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OBJECTIVE: Available estimates on how much it costs to provide routine immunization services are out-dated. This study attempts to address gaps in evidence by evaluating the total economic and unit costs of delivering routine immunization (RI) services in Moldova as part of a multi-country study on the costs and financing of routine immunization (EPIC). METHODS: This cross-sectional study is based on a multistage stratified random sample of fifty primary health care facilities. Data on inputs, prices, and outputs were collected retrospectively for 2011 and analyzed using an ingredient-based costing approach in Excel and SPSS. RESULTS: The average total annual facility cost for RI was $11,943 ranging from $565 to $112,548 and labor cost was the main driver of routine immunization costs contributing 65%, followed by capital costs - 16.3% and the cost of vaccines and injection supplies accounting for 9%. The average cost per dose was $18.3, the cost per child was $316.6 and the cost per fully immunized child was $332.3. The results show considerable variation in the costs of routine immunization services across facility type and depending on a facility scale i.e. annual doses administered. CONCLUSIONS: The study shows that the cost of fully immunizing a child in a middle-income country is much higher than previous estimates. These results will be used by the government for better planning and financing of routine immunization services, leading to greater sustainability.

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Objetivos: Analizar la estructura del mercado de servicios de salud de la Provincia de Córdoba durante el período 2003-2008, considerando las condiciones socio-económico-sanitarias locales, marco institucional, la historia de los actores más relevantes del sector, y las conductas adquiridas como respuesta a la estrategia combinada de tales actores. Métodos: Revisión de literatura, mapa de actores, encuestas de campo a establecimientos de segundo y tercer nivel en los sectores públicos y privados de los departamentos de Ciudad de Córdoba, Calamuchita y Tercero Arriba. Resultados: Córdoba aparece como un caso de estructura de mercado de competencia monopolística, con pocos competidores por especialidad y alta presencia de instituciones líderes. Conclusiones: La diferenciación vertical de producto se constituye en la estrategia elegida por los jugadores donde la infraestructura es el primer criterio para definir la competencia, seguido por la tecnología, ambos indicadores de calidad tanto para pacientes como de financiadores

Objectives: To analyze the market structure of healthcare services in the province of Cordoba for the period 2003-2008, considering socio-economic and local health conditions, institutional framework, history of most relevant actors, and behaviors acquired as a response to their combined strategies. Methods: Literature review, stakeholder analysis and field surveys of public and private providers at second and third level of care for the departments of the City of Córdoba, Calamuchita and Tercero Arriba. Results: Cordoba appears as a case of monopolistic competition, with few competitors, high presence of leading institutions and vertical product differentiation as the strategy chosen by the players. Conclusions: Infrastructure is the first criterion to define competition, followed by technology, for both indicators of perceived or actual quality of both patients and financiers

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Objetivos: Analizar la estructura del mercado de servicios de salud de la Provincia de Córdoba durante el período 2003-2008, considerando las condiciones socio-económico-sanitarias locales, marco institucional, la historia de los actores más relevantes del sector, y las conductas adquiridas como respuesta a la estrategia combinada de tales actores. Métodos: Revisión de literatura, mapa de actores, encuestas de campo a establecimientos de segundo y tercer nivel en los sectores públicos y privados de los departamentos de Ciudad de Córdoba, Calamuchita y Tercero Arriba. Resultados: Córdoba aparece como un caso de estructura de mercado de competencia monopolística, con pocos competidores por especialidad y alta presencia de instituciones líderes. Conclusiones: La diferenciación vertical de producto se constituye en la estrategia elegida por los jugadores donde la infraestructura es el primer criterio para definir la competencia, seguido por la tecnología, ambos indicadores de calidad tanto para pacientes como de financiadores(AU)

Objectives: To analyze the market structure of healthcare services in the province of Cordoba for the period 2003-2008, considering socio-economic and local health conditions, institutional framework, history of most relevant actors, and behaviors acquired as a response to their combined strategies. Methods: Literature review, stakeholder analysis and field surveys of public and private providers at second and third level of care for the departments of the City of Córdoba, Calamuchita and Tercero Arriba. Results: Cordoba appears as a case of monopolistic competition, with few competitors, high presence of leading institutions and vertical product differentiation as the strategy chosen by the players. Conclusions: Infrastructure is the first criterion to define competition, followed by technology, for both indicators of perceived or actual quality of both patients and financiers(AU)

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As part of a project aimed at developing an adolescent health education program, 100 subjects aged 12-13 and 16-17 years were studied to determine the possible relationship between self-esteem and value of health and positive health behavior. Self-esteem was measured with the Gordon Personal Profile (Gordon, 1978), and value of health with Costa et al.'s (Costa, Jessor, & Donovan, 1989) Value of Health Scale. Both factors were found to be significantly correlated with certain dimensions of health behavior in both groups of adolescents.

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