Brazil's response to public health emergencies in 2023: lessons for the international community.

Objective: To describe the Brazilian experience of responding to public health emergencies in 2023, the organizational structure, and epidemiological characteristics.

Methods: Three emergencies (case studies) that occurred during the study year were analyzed according to the actions implemented during the response and the impacts on the population. The public health emergencies were summarized and analyzed through research on official documents and websites of the Ministry of Health and local health authorities.

The Regulatory Pathway for Advanced Cell Therapy and Gene Therapy Products in Brazil: A Road to Be Built.

The regulation of cell therapy and gene therapy products is a major challenge for the Brazilian state. From a legal point of view, the legislative apparatus, including constitutional, prohibits the marketing and patent of human substances. From the point of view of the organization of the state bureaucracy, the responsibilities for the regulation of research and application of these technologies in humans may involve up to four different institutions.

Normative evaluation of blood banks in the Brazilian Amazon region in respect to the prevention of transfusion-transmitted malaria.

Objective: To evaluate blood banks in the Brazilian Amazon region with regard to structure and procedures directed toward the prevention of transfusion-transmitted malaria (TTM).

Methods: This was a normative evaluation based on the Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) Resolution RDC No. 153/2004.

Sensitivity of nested-PCR for plasmodium detection in pooled whole blood samples and its usefulness to blood donor screening in endemic areas.

Transfusion-transmitted malaria is a severe disease with high fatality rate. Most Brazilian blood banks in the Amazon region perform malaria screening using microscopic examination (thick smears). Since low parasite concentrations are expected in asymptomatic blood donors a high sensitivity test should be used for donor screening.

[Evaluation of the System of Sanitary Vigilance of Blood at the federal level, Brazil, 2007].

This study evaluated the Sanitary Vigilance System for Blood at federal government level (VIGISAN). This assessment included the following components: managerial system of registration of hemotherapeutic services; external evaluation program of quality of hemotherapy services; hemovigilance system; standardization and inspection of health services for blood and its components. Besides the description and the calculation of efficiency (cost-effectiveness ratio) of VIGISAN, the assessment consisted of two phases based on three methods.

[Profile of mortality by intoxication with medication in Brazil, 1996-2005: portrait of a decade].

The occurrence of deaths caused by intoxication with medication have been considered a worsening public health problem. The study describes the epidemiological profile of medication-related intoxication in the general Brazilian population from 1996 to 2005. A descriptive study was conducted with mortality data obtained from the Mortality Information System of the Brazilian Ministry of Health.

[Perceptions on the quality of services relating to women's healthcare].

The scope of this work is to identify the characteristics relating to the quality of women's healthcare services from the perspective of the sanitary vigilance professionals (Visa) and women's healthcare coordinators (CSM) in the municipalities. It is a study with a qualitative approach that was carried out using semi-structured interviews. Three Brazilian state capitals were selected and three individuals in each capital were interviewed, namely a Visa healthcare service chief, as well as a technician, and a CSM coordinator.