Improving spatial accessibility to health care services in Cali, Colombia: stakeholder assessment of an innovative platform.

Objectives: To (i) ascertain stakeholders' perceptions of the contextual factors and resources necessary to successfully implement the AMORE platform, a tool that provides accessibility assessments for health care services, considering factors such travel time and traffic conditions, and (ii) identify potential barriers to and facilitators for enhancing spatial accessibility to health care services within the Colombian urban context.

Methods: In this qualitative study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of seven key stakeholders. The sample was drawn from individuals involved in development of policies in Colombia, service providers, and users, among others, who had expertise in the field.

Improving accessibility to radiotherapy services in Cali, Colombia: cross-sectional equity analyses using open data and big data travel times from 2020.

Unlabelled: In this study, we evaluated and forecasted the cumulative opportunities for residents to access radiotherapy services in Cali, Colombia, while accounting for traffic congestion, using a new people-centred methodology with an equity focus. Furthermore, we identified 1-2 optimal locations where new services would maximise accessibility. We utilised open data and publicly available big data.

Dynamic measurements of geographical accessibility considering traffic congestion using open data: a cross-sectional assessment for haemodialysis services in Cali, Colombia.

Background: Many cities with traffic congestion lack accessibility assessments accounting for traffic congestion and equity considerations but have disaggregated georeferenced municipal-level open data on health services, populations, and travel times big data. We convened a multistakeholder intersectoral collaborative group that developed a digital, web-based platform integrating open and big data to derive dynamic spatial-temporal accessibility measurements (DSTAM) for haemodialysis services. We worked with stakeholders and data scientists and considered people's places of residence, service locations, and travel time to the service with the shortest travel time.

Dynamic geographical accessibility assessments to improve health equity: protocol for a test case in Cali, Colombia.

This protocol proposes an approach to assessing the place of residence as a spatial determinant of health in cities where traffic congestion might impact health services accessibility. The study provides dynamic travel times presenting data in ways that help shape decisions and spur action by diverse stakeholders and sectors.  Equity assessments in geographical accessibility to health services typically rely on static metrics, such as distance or average travel times.

Why and how has the United Kingdom become a high producer of health inequalities research over the past 50 years? A realist explanatory case study.

Background: Evidence on health inequalities has been growing over the past few decades, yet the capacity to produce research on health inequalities varies between countries worldwide and needs to be strengthened. More in-depth understanding of the sociohistorical, political and institutional processes that enable this type of research and related research capacity to be generated in different contexts is needed. A recent bibliometric analysis of the health inequalities research field found inequalities in the global production of this type of research.

A Scoping Review about Migrants' Oral Health in South-South Contexts.

Objective: To gather the available scientific evidence about the oral health of migrants in south-south contexts.

Methods: A scoping review methodology was applied through a comprehensive search in databases of scientific and grey literature: PubMed/Medline, Scopus, LILACS, EMBASE, Google Scholar and the International Centre for Migration, Health and Development. A descriptive analysis of the characteristics of the selected studies was conducted.

What do we know about the impact of economic recessions on mortality inequalities? A critical review.

Historically, there has been a debate on the effects of recessions on population health, and especially on mortality and its distribution across different social groups. This paper contributes to this discussion by means of a critical review of the research on the impact of economic recessions on mortality inequalities in the period 1980-2020. We analyzed 19 studies according to their mortality outcomes, socioeconomic indicators, design, analysis, and main findings.

The case for planetary health prevention.

The lack of preparedness and the adoption of a reactive approach underlie many mistakes in handling the COVID-19 pandemic. We need a vision with a proactive approach to planetary health prevention, that is suited for addressing the neglected systemic determinants of health which generate disease, inequality and environmental degradation, and capable of anticipating known and unknown risks, and foreseeing possible threatening scenarios. To achieve a healthy, equitable and sustainable future, it is time to make health prevention planetary.

Grassroots innovation practices for social transformation of the health and well-being in a self-built settlement in Medellín-Colombia.

Grassroots innovation generates possibilities for the informal and collective production of the territory that the city itself denies, from bottom-up solutions for sustainable development and consumption, which respond to the local situation, interests, and values of the communities involved. This paper aims to identify how grassroots innovation practices take place and are shaped in 'El Faro', a self-built settlement at the urban border of the city of Medellín; and how these have allowed the social transformation of health and well-being. This was done from a qualitative approach with an interpretative scope, under the case study methodology.

What key conditions and mechanisms generate health inequalities research in different contexts? Study protocol for two realist explanatory case studies.

