Assessment intelligence network: consensus building in Health Technology Assessment

Health Technology Assessment (HTA) is a multidisciplinary field of study which seeks to analyze health technologies development, diffusion and use and their clinical, social, economic and ethical implications. The defining process of HTA methodological guidelines requires consensus building among a broad range of experts and decision makers in the elaboration of a scientific robust document. In Brazil, since the creation of the Brazilian Network for Health Technology Assessment (REBRATS) in 2008, the elaboration of HTA guidelines has been performed through a collaborative process between network members. This process has contributed not only to the HTA methodological standardization, but also to structure an assessment intelligence network in Brazil. This article aims to discuss the structure and dynamics of this evaluative intelligence and how it has improved over time

Fulfillment of the Brazilian Agenda of Priorities in Health Research

This commentary describes how the Brazilian Ministry of Health's (MoH) research support policy fulfilled the National Agenda of Priorities in Health Research (NAPHR). In 2003, the MoH started a democratic process in order to establish a priority agenda in health research involving investigators, health managers and community leaders. The Agenda was launched in 2004 and is guiding budget allocations in an attempt to reduce the gap between scientific knowledge and health practice and activities, aiming to contribute to improving Brazilian quality of life. Many strategies were developed, for instance: Cooperation Agreements between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Science and Technology; the decentralization of research support at state levels with the participation of local Health Secretariats and Science and Technology Institutions; Health Technology Assessment; innovation in neglected diseases; research networks and multicenter studies in adult, women's and children's health; cardiovascular risk in adolescents; clinical research and stem cell therapy. The budget allocated by the Ministry of Health and partners was expressive: US$419 million to support almost 3,600 projects. The three sub-agenda with the higher proportion of resources were "industrial health complex", "clinical research" and "communicable diseases", which are considered strategic for innovation and national development. The Southeast region conducted 40.5% of all projects and detained 59.7% of the resources, attributable to the concentration of the most traditional health research institutes and universities in the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The second most granted region was the Northeast, which reflects the result of a governmental policy to integrate and modernize this densely populated area and the poorest region in the country. Although Brazil began the design and implementation of the NAPHR in 2003, it has done so in accordance with the 'good practice principles' recently published: inclusive process, information gathering, careful planning and funding policy, transparency and internal evaluation (an external independent evaluation is underway). The effort in guiding the health research policy has achieved and legitimated an unprecedented developmental spurt to support strategic health research. We believe this experience is valuable and applicable to other countries, but different settings and local political circumstances will determine the best course of action to follow

Contributions of mean and shape of blood pressure distribution to worldwide trends and variations in raised blood pressure: A pooled analysis of 1018 population-based measurement studies with 88.6 million participants

© The Author(s) 2018. Background: Change in the prevalence of raised blood pressure could be due to both shifts in the entire distribution of blood pressure (representing the combined effects of public health interventions and secular trends) and changes in its high-blood-pressure tail (representing successful clinical interventions to control blood pressure in the hypertensive population). Our aim was to quantify the contributions of these two phenomena to the worldwide trends in the prevalence of raised blood pressure. Methods: We pooled 1018 population-based studies with blood pressure measurements on 88.6 million participants from 1985 to 2016. We first calculated mean systolic blood pressure (SBP), mean diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and prevalence of raised blood pressure by sex and 10-year age group from 20-29 years to 70-79 years in each study, taking into account complex survey design and survey sample weights, where relevant. We used a linear mixed effect model to quantify the association between (probittransformed) prevalence of raised blood pressure and age-group- and sex-specific mean blood pressure. We calculated the contributions of change in mean SBP and DBP, and of change in the prevalence-mean association, to the change in prevalence of raised blood pressure. Results: In 2005-16, at the same level of population mean SBP and DBP, men and women in South Asia and in Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa would have the highest prevalence of raised blood pressure, and men and women in the highincome Asia Pacific and high-income Western regions would have the lowest. In most region-sex-age groups where the prevalence of raised blood pressure declined, one half or more of the decline was due to the decline in mean blood pressure. Where prevalence of raised blood pressure has increased, the change was entirely driven by increasing mean blood pressure, offset partly by the change in the prevalence-mean association. Conclusions: Change in mean blood pressure is the main driver of the worldwide change in the prevalence of raised blood pressure, but change in the high-blood-pressure tail of the distribution has also contributed to the change in prevalence, especially in older age groups

