Ramiro Guerrero

Inequalities in non-communicable diseases and effective responses.

In most countries, people who have a low socioeconomic status and those who live in poor or marginalised communities have a higher risk of dying from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) than do more advantaged groups and communities. Smoking rates, blood pressure, and several other NCD risk factors are often higher in groups with low socioeconomic status than in those with high socioeconomic status; the social gradient also depends on the countrys stage of economic development, cultural factors, and social and health policies. Social inequalities in risk factors account for more than half of inequalities in major NCDs, especially for cardiovascular diseases and lung cancer. People in low-income countries and those with low socioeconomic status also have worse access to health care for timely diagnosis and treatment of NCDs than do those in high-income countries or those with higher socioeconomic status. Reduction of NCDs in disadvantaged groups is necessary to achieve substantial decreases in the total NCD burden, making them mutually reinforcing priorities. Effective actions to reduce NCD inequalities include equitable early childhood development programmes and education; removal of barriers to secure employment in disadvantaged groups; comprehensive strategies for tobacco and alcohol control and for dietary salt reduction that target low socioeconomic status groups; universal, financially and physically accessible, high-quality primary care for delivery of preventive interventions and for early detection and treatment of NCDs; and universal insurance and other mechanisms to remove financial barriers to health care.

Management of diabetes and associated cardiovascular risk factors in seven countries: a comparison of data from national health examination surveys

OBJECTIVE To examine the effectiveness of the health system response to the challenge of diabetes across different settings and explore the inequalities in diabetes care that are attributable to socioeconomic factors. METHODS We used nationally representative health examination surveys from Colombia, England, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mexico, Scotland, Thailand and the United States of America to obtain data on diagnosis, treatment and control of hyperglycaemia, arterial hypertension and hypercholesterolaemia among individuals with diabetes. Using logistic regression, we explored the socioeconomic determinants of diagnosis and effective case management. FINDINGS A substantial proportion of individuals with diabetes remain undiagnosed and untreated, both in developed and developing countries. The figures range from 24% of the women in Scotland and the USA to 62% of the men in Thailand. The proportion of individuals with diabetes reaching treatment targets for blood glucose, arterial blood pressure and serum cholesterol was very low, ranging from 1% of male patients in Mexico to about 12% in the United States. Income and education were not found to be significantly related to the rates of diagnosis and treatment anywhere except in Thailand, but in the three countries with available data insurance status was a strong predictor of diagnosis and effective management, especially in the United States. CONCLUSION There are many missed opportunities to reduce the burden of diabetes through improved control of blood glucose levels and improved diagnosis and treatment of arterial hypertension and hypercholesterolaemia. While no large socioeconomic inequalities were noted in the management of individuals with diabetes, financial access to care was a strong predictor of diagnosis and management.

Trends and mortality effects of vitamin A deficiency in children in 138 low-income and middle-income countries between 1991 and 2013: a pooled analysis of population-based surveys

BACKGROUND Vitamin A deficiency is a risk factor for blindness and for mortality from measles and diarrhoea in children aged 6-59 months. We aimed to estimate trends in the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency between 1991 and 2013 and its mortality burden in low-income and middle-income countries. METHODS We collated 134 population-representative data sources from 83 countries with measured serum retinol concentration data. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency, defined as a serum retinol concentration lower than 0·70 μmol/L. We estimated the relative risks (RRs) for the effects of vitamin A deficiency on mortality from measles and diarrhoea by pooling effect sizes from randomised trials of vitamin A supplementation. We used information about prevalences of deficiency, RRs, and number of cause-specific child deaths to estimate deaths attributable to vitamin A deficiency. All analyses included a systematic quantification of uncertainty. FINDINGS In 1991, 39% (95% credible interval 27-52) of children aged 6-59 months in low-income and middle-income countries were vitamin A deficient. In 2013, the prevalence of deficiency was 29% (17-42; posterior probability [PP] of being a true decline=0·81). Vitamin A deficiency significantly declined in east and southeast Asia and Oceania from 42% (19-70) to 6% (1-16; PP>0·99); a decline in Latin America and the Caribbean from 21% (11-33) to 11% (4-23; PP=0·89) also occurred. In 2013, the prevalence of deficiency was highest in sub-Saharan Africa (48%; 25-75) and south Asia (44%; 13-79). 94 500 (54 200-146 800) deaths from diarrhoea and 11 200 (4300-20 500) deaths from measles were attributable to vitamin A deficiency in 2013, which accounted for 1·7% (1·0-2·6) of all deaths in children younger than 5 years in low-income and middle-income countries. More than 95% of these deaths occurred in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. INTERPRETATION Vitamin A deficiency remains prevalent in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Deaths attributable to this deficiency have decreased over time worldwide, and have been almost eliminated in regions other than south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. This new evidence for both prevalence and absolute burden of vitamin A deficiency should be used to reconsider, and possibly revise, the list of priority countries for high-dose vitamin A supplementation such that a countrys priority status takes into account both the prevalence of deficiency and the expected mortality benefits of supplementation. FUNDIN Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada, UK Medical Research Council.

