Olikoye O. Ransome-Kuti: A testimony of his achievements in health reforms and public health governance.

The late Professor Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, Nigeria's longest-serving Health Minister since independence to date, has been variedly referred to as a distinguished academic, professional, public servant, technocrat, reformer, change agent, and mentor. His name is widely known not only within Nigeria but in Africa and, indeed, globally. Based on my knowledge of him as a result of working and interacting very closely with him in various capacities during the last twenty-seven (27) years of his life (1976-2003), I have highlighted in this paper some of his efforts and achievements for which he will forever be remembered.

Three Decades of Healthcare System Reform in Iran from the Perspective of Universal Health Coverage: A Macro-Qualitative Study.

Background: The healthcare system in Iran has undergone several reforms to achieve the objectives of universal health coverage (UHC). Some reforms have delivered positive benefits, however, still many challenges remain. Hence, the current study assessed the progress and outcomes of these reforms over the past three decades. Methods: The present nationwide macro-qualitative study was conducted in Iran during 2016-2017. Data were collected through 32 in-depth interviews with 30 high-ranking policymakers and healthcare providers at the national and provincial levels to identify their experiences and perceptions of the reforms. The data were analyzed using the constant comparative analysis method. Results: Analysis of the interview data resulted in two main themes, six categories, and 18 sub-categories. The extracted themes were adverse situational context and the chaotic healthcare system. The results showed that the Iranian healthcare system reforms could be characterized as incoherent and passive, and that these were the main reasons for not achieving the objectives of UHC reforms. It was revealed that the implemented reforms lacked a comprehensive approach and at times were counterproductive. Moreover, the situational context adversely hindered the successful implementation of the reforms. Conclusion: Despite many efforts to improve the Iranian healthcare system through reforms, the situational context and organizational factors have prevented achieving the main objectives. Iran's health policymakers should consider a phased implementation of small-scale reforms based on a comprehensive master plan that takes social, political, and economic factors into account. This approach would minimize potential risks and encourages the cooperation of the main stakeholders.

[Between Alma-Ata and the Brazilian sanitary reform: the National Basic Health Services Program (Prev-saúde), 1979-1983]. / Entre Alma-Ata e a reforma sanitária brasileira: o Programa Nacional de Serviços Básicos de Saúde (Prev-saúde), 1979-1983.

The history of the National Basic Health Services Program (Prev-saúde) begins in 1979 with a joint effort involving the Ministries of Health, Social Security and Assistance, Interior, and Economy, as well as the Pan-American Health Organization. The objective was to reorganize basic health services in their connections with other levels of care. Internationally, it was part of the movement sparked by the International Conference on Primary Health Care in Alma-Ata in September 1978. Domestically, the program represented an accumulation of knowledge about the organization of services as well as a movement that was partially adapted to Brazilian health reform agenda. Prev-saúde was a set of health proposals that represented a technical consensus between bureaucracies and leaders of health reform.

A história do Programa Nacional de Serviços Básicos de Saúde (Prev-saúde) se inicia em 1979, na articulação entre os Ministérios da Saúde, da Previdência e Assistência Social, do Interior e da Economia e a Organização Pan-americana da Saúde. Teve como objetivo reorganizar os serviços básicos de saúde em suas conexões com os demais níveis assistenciais. Internacionalmente, inscrevia-se no movimento deflagrado pela Conferência de Alma-Ata, de setembro de 1978. Em termos nacionais, representava tanto um acúmulo de conhecimento sobre organização dos serviços quanto um movimento que se adequava, em parte, à agenda da reforma sanitária brasileira. O Prev-saúde representou um conjunto de proposições para a reorganização da saúde que, naquele contexto, era consenso técnico entre burocracias e lideranças da reforma da saúde.

