Revista Cubana de Salud Pública

The transformations of the Cuban Public Health System

Determination of atherosclerosis-vulnerable families in the primary health care

Implications of the demographic changes in the blood availability in the health care system of Cienfuegos province

Interactional dimension of family configuration on adolescent smokers

Educational homogamy and social structure in Ecuador at the beginning of the 21st century

Eating disorders in medical students of a Peruvian university

Proposals for innovation in the health information and knowledge management

Increase in health costs considered from the inefficiency viewpoint

La gerencia consiste esencialmente en convertir recursos en resultados. Su éxito estriba en alcanzar el mejor producto con el menor consumo de los medios tangibles e intangibles requeridos. La salud pública presenta generalmente fallas en el manejo óptimo de los recursos, heredadas algunas de la administración pública y otras autóctonas. Se tiende más a conseguir recursos adicionales que en aplicar tecnologías que eleven su aprovechamiento e impulsen la excelencia y la sostenibilidad del sistema. Los países clasificados como los que más gastan en salud con respecto a su PIB, aparecen por debajo de la media con respecto al desempeño de sus sistemas. Para entender estas contradicciones, se ha hecho un estudio que considera: el complejo formado por mejor atención, mejores medicamentos y nuevas tecnologías; la transición demográfica; la corrupción y; las fallas estratégicas, organizativas y de toma de decisiones. Se concluye que la cuestión principal no está en la cantidad de recursos disponibles, sino en qué se hace con lo que se tiene y mientras este problema no se aborde con ese enfoque, se corre el riesgo de perjudicar una actividad altamente humanitaria e imprescindible para el crecimiento y el desarrollo de las naciones y de sus ciudadanos.

In essence, management consists of transforming resources into results. Its success lies in achieving the best product at the lowest consumption of required tangible and intangible means. Public healthcare generally shows faults in the optimal management of resources, some inherited from the public administration and others are inherent. The most common trend is asking for additional financing instead of using technologies that increase performance and encourage excellence and sustainability of the system. Those countries ranked as spending more resources in health care according to their gross domestic product, show indexes under the average level in the system performance. For understanding these contradictions, the present study takes into account the complex formed by best care, best drugs and new technologies; demographic transition, corruption, and strategic, organizational and decision-taking faults. It is concluded that the amount of available resources is not the main issue, but all what can be done with them. If this problem is not addressed with this approach, then there is a risk of damaging a highly humanitarian and indispensable activity for the growth and development of the nations and their citizens as healthcare.

Conceptual and methodological bases for estimating the cost of pneumococcal diseases in children in the primary health care

The development of health technology assessment in some Latin American countries

La evaluación de las tecnologías tiene una serie de definiciones que terminan precisando de un análisis multidisciplinario que sirven para tomar decisiones. La evolución de la evaluación de tecnologías sanitarias se manifiesta a través de la Oficina de evaluación de tecnologías del congreso de Estados Unidos, la sociedad internacional para la evaluación de tecnologías en salud, la red internacional de agencias de evaluación de tecnologías en salud y las distintas organizaciones mundiales y regionales que siguen impulsando su desarrollo en el mundo y la Región Latinoamericana. La evaluación de las tecnologías sanitarias es una herramienta para la toma de decisiones que, según el apoyo político, que reciba, su crecimiento está asegurado.

The technology assessment has a number of definitions that require a multidisciplinary analysis for decision-making. The evolution of the health technology assessment becomes evident through the Office of Technology Assessment of the US Congress, the International Society for Health Technology Assessment, the international network of health technology assessment and the global and regional organizations that continue to drive its development agencies and the various regional and world organizations that continue advancing its development in Latin America and the world. The health technology assessment is a tool for decision-making and, depending on the political support, its growth is assured.

A propos of the one hundred and fifteenth anniversary of the National Institute of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Microbiology

Classics in Revista Cubana de Salud Pública

Microalbuminuria, a predictive marker of the renal failure in patients seen at the primary health care level

Population or sample?: A necessary difference

Social hygiene and public health organization as science and curricula subject. Brief history of the development of social hygiene and public health organization (fragment)

A book about the health service coverage in Cuba