Seletividade socioterritorial e étnico-racial: papel das políticas sociais no enfrentamento de desigualdades históricas / Socio-territorial selectivity: the role of social policies in facing historical inequalities

O presente artigo tem como objetivo geral demonstrar a importância da dimensão étnico-racial na área da habitação, enfatizando os fenômenos socioespaciais atuais, com foco na seletividade socioterritorial. Para tal, utiliza-se de ampla revisão de literatura fundamentada no materialismo histórico e dialético em Marx, bem como nas análises sobre território e espaço de Milton Santos. Assim, evidenciando as motivações deste recorte fazer-se fundamental na área a partir de um resgate histórico sobre a formação socioespacial do espaço urbano no Brasil, tornando notória a consequente seletividade socioterritorial existente nos dias atuais. A partir da contextualização histórica, as ocupações irregulares são tidas como um reflexo desta questão e as Zonas Especiais de Interesse Social (ZEIS) tornam-se um importante suporte na garantia de moradia adequada à população de baixa renda; porém, ainda um tanto ineficazes sem um olhar atento para quem são os usuários das políticas e serviços ali presentes. Ademais, se fomenta o debate sobre a dimensão étnico racial precisar estar presente desde a formação acadêmica, visto que atualmente o conteúdo referente à temática é escasso ou quase nulo

This article aims to demonstrate the importance of the ethnic-racial dimension in housing, emphasizing current socio-spatial phenomena, with a focus on socio-territorial selectivity. In order to do so, it makes use of an extensive literature review based on Marx's historical and dialectical materialism, as well as Milton Santos' analysis of territory and space. Thus, evidencing the motivations of this cut, making itself fundamental in the area from a historical review of the socio-spatial formation of urban space in Brazil, making evident the consequent socio-territorial selectivity existing today. From the historical context, irregular occupations are seen as a reflection of this issue and the Special Zones of Social Interest (ZEIS) become an important support in guaranteeing adequate housing for the low-income population; however, they are still somewhat ineffective without a careful look at who the users of the policies and services present there are. Furthermore, the debate on the racial ethnic dimension is fostered, it needs to be present since academic training, as currently the content related to the subject is scarce or almost nil

City Government's Adoption of Housing Adaptation Policy Innovation for Older Adults: Evidence From China.

OBJECTIVES: Utilizing policy innovation and diffusion theory, this study aims to explain why city governments adopt housing adaptation policies that primarily benefit older people based on the case of China. METHODS: The data are drawn from an event history data set of a housing adaptation policy for older people collected from 283 Chinese cities from 2010 to 2018. Piecewise constant exponential models are utilized. RESULTS: The results indicate that cities facing greater internal pressure and a higher political status are more likely to adopt a housing adaptation policy for older people. Policy adoption by neighboring cities could further facilitate this process. DISCUSSION: Policy innovation and diffusion theory provide a useful framework for this study. That is, the Chinese city government's adoption of housing adaptation policy for older adults is initially driven by local needs and then accelerated by interactions among neighboring governments.

Profundización a Políticas Públicas que apuesten a una vida saludable para el Pueblo Venezolano / Deepening of Public Policies that bet on a healthy life for the Venezuelan People

Este ensayo constituye un análisis reflexivo crítico de lo que estamos haciendo y lo que queremos alcanzar, que dé cuenta de que debemos hacer para garantizar el derecho a la salud que se traduzca en vida saludable para el pueblo venezolano. La intencionalidad lleva a encontrar a través de la narrativa crítica reflexiva una respuesta concreta y racional a ¿Cuál es el desafío que profundiza a políticas públicas en un gobierno que apuesta al vivir viviendo? El reto, darle significado y sentido a la respuesta, es decir, entender y comprender cuál es "la base del compromiso" al decir de De Sousa (1)Venezuela, desde 1998 tras el arribo del Comandante Supremo Hugo Chávez como Presidente de Venezuela, anidó esperanzas de un mundo mejor, ante el proceso de casi cuarenta años activado y dirigido por el nefasto hecho político del pacto de Punto Fijo, que para la década de los ochenta repunta y trasciende un modo de vida contraria a la dignidad humana de cara al modelo neoliberal impuesto, que materializó la privatización, con franco desmantelamiento del sector público. Muchos avances se han evidenciado a lo largo de estos casi veinte años en el intento de ir prefigurando el socialismo del siglo XXI. Hoy 2020, sometidos desde el inicio de este proceso de cambio y transformación a una guerra permanente por parte de los que adversan un modelo de país que tiene como centro al ser humano y decreta la justicia social, se plantean desafíos importantes para darle el frente a los efectos de la guerra, que en salud están reñidos con el derecho a la vida. Ocupa ponerse al frente de los retos y trascender para impactar las estructuras, transformándolas. Lo que supone aportar elementos que profundicen la viabilidad y factibilidad delas políticas públicas y se direccionen permanentemente y ante cualquier circunstancia a mantener vida saludable para las y los venezolanos.