Entre Alma-Ata e a reforma sanitária brasileira: o Programa Nacional de Serviços Básicos de Saúde (Prev-saúde), 1979-1983 / Between Alma-Ata and the Brazilian sanitary reform: the National Basic Health Services Program (Prev-saúde), 1979-1983

Resumo A história do Programa Nacional de Serviços Básicos de Saúde (Prev-saúde) se inicia em 1979, na articulação entre os Ministérios da Saúde, da Previdência e Assistência Social, do Interior e da Economia e a Organização Pan-americana da Saúde. Teve como objetivo reorganizar os serviços básicos de saúde em suas conexões com os demais níveis assistenciais. Internacionalmente, inscrevia-se no movimento deflagrado pela Conferência de Alma-Ata, de setembro de 1978. Em termos nacionais, representava tanto um acúmulo de conhecimento sobre organização dos serviços quanto um movimento que se adequava, em parte, à agenda da reforma sanitária brasileira. O Prev-saúde representou um conjunto de proposições para a reorganização da saúde que, naquele contexto, era consenso técnico entre burocracias e lideranças da reforma da saúde.

Abstract The history of the National Basic Health Services Program (Prev-saúde) begins in 1979 with a joint effort involving the Ministries of Health, Social Security and Assistance, Interior, and Economy, as well as the Pan-American Health Organization. The objective was to reorganize basic health services in their connections with other levels of care. Internationally, it was part of the movement sparked by the International Conference on Primary Health Care in Alma-Ata in September 1978. Domestically, the program represented an accumulation of knowledge about the organization of services as well as a movement that was partially adapted to Brazilian health reform agenda. Prev-saúde was a set of health proposals that represented a technical consensus between bureaucracies and leaders of health reform.

Readings about developmentalist health and interpretations for the Brazilian health reform and public health. / Leituras sobre o sanitarismo desenvolvimentista e interpretações para a reforma sanitária brasileira e a saúde coletiva.

In the Brazilian public health literature, an association has been drawn between the 1970s health reform movement and what has been called developmentalist health. By investigating the discourse of two sanitarians from the developmentalist period - Mario Magalhães da Silveira and Carlos Gentile de Mello - we seek to unpick how their status of "precursors" of the health reform was constructed, analyzing the interfaces between public health, developmentalist thinking, the strategy for the construction of the developmentalist health and the health reform. Without refuting the pioneering nature of the sanitarians' ideas, we argue that the Brazilian Unified Health System, Sistema Único de Saúde, was created not simply in continuation of developmentalist thinking.

Na literatura do campo da saúde coletiva há uma construção que sustenta a associação entre o movimento pela reforma sanitária dos anos 1970 e o que se denominou sanitarismo desenvolvimentista. A partir dos discursos de dois sanitaristas do período desenvolvimentista ­ Mário Magalhães da Silveira e Carlos Gentile de Mello ­, buscou-se reconhecer como se deu a construção desse lugar de "precursor" da reforma sanitária. Foi feita a análise das interfaces entre a saúde coletiva, o pensamento desenvolvimentista, a estratégia de construção do "sanitarista desenvolvimentista" e a reforma sanitária. Sem negar o papel precursor daqueles sanitaristas, argumenta-se que a construção do Sistema Único de Saúde não é uma mera continuidade do pensamento desenvolvimentista.

Leituras sobre o sanitarismo desenvolvimentista e interpretações para a reforma sanitária brasileira e a saúde coletiva / Readings about developmentalist health and interpretations for the Brazilian health reform and public health

Resumo Na literatura do campo da saúde coletiva há uma construção que sustenta a associação entre o movimento pela reforma sanitária dos anos 1970 e o que se denominou sanitarismo desenvolvimentista. A partir dos discursos de dois sanitaristas do período desenvolvimentista - Mário Magalhães da Silveira e Carlos Gentile de Mello -, buscou-se reconhecer como se deu a construção desse lugar de "precursor" da reforma sanitária. Foi feita a análise das interfaces entre a saúde coletiva, o pensamento desenvolvimentista, a estratégia de construção do "sanitarista desenvolvimentista" e a reforma sanitária. Sem negar o papel precursor daqueles sanitaristas, argumenta-se que a construção do Sistema Único de Saúde não é uma mera continuidade do pensamento desenvolvimentista.

