The Brazilian social security program:diagnosis and proposal for reform

The Brazilian pay-as-you-go social security program is analyzed in a historical perspective. Its contribution to income inequality, and the role played by the inflation as a balancing variable are discussed. It is shown that budgetary constraints due to the increasing informalization of the labor force can no longer be reconciled with protligate eligibility criteria. A tailor-made proposal for reform is presented as well as a plan for financing the transition from today's system to the proposed one.

A educação em saúde pública na práqtica cotidiana: atuação dos cirurgiões-dentistas do PSF de Natal-RN

Considering education a support to health promotion, care integration and citizenship formation,the purpose of this research was to analyze the perception of the oral surgeons from the Family Health Program of Natal-RN over education in health as well as their performance as educators based on their activities on the program. A qualitative study was accomplished by a semi-structured interview and a Free Association of Words Test with 80 oral surgeons from the Family Health Program of Natal-RN. The instruments were analyzed through the meaning analysis and the Central Nucleus of Vergès Theory. The results showed a lack of planning in health actions so there is no standardization on the educative practices done by the oral surgeons which mostly are focused on scholars. There was an agreement among the group according to the oral surgeons´ perception about education in health that education is related to its function of recall prevention ideas to the population. Most part of the context units analyzed by the professionals´ speech show the knowledge of education in health as an inadequate behavior change instrument of the individuals. An interesting point was a quotation cited by some professionals that included actual themes such as citizenship, motivation and life quality, put inside the speech of education in health. To the oral surgeons the biggest difficulties on the development of the educative actions are due to the lack of incentive by the Municipal Health Bureau and to the detachment and lack of valorization of the themes by the population. The oral surgeons consider themselves co-responsible for the formation of a population which is able to request its health. They also mention the knowledge about the need of the community participation on the planning of the Family Health Program actions. Finally, it is notable the need for more encouragement so the oral surgeons can be more capable and have more interest in applying education in health on the perspective of a new model in health, because once capable and stimulated they can awake the population to education importance as a great transformation instrument for people searching for a fair, equalitarian and citizeness society

beta-glucans in promoting health: Prevention against mutation and cancer

The polysaccharides beta-glucans occur as a principal component of the cellular walls. Some microorganisms, such as yeast and mushrooms, and also cereals such as oats and barley, are of economic interest because they contain large amounts of beta-glucans. These substances stimulate the immune system, modulating humoral and cellular immunity, and thereby have beneficial effect in fighting infections (bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic). beta-Glucans also exhibit hypocholesterolemic and anticoagulant properties. Recently, they have been demonstrated to be anti-cytotoxic, antimutagenic and anti-tumorogenic, making them promising candidate as pharmacological promoters of health. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Brazilian version of the Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ) and the Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ)

We report the cross-cultural adaptation and validation into Brazilian-Portuguese of the parent's version of two health related quality of life instruments. The Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ) is a disease specific health instrument that measures functional ability in daily living activities in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). The Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ) is a generic health instrument designed to capture the physical and psychosocial well-being of children regardless the underlying disease. The Brazilian CHAQ was revalidated, while the CHQ has been derived from the Portuguese version. A total of 471 subjects were enrolled: 157 patients with JIA (27% systemic onset, 38% polyarticular onset, 9% extended oligoarticular subtype, and 26% persistent oligoarticular subtype) and 314 healthy children. The CHAQ discriminated clinically healthy subjects from JIA patients, with the systemic, polyarticular and extended oligoarticular subtypes having a higher degree of disability, pain, and lower overall well-being scores when compared to their healthy peers. Also the CHQ discriminated clinically healthy subjects from JIA patients, with the systemic onset, polyarticular onset and extended oligoarticular subtypes having a lower physical and psychosocial well-being score when compared to their healthy peers. In conclusion the Brazilian versions of the CHAQ-CHQ are reliable and valid tools for the combined physical and psychosocial assessment of children with JIA. © Copyright Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology 2001.

Climate change in Latin America: impacts and mitigation policy options

Includes bibliography.

Millennium development goals: progress towards the right to health in Latin america and the Caribbean

Includes bibliography

Population and health in Latin America and the Caribbean: outstanding matters, new challenges

Spanish version available at the Library

e-Health in Latin America and the Caribbean: progress and challenges

Includes bibliography

Fomento de las exportaciones en el Japón y la aplicación de esa experiencia en América Latina = Export promotion in Japan and its application to Latin America

Incluye Bibliografía

Fomento de las exportaciones en el Japón y la aplicación de esa experiencia a América Latina = Export promotion in Japan and its application to Latin America

Incluye Bibliografía

Promoción de la cooperación económica y técnica entre Africa y América Latina = Promotion of economic and technical co-operation between Africa and Latin America

Ofrece una síntesis de propuestas y recomendaciones concretas sobre maneras de establecer cooperación técnica y económica entre Africa y América Latina o de fortalecer la existente en los campos del desarrollo de los recursos humanos, del comercio interregional y de la ciencia y la tecnología. Incluye sugerencias para posibles acciones complementarias en el futuro.

Promoción de la cooperación técnica y económica entre Africa y América Latina: ciencia y tecnología = Promotion of technical and economic co-operation between Africa and Latin America in the field of science and technology

Incluye Bibliografía