This essay constitutes a critical reflective analysis of what we are doing and what we want to achieve, which gives an account of what we must do to guarantee the right to health that translates into a healthy life for the Venezuelan people. The intentionality leads to find through the reflexive critical narrative a concrete and rational answer to What is the challenge that deepens public policies in a government that bets on living by living? The challenge is to give meaning and sense to the answer, that is, to understand and comprehend what is "the basis of commitment" as De Sousa (1)says. Venezuela, since 1998 after the arrival of the Supreme Commander Hugo Chávez as President of Venezuela, nested hopes of a better world, in view of the almost forty year process activated and directed by the nefarious political fact of the Punto Fijo pact, which by the eighties, rebounded and transcended a way of life contrary to human dignity in the face of the imposed neoliberal model, which materialized privatization, with frank dismantling of the public sector. Many advances have been evidenced throughout these almost twenty years in the attempt to prefigure the socialism of the 21st century. Today, 2020, subjected since the beginning of this process of change and transformation to a permanent war by those who oppose a model of a country that has the human being at its center and decrees social justice, important challenges are posed to face the effects of the war, which in health are at odds with the right to life. It is necessary to take up the challenges and transcend them in order to have an impact on the structures, transforming them. This implies contributing elements that deepen the viability and feasibility of public policies and that are permanently directed, under any circumstance, to maintain a healthy life for Venezuelans.

[Trends of Implementation of Nonsmoking at Eating and Drinking Establishments One Year before and after April 2020: Consideration of the Status of Implementation of the Amendment Bill for the Health Promotion Act of Japan].

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to clarify the transition to the implementation of smoking prohibition at eating and drinking establishments one year before and after April 2020, the time when they became "nonsmoking" in principle following the implementation of the amendment bill for the Health Promotion Act of Japan. METHODS: The total number of nonsmoking/smoking eating and drinking establishments by industry were obtained using the data from "Tabelog®." The number of people who tested positive for COVID-19 by the polymerase chain reaction test on the day of the survey nationwide and the bankruptcy status of the companies (eating and drinking establishments, etc.) for each month were ascertained. RESULTS: In 2020, a state of emergency was declared owing to the increase in the number of people positive for COVID-19, and many eating and drinking establishments went bankrupt. Despite these circumstances, the number of nonsmoking eating and drinking establishments exceeded that of smoking establishments in March 2020 and continued to increase thereafter. Additionally, the number of nonsmoking "restaurants" increased and exceeded that of smoking restaurants in June 2020. The number of nonsmoking "cafes" already exceeded that of smoking "cafes" at the beginning of this survey and continued to increase. The number of nonsmoking "bars" increased, but that of smoking "bars" remained high. CONCLUSION: It is necessary to promote measures against passive smoking while paying attention to the trends for different types of eating and drinking establishments, rather than considering all establishments together.

The enduring pursuit of public science at U.S. land-grant universities.

Since the 1990s, universities have faced a push toward output commercialization that has been seen as a potential threat to the public science model. Much less attention has been given to the enduring nature of internal organizational features in academia and how they shape the pursuit of traditional scholarly activities. This article exploits four waves of representative, random-sample survey evidence from agricultural and life science faculty at the 52 major U.S. land-grant universities, spanning 1989-2015, to examine faculty attitudes/preferences, tenure and promotion criteria, output, and funding sources. Our findings demonstrate that faculty attitudes toward scientific research have remained remarkably stable over twenty-five years in strongly favoring intrinsic and public science goals over commercial or extrinsic goals. We also demonstrate the faculty's positive attitudes toward science, an increased pressure to publish in top journals and secure increasingly competitive grants, as well as declining time for science. These trends suggest a reconsideration of university commercialization strategies and a recommitment of universities and their state and federal funders toward fostering public agricultural and life science research.

