13 Oct
Influenza vaccines are useless. But every year millions of patients and healthy persons get vaccinated against flu virus. Cochrane reviews are consistent: flu vaccines are useless in healthy persons (elderly, adults and children under two years) and do not stop transmission in between humans. The case of Poland versus the world demonstrated that the vaccine [...]
13 Oct
All health services have adverse effects, all health services might produce damage to health. A few services produce more benefits than harms in specific situations. Unnecessary and inappropriate services mainly produce harms, and few benefits if any. Quaternary prevention is the prevention of unnecessary and/or inappropriate services and the prevention of over-medicalisation. Quaternary prevention refers mainly to personal services, [...]
21 Sep
Year after year we have heard about the need of a new flu vaccine shot because the virus mutations. But this season, 2011-2012, the flu vaccine is exactly the same of the previous one, 2010-2011. Now the reason is that the immunity lasts one year. It is a “terminator” vaccine, as the sterile seeds you [...]
21 Sep
Primary health care have a different status across countries. This paper is an exploration of the reasons why. Much can be learned by analysing Spain as a benchmark, and comparing it with other Mediterranean countries (Greece, Italy, and Portugal). Critical steps in Europe to set up PHC under conditions of resource constraint. The case fo the [...]
21 Sep
Primary health care provides services fitted to health needs of the population. To understand the way of working in PHC we need to consider a general framework with focus in the workforce (providers) and the way of payments (and incentives). Considerations around the Duth model helps in this paper to make proposals for improvement. PHC: [...]
20 Sep
Rethinking the health service production function: What role for primary health care in modern health service provision? Seminar of Innovation in Primary Care. Oxford (UK), 29nd September 2012 Organized by Juan Gérvas MD, PhD (general practitioner, Equipo CESCA, Madrid, Spain; visiting professor, International Health, National School of Public Health, Madrid) and José M. Valderas MD, [...]
18 Aug
The Lancet published in May a few papers about the Brazilian health system, none of them on primary care, or with a focus on health policy. Therefore, important questions were kept out of the debate. This letter highlights some of the critical questions as maldistribution of doctors. Brazilian health service organization: problems at a glance. [...]
