BACKGROUND Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease, still endemic in many countries that may lead to neurological, ophthalmic, and motor sequelae if not treated early. Access to timely diagnosis and multidrug therapy (MDT) remains a crucial element in the World Health Organization’s strategy to eliminate the disease as a public health problem. OBJECTIVES This systematic review aims to evaluate the accuracy of rapid point-of-care (POC) tests for diagnosis of leprosy. METHODS Searches were carried out in electronic databases (PubMed, EMBASE, CRD, Cochrane Library and LILACS) in April 2021 for patients with suspicion or confirmatory diagnostic of leprosy, classified in multibacillary (MB) or paucibacillary (PB) cases, performing rapid POC serological tests compared to clinical evaluation, smear microscopy and immunohistochemistry analysis. Methodological quality was assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies tool (QUADAS-2). A meta-analysis was undertaken to generate pooled estimates of diagnostic parameters, presenting sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) values. The review protocol was registered at PROSPERO, CRD # 42014009658. FINDINGS From 893 potentially relevant references, 12 articles were included reporting 16 diagnostic tests accuracy studies with 5395 individuals enrolled. Meta-analysis of NDO-LID and PGL-I tests data in MB patients showed sensitivity and specificity [95% confidence interval (CI)] of 0.83 (0.71-0.91), 0.91 (0.72-0.97); and 0.92 (0.86-0.96), 0.93 (0.78-0.98); respectively, with high heterogeneity among the studies. MAIN CONCLUSIONS Our results can inform policymakers regarding the possibility of implementing accurate, rapid POC tests for leprosy in public health services, especially within primary health care.

Abstract Economic assessments are relevant to support the decision to incorporate more cost-effective strategies to reduce Cervical Cancer (CC) mortality. This systematic review analyzes the economic evaluation studies of CC prevention strategies (HPV DNA-based tests and conventional cytology) in low- and middle-income countries. Medline, EMBASE, CRD, and LILACS were searched for economic evaluation studies that reported cost and effectiveness measures of HPV DNA-based tests for CC screening and conventional cytology in women, without age, language, or publication date restrictions. Selection and data extraction were carried out independently. For comparability of results, cost-effectiveness measures were converted to international dollars (2019). Report quality was assessed using the CHEERS checklist. The Dominance Matrix Ranking (DRM) was used to analyze and interpret the results. The review included 15 studies from 12 countries, with cost-effectiveness analyzes from the health system’s perspective and a 3% discount rate. The strategies varied in age and frequency of screening. Most studies used the Markov analytical model, and the cost-benefit threshold was based on the per capita GDP of each country. The sensitivity analysis performed in most studies was deterministic. The completeness of the report was considered sufficient in most of the items evaluated by CHEERS. The Dominance Interpretation (DRM) varied; in 6 studies, the HPV test was dominant, 5 studies showed a weak dominance evaluating greater effectiveness of the HPV test at a higher cost, yet in 2 studies conventional cytology was dominant. Although the context-dependent nature of economic evaluations, this review points out the challenge of methodological standardization in the analytical models.

RESUMO A Covid-19 é uma ameaça global que atrai pesquisadores de todas as áreas a fim de conhecer a história natural da doença e seus parâmetros epidemiológicos. O desenvolvimento tecnológico de vacinas, testes para diagnóstico e alvos terapêuticos tem mobilizado grande quantidade de recursos em curto tempo. A Avaliação de Tecnologias em Saúde (ATS), baseada em uma análise sistemática das propriedades, efeitos e/ou impactos das tecnologias em Saúde através de métodos e instrumentos validados internacionalmente para avaliar a qualidade e rigor metodológico dos estudos que demonstrem eficácia, efetividade e segurança, está sofrendo pressões, sem precedentes, devido à pandemia. Este artigo traz uma reflexão sobre a autorização emergencial do uso de tratamentos e testes diagnósticos que conflita com os preceitos da ATS. Apresentaremos também uma avaliação das tecnologias não farmacológicas de contenção da doença e seus impactos na economia doméstica e internacional, bem como as intervenções judiciais que impactam as decisões dos gestores no contexto excepcional da pandemia de Covid-19.