Natural language processing and network analysis provide novel insights on policy and scientific discourse around Sustainable Development Goals.

The United Nations' (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are heterogeneous and interdependent, comprising 169 targets and 231 indicators of sustainable development in such diverse areas as health, the environment, and human rights. Existing efforts to map relationships among SDGs are either theoretical investigations of sustainability concepts, or empirical analyses of development indicators and policy simulations. We present an alternative approach, which describes and quantifies the complex network of SDG interdependencies by applying computational methods to policy and scientific documents. Methods of Natural Language Processing are used to measure overlaps in international policy discourse around SDGs, as represented by the corpus of all existing UN progress reports about each goal (N = 85 reports). We then examine if SDG interdependencies emerging from UN discourse are reflected in patterns of integration and collaboration in SDG-related science, by analyzing data on all scientific articles addressing relevant SDGs in the past two decades (N = 779,901 articles). Results identify a strong discursive divide between environmental goals and all other SDGs, and unexpected interdependencies between SDGs in different areas. While UN discourse partially aligns with integration patterns in SDG-related science, important differences are also observed between priorities emerging in UN and global scientific discourse. We discuss implications and insights for scientific research and policy on sustainable development after COVID-19.

Analyzing the 2019 Chilean social outbreak: Modelling Latin American economies.

In this work, we propose a quantitative model for the 2019 Chilean protests. We utilize public data for the consumer price index, the gross domestic product, and the employee and per capita income distributions as inputs for a nonlinear diffusion-reaction equation, the solutions to which provide an in-depth analysis of the population dynamics. Specifically, the per capita income distribution stands out as a solution to the extended Fisher-Kolmogorov equation. According to our results, the concavity of employee income distribution is a decisive input parameter and, in contrast to the distributions typically observed for Chile and other countries in Latin America, should ideally be non-negative. Based on the results of our model, we advocate for the implementation of social policies designed to stimulate social mobility by broadening the distribution of higher salaries.

Welfare states as lifecycle redistribution machines: Decomposing the roles of age and socio-economic status shows that European tax-and-benefit systems primarily redistribute across age groups.

Social scientists identify two core functions of modern welfare states as redistribution across (a) socio-economic status groups (Robin Hood) and (b) 'the lifecycle' (the piggy bank). But what is the relative importance of these functions? The answer has been elusive, as the piggy bank is metaphorical. The intra-personal time-travel of resources it implies is based on non-quid-pro-quo transfers. In practice, 'lifecycle redistribution' must operate through inter-age-group resource reallocation in cross-section. Since at any time different birth cohorts live together, 'resource-productive' working-aged people are taxed to finance consumption of 'resource-dependent' younger and older people. In a novel decomposition analysis, we study the joint distribution of socio-economic status, age, and respectively (a) all cash and in-kind transfers ('benefits'), (b) financing contributions ('taxes'), and (c) resulting 'net benefits,' on a sample of over 400,000 Europeans from 22 EU countries. European welfare states, often maligned as ineffective Robin Hood vehicles riddled with Matthew effects, are better characterized as inter-age redistribution machines performing a more important second task rather well: lifecycle consumption smoothing. Social policies serve multiple goals in Europe, but empirically they are neither primarily nor solely responsible for poverty relief and inequality reduction.

Relationships between migration and the fiscal sustainability of the pension system in China.

There are a few existing studies on whether domestic migration improves China's pension system's fiscal sustainability in the context of rapid urbanization and industrialization. In this paper, we systematically investigate the impact of migration on the solvency of the worker's old-age insurance for urban employees by constructing actuarial and econometric models. We use panel data from 2002 to 2018, collected from 31 provinces in China. The results show that the association between migration and the solvency of pensions is an inverted-U shape along the urbanization process. Further regional comparison showed that the above-stated inverted-U curve is more pronounced in the central and western regions. We also established that the number of participants and the contribution base are the main contributors to these results. Our conclusions are important for future population policies and public pension systems in China.

Health Technology Assessment and Health Care Reimbursement in the European Union: Permissive Dissensus and the Limits of Harmonization through the Backdoor.

