The World after COVID-19: Reflections on Global Health and Policy.

COVID-19 has infected hundreds of millions of people across the globe. The pandemic has also inflicted serious damages on global and regional governing political structures to a degree meriting a revisit of their own raison d'etre. The global economic fallout is also unprecedented as the flows of goods and people got severely disrupted while lockdowns hit the transport, services and retail industries, among others. We argue that three realities need to be genuinely addressed for building a post COVID-19 order that has to be amply equipped to deal with the next global crisis, as well as the ones on-going for decades. First, there is need to shelf-away the hitherto practiced doctrine that global crises and problems are confronted through local responses. Second, the COVID-19 pandemic has cautioned us on the need to (re)invest in basic, many may consider naïve and simple, public health functions such as sanitation as well as transparent national and global health monitoring. Third, the pandemic is a clear reprimand to discard the mantra that privatization of healthcare delivery system is the solution in favor of viewing health as a public good that needs to be managed and executed by the state and its public sector, be it national, sub-regional or local. It is critical that we learn from such pandemic and advance our societies to become stronger.

[Current Status and Perspective of Behavioral Science in Social Medicine].

The term behavioral science was coined in 1946 by a research group at the University of Chicago led by Miller. It is defined as "science that systematically reveals the rules of human behavior". To elucidate human behavior, they proposed combining biological science and social science. In Japan, achievements in behavioral science research have accumulated and have been applied in health education and health policy. In this paper, we describe the current status and future approaches in social medicine through an overview of behavioral science research in Japan with regard to the following five points: 1) representative theories and techniques in health behavior, 2) differences in health awareness, 3) a new approach of behavioral science based on the dual process theory, behavioral economics, and zero-order prevention, 4) diversity in behavioral changes and 5) experimental research in behavioral science.

El sistema de salud en Venezuela y sus políticas públicas: aportes para su integración desde la mirada de la salud colectiva / The health system in Venezuela and its public policies: contributions to the integration from the view point of collective health

Este estudio plantea una aproximación crítica a la fragmentación y segmentación de los servicios de atención a la salud en Venezuela, dado que ambas categorías impactan significativamente en la garantía del derecho a la salud de personas, familias y comunidades que consagra la Constitución Nacional. Se evidencian fundamentos epistémicos, su relación con el financiamiento y las políticas públicas de salud, el papel del modelo biomédico hegemónico en los servicios, lo cual permite contrastarlos con la realidad empírica, de acuerdo con los postulados de una nueva mirada para integrar la salud y colaborar a su mejor comprensión. Se identifican y analizan antecedentes teóricos del Buen Vivir, la salud colectiva, la determinación social; así como la política de salud en la configuración histórica del sistema de salud venezolano, revelando nuevas preguntas a través de una mirada distinta que busca mejorar el mandato social y el posicionamiento de la salud colectiva como postura emergente en la región de las Américas, con ello se contribuye con una postura teórica para repensar las políticas de salud y proyectar el sistema de salud venezolano hacia su integración plena en el territorio, sus estructuras, financiamiento, planificación y en consecuencia, mejorar las redes integradas de servicios de salud, con una mayor capacidad de respuesta del Estado para garantizar el derecho a la salud de la población(AU)

This study raises a critical approach to the fragmentation and segmentation of services of attention to health in Venezuela, since both categories impact significantly on the guarantee of the right to health of individuals, families and communities that enshrined in the national Constitution. Demonstrate fundamentals epistemic, its relationship with the funding and public health policies, the role of the hegemonic services bio-medical model, which allows to compare them with the empirical reality, in accordance with the tenets of a new looking to integrate health and contribute to better understanding. Are identified and analyzed theoretical background of good living, the collective health, social determination; as well as the health policy in the history of the Venezuelan health system configuration, revealing new questions through a different perspective that seeks to improve the social mandate and the positioning of the collective health as emerging posture in the region of the Americas, this contributes to a theoretical stance for rethinking health policies and project the Venezuelan health system towards their full integration into the territory, its structures, financing, planning and therefore improve the integrated networks of health services, with a greater capacity of response of the State to guarantee the right to health of the population(AU)

Social epidemiology for the 21st century.

Social epidemiology, as defined by the textbook of the same name (Berkman et al., 2014) is "that branch of epidemiology concerned with the way that social structures, institutions, and relationships influence health" (p. 2). As our Special Issue commemorates the 50th anniversary of Social Science & Medicine, it is worth noting that the Social Epidemiology office within the journal has existed only for a fraction of that time (fifteen years). So what has been learned in the fifteen years since the establishment of the new office? In this commentary, we spotlight some of the achievements, substantive topics, and future trends in the research papers that we have featured in our Section of the journal.

