A step too far? Making health equity interventions in Namibia more sufficient

BACKGROUND: Equality of health status is the health equity goal being pursued in developed countries and advocated by development agencies such as WHO and The Rockefeller Foundation for developing countries also. Other concepts of fair distribution of health such as equity of access to medical care may not be sufficient to equalise health outcomes but, nevertheless, they may be more practical and effective in advancing health equity in developing countries. METHODS: A framework for relating health equity goals to development strategies allowing progressive redistribution of primary health care resources towards the more deprived communities is formulated. The framework is applied to the development of primary health care in post-independence Namibia. RESULTS: In Namibia health equity has been advanced through the progressive application of health equity goals of equal distribution of primary care resources per head, equality of access for equal met need and equality of utilisation for equal need. For practical and efficiency reasons it is unlikely that health equity would have been advanced further or more effectively by attempting to implement the goal of equality of health status. CONCLUSION: The goal of equality of health status may not be appropriate in many developing country situations. A stepwise approach based on progressive redistribution of medical services and resources may be more appropriate. This conclusion challenges the views of health economists who emphasise the need to select a single health equality goal and of development agencies which stress that equality of health status is the most important dimension of health equity

Redução nos níveis de ansiedade e depressão de pacientes com doença pulmonar obstrutiva crônica (DPOC) participantes de um programa de reabilitação pulmonar Reduction on the levels of anxiety and depression of COPD patients participating in a pulmonary rehabilitation program

Objetivos: A abordagem multidisciplinar oferecida por programas de reabilitação pulmonar (PRP) tem sido a melhor alternativa terapêutica para o tratamento de portadores de doença pulmonar obstrutiva crônica. Este ensaio clínico avaliou a prevalência de ansiedade e depressão e o efeito de um PRP sobre os níveis de ansiedade e depressão de 46 portadores de DPOC (idade: 62 ± 11 anos; 34 homens e 12 mulheres). Pacientes e métodos: Os pacientes participaram de um PRP com 12 semanas de duração: 24 sessões de exercícios físicos, 24 sessões de fisioterapia, 12 sessões de acompanhamento psicológico e três sessões educacionais. Todos os pacientes foram avaliados na linha de base e ao término do PRP através de três instrumentos: inventário de Beck para ansiedade (BAI); inventário de Beck para depressão (BDI), teste da caminhada de seis minutos (Tcam6'). Resultados: Os pacientes estudados demonstraram redução significativa nos níveis de ansiedade e depressão e melhora significativa no Tcam6': BAI 16,4 ± 6,9 vs. 6,8 ± 5,3 (p < 0,001); BDI: 16,9 ± 8,7 vs. 7,5 ± 6,6 (p < 0,001); Tcam6': 335,7 ± 83,4 vs. 441,6 ± 100,8 (p < 0,05). Conclusões: Pacientes com DPOC estudados apresentaram alta prevalência de ansiedade e depressão. O PRP foi capaz de reduzir de forma significativa os níveis de ansiedade e depressão, bem como de aumentar o desempenho do Tcam6'.<br>Study objectives: Multidisciplinary pulmonary rehabilitation has been the most suitable treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This clinical trial studied the prevalence of anxiety and depression and the effect of a pulmonary rehabilitation program on anxiety and depression levels of 46 COPD patients (mean ± SD age, 62 ± 11 years; 34 men and 12 women). Design: The participants underwent a 12-week treatment program: 24 sessions of physical exercise, 24 sessions of physiotherapy, 12 psychological sessions and three educational sessions. All patients were evaluated at baseline and at completion of the rehabilitation program through three instruments: Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and 6-minute walking distance (Tcam6'). Results: Patients demonstrated significant statistical improvements, including reduced anxiety and depression, and increased endurance: BAI 16.4 ± 6.9 vs. 6.8 ± 5.3 (p < 0.001); BDI: 16.9 ± 8.7 vs. 7.5 ± 6.6 (p < 0.001); Tcam6": 335.7 ± 83.4 vs. 441.6 ± 100.8 (p < 0.05). Conclusions: COPD patients presented high prevalence of anxiety and depression levels. The pulmonary rehabilitation program was able to improve patient exercise performance, and to reduce anxiety and depression levels

Burden of premature mortality in rural Vietnam from 1999 - 2003 : analyses from a Demographic Surveillance Site

Background: Assessing the burden of disease contributes towards evidence-based allocation of limited health resources. However, such measures are not yet commonly available in Vietnam. Taking advantage of the FilaBavi Demographic Surveillance Site (FilaBavi DSS) in Vietnam, this study aimed to establish the feasibility of applying the Years of Life Lost (YLL) technique in the context of a defined DSS, and to estimate the importance of the principal causes of premature mortality in a rural area of Vietnam between 1999 and 2003. Methods: Global Burden of Disease methods were applied. Causes of death were ascertained by verbal autopsy. Results: In five years, 1,240 deaths occurred and for 1,220 cases cause of death information from verbal autopsy was available. Life expectancy at birth was 71.0 (95% confidence interval 69.9–72.1) in males and 80.9 (79.9–81.9) in females. The discounted, but not age weighted YLL per 1,000 population was 85 and 55 for males and females, respectively. The leading causes of YLL and death counts were cardiovascular diseases, malignant neoplasms, unintentional injuries, and neonatal causes. Males contributed 54% of total deaths and 59% of YLL. Males experienced higher YLL than women across all causes. Filabavi mortality estimates are considerably lower than 2002 WHO country estimates for Vietnam. Also the FilaBavi cause distribution varies considerably from the WHO result. Conclusion: The combination of localised demographic surveillance, verbal autopsy and the application of YLL methods enable new insights into the magnitude and importance of significant public health issues in settings where evidence for planning is otherwise scarce. Local mortality data vary considerably from the WHO model-based estimates