Member states have consistently limited the European Union's competences in the area of health care reimbursement. Despite these efforts, there has been a slow but steady tendency toward harmonization of a key tool in reimbursement decision-making: health technology assessment (HTA), a multidisciplinary evaluation of "value for money" of medicines, devices, diagnostics, and interventions, which provides expert advice for reimbursement decisions. This article examines the origins of this paradoxical appetite for harmonization as well as of the dissensus that has, at the moment, somewhat stalled further integration in HTA. It finds that the prointegration neofunctionalist "permissive dissensus" is still present in decision making on HTA but potentially offset by dissensus or outright opposition from key actors, including member states and the medical device industry. These actors are able to decipher the potential consequences of highly technical issues, such as HTA, for national systems of social protection. Despite that, they have little interest in politicizing the issue, potentially opening the door to integrative policy solutions in the future.

Bioinformatics in Mexico: A diagnostic from the academic perspective and recommendations for a public policy.

In this work, we present a diagnostic analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of the current state of Bioinformatics in Mexico. We conducted semi-structured interviews among researchers and academics with key expertise in this field, identified by bibliometric analyses and qualitative sampling techniques. Additionally, an online survey was conducted reaching a higher number of respondents. Among the relevant findings of our study, the lack of specialized human resources and technological infrastructure stood out, along with deficiencies in the number and quality of academic programs, scarce public investment and a weak relationship between public and private institutions. However, there are great opportunities for developing a national Bioinformatics to support different economic sectors. In our opinion, this work could be useful to favor a comprehensive network among Mexican researchers, in order to lay the foundations of a national strategy towards a well designed public policy.

Improving Health Risk Assessment as a Basis for Public Health Decisions in the 21st Century.

One-fifth of the way through the 21st century, a commonality of factors with those of the last 50 years may offer the opportunity to address unfinished business and current challenges. The recommendations include: (1) Resisting the tendency to oversimplify scientific assessments by reliance on single disciplines in lieu of clear weight-of-evidence expressions, and on single quantitative point estimates of health protective values for policy decisions; (2) Improving the separation of science and judgment in risk assessment through the use of clear expressions of the range of judgments that bracket protective quantitative levels for public health protection; (3) Use of comparative risk to achieve the greatest gains in health and the environment; and (4) Where applicable, reversal of the risk assessment and risk management steps to facilitate timely and substantive improvements in public health and the environment. Lessons learned and improvements in the risk assessment process are applied to the unprecedented challenges of the 21st century such as, pandemics and climate change. The beneficial application of the risk assessment and risk management paradigm to ensure timely research with consistency and transparency of assessments is presented. Institutions with mandated stability and leadership roles at the national and international levels are essential to ensure timely interdisciplinary scientific assessment at the interface with public policy as a basis for organized policy decisions, to meet time sensitive goals, and to inform the public.

Public Support for Social Safety-Net Policies for COVID-19 in the United States, April 2020.

Objectives. To examine public support for health insurance, income support, and unemployment policies during the initial phase of disease transmission and economic distress following the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak and to assess varying public support based on beliefs about the role of government.Methods. We fielded a nationally representative survey of US adults (n = 1468) from April 7, 2020, to April 13, 2020.Results. Of US adults, 77% supported paid sick leave, and a majority also supported universal health insurance, an increased minimum wage, and various unemployment support policies. Public support for an active government role in society to improve citizens' lives increased by 10 percentage points during this initial pandemic response relative to September 2019. Belief in a strong governmental role in society was associated with greater support for social safety-net policies.Conclusions. During the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in early April 2020, most US adults favored a range of safety-net policies to ameliorate its negative health and economic consequences. For most safety-net policies, public support was highest among those favoring a stronger governmental role in society.

COVID-19 and Public Policy Imperatives: A Trainee Call to Action.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the flaws in the U.S. employer-based health insurance system, magnified racial disparities in health and health care, and overwhelmed the country's underfunded public health infrastructure. These are the same systematic failures that have always harmed and killed the nation's most vulnerable. While everyone wishes for an end to this national tragedy, the authors believe a new normal must be defined for the postpandemic period.In the postpandemic period, policies that were once labeled radical and impossible will be urgent and necessary. Examples of such policies include providing universal health care, dismantling the structures that propagate racism and injustice, and reinvesting in public health. Previous research by the authors has shown that their medical student colleagues recognize that it is their responsibility to address policies that harm patients and to support reforms at the scale the authors propose. This commitment to a better future is reflected in the widespread mobilization of medical students seen across the United States. Recognizing that the old normal is unsustainable, the authors call on those who previously benefited from the status quo to instead seek a new postpandemic normal that works for all.

