Economic Evaluation of 9 Intersectoral Strategies to Improve Youth Mental Health and Alleviate Financial Burden in Colombia Using System Dynamics Modeling.

Objectives: Limited evidence exists for strategic actions in improving mental health at the youth population-level, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. This study investigates the health and economic impacts of intersectoral mental health programs to inform the optimal suite of interventions for young people in Bogotá, Colombia, where many are at risk of mental disorders and lack access to appropriate health services.

Methods: This study evaluated 9 interventions compared with business as usual over a projected 10-year time horizon using a system dynamics model developed through a participatory process involving diverse local stakeholders.

Health, economic and social burden of tobacco in Latin America and the expected gains of fully implementing taxes, plain packaging, advertising bans and smoke-free environments control measures: a modelling study.

Objective: To investigate the tobacco-attributable burden on disease, medical costs, productivity losses and informal caregiving; and to estimate the health and economic gains that can be achieved if the main tobacco control measures (raising taxes on tobacco, plain packaging, advertising bans and smoke-free environments) are fully implemented in eight countries that encompass 80% of the Latin American population.

Design: Markov probabilistic microsimulation economic model of the natural history, costs and quality of life associated with the main tobacco-related diseases. Model inputs and data on labour productivity, informal caregivers' burden and interventions' effectiveness were obtained through literature review, surveys, civil registrations, vital statistics and hospital databases.

The health and economic burden of smoking in 12 Latin American countries and the potential effect of increasing tobacco taxes: an economic modelling study.

Background: Worldwide, smoking tobacco causes 7 million deaths annually, and this toll is expected to increase, especially in low-income and middle-income countries. In Latin America, smoking is a leading risk factor for death and disability, contributes to poverty, and imposes an economic burden on health systems. Despite being one of the most effective measures to reduce smoking, tobacco taxation is underused and cigarettes are more affordable in Latin America than in other regions.

Pathological Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy and the Molecular Classification of Locally Advanced Breast Cancer in a Latin American Cohort.

Background: The majority of patients with breast cancer in Colombia are admitted into oncological centers at locally advanced stages of the disease (53.9%). The aim of this study was to describe the pathological response obtained with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) according to the molecular classification of breast cancer in patients with locally advanced tumors treated within the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Functional Breast Cancer Unit (FBCU) in Bogotá, Colombia.

[Financial impact of smoking on health systems in Latin America: A study of seven countries and extrapolation to the regional level].

Objective: Estimate smoking-attributable direct medical costs in Latin American health systems.

Methods: A microsimulation model was used to quantify financial impact of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumonia, lung cancer, and nine other neoplasms. A systematic search for epidemiological data and event costs was carried out.