OBJETIVO: Caracterizar, a partir da opinião dos usuários, o acesso ao atendimento e a prestação do serviço oferecido, quanto à forma como são acolhidos em unidades de saúde de Porto Alegre. MÉTODOS: Entrevistas semi-estruturadas com usuários em duas unidades de saúde, realizadas entre outubro e dezembro de 2002 e de julho a novembro de 2003. Os dados foram submetidos à análise de conteúdo temático. RESULTADOS: Foram identificados fatores ligados ao acesso funcional, tais como a espera prolongada, a necessidade de chegar muito cedo para garantir o atendimento. O acesso geográfico foi considerado adequado pelos usuários. Quanto ao acolhimento, desempenho profissional, durante o atendimento, e o vínculo estabelecido entre o usuário e o serviço de saúde, foram os principais fatores valorizados pelos usuários. CONCLUSÃO: O acolhimento relaciona-se com o vínculo entre o usuário e o serviço de saúde, com a resolutividade do atendimento e com a adequação do serviço às necessidades dos clientes.

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The following research is a quantitative-qualitative study that aimed to analyze the view of users on the problem-solving capacity of care in a Family Health Unit and its relation with their satisfaction. The quantitative data were collected through a semi-structured form. The results showed the fact that 61.3% of users had their problems solved always or most times. The view of users on the problem-solving capacity is related to how they perceive their health problems' solution, and, for some, is associated to referral to specialized service. There is a relationship between always or most times finding a solution and being very satisfied. Results show that users' satisfaction and their view on the problem-solving capacity of care contribute to the organization and improvement of health services.

Background: South America has become the new epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic with more than 1.1M reported cases and >50,000 deaths (June 2020). Conversely, Uruguay stands out as an outlier managing this health crisis with remarkable success. Methods: We developed a molecular diagnostic test to detect SARS-CoV-2. This methodology was transferred to research institutes, public hospitals and academic laboratories all around the country, creating a COVID-19 diagnostic lab network. Uruguay also implemented active epidemiological surveillance following the Test, Trace and Isolate (TETRIS) strategy coupled to real-time genomic epidemiology. Results: Three months after the first cases were detected, the number of positive individuals reached 826 (23 deaths, 112 active cases and 691 recovered). The Uruguayan strategy was based in a close synergy established between the national health authorities and the scientific community. In turn, academia rapidly responded to develop national RT-qPCR tests. Consequently, Uruguay was able to perform ~1,000 molecular tests per day in a matter of weeks. The COVID-19 diagnostic lab network performed more than 54% of the molecular tests in the country. This, together with real-time genomics, were instrumental to implement the TETRIS strategy, helping to contain domestic transmission of the main outbreaks registered so far. Conclusions: Uruguay has successfully navigated the first trimester of the COVID-19 health crisis in South America. A rapid response by the scientific community to increase testing capacity, together with national health authorities seeking out the support from the academia were fundamental to successfully contain, until now, the COVID-19 outbreak in the country.

The PERSEIDS study aimed to estimate incidence/prevalence of interstitial lung diseases (ILDs), fibrosing Interstitial lung diseases (F-ILDs), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), systemic sclerosis-associated ILD (SSc-ILD), other non-IPF F-ILDs and their progressive-fibrosing (PF) forms in six European countries, as current data are scarce.This retrospective, two-phase study used aggregate data (2014–2018). In Phase 1, incident/prevalent cases of ILDs above were identified from clinical databases through an algorithm based on codes/keywords, and incidence/prevalence was estimated. For non-IPF F–ILDs, the relative percentage of subtypes was also determined. In Phase 2, a subset of non-IPF F-ILD cases was manually reviewed to determine the percentage of PF behaviour and usual interstitial pneumonia-like (UIP-like) pattern. A weighted mean percentage of progression was calculated for each country and used to extrapolate incidence/prevalence of progressive-fibrosing ILDs (PF–ILDs).In 2018, incidence/105 person-years ranged between 9.4–83.6(ILDs), 7.7–76.2(F-ILDs), 0.4–10.3(IPF), 6.6–71.7(non-IPF F-ILDs) and 0.3–1.5(SSc-ILD); and prevalence/105 persons ranged between 33.6–247.4(ILDs), 26.7–236.8(F-ILDs), 2.8–31.0(IPF), 22.3–205.8(non-IPF F-ILDs) and 1.4–10.1(SSc-ILD). Among non-IPF F-ILDs, sarcoidosis was the most frequent subtype. PF behaviour and UIP-like pattern were present in a third of non-IPF F-ILD cases each and hypersensitivity pneumonitis showed the highest percentage of progressive behaviour. Incidence of PF-ILDs ranged between 2.1–14.5/105 person-years, and prevalence between 6.9–78.0/105 persons.To our knowledge, PERSEIDS is the first study assessing incidence, prevalence and rate of progression of ILDs across several European countries. Still below the threshold for orphan diseases, the estimates obtained were higher and more variable than reported in previous studies, but differences in study design/population must be considered.