Abstract In the Brazilian public health literature, an association has been drawn between the 1970s health reform movement and what has been called developmentalist health. By investigating the discourse of two sanitarians from the developmentalist period - Mario Magalhães da Silveira and Carlos Gentile de Mello - we seek to unpick how their status of "precursors" of the health reform was constructed, analyzing the interfaces between public health, developmentalist thinking, the strategy for the construction of the developmentalist health and the health reform. Without refuting the pioneering nature of the sanitarians' ideas, we argue that the Brazilian Unified Health System, Sistema Único de Saúde, was created not simply in continuation of developmentalist thinking.

Reforma Sanitária e o estado de São Paulo 1970-1980: particularidades regionais e formação de seus trabalhadores / Health reform and the state of São Paulo between 1970 and 1980: regional dimensions and worker training / Reforma Sanitaria y el Estado de São Paulo 1970-1980: particularidades regionales y formación de sus trabajadores

Os estudos em perspectiva histórica da Reforma Sanitária, entre 1970-1980 no Brasil, ganharam diversos matizes analíticos e autores. Porém, ainda se ressente da necessidade de sua compreensão mediante particularidades regionais e uma visão que busque contextos capazes de elucidar ou ao menos refletir acerca daquilo que pode ser abarcado em uma lógica vivida por grupos determinados, instituições e movimentos alinhados ao pensamento social em saúde. Acrescido a essa questão está o projeto de formação de sanitaristas no período, que a historiografia aponta como relevante para o fortalecimento do ideário da Reforma Sanitária. Dentro dessa motivação e análise crítica, buscamos apresentar um estudo histórico de dimensão regional sobre as experiências médico-sanitárias vividas no período no Estado de São Paulo. (AU)

Studies of the history of Brazil's health reform conducted between 1970 and 1980 have gained various nuances and authors. However, there is still a need to understand the regional dimensions of the reform using an approach that examines contexts that are capable of elucidating or at least reflecting on the perspectives of specific groups, institutions and movements aligned with social thinking in health. An additional question is the sanitarian training program at the time, which historiography depicts as being relevant to the strengthening of the ideology behind the health reform. Motivated by the above and critical analysis, we present a historical study of the regional dimensions of the health reform investigating medical-sanitary experiences lived during the period in the state of São Paulo. (AU)

Los estudios en perspectiva histórica de la Reforma Sanitaria, entre 1970-1980 en Brasil, obtuvieron diversos matices analíticos y autores. Sin embargo, todavía se resiente de la necesidad de su comprensión a partir de particularidades regionales y de una visión que busque contextos capaces de elucidar o al menos de reflexionar sobre aquello que puede abarcarse en una lógica vivida por grupos determinados, instituciones y movimientos alineados al pensamiento social en salud. Añadido a esta cuestión está el proyecto de formación de sanitaristas en el período que la historiografía señala como relevante para el fortalecimiento del ideario de la Reforma Sanitaria. Dentro de esa motivación y análisis crítico, buscamos presentar un estudio histórico de dimensión regional sobre las experiencias médico-sanitarias vividas en el período en el Estado de São Paulo. (AU)

Florence Nightingale e a arte de enfermagem: texto e contexto da Inglaterra Vitoriana / Florence Nightingale y el arte de la enfermería: texto y contexto de la Inglaterra Victoriana / Florence Nightingale and the art of nursing: text and context of Victorian England

