Mapping of public health courses and training programs in Brazil.

Objective: To map public health courses and training programs in Brazil and identify, in their curricula and study plans, the level of linkage between the skills and competencies developed by them and the essential public health functions.

Methods: Descriptive, exploratory study based on collection and analysis of information available on the websites of educational institutions that offer public health courses and training programs in Brazil. Data was collected within the scope of the I Mapeo de Cursos y Programas de Formación en Salud Pública de América Latina.

[Regulation of pesticide residues in food in the MERCOSUR: a much needed discussion for health surveillanceRegulación de los residuos de productos agrotóxicos en los alimentos en el MERCOSUR: una discusión necesaria para la vigilancia de la salud].

The objective of this descriptive and exploratory study with a qualitative basis was to identify MERCOSUR resolutions on pesticide residues in food issued between 1991 and 2022, analyzing the regional harmonization processes of these milestones and their incorporation into the regulatory framework of MERCOSUR founding Member States (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay). The analysis identified important points for the regulation and monitoring of pesticide residues in food in MERCOSUR, such as the synonyms used in the definition of pesticides and the scope of the regulatory system in each country, the marked differences in the scope of the main national regulatory frameworks, the unequal incorporation of international and regional regulations by the Member States and the challenges for harmonizing legislation on pesticide residues in food within MERCOSUR. In addition to the limited advances observed in the attempt to harmonize the relevant legislation within the bloc, there is a need to advance, nationally and regionally, in the processes to regulate pesticide residues in food, so as to ensure the quality of the products and services provided to the population and also to strengthen safer agro/food trade that relies on processes that are less harmful to the environment.

[Mapping public health training in Latin America: perspectives for training institutionsMapeamento da formação em saúde pública na América Latina: perspectivas para as instituições formadoras].

Objective: Map the public health training courses and programs offered in Latin America, and identify regional training strategies and competencies developed in health workers.

Methods: An internet search was conducted to identify public health training courses and programs offered by Latin American institutions. The following data were collected: name, country, and province/state of the training institution; course name; type of institution; educational level; modality; accreditation; year first offered; periodicity; and contact information.

[Public Health Training Program for Health Workers on the Brazil-Uruguay Border].

The main objective of the Public Health Training Program on the Brazil-Uruguay Border was to strengthen local training capacities in public health through the development of skills and competencies together with health workers from four border areas. The methodological design of the Program, based on workshops with the application of active methodologies in health training and mediated by educational technologies, favored the organization of a permanent dialogical setting between instructors, managers and practice professionals from both countries that, between 2017 and 2018, resulted in a) development of local capacities for the mapping of the main health surveillance problems in the four participating border areas; b) discussion of the limits and perspectives of action of the existing health services in both countries, within the principles and guidelines of the public health field; c) appropriation of pedagogical tools and processes that allowed for the incorporation of public health and health surveillance into the different organizational processes and settings of the local health sector; and d) building of a permanent capacity for the development of skills and competencies together with health workers, within a framework of permanent education in health. The Program's achievements and its contributions to local health services effectively qualify it as a strategic action for strengthening training and research capacities on the Brazil-Uruguay border.