Integrated approach to women's health

The objective of this study was to demonstrate the importance of the practical application of the concept of reproductive health in Sao Paulo, Brazil, from 1991 to 1998 at the Perola Byington Hospital with a new model of Primary Health Care (PHC) in which 2000 women/day, separated into two groups and over 45 years, was attended by nurses trained to detect the most frequently occurring gynecological problems supervised by doctors, who finalized the visit of each patient. The results demonstrated the advantages and viability of this strategy and also the bad health conditions of the women. Based on the high incidence of different kind of diseases detected, programs were set up for the diagnosis and treatment of gynecological cancer, STD, AIDS, hypertension, diabetes, etc. The results of two of these control programs, cervical cancer and breast cancer, demonstrated a significant increase in the diagnosis of early lesions. An economic study demonstrated an obvious and significant impact of this model not only in saving lives, but also in decreasing financial expenses in health. (C) 2000 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.