Incentives and challenges related to technological research and innovation within the Unified Health System in the Federal District of Brazil

Submitted by Jaqueline Ferreira de Souza ([email protected]) on 2020-03-16T13:17:24Z No. of bitstreams: 2 ve_Maria_Novaes_etal_por.pdf: 283808 bytes, checksum: 7c924f7666568141760fcf0ae7c61016 (MD5) ve_Maria_Novaes_etal_eng.pdf: 277323 bytes, checksum: 6a2d89535284d779a3d19b8816498f60 (MD5)Approved for entry into archive by Jaqueline Ferreira de Souza ([email protected]) on 2020-03-18T14:19:35Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 ve_Maria_Novaes_etal_por.pdf: 283808 bytes, checksum: 7c924f7666568141760fcf0ae7c61016 (MD5) ve_Maria_Novaes_etal_eng.pdf: 277323 bytes, checksum: 6a2d89535284d779a3d19b8816498f60 (MD5)Made available in DSpace on 2020-03-18T14:19:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 ve_Maria_Novaes_etal_por.pdf: 283808 bytes, checksum: 7c924f7666568141760fcf0ae7c61016 (MD5) ve_Maria_Novaes_etal_eng.pdf: 277323 bytes, checksum: 6a2d89535284d779a3d19b8816498f60 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2019Fundação de Ensino e Pesquisa em Ciências de Saúde. Escola Superior de Ciências da Saúde. Coordenação de Pesquisa e Comunicação Científica. Brasília, DF, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Fiocruz Brasília. Brasília, DF, Brasil.Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Fiocruz Brasília. Brasília, DF, Brasil.Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária. Coordenação de Pesquisa Clínica em Medicamentos e Produtos Biológicos. Brasília, DF, Brasil.Fundação de Ensino e Pesquisa em Ciências de Saúde. Escola Superior de Ciências da Saúde. Coordenação de Pesquisa e Comunicação Científica. Brasília, DF, Brasil.Fundação de Ensino e Pesquisa em Ciências de Saúde. Escola Superior de Ciências da Saúde. Coordenação de Pesquisa e Comunicação Científica. Brasília, DF, Brasil.Ministério da Saúde. Departamento de Ciência e Tecnologia. Brasília, DF, Brasil.O objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar o perfil das pesquisas científicas financiadas no Distrito Federal provenientes das chamadas públicas do Programa Pesquisa para o SUS: Gestão Compartilhada em Saúde (PPSUS/DF) e Programa de Fomento a Pesquisa Científica da ESCS/FEPECS, no período de 2008 a 2017. O estudo é analítico e documental, abrangendo o universo das pesquisas financiadas nesses dois Programas. As variáveis foram: ano, título, tema de pesquisa da Agenda Nacional de Prioridades de Pesquisas em Saúde (ANPPS), setor de aplicação, instituição e valor financiado. No período de 2008 a 2017, 73 projetos foram financiados pelos cinco editais do PPSUS/ DF. O valor total foi de aproximadamente oito milhões de reais. Em relação à ESCS/FEPECS, entre 2008 a 2017, foram financiados 85 projetos pelos dez editais lançados. O valor total foi de 2,3 milhões de reais. Concluiu-se que o perfil das pesquisas científicas permitiu uma análise crítica das temáticas dos projetos. Recomenda-se que os próximos editais adotem como prioridade de pesquisa as três principais causas de óbitos, o processo de organização e avaliação de linhas de cuidados, serviços de saúde e redes de atenção.This article analyzes the profile of research conducted in the Federal District of Brazil funded through public calls for proposals issued by the Research for the SUS Program: shared health management/Federal District (PPSUS/DF) and a research support program run by the Superior School of Health Sciences, maintained by the Health Sciences Teaching and Research Foundation (ESCS/FEPECS, acronym in Portuguese). A document analysis was undertaken of all research funded by the PPSUS/DF and ESCS/FEPECS's Research Support Program between 2008 and 2017 using the following variables: year, title, research themes of the National Agenda for Health Research Priorities (ANPPS, acronym in Portuguese), implementing organization, area of application of research, and amount of funding. PPSUS/DF funded 73 projects with a total investment of approximately R$8 million, while ESCS/FEPECS funded 85 projects with a total investment of R$2.3 million. This study provides a critical analysis of the research themes supported by ESCS/FEPECS and PPSUS/DF between 2008 and 2017. It is recommended that future calls for proposals should prioritize the three leading causes of death in the Federal District and the organization and evaluation of healthcare services

Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone

As part of an EU funded project to investigate the factors influencing bone preservation in the archaeological record, more than 250 bones from 41 archaeological sites in five countries spanning four climatic regions were studied for diagenetic alteration. Sites were selected to cover a range of environmental conditions and archaeological contexts. Microscopic and physical (mercury intrusion porosimetry) analyses of these bones revealed that the majority (68%) had suffered microbial attack. Furthermore, significant differences were found between animal and human bone in both the state of preservation and the type of microbial attack present. These differences in preservation might result from differences in early taphonomy of the bones. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

A century of trends in adult human height

International audienc

Contributions of mean and shape of blood pressure distribution to worldwide trends and variations in raised blood pressure : A pooled analysis of 1018 population-based measurement studies with 88.6 million participants

Background: Change in the prevalence of raised blood pressure could be due to both shifts in the entire distribution of blood pressure (representing the combined effects of public health interventions and secular trends) and changes in its high-blood-pressure tail (representing successful clinical interventions to control blood pressure in the hypertensive population). Our aim was to quantify the contributions of these two phenomena to the worldwide trends in the prevalence of raised blood pressure. Methods: We pooled 1018 population-based studies with blood pressure measurements on 88.6 million participants from 1985 to 2016. We first calculated mean systolic blood pressure (SBP), mean diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and prevalence of raised blood pressure by sex and 10-year age group from 20–29 years to 70–79 years in each study, taking into account complex survey design and survey sample weights, where relevant. We used a linear mixed effect model to quantify the association between (probit-transformed) prevalence of raised blood pressure and age-group- and sex-specific mean blood pressure. We calculated the contributions of change in mean SBP and DBP, and of change in the prevalence-mean association, to the change in prevalence of raised blood pressure. Results: In 2005–16, at the same level of population mean SBP and DBP, men and women in South Asia and in Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa would have the highest prevalence of raised blood pressure, and men and women in the high-income Asia Pacific and high-income Western regions would have the lowest. In most region-sex-age groups where the prevalence of raised blood pressure declined, one half or more of the decline was due to the decline in mean blood pressure. Where prevalence of raised blood pressure has increased, the change was entirely driven by increasing mean blood pressure, offset partly by the change in the prevalence-mean association. Conclusions: Change in mean blood pressure is the main driver of the worldwide change in the prevalence of raised blood pressure, but change in the high-blood-pressure tail of the distribution has also contributed to the change in prevalence, especially in older age groups

Contributions of mean and shape of blood pressure distribution to worldwide trends and variations in raised blood pressure: A pooled analysis of 1018 population-based measurement studies with 88.6 million participants

Background Change in the prevalence of raised blood pressure could be due to both shifts in the entire distribution of blood pressure (representing the combined effects of public health interventions and secular trends) and changes in its high-blood-pressure tail (representing successful clinical interventions to control blood pressure in the hypertensive population). Our aim was to quantify the contributions of these two phenomena to the worldwide trends in the prevalence of raised blood pressure. Methods We pooled 1018 population-based studies with blood pressure measurements on 88.6 million participants from 1985 to 2016. We first calculated mean systolic blood pressure (SBP), mean diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and prevalence of raised blood pressure by sex and 10-year age group from 20–29 years to 70–79 years in each study, taking into account complex survey design and survey sample weights, where relevant. We used a linear mixed effect model to quantify the association between (probit-transformed) prevalence of raised blood pressure and age-group- and sex-specific mean blood pressure. We calculated the contributions of change in mean SBP and DBP, and of change in the prevalence-mean association, to the change in prevalence of raised blood pressure. Results In 2005–16, at the same level of population mean SBP and DBP, men and women in South Asia and in Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa would have the highest prevalence of raised blood pressure, and men and women in the high-income Asia Pacific and high-income Western regions would have the lowest. In most region-sex-age groups where the prevalence of raised blood pressure declined, one half or more of the decline was due to the decline in mean blood pressure. Where prevalence of raised blood pressure has increased, the change was entirely driven by increasing mean blood pressure, offset partly by the change in the prevalence-mean association. Conclusions Change in mean blood pressure is the main driver of the worldwide change in the prevalence of raised blood pressure, but change in the high-blood-pressure tail of the distribution has also contributed to the change in prevalence, especially in older age groups