications for Global Health Governance.' The cases suggest that tobacco industry globalisation is undergoing a new phase, beginning in the late 1990s, with the adoption of global business strategies by five Asian companies. The strategies were prompted foremost by external factors, notably market liberalisation, competition from TTCs and declining domestic markets. State protection and promotion enabled the industries in Japan, South Korea and China to rationalise their operations ahead of foreign market expansion. The TTM and TTL will likely remain domestic or perhaps regional companies, JTI and KT&G have achieved TTC status, and the CNTC is poised to dwarf all existing companies. This global expansion of Asian tobacco companies will increase competition which, in turn, will intensify marketing, exert downward price pressures along the global value chain, and encourage product innovation. Global tobacco control requires fuller understanding of these emerging changes and the regulatory challenges posed by ongoing globalisation.

Trade deals with Trump could give the NHS a heart attack.

Labour must come to terms with the gains of the Blair years, while the Tories must be wary of the dangers of Uncle Sam.

Is the pro-competition policy an effective solution for China's public hospital reform?

The new round of health care reforms in China achieved significant initial results. New and emerging problems coinciding with the deepening of the reforms, however, require further institutional changes to strengthen the competition mechanism and promote public hospital efficiency. This paper provides a conceptual framework and preliminary assessment of public hospital competition in China. Specifically, we distinguish between two closely related concepts - competition and privatization, and identify several critical conditions under which hospital competition can be used as a policy instrument to improve health care delivery in China. We also investigate the current performance and identify several unintended consequences of public hospital competition - mainly, medical arms race, drug over-prescription and the erosion of a trusting relationship between patients and physicians. Finally, we discuss the policy options for enhancing the internal competition in China's hospital market, and conclude that public investment on information provision is key to reaping the positive outcomes of pro-competition policies.