Colombia health policy

Colombia has one of the longest running internal armed conflicts, which has significantly impacted the mental health of the population. This article is the first to present a national level mapping of the provision of mental health services to young people living in Colombia, through detailed review of documentation, interviews with key stakeholders and quantitative analysis of existing data on mental health and suicide. It explores the existing public mental health provision in the country, focussing on where mental health resources are concentrated and how these are implemented...

Motivated by the evolving global food landscape and its detrimental impacts on society, the environment, and health, this research aims to understand consumer perceptions, preferences and involvement regarding sustainable food products and consumption practices. To this aim, three countries were chosen for their distinct economic, cultural, and demographic differences (Spain, Türkiye, and Colombia), enabling an exploration of how these factors influence sustainability perceptions. The results show high levels of awareness, knowledge, consumption, and willingness to switch to more sustainable habits, although differences between countries were also found (price sensitivity in Spain and demand for information regarding sustainable food in Colombia)...

The Colombian health system has made a deep transition into managed competition since a major reform in 1993. A market for insurers was created, the consumer has free choice of insurer and a national-level equalisation fund distributes revenues via a per-capita payment. Fully subsidised insurance for the poor and informal, and a comprehensive standardised benefit package for subsidised and contributory schemes (both schemes covering 98 per cent of the population), has led to a low level of out-of-pocket expenses and high financial protection, as well as to reduced gaps in equity in access...

INTRODUCTION: Access to comprehensive abortion care could prevent the death of between 13 865 and 38 940 women and the associated morbidity of 5 million women worldwide. There have been some important improvements in Latin America in terms of laws and policies on abortion. However, the predominant environment is still restrictive, and many women, adolescents and girls still face multiple barriers to exercise their reproductive rights. This research will systematically assess comprehensive abortion policies in five Latin American countries (Argentina, Colombia, Honduras, Mexico and Uruguay)...

UNLABELLED: Add-on therapy with tiotropium was cost-effective when added to usual care in patients who remain uncontrolled despite treatment with medium or high-dose ICS/LABA in a middle-income country. BACKGROUND: A significant proportion of asthma patients remain uncontrolled despite inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting beta-agonists. Some add-on therapies, such as tiotropium bromide, have been recommended for this subgroup of patients. This study aimed to assess the cost-effectiveness of tiotropium as an add-on therapy to inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting b2 agonists for patients with severe asthma...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Current stroke guidelines contraindicate the use of thrombolytics if oral anticoagulants are taken within 48 hours of symptom onset. Idarucizumab is an alternative for patients on dabigatran who experience an acute stroke, so that alteplase may be used. However, this treatment may not be readily available in low/middle-income countries. Our objective is to describe barriers to access to the administration of idarucizumab. METHODS: We applied a structured survey for health personnel, consulted databases of drug providers, and analyzed reports from the National Pharmacologic Surveillance Data to describe idarucizumab use and the related knowledge among prescribers and the drug distribution in health institutions in Colombia between January 2018 and January 2022...

BACKGROUND: Estimates of the spatiotemporal distribution of different mosquito vector species and the associated risk of transmission of arboviruses are key to design adequate policies for preventing local outbreaks and reducing the number of human infections in endemic areas. In this study, we quantified the abundance of Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti and the local transmission potential for three arboviral infections at an unprecedented spatiotemporal resolution in areas where no entomological surveillance is available...

Frequent consumption of sugar sweetened beverages (SSB) is related to the risks of developing overweight, obesity, cavities, diabetes and other diseases. Policies to significantly increase taxes on SSB have proven to be effective in reducing their consumption. The political debate on implementing these taxes in Colombia shows a series of barriers to placing this policy on the political agenda, and therefore, to its approval. This work analyses the political process involved in the struggle for the approval of an SBB tax in Colombia, as well as barriers and opportunities to putting it on the political agenda...

INTRODUCTION: In Colombia, research on health and conflict has focused on mental health, psychosocial care, displacement, morbidity, and mortality. Few scientific studies have assessed health system functioning during armed conflicts. In a new period characterized by the implementation of the peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) armed group, understanding the effects of armed conflict on the health system, the functions, and institutions shaped by the conflict is an opportunity to understand the pathways and scope of post-conflict health policy reforms...

OBJECTIVE: To assess how well national sentinel lists of the most frequently consumed foods in each food group capture data at subnational levels to measure minimum diet diversity (MDD). DESIGN: We analyzed data from seven surveys with 24-hour open dietary recalls to evaluate: 1) the percentage of reported foods that were included in each sentinel food list; 2) whether these lists captured consumption of some food groups better than others; and 3) differences between estimates of dietary diversity calculated from all food items mentioned in the open 24-hour recall vs...