ABSTRACT Covid-19 is a global threat that attracts researchers from all areas to understand the natural history of the disease and its epidemiological parameters. The technological development of vaccines, diagnostic tests, and therapeutic targets has mobilized many resources in a short time. Health technology assessment (HTA), based on a systematic analysis of the properties, effects and/or impacts of health technologies through internationally-validated methods and instruments to assess the quality and methodological rigor of studies that demonstrate effectiveness, efficacy, and safety, is under unprecedented pressure due to the pandemic. This article also reflects on the emergency authorization of the use of treatments and diagnostic tests that conflict with HTA precepts. We will also evaluate non-pharmacological technologies of containment of the disease and their impacts on the domestic and international economy, as well as the judicial interventions that impact the decisions of managers in the exceptional context of the covid-19 pandemic.

This article analyzes the Shared Pharmaceutical Management Program (PACFARM) and its relationship to pharmaceutical policy in Peru within the scope of health sector reform. Implementation of various programs for essential medicines has involved an on-going effort towards improving the supply of essential drugs to the community. However, the corresponding legal framework includes random and disconnected regulations which hinder the feasibility of a consistent national drug policy. PACFARM is a decentralized system for the provision of essential medicines on a care-level basis, self-supported by revolving funds. While expanded coverage and decreased economic barriers to access to essential medicines provided the basis for a pharmaceutical policy and traits of supply management efficiency kept pace with administrative modernization as part of the reform, other aspects hindered the program's implementation and limited its effects, including deregulation and the very processes of change in the sector. The study's methodology included qualitative and quantitative techniques, prioritizing an analysis of the program's implementation.

Este artículo analiza el Programa de Administración Compartida de Farmacias (PACFARM) y su articulación con la Política Farmacéutica en Perú, en el contexto de la reforma del sector salud. La ejecución de los diversos Programas de Medicamentos Esenciales precedentes muestra el permanente esfuerzo por mejorar la cobertura con medicamentos esenciales a la población, no obstante, el marco jurídico en esta área presenta normas dispersas y desarticuladas, que dificultan la construcción de una Política Nacional de Medicamentos. El PACFARM es un sistema descentralizado de abastecimiento de medicamentos esenciales para el primer nivel de atención, auto-sustentado a través de fondos rotatorios. Mientras la ampliación de cobertura y la disminución de las barreras económicas de acceso a medicamentos esenciales fundamentaban lineamientos de una política farmacéutica, en tanto trazos de eficiencia gerencial en el suministro acompasaban la modernización de la gestión como parte de la reforma, otros aspectos dificultaron su implantación y limitaron sus efectos, tales como: la desregulación y los propios procesos de cambio en el sector. El abordaje metodológico incluyó técnicas cuali y cuantitativas, privilegiando el análisis de implantación del Programa.

This article analyzes the Shared Pharmaceutical Management Program (PACFARM) and its relationship to pharmaceutical policy in Peru within the scope of health sector reform. Implementation of various programs for essential medicines has involved an on-going effort towards improving the supply of essential drugs to the community. However, the corresponding legal framework includes random and disconnected regulations which hinder the feasibility of a consistent national drug policy. PACFARM is a decentralized system for the provision of essential medicines on a care-level basis, self-supported by revolving funds. While expanded coverage and decreased economic barriers to access to essential medicines provided the basis for a pharmaceutical policy and traits of supply management efficiency kept pace with administrative modernization as part of the reform, other aspects hindered the program's implementation and limited its effects, including deregulation and the very processes of change in the sector. The study's methodology included qualitative and quantitative techniques, prioritizing an analysis of the program's implementation.

Este artículo analiza el Programa de Administración Compartida de Farmacias (PACFARM) y su articulación con la Política Farmacéutica en Perú, en el contexto de la reforma del sector salud. La ejecución de los diversos Programas de Medicamentos Esenciales precedentes muestra el permanente esfuerzo por mejorar la cobertura con medicamentos esenciales a la población, no obstante, el marco jurídico en esta área presenta normas dispersas y desarticuladas, que dificultan la construcción de una Política Nacional de Medicamentos. El PACFARM es un sistema descentralizado de abastecimiento de medicamentos esenciales para el primer nivel de atención, auto-sustentado a través de fondos rotatorios. Mientras la ampliación de cobertura y la disminución de las barreras económicas de acceso a medicamentos esenciales fundamentaban lineamientos de una política farmacéutica, en tanto trazos de eficiencia gerencial en el suministro acompasaban la modernización de la gestión como parte de la reforma, otros aspectos dificultaron su implantación y limitaron sus efectos, tales como: la desregulación y los propios procesos de cambio en el sector. El abordaje metodológico incluyó técnicas cuali y cuantitativas, privilegiando el análisis de implantación del Programa.