Programa de Saúde da Família: uma avaliação de efetividade com base na percepção de usuários

Este artigo apresenta os resultados de uma pesquisa que relaciona a percepção dos usuários sobre a contribuição do Programa de Saúde da Família (PSF), na Unidade Mista de Felipe Camarão, Distrito Oeste de Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, com a evolução dos indicadores de atenção à saúde da criança menor de cinco anos, no período de 2000 a 2004. Inicialmente foi realizado um levantamento de dados sobre a política de saúde implementada, incluindo um perfil dos usuários envolvidos. Depois, uma consulta às estatísticas disponíveis, contidas em documentos oficiais do Ministério da Saúde e da Secretaria Municipal de Saúde de Natal, referentes às ações desenvolvidas na área da saúde da criança no período considerado. Por fim, aplicou-se um questionário de pesquisa social a uma amostra de famílias com crianças menores de cinco anos, cadastradas na unidade mista, para conhecer o seu grau de satisfação com os serviços recebidos. A comparação do nível de satisfação dos usuários com a evolução das estatísticas revelou que as ações de atenção à saúde da criança do PSF, no órgão público considerado, foram transformadoras de atitudes e propulsoras de mudanças sociais.

Analysis of the direct and indirect costs of treatment of imported malaria in the Slovak Republic

This study analyzed the approximate cost of treatment of patients hospitalized with a diagnosis of imported malaria in Slovakia. Between 2003 and 2007, 15 patients with imported malaria were hospitalized. The mean direct cost of the treatment was 970.75 euros and the mean indirect cost was 53.15 euros. For the patient with the highest cost of treatment, the use of mefloquine prophylaxis would have represented only 0.5% of the total direct cost of treating the disease. Despite the partial resistance of plasmodia, malaria chemoprophylaxis is unequivocally a cheaper choice than subsequent treatment of malaria.

Production costs and fruit yield profitability in the initial harvest of custard apple trees

The aim of this study was to estimate the production cost and economic indicators associated with the production and sales of fruits from 20 custard apple progenies during the initial five harvests, in order to identify the harvest season from which custard apple exploitation becomes profitable, as well as the most promising progenies from an economic point of view. The fruit yield data upon which the present work was based were obtained during the period from 2001 to 2005, in an experiment that evaluated 20 custard apple half-sibling progenies, under sprinkler irrigation. The progenies were evaluated in a random block design with five replicates and plots consisting of four plants each. The exploitation of custard apple progenies only showed to be a profitable agribusiness after the fourth year. Before that, only A3 and A4 progenies in the second year, and P3 and P11 in the third year provided profitable incomes. Considering the methodological assumptions imposed concerning the time period analysis and the prices as of July 2007, the most important profitability indicators (operating profit, return index and equilibrium price) evidenced that the A4 progeny is the most recommended, although other progenies are also highlighted, such as FJ1 and FJ2. As already discussed, the progenies showing the highest average yields of five harvests are not always the most economically recommendable ones.