Prevented cases of neural tube defects and cost savings after folic acid fortification of flour in Brazil.

Anencephaly, encephalocele, and spina bifida are congenital neural tube defects and are the main causes of neonatal morbidity and mortality and impose a heavy economic burden on health systems. This study to estimates the direct costs of neural tube defects from the perspective of the Brazilian Ministry of Health, and the prevented cases and cost savings during the period in which mandatory folic acid fortification was in effect in the country (2010-2019). It is a top-down cost-of-illness oriented study based on the prevalence of the disorders in Brazil.

Covid-19: temporal evolution and immunization in the three epidemiological waves, Brazil, 2020-2022.

Objective: Describe the temporal evolution of morbimortality due to Covid-19 and vaccination coverage during the health emergency in Brazil.

Methods: Number of cases and deaths due to Covid-19 were extracted from the public panel of the Brazilian Ministry of Health, according to epidemiological week (EW) and geographic region. Data on vaccines and variants were obtained, respectively, from the Information System of the National Immunization Program and the Genomic Surveillance System of SARS-CoV-2.

Development of an Index to Assess COVID-19 Hospital Care Installed Capacity in the 450 Brazilian Health Regions.

Objective: The article seeks to assess the Brazilian health system ability to respond to the challenges imposed by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic by measuring the capacity of Brazilian hospitals to care for COVID-19 cases in the 450 Health Regions of the country during the year 2020. Hospital capacity refers to the availability of hospital beds, equipment, and human resources.

Methods: We used longitudinal data from the National Register of Health Facilities (CNES) regarding the availability of resources necessary to care for patients with COVID-19 in inpatient facilities (public or private) from January to December 2020.

Challenges facing the More Doctors program (Programa Mais Médicos) in vulnerable and peri-urban areas in Greater Brasilia, Brazil.

Background: A shortage of physicians, especially in vulnerable and peri-urban areas, is a global phenomenon that has serious implications for health systems, demanding policies to assure the provision and retention of health workers. The aim of this study was to analyze the strategies employed by the More Doctors Program (Programa Mais Médicos) to provide primary care physicians in vulnerable and peri-urban parts of Greater Brasilia.

Methods: The study used a qualitative approach based on the precepts of social constructivism.

[Intergenerational perceptions and practices in breastfeeding and child feeding among quilombola women in Goiás State, Brazil].

This exploratory qualitative study aimed to identify sociocultural and intergenerational aspects of perception and practices in child feeding among quilombola women, members of maroon communities in Brazil. A focus group with 12 mothers and another group with four grandmothers of children under five years of age were conducted in a rural quilombola community in the State of Goiás, Brazil. The data were analyzed with thematic content analysis, yielding four central themes and respective subthemes, which were then represented in a socioecological conceptual model with four levels of influence on child feeding as the outcome.

COVID-19 as the leading cause of hospital deaths in the Brazilian public health system in 2020.

Objectives: To describe the profile of hospital deaths in Brazil according to cause of admission during the pre-pandemic (2019) and pandemic periods (2020).

Methods: Descriptive study based on individual-level records of all hospital admissions with death outcomes reimbursed by the Brazilian National Health System in 2019 and 2020.

Results: The number of hospital deaths increased by 16.

Cases of violence against people with disabilities notified by Brazilian health services, 2011-2017.

Objective: To describe cases of violence against people with disabilities notified by Brazilian health services between 2011 and 2017.

Methods: This was a descriptive study of secondary data on notifications of violence against people with disabilities recorded on the Notifiable Health Conditions Information System (Sinan).

Results: 116,219 cases of violence against people with disabilities were recorded in the period.

Brazil's more doctors programme and infant health outcomes: a longitudinal analysis.

Background: Providing sufficient numbers of human resources for health is essential for effective and accessible health services. Between 2013 and 2018, the Brazilian Ministry of Health implemented the Programa Mais Médicos (PMM) (More Doctors Programme) to increase the supply of primary care doctors in underserved areas of the country. This study investigated the association between PMM and infant health outcomes and assessed if heterogeneity in the impact of PMM varied by municipal socio-economic factors and health indicators.

Trends in COVID-19 case-fatality rates in Brazilian public hospitals: A longitudinal cohort of 398,063 hospital admissions from 1st March to 3rd October 2020.

Background: Almost 200,000 deaths from COVID-19 were reported in Brazil in 2020. The case fatality rate of a new infectious disease can vary by different risk factors and over time. We analysed the trends and associated factors of COVID-19 case fatality rates in Brazilian public hospital admissions during the first wave of the pandemic.

Direct from the COVID-19 crisis: research and innovation sparks in Brazil.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has spread throughout more than 160 countries, infecting millions of people worldwide. To address this health emergency, countries have organized the flow of production and innovation to reduce the impact on health. This article shows the response of the Brazilian scientific community to meet the urgent needs of the public unified health system [SUS], aiming to guarantee universal access to an estimated population of 211 million.

Impact of the Programa Mais médicos (more doctors Programme) on primary care doctor supply and amenable mortality: quasi-experimental study of 5565 Brazilian municipalities.

Background: Investing in human resources for health (HRH) is vital for achieving universal health care and the Sustainable Development Goals. The Programa Mais Médicos (PMM) (More Doctors Programme) provided 17,000 doctors, predominantly from Cuba, to work in Brazilian primary care. This study assesses whether PMM doctor allocation to municipalities was consistent with programme criteria and associated impacts on amenable mortality.

