Public health policies

The global burden of diseases and injuries poses complex and pressing challenges. This study analyzed 369 diseases and injuries attributed to 84 risk factors globally from 1990 to 2019, projecting trends to 2040. In 2019, global risks caused 35 million deaths. Non-communicable diseases were responsible for 8.2 million deaths, primarily from air pollution (5.5 million). Cardiovascular disease from air pollution had a high age-standardized disability-adjusted life year rate (1,073.40). Communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases caused 1...

INTRODUCTION: Transforming medical research into real-world healthcare solutions is a complex endeavor that may benefit from the synergy between academic research, governmental support, and industry innovation. OBJECTIVES: In this article we delve into the framework of Translational Medical Research (TMR) in Brazil, elucidating the possible interplay between public universities and other pivotal stakeholders in the translational journey. METHODS: Our focal point is the Rapha® device, an innovative medical technology, as we explore its ethical and regulatory journey...

BACKGROUND: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) poses a global public health challenge. Evidence-based psychotherapies (EBPs) for PTSD reduce symptoms and improve functioning (Forbes et al., Guilford Press, 2020, 3). However, a number of barriers to access and engagement with these interventions prevail. As a result, the use of EBPs in community settings remains disappointingly low (Charney et al., Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 11, 2019, 793; Richards et al...

Ecosystems, biodiversity, and the human population all depend on a quality or uncontaminated environment. Quality environment provides people and wildlife access to nutrition, medications, dietary supplements, and other ecosystem services. The conservation of biodiversity-that is, species richness, abundance, heredities, and diversity-as well as the control of climate change are facilitated by such an uncontaminated environment. However, these advantages are jeopardized by newly emerging environmental chemical contaminants (EECCs) brought on by increased industrialization and urbanization...

The Georgia Department of Public Health developed the Safe Sleep Shelter Program to expand Georgia Safe to Sleep campaign efforts. The program focused on engaging with housing support agencies, homeless shelters, and domestic violence shelters. The program offered a menu of resources that agencies could choose from, including portable cribs for agency use and distribution to families, safe sleep education for staff, assistance with creating/updating agency safe sleep policies, and Baby Bundle Safe Sleep kits with education and resources for families...

INTRODUCTION: Hearing loss is a chronic health condition that rises sharply with age. The way people respond to and cope with health conditions is influenced by their capacity to perform illness and treatment-related work. The aim was to explore the cumulative burdens of living with hearing loss and the resources mobilised to ease the burdens. METHODS: A qualitative design was used with semi-structured interviews (online or in-person) with participants recruited through audiology services and nonclinical services, such as lip-reading classes...

BACKGROUND: During the 1997-2010 Labour government, several policies were implemented to narrow health inequalities as part of a national health inequalities strategy. Many of these policies are likely to have had a disproportionately large impact on people aged 65 and over. We aimed to understand the association between the health inequalities strategy period and inequalities in mortality at age 65-69. METHODS: We use population at risk and mortality data covering 1991-2019 to calculate mortality rate at age 65-69 at the Local Authority level...

Countries pursuing universal health coverage must set priorities to determine which benefits to add to a national health program, but the roles that organizations play are less understood. This article investigates the case of the formation of an organization with a mandate for choice of technology for public health interventions and priorities, the Health Technology Assessment India. First, we narrate a chronology of agenda setting and adoption of national policy for organizational formation drawing on historical documentation, publicly available literature, and lived experiences from coauthors...

The Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program (HITAP) was established in 2007. This article highlights 15 lessons from over 15 years of experience, noting five achievements about what HITAP has done well, five areas that it is currently working on, and five aims for work in the future. HITAP built capacity for HTA and linked research to policy and practice in Thailand. With collaborators from academic and policy spheres, HITAP has mobilized regional and global support, and developed global public goods to enhance the field of HTA...

BACKGROUND: In response to the harm caused by tobacco use worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) World Health Assembly actioned the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2005. To help countries meet their FCTC obligations, the WHO introduced in 2008 the MPOWER policy package and by 2020 the FCTC had been ratified by 182 parties. The package consists of six evidence-based demand reduction smoking cessation policies to assist countries to achieve best practice. We used published evaluation results and replicated the published model to estimate current policy achievement and demonstrate the impact and equity of the MPOWER policy package in reducing the global number of smokers and smoking-attributable deaths (SADs) between 2007 and 2020...

