There are many calls for improved integration between
primary care and public health, but also sizeable obstacles to achieving
this, such as differences in the ways the two sectors are organised and
financed, as well as differences in education, culture and approach.
This article, based on a new... Observatory policy brief, describes the
types of interventions that come into consideration, the principles
that should be followed, and the factors that can facilitate successful
collaboration. While there is no universal template that can be followed
by all countries, improved integration promises to yield substantial
benefits to patients and wider populations.
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Healthcare 2020, 8(1), 26; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare8010026
The current article is an integrative and analytical literature review on the concept and meaning of empathy in health and social care professionals. Empathy, i.e., the ability to understand the perso...nal experience of the patient without bonding with them, constitutes an important communication skill for a health professional, one that includes three dimensions: the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral. It has been proven that health professionals with high levels of empathy operate more efficiently as to the fulfillment of their role in eliciting therapeutic change.The empathetic professional comprehends the needs of the health care users, as the latter feel safe to express the thoughts and problems that concern them. Although the importance of empathy is undeniable, a significantly high percentage of health professionals seem to find it difficult to adopt a model of empathetic communication in their everyday practice. Some of the factors that negatively influence the development of empathy are the high number of patients that professionals have to manage, the lack of adequate time, the focus on therapy within the existing academic culture, but also the lack of education in empathy. Developing empathetic skills should not only be the underlying objective in the teaching process of health and social care undergraduate students, but also the subject of the lifelong and continuous education of professionals
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BMJ 2020; 370 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m3379
Rapid Recommendation and visual graph. This is the fifth version (update 4) of the living guideline (BMJ 2020;370:m3379). When citing this article, please consider adding the update number and date of access for clarity. The publication of the RE...COVERY and REMAP-CAP randomised controlled trials triggered this guideline update, resulting in a strong recommendation for interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor blockers (tocilizumab or sarilumab) in patients with severe or critical covid-19.
Prior recommendations: (a) A recommendation not to use ivermectin in patients with covid-19, regardless of disease severity, except in the context of a clinical trial; (b) a strong recommendation against the use of hydroxychloroquine in patients with covid-19, regardless of disease severity; (c) a strong recommendation against the use of lopinavir-ritonavir in patients with covid-19, regardless of disease severity; (d) a strong recommendation for systemic corticosteroids in patients with severe and critical covid-19; (e) a conditional recommendation against systemic corticosteroids in patients with non-severe covid-19; and (f) a conditional recommendation against remdesivir in hospitalised patients with covid-19.
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Some observers have described the coronavirus pandemic as an 'Anthropocene disease,' thereby highlighting its connection with this new ecological era that is characterised by the considerable pressure human activities are exerting on ecosystems and the consequences on public health, society and the ...environment. This article focuses on the recent emergence of the 'Planetary Health' paradigm. Launched by the Rockefeller Foundation and the medical journal The Lancet, Planetary Health is one of the most ambitious attempts in recent years to systematize global health in the Anthropocene. While recognising the interest and necessity of reflecting on human health and the health of the planet, this article aims to show, however, that the Planetary Health paradigm is problematic and aporetic for two reasons. First, because it is based on a scientistic and depoliticised conception of the Anthropocene, which obscures capitalism's responsibility for the contemporary global and, especially, ecological crisis. Second, because this conception leads to a promotion of solutions that are essentially based on the financialization and technoscientific management of the living world - precisely the underlying cause of the degradation of ecosystems and living conditions that created the Anthropocene in the first place. A different kind of 'planetary health' remains possible and desirable.
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Deuxième d’une série consacrée à la prévention de la thrombose associée au cancer (Cancer-Associated Thrombosis, ou CAT en anglais), le présent article a pour but d’améliorer l’enseignement aux patients et leur état de santé. Le premier article, intitulé « Importance de la thromboe...mbolie veineuse liée au cancer », expliquait la pathologie ainsi que les lacunes cernées dans les connaissances des patients atteints de cancer (Sardo, Bayadinova, Jenkins et Penton, 2021). Il mettait en lumière le fait que ces patients reçoivent très peu d’information sur le risque de thromboembolie veineuse (TEV). Les stratégies proposées dans le présent article visent à sensibiliser les patients atteints de cancer à la TEV, à fournir des outils d’enseignement aux patients et, en fin de compte, à réduire le fardeau de la thrombose associée au cancer.