Resumo Objetivo refletir sobre a figura pública de Florence Nightingale, suas realizações, Reforma Sanitária e a criação da Escola de Enfermeiras, e compreender o nascimento da enfermagem como profissão. Método partiu-se da literatura de um quadro das pressões sociais que agiam sobre o comportamento individual de Florence Nightingale e dos marcos divisórios aparentes, que entendemos como a densidade das relações sócio-históricas, e o seu tempo social. Análise sócio-histórica da história de vida de Florence Nightingale e da literatura social de Charles Dickens. O marco temporal compreendeu da promulgação da New Poor Law (1.834) à revogação (1.601). Resultados Florence Nightingale foi uma mulher adiante do seu tempo que, contrariando as teorias do Darwinismo social de sua época, criou a profissão da enfermeira, e produziu uma clivagem na profissão definindo-a como ciência e arte. Conclusão e implicações para a enfermagem ao criar a figura emblemática da Dama da Lâmpada, Florence Nightingale gravou no cuidado de enfermagem, o zelo, o desvelo e a compaixão, aqui entendida como empatia e piedade com o sofrimento do outro acompanhada do desejo de minorá-lo, uma participação espiritual na dor do outro.

Resumen Objetivo reflexionar sobre la figura pública de Florence Nightingale, sus logros, Reforma Sanitaria y la creación de la Escuela de Enfermeras, y comprender el nacimiento de la enfermería como profesión. Método se partió de la literatura de un cuadro de las presiones sociales sobre el comportamiento individual de Florence Nightingale y de los marcos divisorios aparentes que se entiende como la densidad de las relaciones socio histórico y su tiempo social. Análisis socio histórico de la historia de vida de Florence Nightingale y de la literatura social de Charles Dickens. El marco temporal se comprendió entre la promulgación del New Poor Law en 1834 y su revocación promulgada en 1601. Resultados Florence Nightingale fue una mujer adelante a su tiempo que, contrariando las teorías del Darwinismo social de su época, creó la profesión de enfermera, y produjo una mirada embrionaria en la profesión definiéndola como ciencia y arte. Conclusión e implicaciones para la enfermería al crear la figura emblemática de la Dama de la Lámpara, Florence Nightingale registró en el cuidado de enfermería, el celo, el cuidado y la compasión, entendido aquí como empatía y piedad con el sufrimiento del otro acompañado del deseo de una disminución, una participación espiritual en el dolor del otro.

Abstract Objective to reflect on Florence Nightingale's public figure, her achievements, Health Care Reform and the creation of the School for Nurses, and understand the birth of nursing as a profession. Method a framework of the social pressures acting on Florence Nightingale's individual behavior and the apparent dividing marks, which we understand as the density of socio-historical relations, and her social time, was drawn from the literature. This is a socio-historical analysis of Florence Nightingale's life story and Charles Dickens' social literature. The time frame spanned from the enactment of the New Poor Law (1834) to the repeal (1601). Results Florence Nightingale was a woman ahead of her time who, going against the theories of social Darwinism of her time, created the nurse profession, and produced a divide in the profession by defining it as science and art. Conclusion and implications for nursing by creating the emblematic figure of the Lady of the Lamp, Florence Nightingale engraved in nursing care, zeal, devotion, and compassion, here understood as empathy and pity for the suffering of others accompanied by the desire to alleviate it, a spiritual participation in the pain of others.

[The restoration or formation? The post-war reform of the Soviet health care].

The article considers main directions of health care reform in the USSR during first post-war decades. The brief description of the state of health and health care in the USSR on the eve of the reform is presented. The main transformations implemented in 1945-1965 are adduced and analyzed. The corresponding impact on changes in medical demographic indices is demonstrated.

Diminishing Democracy in Health Policy: Partisanship, the Courts, and the End of Health Politics as We Knew It.

Despite unprecedented partisanship, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) traced a familiar political arc: a loud debate full of dramatic symbols, a messy legislative process, clashes over implementation, a slow rise in popularity, entrenchment as part of the health care system, and growing support that blocked Congress from repealing. The politics of the ACA looked, from one angle, like a louder version of health politics as usual. But something new was stirring. Opponents pushed the debate outside the elected branches of government and into the courts-a move that reflects past eras of highly racialized conflict. A federal court marked the ACA's tenth anniversary by doing what Congress could not: it struck down the law, although the litigation continues to wend its way through the court system. The ongoing challenge to the ACA rests on a fundamental critique of the entire New Deal dispensation in jurisprudence. The consequence could be a new era in health care politics.

