The Big Pharma: a indústria bilionária farmacêutica na berlinda

Em entrevista a Lucas Mendes, a médica e professora da Harvar Medical School, Marcia Angell diz que a indústria farmacêutica não inventa nada de novo, abusa de patentes e transforma a medicina em produto descartável em nome da ganância obsessiva.

The resistance of nurses to austerity measures in the health sector during the financial crisis in Spain / La resistencia de las enfermeras a las medidas de austeridad en el sector salud durante la crisis en España

OBJECTIVE: This study explores nurses' perspectives on how the financial crisis and austerity measures introduced in the Spanish Health System affected their ability to provide care in these new circumstances. METHOD: Cross-sectional observational study. In 2013, during an international annual congress in Spain, 123 nurses out of a total of 350 attendees completed a 14-item open-ended response questionnaire to examine the perceived impact of the financial crisis and austerity measures on quality of services and their experiences at work. RESULTS: 84% of the sample were women and the mean age of the respondents was 40 (standard deviation: 11.13). Seventy-seven percent of the nurses reported austerity measures introduced in their workplace. The nurses voiced strong disagreement with austerity measures (86%), due to the negative repercussions on nurses' working conditions (47%), a decrease in human resources (37%), negative effects such as work overload (37%); a perceived deterioration in the quality of healthcare (77%) and pharmaceutical services (86%); and worsening conditions in access to health services by vulnerable populations (43%), leading to ethical dilemmas in clinical practice (26%). CONCLUSION: This study showed that nurses participating in this study overwhelmingly opposed austerity measures imposed on the National Health System as a response to the financial crisis, which had a negative effect both on nurses' working conditions and on the quality of health services. Institutional measures to improve recruitment and retention of nurses including policies for preventing stress and burnout, a decrease of patient-nurse ratio, and greater work stability should be considered

OBJETIVO: Explorar la perspectiva de las enfermeras sobre cómo la crisis financiera y las medidas de austeridad en el Sistema Nacional de Salud afectan al cuidado que prestan en España. MÉTODO: Estudio observacional transversal. Durante un congreso internacional anual celebrado en España en 2013, 123 enfermeras de un total de 350 asistentes completaron un cuestionario compuesto por 14 ítems de respuesta abierta, para examinar las consecuencias percibidas de la crisis financiera y las medidas de austeridad en la provisión de los cuidados. RESULTADOS: El 84% de la muestra eran mujeres con una media de edad de 40 años (desviación estándar: 11,13). El 77% reportó medidas de austeridad en su lugar de trabajo y el 86% mostró un fuerte desacuerdo con las medidas de austeridad debido al descenso en los recursos humanos (37%), la sobrecarga de trabajo (37%) y el deterioro de sus condiciones de trabajo (47%), de la calidad de los servicios de salud (77%) y farmacéuticos (86%), y del acceso a los servicios de salud de las poblaciones vulnerables (43%), que lleva a dilemas éticos en la práctica clínica (26%). CONCLUSIÓN: Las enfermeras que participaron en este estudio se oponían de manera abrumadora a las medidas de austeridad impuestas al Sistema Nacional de Salud como respuesta a la crisis financiera, que han tenido efecto negativo tanto en sus condiciones de trabajo como en la calidad de los servicios. Se necesitan medidas institucionales para mejorar el reclutamiento y la retención de enfermeras, incluidas políticas para prevenir el estrés y el agotamiento, una disminución de la relación paciente-enfermera y una mayor estabilidad laboral

Regulação em saúde no setor privado: o caso da ANS no Brasil e da ERS em Portugal / Health regulation in the private sector: The case of ANS in Brazil and ERS in Portugal

Resumo No Brasil, o Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) vem se consolidando enquanto um subsistema público de saúde que convive com um sólido subsistema privado de saúde suplementar e complementar. O sistema de saúde português, de forma semelhante, caracteriza-se pela presença de três subsistemas assistenciais: o Serviço Nacional de Saúde, um setor de seguros privados e um setor privado em ascensão. Para ambos os países, a questão do setor privado é um dilema e um desafio para as suas respectivas entidades reguladoras, a Agência Nacional de Saúde Suplementar (ANS) e a Entidade Reguladora da Saúde (ERS). Desse modo, objetiva-se compreender como as instituições reguladoras atuam sobre o setor privado, demonstrando o crescimento desse setor, a segmentação dos sistemas de saúde, e o perfil de reclamações dos beneficiários/utentes. Para tal, realizou-se uma sistematização da literatura, levantamento dos gastos em saúde na base da OCDE, IBGE, ANS e ERS. Percebe-se que, com a consolidação de um padrão de empresariamento privado da saúde, inicia-se uma disputa por segmentos de clientela e especializações; o fortalecimento do setor privado preserva suas bases de financiamento público mediante sua presença marcante e cada vez mais organizada nas arenas decisórias públicas, com o Estado, e nos fluxos do mercado.

Abstract In Brazil, the Unified Health System (SUS) has been consolidated as a public health subsystem that coexists with a solid private subsystem supplementary and complementary health. The Portuguese health system, similarly, is characterized by the presence of three health subsystems: the National Health Service, private insurance and rising private sector. For both countries, the issue of the private health sector is a dilemma and a challenge to their respective regulators, the National Supplementary Health Agency (ANS) and the Regulatory Authority of Health (ERS). Thus, we aim to understand how regulatory institutions act on the private sector, demonstrating the growth of this sector, the segmentation of health systems, and the profile of complaints of beneficiaries. To this end, we carried out a systematic literature, survey of health expenditures on the basis of the OECD, IBGE, ANS and ERS. It With the consolidation of a pattern of private health business created a dispute over client segments and specializations; the private sector preserves its public funding base through its strong presence and increasingly organized in public decision-making arenas, with the State, and market flows.