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic emerged in a context that lacked adequate prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR) activities, and global, regional, and national leadership. South American countries were among world's hardest hit by the pandemic, accounting for 10.1% of total cases and 20.1% of global deaths. METHODS: This study explores how pandemic PPR were affected by political, socioeconomic, and health system contexts as well as how PPR may have shaped pandemic outcomes in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Peru...

This statement revises our earlier "WAME Recommendations on ChatGPT and Chatbots in Relation to Scholarly Publications" (January 20, 2023). The revision reflects the proliferation of chatbots and their expanding use in scholarly publishing over the last few months, as well as emerging concerns regarding lack of authenticity of content when using chatbots. These recommendations are intended to inform editors and help them develop policies for the use of chatbots in papers published in their journals. They aim to help authors and reviewers understand how best to attribute the use of chatbots in their work and to address the need for all journal editors to have access to manuscript screening tools...

AIMS: Depression and anxiety are the leading contributors to the global burden of disease among young people, accounting for over a third (34.8%) of years lived with disability. Yet there is limited evidence for interventions that prevent adolescent depression and anxiety in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where 90% of adolescents live. This article introduces the 'Improving Adolescent mentaL health by reducing the Impact of poVErty (ALIVE)' study, its conceptual framework, objectives, methods and expected outcomes...

Rapidly urbanizing cities in Latin America experience high levels of air pollution which are known risk factors for population health. However, the estimates of long-term exposure to air pollution are scarce in the region. We developed intraurban land use regression (LUR) models to map long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5 ) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2 ) in the five largest cities in Colombia. We conducted air pollution measurement campaigns using gravimetric PM2.5 and passive NO2 sensors for 2 weeks during both the dry and rainy seasons in 2021 in the cities of Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, Bogotá, Cali, and Medellín, and combined these data with geospatial and meteorological variables...

The taxation of menstrual products has been identified as unfair, imposing economic burden on people who menstruate based simply on a biological difference. These taxes have been described as major contributors to menstrual poverty . Although they have been debated among governments, and a focus of political activism, academic literature has largely neglected the issue. Here I comprehensively reviewed the status of menstrual product taxes for all countries and populated territories in the Americas in 2022. Data from 57 countries and territories, and 78 states (those of the United States and Brazil) were included...

Cervical cancer is a global public health problem. It is the second leading cause of death among women of childbearing age worldwide. Several factors, including diet, have been shown to influence the risk of persistent HPV infection and tumor progression. This paper determines the relationship between dietary patterns and cervical cancer. It is an ecological study of multiple groups, based on two national sources: the High-Cost Account and the National Survey of Nutritional Situation of Colombia of 2015. The population consisted of 3472 women aged 35 to 64...

Vaccination against COVID-19 is an essential public health tool for pandemic control. Inclusion of migrants in COVID-19 vaccination is not only ethically necessary from a right-to-health perspective but also technically indispensable for disease control. This study aimed to characterize the inclusion of international migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in COVID-19 vaccination policies in Latin American countries that have the greatest recent increase in the reception of migrants. We conducted a content analysis of public policy documents issued between March 11, 2020, and June 30, 2022 by the Ministries of Health of seven countries: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru...

Venezuelan migrant and refugee women and girls (VMRWG) face risks of exposure to and infection from HIV and threats of multiple forms of violence (including GBV) during and after migration. Yet, there is a lack of evidence on barriers and facilitators to VMRWGs' access to HIV prevention and care services this population at all stages of their migration. We addressed this evidence gap by conducting a qualitative study composed of fifty-four semi-structured interviews with practitioners ( n  = 24) and VMRWG ( n  = 30) in the two largest receiving cities of migrants in Colombia...

INTRODUCTION: Community health workers (CHW) were integral in the COVID-19 response, particularly concerning services for populations vulnerable to HIV. Little is known regarding the mental health of CHW during the COVID-19 crisis. The objective of this study was to study resilience of CHW working in HIV non-governmental organizations. METHODS: An anonymous online, cross-sectional questionnaire was implemented during 2021 among CHW in Benin, Colombia, Guatemala, and Spain...

In the industrial corridor of Boyacá, Colombia, population growth is accompanied by anthropogenic activities such as industrial operations, vehicle exhaust fumes, mining, smelting, atmospheric deposition, and excessive use of chemical products to promote crop growth. These activities are known to have a significant impact on urban and rural soils, contributing significantly to elevated concentrations of potentially hazardous elements in the environment. This industrial corridor is an area of economic and social development that needs to provide reference information that will allow us to know the state of soil quality to preserve and manage the public and geoenvironmental health of this region...