Florence Nightingale: The Making of a Hospital Reformer.

OBJECTIVES: The first of two articles is to show how Florence Nightingale became a leading, effective hospital reformer. AIM: The aim of the first paper is to relate how Nightingale was influenced by the great defects in the war hospitals of the Crimean War (1854-1856) and how she learned the lessons from those defects to set a different course. The article shows how her famous Notes on Nursing is a positive treatment of the lessons learned, turning the sanitary defects, notably in ventilation, into chapters of the book. The importance of the pavilion model of hospital design is highlighted. There is coverage of the advances made by Semmelweis at the Vienna General Hospital. METHODS: This is a purely historical study drawing on the extensive publications by Nightingale, augmented by her (massive) surviving correspondence and notes. The search for archival materials was done for the publication of the 16-volume Collected Works of Florence Nightingale, written by the author of this article. The collected works was peer reviewed, and the research process succeeded in locating material in more than 200 archives worldwide.

From Alma-Ata to Astana: the path of Primary Health Care in Portugal, 1978-2018 and the genesis of Family Medicine. / De Alma-Ata a Astana: o percurso dos Cuidados de Saúde Primários em Portugal,1978-2018 e a génese da Medicina Familiar.

Throughout the twentieth century, the profound changes that have taken place in Medicine can only be wholly explained if observed from a historical perspective, for they have always occurred in response to external influences, some scientific and technological, others of a social nature. Modern Family Medicine is one of the many new disciplines that have developed during medical history, and we critically discuss the last 40 years of primary health care in Portugal, which started in 1971, long before the Alma-Ata Declaration (1978). Along the way, in 2005, the Primary Health Care Reform emerges in Portugal, along with the new family health facilities, which until September 2019, attended about 94 % of Portuguese citizens, i.e., 9,5 million people. At the end of this course, in solidarity and voluntarily, this Reform inspired another one in Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro, in 2009. Finally, we present the challenges pointed out in the 2018 Astana Declaration, among them, the issue of the workforce in primary health care as an essential factor for the performance and sustainability of health systems.

Ao longo século XX, as profundas alterações que ocorreram na Medicina apenas podem ser completamente esclarecidas se forem observadas numa perspectiva histórica, pois elas sempre ocorreram em resposta a influências externas, umas científicas e tecnológicas, outras de ordem social. A moderna Medicina Familiar é uma das muitas disciplinas novas que se desenvolveram durante o curso da história da Medicina e aqui debatemos de forma crítica, os últimos 40 anos dos cuidados primários em saúde em Portugal, começando em 1971, mesmo antes da Declaração de Alma-Ata (1978). Ao longo do percurso, em 2005, surge a Reforma dos Cuidados Primários em Saúde em Portugal e as novas unidades de saúde familiar, que até setembro de 2019 atendiam cerca de 94% dos cidadãos portugueses, ou seja, mais de nove milhões e meio de pessoas. No final dessa trajetória, de forma solidária e voluntária, esta Reforma serviu de inspiração para outra, no Brasil, na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, em 2009. Por fim, apresentamos os desafios apontados na Declaração de Astana de 2018, dentre elas, a questão da força de trabalho nos cuidados de saúde primários, como fator essencial para o desempenho e a sustentabilidade dos sistemas de saúde.

Family and Community Medicine in Uruguay from 1997 to 2019: how many kilometers will it take to reach that town? / La Medicina Familiar y Comunitaria en Uruguay de 1997 a 2019: ¿cuántos kilómetros faltarán para llegar al pueblo aquel?