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Current Tropical Medicine Reports (2018) 5:247–256 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40475-018-0166-2 .Purpose of the Review Buruli ulcer (BU) is a necrotizing and disabling cutaneous disease caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans, one of the skin-related neglected tropical diseases (skin NTDs). This article aim...s to review the current knowledge of this disease and challenges ahead.
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Lymphatic filariasis (LF), a neglected tropical disease, is targeted for global elimination as a public health problem. This article reviews the history of LF control and elimination activities in the countries of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) over the last... 2 decades. In 2000, the estimated at-risk population in EMR countries was 12.6 million people, accounting for approximately 1% of the global disease burden. Of the 22 EMR countries, 3 countries (Egypt, Sudan and Yemen) were LF endemic and the disease was suspected in 4 other countries (Djibouti, Oman, Somalia and Saudi Arabia). After almost 2 decades of implementing sustained control and prevention measures, Egypt and Yemen were successfully validated by the WHO as having achieved the elimination criteria in 2017 and 2019, respectively. In 2018, Sudan completed mapping of LF, reaching 26.2% geographical coverage where mass drug administration (MDA) is required and is scaling-up MDA. Extensive epidemiological assessment indicated the absence of LF transmission in the four suspected countries and no MDA required. Challenges faced during the elimination and post-elimination phases are described and discussed
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Biosensors and Bioelectronics: X Volume 10, May 2022, 100100; This article provides an overview of dengue disease, the working principles, the significance of the various conventional and biosensor detection strategies, the benefits and problematic conditions of the reported methods. The present hu...rdles of transferring laboratory research into real-world technological implementations and the future possibilities for detecting devices for viral diagnosis are highlighted in this study.
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Chagas disease, or American trypanosomiasis, is a condition that causes gradual organ damage. Without treatment, it can be fatal.
This article explains where the T. cruzi parasite is most common and how it can spread. It also outlines the symptoms of Chagas disease and the treatment options avail...able.
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The control of schistosomiasis was a high priority in China soon after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, and schistosomiasis japonica was largely brought under control through 7 decades of effort. However, great challenges still exist to completely eliminate schistosomiasis f...rom the country by 2030 due to climate change, natural disasters, socioeconomic development, environmental protection, etc. The progress of the national schistosomiasis control program and the experience
accumulated over past several decades in China is reviewed in this article, and solutions to achieve the elimination of schistosomiasis through a One Health
approach are explored, which addresses complex health issues from a holistic perspective of human-animal-environment interaction.
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To eliminate lymphatic filariasis (LF) by 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a campaign against the disease. Since the launch in 2000, significant progress has been made to achieve this ambitious goal. In this article we review the progress and status of the LF programme in Afric...a through the WHO neglected
tropical diseases preventive chemotherapy databank, the Expanded Special Project for Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases (ESPEN) portal and other publications. In the African Region there are 35 countries endemic for LF. The Gambia was reclassified as not requiring preventive chemotherapy in 2015, while Togo and Malawi eliminated LF as a public health problem in 2017 and 2020, respectively. Cameroon discontinued mass drug administration (MDA) and transitioned to post-MDA surveillance to validate elimination. The trajectory of coverage continues to accelerate; treatment coverage increased from 0.1% in 2000 to 62.1% in 2018. Geographical coverage has also significantly increased, from 62.7% in 2015 to 78.5% in 2018. In 2019, 23 of 31 countries requiring MDA achieved 100% geographic coverage. Although much remains to be done, morbidity management and disability prevention services have steadily increased in recent years. Vector control interventions conducted by other programmes, particularly malaria vector control, have had a profound effect in stopping transmission in some endemic countries in the region. In conclusion, significant progress has been made in the LF programme
in the region while we identify the key remaining challenges in achieving an Africa free of LF.
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Background
Chronic congestive heart failure is a common condition that, if untreated, markedly impairs the quality of life and is associated with a high risk of recurrent hospitalization and death.
Methods
This review is based on articles retrieved by a selective search in PubMed, as well as on r...elevant guidelines.