Evidence on health inequalities has grown in recent decades, however, the capacity to generate health inequalities research is uneven, worldwide. A recent bibliometric analysis found notable inequalities of the global production of health inequalities scientific research across countries. What determines the capacity to produce high volumes of health inequalities scientific research, in different settings? What mechanisms are involved? To answer these questions requires in-depth knowledge on the health inequalities research production process, in different settings.

A Qualitative Study of the Health Perceptions in the Venezuelan Immigrant Population in Medellín (Colombia) and Its Conditioning Factors.

This study explored the general and oral health perceptions in the Venezuelan immigrant population in Medellín (Colombia) and its conditioning factors. A qualitative study involving Venezuelan immigrants ≥18 years with a minimum stay of six months in Colombia was conducted. Dentists, dental students, and other health professionals also participated.

Health Inequalities in the Time of COVID-19: The Globally Reinforcing Need to Strengthen Health Inequalities Research Capacities.

The full impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is yet to be well established; however, as the pandemic spreads, and early results emerge, unmet needs are being revealed, and pressing questions are being asked about who is most affected, how, where, and in what ways government responses might be exacerbating inequalities. A number of scholars have called for more in-depth critical research on COVID-19 and health inequalities to produce a strong empirical evidence based on these issues. There are also justifiable concerns about the scarcity of health-equity actions oriented analyses of the situation and calls for more empirical evidence on COVID-19 and health inequalities.

Coronavirus disease 2019 and slums in the Global South: lessons from Medellín (Colombia).

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is hitting the world's most vulnerable people hardest, primarily the communities living in slums in the Global South. Lockdown, handwashing and social distancing are impossible privileges for many urban dwellers - measures which make structural inequities more visible, exacerbating racial, gender and class differences. There are many social determinants of health to explain these inequalities that trigger a high prevalence of infectious and chronic diseases.

[Community health assets mapping in a slum in Medellin (Colombia)].

Objective: To describe how the community from El Faro neighborhood identifies its community assets, uses them to face life's challenges through the capacity of collective agency; and by generating community development processes, applying the salutogenic theory that considers people as active subjects, with the capacity to conserve and generate health and well-being, through the use of their own resources called health assets.

Methods: A map of community assets was made in 2018 in el Faro neighborhood, an informal settlement of Medellín, Colombia, following the phases recommended by other authors and from a qualitative, participatory approach that delves into the health situation of the community.

Results: In this process were identified 12 individual community assets, 12 collective, 13 institutional and 10 in the environment.

Slum Health: Arresting COVID-19 and Improving Well-Being in Urban Informal Settlements.

The informal settlements of the Global South are the least prepared for the pandemic of COVID-19 since basic needs such as water, toilets, sewers, drainage, waste collection, and secure and adequate housing are already in short supply or non-existent. Further, space constraints, violence, and overcrowding in slums make physical distancing and self-quarantine impractical, and the rapid spread of an infection highly likely. Residents of informal settlements are also economically vulnerable during any COVID-19 responses.

Urban Transformations and Health: Methods for TrUST-a Natural Experiment Evaluating the Impacts of a Mass Transit Cable Car in Bogotá, Colombia.

Cable cars provide urban mobility benefits for vulnerable populations. However, no evaluation has assessed cable cars' impact from a health perspective. TransMiCable in Bogotá, Colombia, provides a unique opportunity to (1) assess the effects of its implementation on the environmental and social determinants of health (microenvironment pollution, transport accessibility, physical environment, employment, social capital, and leisure time), physical activity, and health outcomes (health-related quality of life, respiratory diseases, and homicides); and (2) use citizen science methods to identify, prioritize, and communicate the most salient negative and positive features impacting health and quality of life in TransMiCable's area, as well as facilitate a consensus and advocacy-building change process among community members, policymakers, and academic researchers.

What the Puerto Rican hurricanes make visible: Chronicle of a public health disaster foretold.

García Márquez's novel, "Chronicle of a Death Foretold", narrates the multiple strands of a story leading up to a murder in a small Caribbean village. The novel shows both the incredulity of those who do not believe it possible that this tragic death could occur, and the impotence of those who see it coming but can do nothing to prevent it. Something akin to this double incapacity seems to be occurring today in Puerto Rico.

[Medellín and the dream of a healthy city: a technical and collective construction].

Objective: To define the scope and the strategy of the Healthy City concept for Medellín.

Material Y Methods: Mixed study with literature review, document analysis and involvement of actors.

Results: The construction of the concept leads to "a city to live more and better".

Ethnicity and Health in Colombia: What Do Self-Perceived Health Indicators Tell Us?

Objective: To compare self-perceived health indicators between ethnic groups in Colombia.

Methods: Cross-sectional study with data from the 2007 National Public Health Survey (ENSP-2007). Data from 57,617 people ≥18 years were used.