The Family and Community Medicine Residency started in Uruguay in 1997. Through a self-managed process, the first generations were molded into training that integrated hospital knowledge and experience with territorial praxis in a community-based health service with a population of reference. The academic recognition of the specialty and the installation of the institutional areas for its management were achievements parallel to that process in the first decade. The second decade was marked by the territorial teaching-assistance expansion in the country, university decentralization and the active participation of Family and Community Medicine in the Health Reform, and the country's rights agenda. The third decade of the specialty begins with a crisis triggered by the sustained decline in the aspiration for residency. An initial approach to explanations reflects on the possibility of facing a more profound crisis and the need to find the keys to a 21st century Medicine that allows us to achieve the principles of Alma-Ata that are still current.

La residencia de medicina familiar y comunitaria comenzó en Uruguay en el año 1997. A través de un proceso autogestionado, las primeras generaciones se moldearon en una formación que integraba en ellos el conocimiento y la experiencia hospitalarios junto con la praxis territorial en un servicio de salud de base comunitaria con población de referencia. El reconocimiento académico de la especialidad y la instalación de los ámbitos institucionales para su gestión fueron conquistas paralelas a ese proceso en la primera década. La segunda década estuvo marcada por la expansión territorial de la estructura docente-asistencial, la descentralización de la universidad y la participación activa de la medicina familiar y comunitaria en la reforma de la salud y la agenda de derechos. La tercera década de la especialidad se presenta en su inicio como crisis dada por la caída sostenida en la aspiración a la residencia. Desde una aproximación inicial a las explicaciones, se reflexiona sobre la posibilidad de estar frente a una crisis más profunda y la necesidad de encontrar las claves de una medicina del siglo XXI que permita alcanzar los principios de Alma Ata, siempre vigentes.

De Alma-Ata a Astana: o percurso dos Cuidados de Saúde Primários em Portugal, 1978-2018 e a génese da Medicina Familiar / From Alma-Ata to Astana: the path of Primary Health Care in Portugal, 1978-2018 and the genesis of Family Medicine

Resumo Ao longo século XX, as profundas alterações que ocorreram na Medicina apenas podem ser completamente esclarecidas se forem observadas numa perspectiva histórica, pois elas sempre ocorreram em resposta a influências externas, umas científicas e tecnológicas, outras de ordem social. A moderna Medicina Familiar é uma das muitas disciplinas novas que se desenvolveram durante o curso da história da Medicina e aqui debatemos de forma crítica, os últimos 40 anos dos cuidados primários em saúde em Portugal, começando em 1971, mesmo antes da Declaração de Alma-Ata (1978). Ao longo do percurso, em 2005, surge a Reforma dos Cuidados Primários em Saúde em Portugal e as novas unidades de saúde familiar, que até setembro de 2019 atendiam cerca de 94% dos cidadãos portugueses, ou seja, mais de nove milhões e meio de pessoas. No final dessa trajetória, de forma solidária e voluntária, esta Reforma serviu de inspiração para outra, no Brasil, na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, em 2009. Por fim, apresentamos os desafios apontados na Declaração de Astana de 2018, dentre elas, a questão da força de trabalho nos cuidados de saúde primários, como fator essencial para o desempenho e a sustentabilidade dos sistemas de saúde.

Abstract Throughout the twentieth century, the profound changes that have taken place in Medicine can only be wholly explained if observed from a historical perspective, for they have always occurred in response to external influences, some scientific and technological, others of a social nature. Modern Family Medicine is one of the many new disciplines that have developed during medical history, and we critically discuss the last 40 years of primary health care in Portugal, which started in 1971, long before the Alma-Ata Declaration (1978). Along the way, in 2005, the Primary Health Care Reform emerges in Portugal, along with the new family health facilities, which until September 2019, attended about 94 % of Portuguese citizens, i.e., 9,5 million people. At the end of this course, in solidarity and voluntarily, this Reform inspired another one in Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro, in 2009. Finally, we present the challenges pointed out in the 2018 Astana Declaration, among them, the issue of the workforce in primary health care as an essential factor for the performance and sustainability of health systems.

La Medicina Familiar y Comunitaria en Uruguay de 1997 a 2019: ¿cuántos kilómetros faltarán para llegar al pueblo aquel? / Family and Community Medicine in Uruguay from 1997 to 2019: how many kilometers will it take to reach that town?