Spatial distribution of the "Mais Médicos (More Doctors) Program" and social vulnerability: an analysis of the Brazilian metropolitan regions.

Background: The "Mais Médicos (More Doctors) Program" established in 2013 by the Brazilian Government aimed to reduce inequalities by means of an emergency provision of physicians, the improvement of medical care service in the Brazilian Unified Health System, and the expansion of medical education training in Brazil. In this context, equity should be considered when defining priorities and allocating resources. This study describes the distribution of physicians for the Program in five Brazilian metropolitan regions (MRs) and analyses whether the most vulnerable areas within each one of these regions had been prioritized in compliance with the legislation framework of the program.

[Primary Health Care users' satisfaction in the Federal District: the importance of timely access and home visits].

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to analyze user satisfaction in relation to Primary Health Care services in the Federal District and its associated factors. A total of 4,476 users of the 62 existing Family Health Strategy Teams from the Eastern Health Region were included; a pre-tested questionnaire with open and closed questions was applied. As for the "General Satisfaction Level" 54.

Breastfeeding is associated with children's dietary diversity in Brazil.

The aim of this study was to describe food consumption patterns in Brazilian children aged 6-24 months and to assess differences between breastfed children who do not consume non-human milks, breastfed children who consume non-human milks, and non-breastfed children. This study used data from the Brazilian National Demographic and Health Survey (2006). The food consumption patterns of 1,455 children were assessed using a food frequency questionnaire.

Cost of providing doctors in remote and vulnerable areas: in Brazil.

Objective: To evaluate the Programa Mais Médicos (More Doctors Program; PMM) in Brazil by estimating the proportional increase in the number of doctors in participating muni-cipalities and the program costs, stratified by cost component and funding source.

Methods: Official data from the 2013 edition of Demografia Médica no Brasil (Medical Demography in Brazil) was used to estimate the number of doctors prior to PMM. The number of doctors at the end of the fourth PMM recruiting cycle (July 2014) was obtained from the Ministry of Health.

A look at the food and nutrition agenda over thirty years of the Unified Health System.

Food and nutrition are basic requirements for the promotion and protection of health. Nutrition monitoring and dietary recommendations are included in the mission of the Unified Health System (SUS, in its Portuguese acronym), as established by the Organic Health Law no. 8,080 of 1990.

[Humanism in the practice of Cuban cooperating physicians in Brazil: narratives of basic health care teamsHumanismo na prática dos médicos colaboradores cubanos no Brasil: narrativas das equipes de atenção básica].

Objective: To present the narratives of Brazilian members of family health teams with regard to the humanism perceived in the practice of Cuban physician cooperating in the program.

Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive case study. A semi-structured interview was applied to Brazilian members of family health teams who had worked from the beginning of the program with Cuban physicians in selected municipalities included in the program (20% or more of the population in extreme poverty and less than five physicians or a rate of 0.

Processes and challenges of the interaction betweeen research and policy from the perspective of researchers.

Evidence-informed policies can produce social and economic impacts and equity and health benefits. Interaction between researchers in politics depends on the interests of social stakeholders and favorable political environments. This paper seeks to understand the meanings and researchers' perspectives of interaction processes between scientists and decision-makers that would influence the research impact on the health policy.

Profile of demand and Continuous Cash Benefits (BCP) granted to children diagnosed with microcephaly in Brazil.

The Brazilian Federal Constitution of 1988 introduced the Continuous Cash Benefits (BCP), allowing the inclusion of people with disabilities. This is a descriptive study with aggregate municipal data about the time and geographic distribution of the incidence of microcephaly related to the Zika virus in Brazil and data of the BCP grants to children diagnosed with microcephaly. Data on the demand and BCP grants to children with microcephaly since 2009 are shown.

[Food and nutrition in primary care in Brazil].

Objective: To describe food and nutrition actions in primary health care in Brazil.

Methods: Exploratory review of articles published between 2007 and 2016. Lilacs, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science databases were consulted.

International cooperation and shortage of doctors: an analysis of the interaction between Brazil, Angola and Cuba.

The shortage of doctors, especially in remote areas, is a critical issue for the development of national health systems and has thus been the focus of a number of international cooperation projects. An exploratory and qualitative study was conducted to examine cooperation between Brazil, Angola and Cuba. A nonsystematic literature review was conducted of selected open access articles and official documents addressing relevant health cooperation initiatives.

A proposal for a new Brazilian six-item version of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale.

Introduction:: Factor analysis of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) could result in a shorter and easier to handle screening tool. Therefore, the aim of this study was to check and compare the metrics of two different 6-item EPDS subscales.

Methods:: We administered the EPDS to a total of 3,891 women who had given birth between 1 and 3 months previously.

Implementation research: towards universal health coverage with more doctors in Brazil.

Objective: To evaluate the implementation of a programme to provide primary care physicians for remote and deprived populations in Brazil.

Methods: The (More Doctors) programme was launched in July 2013 with public calls to recruit physicians for priority areas. Other strategies were to increase primary care infrastructure investments and to provide more places at medical schools.

Factors related to health services determine breastfeeding within one hour of birth in the Federal District of Brazil, 2011.

Objective:: To identify factors associated with breastfeeding in the first hour of life.

Methods:: A cross-sectional study conducted among mothers and children under one year of age, who attended the second stage of the polio vaccination campaign in the Federal District, Brazil, in 2011. The sample was composed of 1,027 pairs of mothers and children.