OBJECTIVES: Exposure to cigarette smoke introduces a large amount of nicotine into the bloodstream through the lungs. So, smoking can be a risk factor for many diseases. The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of active and passive cigarette smoke on the blood lipid profile and dyslipidemia. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed on 5052 individuals who participated in the recruitment phase of the Shahedieh cohort study. A logistic regression model was used to investigate the relationship between smoking exposure status and lipid profiles...

BACKGROUND: In Thailand, the national health care system and nationwide standard treatment protocols have evolved over time, potentially influencing the trends in the incidence and survival rates of childhood cancers. However, further investigations are required to comprehensively study these trends in Khon Kaen, Thailand. METHODS: Childhood cancer patients aged 0-14 years (n = 541) who were diagnosed with one of the five most common cancers between 2000 and 2019 from the population-based Khon Kaen Cancer Registry were enrolled...

Bi-stable stimuli evoke two distinct perceptual interpretations that alternate and compete for dominance. Bi-stable perception is thought to be driven at least in part by mutual suppression between distinct neural populations that represent each percept. Abnormal visual perception has been observed among people with psychotic psychopathology (PwPP), and there is evidence to suggest that these visual deficits may depend on impaired neural suppression in the visual cortex. However, it is not yet clear whether bi-stable visual perception is abnormal among PwPP...

Lithium is an effective augmenting agent for depressed patients with inadequate response to standard antidepressant therapy, but numerous adverse effects limit its use. We previously reported that a lithium-mimetic agent, ebselen, promoted a positive emotional bias-an indicator of potential antidepressant activity in healthy participants. We therefore aimed to investigate the effects of short-term ebselen treatment on emotional processing and brain neurochemistry in depressed patients with inadequate response to standard antidepressants...

OBJECTIVE: Providing a general overview of the European Union's health workforce mobility under the challenges facing health systems regarding the supply of health workers. METHOD: We use a descriptive method, based on the analysis of secondary data, qualitative and quantitative, concerning the European Semester from the European Union, complemented with statistical data from both the Union and some international organisations. RESULTS: The mobility of health professionals in the Union, associated to strong reliance on recruiting abroad and shortages due to emigration, was identified as a challenge in the European Semester process in a significant number of times during 2017-2023...

Research, policy, and donor interest in health systems in conflict environments has grown rapidly in recent years. The 2018-20 Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo is a critical case of healthcare militarization. The first-ever such outbreak in an active conflict zone, it grew notorious for violence against response teams, with attacks aggravating the spread of disease. However, while medical responders observed physical attacks, the causes of the violence remained largely unknown. Drawing on interviews and participant observation, we contribute civilian vantages of the way health intervention grew militarized, or associated with conflict...

BACKGROUND: Research indicates that the effectiveness of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) physical distancing mandates is influenced by several individual factors, including health literacy; internal health locus of control (IHLOC), the belief that physical distancing can reduce COVID-19 risk; social norms; self-efficacy; and perceptions of the benefits and barriers associated with distancing. However, further investigation is needed to understand the links between these factors and compliance intentions...

BACKGROUND: Current antiretroviral therapies have increased the life expectancy of people living with HIV (PLHIV). There is, however, limited evidence regarding the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and living conditions of older people living with HIV (OPLHIV) in Spain. METHODS: We implemented a self-administered online questionnaire to identify sex differences in HRQoL and poverty risk among Spanish OPLHIV (PLHIV ≥50 years). Participants were contacted through non-governmental organisations...

BACKGROUND: Human resources for health (HRH) play a pivotal role in effective health system operation, yet various impediments challenge sustainable development. This scoping review aimed to explore these challenges and potential solutions in aligning the health workforce to meet the evolving healthcare needs of the Moroccan population. METHODS: We conducted a scoping review searching PubMed, Science Direct, Cairn and Google Scholar for relevant articles published between 2014 and 2023...

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the prevailing driver seatbelt compliance at the Madina Zongo junction in Accra, Ghana. METHODS: An unobtrusive observational survey was conducted from 6 to 8 am and 5 to 7 pm on weekdays at randomly designated locations near the junction. A total of 3,054 vehicles were observed throughout the observation period. The data collected were analyzed with SPSS version 26. Cross-tabulations and Pearson's Chi-square test were employed for thorough analysis...