Determinación social del proceso salud-enfermedad: una mirada crítica desde la epidemiología del siglo XXI / Social determination of the health-disease process: a critical look from the epidemiology of the 21st century

RESUMEN La llamada determinación social es un concepto central de la Medicina Social Latinoamericana (MSL). Son frecuentes las críticas que la MSL hace a la epidemiología, principalmente por su visión reduccionista y su lejanía a la realidad social. En este ensayo se hace un análisis contrario: la epidemiología del siglo XXI hace una crítica a la MSL, usando como ejemplo el desarrollo disciplinar en Colombia. Se revisa la historia de la epidemiología colombiana indicando que no ha tenido desarrollo suficiente y la MSL tiende a rechazar los métodos cuantitativos con fundamento en la práctica epidemiológica de hace cuatro décadas. Se revisan algunos desarrollos en los métodos cuantitativos usados en epidemiología, indicando que se han superado varias de las limitaciones señaladas por la MSL. Se concluye que la MSL usa la determinación social como parte de su plataforma política de izquierda; sin embargo, los métodos cuantitativos actuales y los desarrollos teóricos en epidemiología del siglo XXI evidencian una superioridad pragmática, útil para solucionar las problemáticas de la salud pública actual.(AU)

ABSTRACT The so-called social determination is a key concept for Latin American Social Medicine (LASM). LASM criticizes epidemiology frequently, mainly because of its reductionist vision and its distance from social reality. This paper makes an opposite analysis, in other words, 21st century epidemiology criticizes LASM, using the disciplinary development in Colombia as an example. The history of Colombian epidemiology is reviewed, noting that it has not had sufficient development and that LASM tends to reject quantitative methods based on the epidemiological practices used four decades ago. Additionally, some developments of the quantitative methods used in epidemiology are reviewed, explaining that many of the limitations indicated by LASM have been overcome. In conclusion, LASM uses social determination as part of its leftist political platform; however, current quantitative methods and the 21st century theoretical developments in epidemiology show a pragmatic superiority, useful for solving current public health issues.(AU)

Pediatric Firearm-Related Injuries in the United States.

Pediatric firearm-related deaths and injuries are a national public health crisis. In this Special Review Article, we characterize the epidemiology of firearm-related injuries in the United States and discuss public health programs, the role of pediatricians, and legislative efforts to address this health crisis. Firearm-related injuries are leading causes of unintentional injury deaths in children and adolescents. Children are more likely to be victims of unintentional injuries, the majority of which occur in the home, and adolescents are more likely to suffer from intentional injuries due to either assault or suicide attempts. Guns are present in 18% to 64% of US households, with significant variability by geographic region. Almost 40% of parents erroneously believe their children are unaware of the storage location of household guns, and 22% of parents wrongly believe that their children have never handled household guns. Public health interventions to increase firearm safety have demonstrated varying results, but the most effective programs have provided free gun safety devices to families. Pediatricians should continue working to reduce gun violence by asking patients and their families about firearm access, encouraging safe storage, and supporting firearm-related injury prevention research. Pediatricians should also play a role in educating trainees about gun violence. From a legislative perspective, universal background checks have been shown to decrease firearm homicides across all ages, and child safety laws have been shown to decrease unintentional firearm deaths and suicide deaths in youth. A collective, data-driven public health approach is crucial to halt the epidemic of pediatric firearm-related injury.

The Political Future of Social Medicine: Reflections on Physicians as Activists.

The academic discipline of social medicine has always had a political and policy advocacy component, in addition to its core functions of research and teaching. Its origins lie in the 18th and 19th centuries, in the work of Johann Peter Frank and Rudolph Virchow, among others. Virchow's dictum that "politics is nothing else but medicine on a large scale" highlights that most social determinants of health are politically determined and shape population health. Yet despite intense epidemiological and sociological research on the social determinants of health, less attention has been paid to this political and policy dimension.During the 1960s, the author and many other clinicians were directly involved in attempts to use health care institutions to foster structural change. However, the author argues that efforts to assist individual patients and more effectively manage their interactions with the health care system, as described in the articles in this issue's special collection on "structural competency," while worthy and useful, do not confront root causes. Going forward, efforts to effect structural change must take place outside the arena of the clinical encounter and involve interprofessional teams and collaborations with nongovernmental organizations. They should intervene directly on the structures that contribute to illness such as poor housing, income and wealth inequality, inferior education, racism and residential segregation, and toxic concentrations of extreme poverty in urban areas. Collectively, these efforts-within and outside the spheres of medicine-represent the real operative form of structural competency.

