[Active community case-finding for uptake of pregnant and postpartum women in Ecuador].

Objective: Document and analyze Ecuador's experience using active community case-finding for uptake of pregnant and postpartum women in Ecuador.

Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted of information obtained on active community case-finding of pregnant and postpartum women in the catchment areas of 200 primary care facilities of Ecuador's Ministry of Public Health.

Results: Visits were made to 460 451 homes in 20 provinces; 15 622 pregnant women and 4 014 postpartum women were identified.

[Human resources for health in Ecuador's new model of care].

Objective: Describe strategies implemented by Ecuador's Ministry of Public Health (MPH) to strengthen human resources for health leadership and respond to the new model of care, as a part of the reform process in the period 2012-2015.

Methods: A documentary review was carried out of primary and secondary sources on development of human resources for health before and after the reform.

Results: In the study period, Ecuador developed a new institutional and regulatory framework for developing human resources for health to respond to the requirements of a model of care based on primary health care.

Stigma and psychiatric care in Latin America: its inclusion on the universal health coverage agenda.

In 2014, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) approved Resolution CP53.R14, which aimed to provide a framework for universal access to health and universal health coverage. It sets the stage for the inclusion of psychiatric practice within the provision of universal healthcare and highlights the fight against stigma.

[Social determinants of exclusion from health services and medicines in three Central American countries].

Objective: Examine the social determinants that affect population behavior with regard to the search for and acquisition of medicines, and their relationship to exclusion from health services based on aggregate data from three Central American countries: Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

Methods: A descriptive, observational cross-sectional study was conducted by administration of a household survey. The study sample was selected in accordance with the conglomerate method.