Control of hypertension with medication: a comparative analysis of national surveys in 20 countries

OBJECTIVE To examine hypertension management across countries and over time using consistent and comparable methods. METHODS A systematic search identified nationally representative health examination surveys from 20 countries containing data from 1980 to 2011 on blood pressure measurements, the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension and its control with antihypertensive drugs. For each country, the prevalence of hypertension (i.e. systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg or antihypertensive use) and the proportion of hypertensive individuals whose condition was diagnosed, treated or controlled with medications (i.e. systolic pressure < 140 mmHg) were estimated. FINDINGS The age-standardized prevalence of hypertension varied between countries: for individuals aged 35 to 49 years, it ranged from around 12% in Bangladesh, Egypt and Thailand to around 30% in Armenia, Lesotho and Ukraine; for those aged 35 to 84 years, it ranged from 20% in Bangladesh to more than 40% in Germany, the Russian Federation and Turkey. The age-standardized percentage of hypertensive individuals whose condition was diagnosed, treated or controlled was highest in the United States of America: for those aged 35 to 49 years, it was 84%, 77% and 56%, respectively. Percentages were especially low in Albania, Armenia, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Turkey. Although recent trends in prevalence differed in England, Japan and the United States, treatment coverage and hypertension control improved over time, particularly in England. CONCLUSION Globally the proportion of hypertensive individuals whose condition is treated or controlled with medication remains low. Greater efforts are needed to improve hypertension control, which would reduce the burden of noncommunicable diseases.

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 Americas 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.

Sistema de salud de Colombia

This document briefly describes the health conditions of the Colombian population and, in more detail, the characteristics of the Colombian health system. The description of the system includes its structure and coverage; financing sources; expenditure in health; physical material and human resources available; monitoring and evaluation procedures; and mechanisms through which the population participates in the evaluation of the system. Salient among the most recent innovations implemented in the Colombian health system are the modification of the Compulsory Health Plan and the capitation payment unit, the vertical integration of the health promotion enterprises and the institutions in charge of the provision of services and the mobilization of additional resources to meet the objectives of universal coverage and the homologation of health benefits among health regimes.

Cobertura efectiva de las intervenciones en salud de América Latina y el Caribe: métrica para evaluar los sistemas de salud

OBJETIVO: Medir la cobertura efectiva para once intervenciones de salud en nueve paises de America Latina utilizando las encuestas de demografia y salud o registros administrativos que abarcan la salud infantil, de la mujer y el adulto. MATERIAL Y METODOS: Se seleccionaron las intervenciones y se armonizaron definiciones y metodos de calculo de acuerdo con la informacion disponible para lograr la comparabilidad entre paises. RESULTADOS: Chile es el pais con mejores indicadores de coberturas crudas y efectivas, seguido por Mexico y Colombia, y existen brechas importantes entre regiones, departamentos o estados. CONCLUSIONES: La metrica de cobertura efectiva es un indicador sensible que relaciona la necesidad de las intervenciones en salud, su utilizacion y calidad, lo que permite valorar los programas de salud al aportar datos precisos de donde y a quien deben dirigirse los recursos y esfuerzos nacionales para que los paises alcancen los propositos y metas planteados.

Health Plan Payment in Colombia

Abstract Colombia’s 1993 healthcare reform instituted regulated competition among health insurers to fulfill a universal entitlement to a comprehensive and standardized benefits package. There are two major insurance schemes, the Contributory Regime (broadly, for formal workers, public servants, retirees, and self-employed with the ability to pay) and the Subsidized Regime (broadly, for those without the ability to pay). Insurers receive risk-adjusted ex-ante payments from a central health fund and ex-post payments from a high-cost account for three pathologies, as well as from patient cost-sharing. Insurers manage health and financial risks, and can use selective contracting and provider networks. Following a legal change in 2015, Colombia is shifting from an explicitly defined benefits package to an implicitly defined package with a negative list, and toward regulating models of care and strengthening conditions for provider networks and contracting. Current policy issues include addressing these fundamental changes, maintaining incentives for efficiency, and guaranteeing insurer solvency.

Escenarios posibles para el Sistema General de Seguridad Social en Salud (SGSSS) (Alternative Scenarios for the Colombian Healthcare System)

Spanish Abstract: El documento busca realizar un análisis descriptivo y comparativo entre distintos elementos de cuatro escenarios hacia los cuales puede evolucionar el Sistema General de Seguridad Social en Salud de Colombia. La presentación de estas distintas perspectivas tiene el objetivo de fundamentar un debate público informado sobre las dificultades presentes en el sistema de salud actual y qué se puede hacer al respecto. Dentro de los elementos de cada escenario, se hace mención a mecanismos de financiación, vigilancia (regulación), qué beneficios abarca la afiliación al sistema, entre otros. English Abstract: This paper describes and compares several scenarios towards which the Colombian health care systems could evolve. The purpose of these scenarios is to provide inputs for public policy discussion on the problems of the current system and what can be done to solve them. Elements of each scenario are: financing, regulation, benefits, among others.

Contrôle de l'hypertension sous médication

OBJECTIVE To examine hypertension management across countries and over time using consistent and comparable methods. METHODS A systematic search identified nationally representative health examination surveys from 20 countries containing data from 1980 to 2011 on blood pressure measurements, the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension and its control with antihypertensive drugs. For each country, the prevalence of hypertension (i.e. systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg or antihypertensive use) and the proportion of hypertensive individuals whose condition was diagnosed, treated or controlled with medications (i.e. systolic pressure < 140 mmHg) were estimated. FINDINGS The age-standardized prevalence of hypertension varied between countries: for individuals aged 35 to 49 years, it ranged from around 12% in Bangladesh, Egypt and Thailand to around 30% in Armenia, Lesotho and Ukraine; for those aged 35 to 84 years, it ranged from 20% in Bangladesh to more than 40% in Germany, the Russian Federation and Turkey. The age-standardized percentage of hypertensive individuals whose condition was diagnosed, treated or controlled was highest in the United States of America: for those aged 35 to 49 years, it was 84%, 77% and 56%, respectively. Percentages were especially low in Albania, Armenia, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Turkey. Although recent trends in prevalence differed in England, Japan and the United States, treatment coverage and hypertension control improved over time, particularly in England. CONCLUSION Globally the proportion of hypertensive individuals whose condition is treated or controlled with medication remains low. Greater efforts are needed to improve hypertension control, which would reduce the burden of noncommunicable diseases.