Contemporary challenges for digital health: literacy, media education, and prevention of disinformation

The objective of this article is to analyze the contemporary challenges facing digital health, focusing on literacy, media education, and the prevention of disinformation. The study shows that strengthening digital literacy is crucial to empowering health professionals and citizens, enabling them to critically navigate the digital environment and identify reliable information. The results indicate the need for multisectoral collaboration and public policies that prioritize digital inclusion and media education, promoting a safe information environment.

HEARTS Pharmacy: A framework for integrating pharmacists in hypertension and cardiovascular disease risk management in primary care

HEARTS Pharmacy, a project within the HEARTS in the Americas Initiative, provides a framework to integrate pharmacists into primary health care. Pharmacists are highly respected in health care but face challenges, such as limited scope of practice, regulatory barriers, and insufficient recognition, compounded by social norms that hinder their full potential. This paper presents compelling evidence that pharmacist-led interven- tions improve blood pressure control, lower cardiovascular risk, and reduce health care costs.

AI’s ongoing impact: Implications of AI’s effects on health equity for women’s healthcare providers

Objective

To assess the effects of the current use of artificial intelligence (AI) in women’s health on health equity, specifically in primary and secondary prevention efforts among women. 

Methods

Two databases, Scopus and PubMed, were used to conduct this narrative review. The keywords included “artificial intelligence,” “machine learning,” “women’s health,” “screen,” “risk factor,” and “prevent,” and papers were filtered only to include those about AI models that general practitioners may use. 

Regulation and performance of health systems: a review of analytical frameworks

The private health sector has expanded significantly in recent decades, both in Latin America and other regions. Governments and international organizations have dealt with this process in a heterogeneous manner. A policy approach and, above all, a regulatory framework, are required in order to put health objectives and the right to health above the profit motive that drives private sector participation. This paper reviews frameworks for analyzing the performance of health systems and the regulation of financing and service provision, primarily (but not exclusively) in the private sector.

Critical factors for institutionalizing evidence-informed decision-making in healthcare organizations

Objective

To map critical factors for sustainable processes in the institutionalization of evidence-informed decision-making in public health organizations. 

Method

A rapid critical interpretative synthesis was carried out based on searches conducted in databases, websites, and reference lists, with findings categorized into an appropriate framework. 

Political support and micro-planning as success factors in a high-quality follow-up vaccination campaign in Ecuador, 2023

Objective

To describe the results, achievements, and lessons learned through administrative coverage and rapid monitoring of a follow-up vaccination campaign, in the context of political prioritization and micro-planning as determining factors in the different stages of follow-up campaigns, and the application of these good practices to strengthen the National Immunization Program. 

Alcohol use, heavy episodic drinking, and associated cardiovascular risk in Guyana

Objective

To determine associations between demographic characteristics, alcohol use, heavy episodic drinking (HED), and cardiovascular risk factors using the 2016 Guyana World Health Organization (WHO) STEPwise noncommunicable diseases risk factor survey. 

Methods

A weighted sample was used in a secondary analysis of data obtained from an online database. Descriptive statistics, binary logistic regression, and linear regression models were applied to identify which subpopulations were at highest risk of HED or cardiovascular disease. 

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