[Hygiene and Public Health - Significance in Medicine and Society]. / Hygiene und Öffentliche Gesundheit - Zur Bedeutung in Medizin und Gesellschaft.

The presented review attempts an historical overview on the development of Public Health in Germany with special reference to the medical specialty of Hygiene. This development is put in perspective to current international developments with a special emphasis on the programmatic work in the field of Public Health of the European Union.

[Socio-medical aspects of mental disorders : Definition, epidemiology, context and assessment of capacity]. / Sozialmedizinische Aspekte bei psychischen Erkrankungen : Definition, Epidemiologie, Kontextbedingungen und Leistungsbeurteilung.

Social medicine is an interdisciplinary field of medicine which analyses and describes the interactions between illness, individual, society, and organisational structures of the health care system, including prevention, treatment and rehabilitation. Part of social medicine is epidemiology, including analytic epidemiology. The goal is to monitor the prevalence and spectrum of illnesses in the general population or subpopulations and to study possible risks of illness. The question is which environmental or contextual factors influence the prevalence and course of illnesses. Another area of social medicine is to evaluate patients and decide who needs social support. Important topics are inability to work, need for early retirement and pension, or disability. In this context it is important to make a distinction between functions, capacities, context and participation. There is a second paper on social medicine which covers modes of care and treatment in social medicine.

Análisis del modelo salutogénico en España: aplicación en salud pública e implicaciones para el modelo de activos en salud / Salutogenic model analysis in Spain: application in public health and implications for asset health model

Este artículo tiene el objetivo de tratar en profundidad uno de los modelos más revolucionarios e influyentes para la comprensión de las variables y procesos que explican la salud humana. A partir de una nueva visión en el análisis de las consecuencias del holocausto nazi, un médico-sociólogo -Aaron Antonovsky-, consiguió influir en la medicina y la ciencia delcomportamiento, facilitando las claves para el óptimo desarrollo de la salud pública actual. A pesar de que esta teoría empezó a forjarse en los años 70 del siglo XX, su desarrollo real y su expansión están sucediendo en los últimos años. De hecho, enEspaña existe muy poca literatura con base científica que analice con detalle las claves teóricas del modelo. Este trabajo trata de cubrir esa carencia y, para ello, y en primer lugar, exponecómo surgió el constructo salutogénesis, el contexto sociocultural que lo impulsó, así como la importancia que adquiere enla salud pública actual. Con este objetivo, en estas páginas se analizan las bases teóricas del modelo salutogénico, con especial énfasis en sus antecedentes y precursores, así como en sus inicios, desarrollo y expansión actual(AU)

This article seeks to provide an in depth review about one of the most revolutionary and influential methods used in understanding the variables and processes that explain human health. Based on a new vision in the analysis of the consequences of theNazi Holocaust, a doctor-sociologist—Aaron Antonovsky— managed to influence medicine and behavioral science by facilitating the keys for the optimal development of public health today. Despite the fact that this theory began appearing in the1970s in the 20th century, its real development and expansion have been seen in recent years. In fact, in Spain, there is littlescientific literature that analyses the theoretic keys of the model in depth. This work seek to cover this gap; to achieve this objective, it first presents how the construct of salutogenesis arose, the social-cultural context that promoted it, as well as the importance public health acquires today. This is the aim of this work, which analyses the theoretical bases of the salutogenesis model,with specific emphasis on its background and precursors, aswell as its inception, development and current expansion(AU)

[The evolution of pharmaceutical practice within the context of changing health territories: How can social sciences contribute to pharmaceutical education?]. / Evolution de la pratique pharmaceutique en contexte de redéfinition des territoires de la santé : ce que les sciences humaines et sociales peuvent apporter à la formation du pharmacien.

Pharmaceutical practice in France is evolving as presented in the legislation reforming hospitals and regarding patients, health and the territories. Hence, the pharmaceutical "territory" has been reconfigured and requires evolving ideas about pharmaceutical training. At the heart of this paper is the following question: What can social sciences bring to pharmaceutical education? Three levels were considered: patients and their social environment, interaction and coordination management among health professionals and political, economical and social drug regulation systems.