Validation of a method to assess the severity of medication administration errors in Brazil.

Introduction: Medication errors are frequent and have high economic and social impacts; however, some medication errors are more likely to result in harm than others. Therefore, it is critical to determine their severity. Various tools exist to measure and classify the harm associated with medication errors; although, few have been validated internationally.

Assessing the severity of medication administration errors identified in an observational study using a valid and reliable method.

Background: Epidemiological data on medication errors severity are scarce. The assessment of the prevalence and severity of medication errors may be limited because of several reasons, including a lack of standardization in the method of identifying medication administration errors and little knowledge about the appropriate assessment tools to measure severity. Thus, in this study, we aim to assess the potential severity of errors identified by direct observation in a teaching hospital.

The global failure of facing the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in late 2019 has had social, political, and economic consequences worldwide. However, its emergence was not a surprise. In 2015, a Panel organised by the World Health Organization highlighted the importance of learning about the crisis caused by the Ebola epidemic.

Evolution of the structure and results of Primary Health Care in Brazil between 2008 and 2019.

This paper describes the structure and results of Primary Health Care (PHC) in Brazil between 2008 and 2019. The medians of the following variables were calculated: PHC spending per inhabitant covered, PHC coverage, and rates of mortality and hospitalizations due to primary care sensitive conditions (PCSC), in 5,565 Brazilian municipalities stratified according to population size and quintile of the Brazilian Deprivation Index (IBP), and the median trend in the period was analyzed. There was a 12% increase in median PHC spending.

Drug administration errors in Latin America: A systematic review.

Purpose: This study systematically reviewed studies to determine the frequency and nature of medication administration errors in Latin American hospitals.

Summary: We systematically searched the medical literature of seven electronic databases to identify studies on medication administration errors in Latin American hospitals using the direct observation method. Studies published in English, Spanish, or Portuguese between 1946 and March 2021 were included.

The right to health in Brazil: A Constitutional guarantee threatened by fiscal austerity.

After 25 years of expanding coverage and improving the quality of preventive public health measures and publicly financed medical care associated with positive outcomes for the health of Brazil's population, our country suffers from deterioration of social policies. Among the areas of policy affected by new economic austerity measures is health-with potential to damage lives. These threats stem mainly from the 2016 approval of a Constitutional amendment that limits, for the next 20 years, public investments in health, education, social assistance, and social security.

[The needed Brazilian Health System and the possible Brazilian Health System: management strategies. An experience-based reflection].

The present text presents a reflection about the author's experience as head of a Health Department of a big city during two and a half years. It presents a systematization of the strategic projects, the political and technical activities and the managerial routine, in which he was involved. It identifies three levels (macro, meso and micro) and four dimensions of management (social-political, institutional, technical-sanitary and administrative in the strict sense).