Evidence-informed frameworks for cost-effective cancer care and prevention in low, middle, and high-income countries.

Evidence-informed frameworks for cost-effective cancer prevention and management are essential for delivering equitable outcomes and tackling the growing burden of cancer in all resource settings. Evidence can help address the demand side pressures (ie, pressures exerted by people who need care) faced by economies with high, middle, and low incomes, particularly in the context of transitioning towards (or sustaining) universal health-care coverage. Strong systems, as opposed to technology-based solutions, can drive the development and implementation of evidence-informed frameworks for prevention and management of cancer in an equitable and affordable way. For this to succeed, different stakeholders-including national governments, global donors, the commercial sector, and service delivery institutions-must work together to address the growing burden of cancer across economies of low, middle, and high income.

Quo Vadis?: Russia's health challenges.

The roots of the health crisis in the Russian Federation are not entirely, or even primarily, in the state of the health care system. High levels of mortality and morbidity, particularly among working-age males, reflect many other factors that transcend the health system as they are related to the aging of the population, growing urbanization, lifestyles and risky behaviours. Spending more money on healthcare, while necessary, will not be sufficient to improve Russia's health outcomes on a sustainable basis. A multisectoral strategy is required, coupled with increased health expenditures and structural reforms to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare organization, financing and service delivery. However, it should be clear that improving health outcomes is a complex, medium- to long-term undertaking that should be addressed forcefully by the government at the federal and regional levels as a priority social objective.

A decade of theory as reflected in Psychological Science (2009-2019).

The dominant belief is that science progresses by testing theories and moving towards theoretical consensus. While it's implicitly assumed that psychology operates in this manner, critical discussions claim that the field suffers from a lack of cumulative theory. To examine this paradox, we analysed research published in Psychological Science from 2009-2019 (N = 2,225). We found mention of 359 theories in-text, most were referred to only once. Only 53.66% of all manuscripts included the word theory, and only 15.33% explicitly claimed to test predictions derived from theories. We interpret this to suggest that the majority of research published in this flagship journal is not driven by theory, nor can it be contributing to cumulative theory building. These data provide insight into the kinds of research psychologists are conducting and raises questions about the role of theory in the psychological sciences.

Impact of cigarette price increase on health and financing outcomes in Vietnam.

Background: Vietnam had about 15 million male smokers in 2015. To reduce adult tobacco use in Vietnam through an increase in the excise tax of cigarettes, we conducted an extended cost-effectiveness analysis to examine the impact of two scenarios of cigarette price increases. Methods: We estimated, across income quintiles, the life-years gained, treatment cost averted, number of men avoiding catastrophic health expenditure and extreme poverty, and additional tax revenue under a 32% and a 62% increase in cigarette price through increased excise tax. We considered only male smokers as they constitute majority of the smokers. We used the average price elasticity of demand for cigarettes in Vietnam of -0.53. Results: Under both scenarios of price increase, men in the poorest quintile would gain about 2.8 times the life-years and avert 2.5 times the treatment cost averted by the richest quintile. With a 32% price increase, about 285,000 men would avoid catastrophic health expenditure; as a result, about 95,000 men, more than half of whom in the poorest quintile, would avoid falling into extreme poverty. In contrast to the distribution of health benefits, the extra revenue generated from men in the richest quintile would be 1.2 times that from the poorest quintile. With a 62% price increase, about 553,000 men would avoid catastrophic health expenditure, and about 183,000 men, more than half of whom in the poorest quintile, would avoid falling into extreme poverty. The extra revenue generated from men in the richest quintile would be 3.8 times that from the poorest quintile. Conclusions: Higher cigarette prices would particularly benefit the poorest income quintile of Vietnamese, in terms of health and financial outcomes. Thus, tobacco taxes are an effective way to improve health and reduce poverty in Vietnam.

Making Mental Health a Global Priority.

At a conference in April in Washington, D.C., the World Bank Group (WBG), together with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners kick-started a call to action to governments, international partners, health professionals, and others to find solutions to a rising global mental health problem. Our authors write that mental disorders account for 30 percent of the non-fatal disease burden worldwide and 10 percent of overall disease burden, including death and disability, and that the global cost-estimated to be approximately $2.5 trillion in 2010-is expected to rise to $6 trillion by 2030.

Adult health in the Russian Federation: more than just a health problem.

In this paper we discuss the Russian adult health crisis and its implications. Although some hope that economic growth will trigger improvements in health, we argue that a scenario is more likely in which the unfavorable health status would become a barrier to economic growth. We also show that ill health is negatively affecting the economic well-being of individuals and households. We provide suggestions on interventions to improve health conditions in the Russian Federation, and we show that if health improvements are achieved, this will result in substantial economic gains in the future.

Control de costos en salud: Experiencias en países de las Américas / Cost containment in health in the Americas

Keeping health costs under control: In recent years two phenomena afecting the Region have served to highlight the importance of controlling health costs

El sistema nacional único de salud en Nicaragua: caracteristicas y logros / National health system en Nicaragua: caracteristics and achivements

En este articulo se analizó en una manera general, las características y logros del Sistema Nacionala Unico de Salud en Nicaragua, que fue creado luego de la mutuación política de mediados de 1979. Como se ha visto, en plena concordancia con la voluntad política de universalizar la atención de salud, un nuevo modelo organizativo ha sido estructurado basado en la integración de todos los recursos del sector bajo la responsabilidad del Ministério de Salud. Con el fin de facilitar la administración y funcionamiento del sistema y extender la cobertura de los servicios de salud, se ha regionalizado el país siguiendo los principios de centralización normativa y descentalización ejecutiba y se la incrementado paulatinamente el presupuesto del Ministerio. Se ha estimado que, en términos reales, el promedio del gasto en salud como proporción del P.I.B. fue el más alto en américa Central durante 1980-1984. El resultado de estas medidas ha sido la ampliación socio-geográficas de la prestación de los servicios de salud, tanto a grupos de la población como en áreas geográficas que carecían de los mismos. Esta situación se ha visto reflejada en el comportamiento de los indicadores de produción de servicios, que han experimentado una evolución positiva significativa. Actualmente, sin embargo, el desarollo del SNUS es afectado por el conflicto armado y la crisis económica y financieira que agobian al país

Control de costos en salud: Experiencias en países de las Américas / Cost containment in health in the Américas

Keeping health costs under control: In recent years two phenomena afecting the Region have served to highlight the importance of controlling health costs