Resumen La residencia de medicina familiar y comunitaria comenzó en Uruguay en el año 1997. A través de un proceso autogestionado, las primeras generaciones se moldearon en una formación que integraba en ellos el conocimiento y la experiencia hospitalarios junto con la praxis territorial en un servicio de salud de base comunitaria con población de referencia. El reconocimiento académico de la especialidad y la instalación de los ámbitos institucionales para su gestión fueron conquistas paralelas a ese proceso en la primera década. La segunda década estuvo marcada por la expansión territorial de la estructura docente-asistencial, la descentralización de la universidad y la participación activa de la medicina familiar y comunitaria en la reforma de la salud y la agenda de derechos. La tercera década de la especialidad se presenta en su inicio como crisis dada por la caída sostenida en la aspiración a la residencia. Desde una aproximación inicial a las explicaciones, se reflexiona sobre la posibilidad de estar frente a una crisis más profunda y la necesidad de encontrar las claves de una medicina del siglo XXI que permita alcanzar los principios de Alma Ata, siempre vigentes.

Abstract The Family and Community Medicine Residency started in Uruguay in 1997. Through a self-managed process, the first generations were molded into training that integrated hospital knowledge and experience with territorial praxis in a community-based health service with a population of reference. The academic recognition of the specialty and the installation of the institutional areas for its management were achievements parallel to that process in the first decade. The second decade was marked by the territorial teaching-assistance expansion in the country, university decentralization and the active participation of Family and Community Medicine in the Health Reform, and the country's rights agenda. The third decade of the specialty begins with a crisis triggered by the sustained decline in the aspiration for residency. An initial approach to explanations reflects on the possibility of facing a more profound crisis and the need to find the keys to a 21st century Medicine that allows us to achieve the principles of Alma-Ata that are still current.

The Affordable Care Act's Enduring Resilience.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has taken numerous blows, both from the courts and from opponents seeking to undermine it. Yet, due to its policy design and the political forces the ACA has unleashed, the law has shown remarkable resilience. While there remain ongoing efforts to undo the ACA, the smart money has to be on its continued existence.

40 years of Alma Ata Malaysia: targeting equitable access through organisational and physical adaptations in the delivery of public sector primary care.

This paper illustrates the development of Primary Health Care (PHC) public sector in Malaysia, through a series of health reforms in addressing equitable access. Malaysia was a signatory to the Alma Ata Declaration in 1978. The opportunity provided the impetus to expand the Rural Health Services of the 1960s, guided by the principles of PHC which attempts to address the urban-rural divide to improve equity and accessibility. The review was made through several collation of literature searches from published and unpublished research papers, the Ministry of Health annual reports, the 5-year Malaysia Plans, National Statistics Department, on health systems programme and infrastructure developments in Malaysia. The Public Primary Care Health System has evolved progressively through five phases of organisational reforms and physical restructuring. It responded to growing needs over a 40-year period since the Alma Ata Declaration in 1978, keeping equity, accessibility, efficiency and universal health coverage consistently in the backdrop. There were improvements of maternal, infant mortality rates as well as accessibility to health services for the population. The PHC Reforms in Malaysia are the result of structured and strategic investment. However, there will be continuing dilemma between cost-effectiveness and equity. Hence, continuous efforts are required to look at opportunity costs of alternative strategies to provide the best available solution given the available resources and capacities. While recognising that health systems development is complex with several layers and influencing factors, this paper focuses on a small but crucial aspect that occupies much time and energies of front-line managers in the health.

Emergency medicine in China: A review of the history of progress and current and future challenges after 40 years of reform.

The year 2018 marks the 40th anniversary of China's reform, tremendous change had taken place in Chinese society. Looking back 40 years from 1978 to 2018, China's medical reform had made remarkable achievements, but still faces many challenges. These papers review the historical progress of emergency medicine, the current and the future challenges in China's medical reform process.