Mapping of food industry strategies to influence public health policy, research and practice in South Africa.

OBJECTIVES: To identify the corporate political activity (CPA) of food industry actors in South Africa. METHODS: We studied the CPA of ten different food actors for the period Jan 2018-April 2019. We used a systematic approach and existing framework to collect and analyse information available in the public domain, including material from the industry, government, academia and civil society. RESULTS: Food industry actors in South Africa established multiple relationships with various parties in and outside the South African government. These included interactions between large food companies and the Department of Basic Education, the Department of Sport & Recreation, the Department of Health, and the Department of Agriculture. In addition, the food industry-sponsored community programs, with a focus on poverty alleviation and undernutrition. Moreover, food industry actors influenced science were directly involved in policy-making and helped frame the debate on diet and public health in South Africa. CONCLUSIONS: It is crucial that there is increased transparency, disclosure, and awareness of industry strategies, and that mechanisms to address and manage industry influence are strengthened in the country.

Text Mining of United States Obesity-Related Public Policies: Systematic Document Search.

BACKGROUND: Obesity has become a worldwide health problem, caused by multiple and complex factors. To face this challenge, governments have played a central role in combating its rise. Considering this, public policies are introduced or enacted for the benefit of whole populations, taking into account the perspective of multiverse social stakeholders based on solid scientific fundamentals. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine obesity-related public policies in the United States and the District of Columbia, in order to understand their scientific basis. METHODS: We analyzed the public policies implemented in the United States from 2003 to 2013, during which time the largest number of obesity-related public policies were introduced, using text mining. RESULTS: In total, 1592 obesity-related public policies were retrieved from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Multidisciplinary policies were predominant in the documents analyzed (533/1592, 33.5%), followed by health sciences (454/1592, 28.5%), social sciences (330/1592, 20.7%), life sciences (240/1592, 15.1%), and physical sciences (35/1592, 2.2%). Throughout the country, most policies were community oriented (1082/1865, 58.0%) and many of them were related to school and family environments (447/1865, 24.0%), early care and education (75/1865, 4.0%), hospitals (63/1865, 3.4%), and workplaces (47/1865, 2.5%). CONCLUSIONS: The contents of obesity-related public policies were generally uniformly framed across the United States. They were generally based on scientific references, in which there was a predominance of multidisciplinary research. These findings are consistent with what is known about the multiple factors causing obesity and about the methods being developed to control the epidemic.

The alcohol deficit: Canadian government revenue and societal costs from alcohol. / Déficit associé à l'alcool : recettes publiques et coûts pour la société associés à l'alcool au Canada.

This summary article compares government revenue from the sale and distribution of alcohol to the societal costs caused by alcohol use for the year 2014. Statistics Canada data reported government revenue of $10.9 billion; however, this was offset by net societal costs of $14.6 billion, as reported by Canada's national substance use surveillance system, the Canadian Substance Use Costs and Harms project. The societal costs include health care, economic loss of production, criminal justice and other direct costs. Though revenue from alcohol sales has been described as a benefit to public coffers, accounting that includes costs incurred shows that all provinces and territories in Canada are running an alcohol deficit, totalling $3.7 billion nationally.

Canada runs an alcohol deficit of $3.7 billion per year, when accounting considers both government revenue and societal costs from established sources. Government revenue totalled $10.9 billion in 2014, but this was more than offset by societal costs of $14.6 billion, as reported by the Canadian Substance Use Costs and Harms project. Societal costs include health care, lost productivity, criminal justice and other direct costs. Among provinces and on a per capita basis, Alberta had the lowest government revenue and the highest alcohol deficit.

Le Canada subit un déficit associé à l'alcool d'environ 3,7 milliards de dollars par année si on comptabilise à la fois les recettes publiques et les coûts pour la société provenant de sources établies. Les recettes publiques étaient de 10,9 milliards de dollars en 2014, mais ce montant a été plus que contrebalancé par des coûts pour la société de 14,6 milliards de dollars, comme le rapporte le projet Coûts et méfaits de l'usage de substances au Canada. Les coûts pour la société sont constitués des soins de santé, de la perte de productivité, de la justice pénale et de divers autres coûts directs. Au sein des provinces, et sur la base d'un calcul par habitant, c'est en Alberta que les recettes publiques sont les plus faibles et que le déficit associé à l'alcool a été le plus élevé.