SCIENTIFIC-RESEARCH IN BIOMEDICINE AND HE ALTH-SCIENCES IN ANDALUSIA

Objectives. To evaluate the scientific output in Biomedicine and Healt h Sciences in Andalusia in the context of the published works on the n ational scientific output in the last few years. Material. Descriptive study with seven different information sources: a) final Report of th e Experts Committee on Documentation from the Consejeria de Salud de l a Junta de Andalucia (IME: Indice Medico Espanol) suplemento internaci onal: 1980-1994; b) MEDLINE (Comprehensive Medline Ebsco, 1987-1993); c) EMBASE (Excerpta Medica; Elsevier Science Publisher) (1986-1994); d ) IME, mechanized version: 1974-1993; Anales del FIS (1989-1993); e) M emoria REUNI: 1993-1994, and f) call for and resolution of research pr ojects from the Consejeria de Salud de la Junta de Andalucia (1994). R esults and conclusions. Scientific output in health sciences in Andalu sia has gown parallel with the national output from other communities. Nevertheless, in absolute terms this output is scant and the big diff erence compared with Catalonia and Madrid -the two Autonomous Communit ies with the largest scientific output- remains unchanged, Grenada is the Andalusian province with the largest output, with Seville, Cordoba and Malaga ranking next. The output in the other Andalusian provinces is very small, The output is apparently independent from the number o f inhabitants or the historic presence of a Medicine School, In contra st with Catalonia and Madrid, where the largest output originates in h ospitals, the largest output in Andalusia comes from Universities; thi s fact suggests relevant differences in scientific sub-structure, This suggestion is also endorsed by the lower competition of Andalusia to obtain resources and the lower number of research scholarships, With t hese results in mind a scientific policy of positive discrimination is proposed which allows the Andalusian Autonomous Community to reach th e standard of scientific output in biomedicine and health sciences acc ording to its socioeconomic status.