Good Governance in Chile and Argentina Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Good Governance in Chile and Argentina - Essay Example Within Latin America, Chile is held up as an example where democratic institutions are making headway. In other countries such as Argentina, the fight against corruption, remnants of populism and a weak judicial system are in evidence almost daily. Is the establishment and maintenance of good governance possible in Latin America? Using Chile and Argentina as examples it becomes clear that in our analysis of good governance we should not be limited by one model but should take into account the diversity of problems and the level of difficulty in resolving these problems when we choose to analyze whether or not a state’s governance is ‘good’. Good governance is a universal term used to describe the level of democracy, human rights and the forms of participatory government present within a country’s political system. At its core is the democratic system which is seen as the optimal system for allowing citizens maximum freedom of expression and participation in political processes. Wijkman (1998) claims that, â€Å"Good governance entails a vast set of democratic processes and institutions at every level of society, from the local council to regional, national and international institutions, that allow the voices of the people to be heard, conflicting interests to be peacefully resolved, and a forging of consensus towards greater social progress (p. 89).† Good governance became an important concept in the late 80s when it became tied to foreign aid programs, in addition to playing a crucial role in analyzing a country’s competitiveness for foreign investment (‘Weapons of Mass Upliftment’). While in the era of the Cold War â€Å"the flow of aid, in particular by major bilateral donors, was strongly influenced by strategic foreign policy interests†.

Health Economic summer 2010 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Health Economic summer 2010 - Essay Example Gordon et al. (2010) have researched the impact of such tests on smoking cessation programmes and chain smokers considering the costs involved. Their research focus has been to evaluate the impact of genetic test needs of routine smoking cessation programmes on chain smokers to measure the cost effectiveness of such initiatives. No quality methods can measure the impact of such health interventions except the cost valuation approaches used within cost-benefit analysis. Through the use of common currency result measures, researchers have estimated the cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) to measure the validity of running such tests. Already much work has been accomplished regarding cost per QALY estimates by clinicians and through smoking cessation services. General impression on carrying genetic tests has been positive for treatment interventions but QALY assessment is not enough to evaluate the complex effect due to psychosocial nature of the treatment for public and individu al health impact. There have been limitations in deriving results as one-size does not fit to all (Kelly et al. 2005). The cost-utility analysis (CUA)evaluations can measure health impacts by making comparisons in all fields of health that help in distribution of resources but are unable to map the non-health outcomes and opportunity cost of such programmes (Kelly et al. 2005). The cost-benefit analysis (CBA) appraises all costs and benefits through currency terms. In case the benefits are more than costs, it is suggested to spend more money on such programmes and in case the reverse is happening, further investment can be put on hold. The CBA approach is appealing and genuine but it is a complex mechanism to perform appraisal because monetary terms are involved for evaluating health and economic viability of conducting genetic tests. Economists’ evaluations not recommended previously can be attempted as has been done to measure the changed impact of taxation on drinking alco hol and smoking of cigarettes to further the research on it (Kelly et al. 2005). Gordon et al. (2010) have used two strategic models for a hypothetical cohort of chain smokers above 50 years of age. By selecting people who have both undergone and not taken the genetic test in a smoking cessation intervention, they have included nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and counseling. Data has been captured to be based on Markov model considering randomized examination and meta-evaluation of 12-month quit rates and long-term relapse rate for measuring risk of lung cancer to participants in the intervention. The model covered five health states. As per the two strategies, the smoking cessation programmes were run with and without genetic tests producing results that the people may not, probably enter into relapse and start smoking again as evaluated from the outcomes of 12 months (Gordon et al. 2010). A cohort of 50 years old men and women consuming 20 cigarettes a day entered the smoking c essation programme. Generally, such an initiative considers general practitioners’ advice, telephone counseling and NRT treatment given during 12 weeks. There have been in practice some pharmacological treatments with better smoking cessation rates but NRT is widely accepted as a means of quitting smoking. For genetic testing blood samples are collected to for