Results
Evidence-based treatment options are available only for congestive heart failure with a low ejection fraction. Pharmacotherapy is based on neurohumoral inhibition of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and the adrenergic system. The prognosis of patients with this condition has been further improved recently through the introduction of combined angiotensin receptor antagonists and neprilysin inhibitors. Modern implantable devices are a further component of treatment. Implantable defibrillators and special pacemakers for cardiac resynchronization are well established; the utility of alternative devices (baroreflex modulation or cardiac contractility modulation) needs to be investigated in further studies. It was recently shown that the catheter-based treatment of secondary mitral regurgitation with a MitraClip improves the outcome of selected patients.
Conclusion
The treatment of chronic systolic heart failure as recommended in the relevant guidelines, with drugs and implanted devices if indicated, can significantly improve the clinical outcome.
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Donor funding for HIV programs has increased rapidly over the past decade, raising questions about whether other health services in recipient-country health systems are being crowded out or strengthened. This article--an investigation of the impacts of increased HIV donor funding on non-HIV health s...ervices in sub-Saharan Africa during 2003-10--provides evidence of both effects.
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Diabetes is one of the leading causes of death globally. India is home to the second-largest population suffering from diabetes. This underscores the need to build capacity of primary care physicians (PCPs) for better disease management. This narrative review article aims to describe the emergence o...f diabetes education and capacity-building programs for PCPs and its current situation in India. The review highlighted that major emphasis on diabetes was given only when the WHO estimated that morbidity and mortality due to diabetes would increase to 35% in India. As a result, National Diabetes Control Program was launched in 1987. Yet, very little attention was paid to diabetology in under-graduation. In the last decade, few public and private institutions have developed diabetes related capacity-building programs for PCPs independently or in collaborations. These programs include 16 fellowships, 4 diplomas, 12 certificate programs, and 6 other diabetes training programs, which have their own pros and cons. As medical science is changing rapidly, PCPs need to upgrade their skills and knowledge regularly to manage NCDs such as diabetes more effectively and efficiently. This can be possible only if scientific, evidence-based, and quality-oriented capacity-building programs are provided to the healthcare workforce.
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This review examines high-quality research evidence that synthesises the efects of extreme heat on human health in tropical
Africa. Web of Science (WoS) was used to identify research articles on the efects extreme heat, humidity, Wet-bulb Globe
Temperature (WBGT), apparent temperature, wind, Heat ...Index, Humidex, Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI), heatwave, high temperature and hot climate on human health, human comfort, heat stress, heat rashes, and heat-related morbidity
and mortality
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Asthma is the most common chronic illness of childhood. The prevalence is rising and the mortality and morbidity from asthma are unacceptably high in South Africa. This article emphasizes the importance to make a correct diagnosis based, most importantly, on the clinical history and supported by inv...estigations. Further, the appropriate drug and device must be chosen to achieve good asthma control. It explains that patients must be followed up regularly and their asthma control must be assessed so that the treatment can then be adjusted according to the level of control. Additionally, Asthma education and adherence are important components of management of the condition.
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Severe asthma is associated with high morbidity, mortality, and health care utilization, but its burden in Africa is unknown. This article wants to determine the burden (prevalence,
mortality, and activity and work impairment) of severe asthma in 3 countries in East Africa: Uganda, Kenya, and Ethio...pia using the American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society case definition of severe asthma.
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Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry Volume 28, Issue Pages 3-14
The Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24th February 2022 has prompted this article to summarise some of the salient mental health issues experienced by young asylum seekers and refugees focussing on resettlement countries, drawing on... the substantial literature, for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Practitioners. Firstly, the various UNHCR categories of persons affected by war and persecution and statistics are described. By July 2022, over 100 million people globally were of concern to UNHCR, a number increased by the many millions of refugees fleeing Ukraine to neighbouring countries. Selected findings on the psychiatric epidemiology of young refugees are summarised, and some principles of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service delivery and treatments are outlined. The research on Ukrainian refugees’ mental health is limited and this is an area that requires further investigation alongside active attempts to meet their mental health needs.
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Special CollectionEbola Virus
Given the current outbreak, unprecedented in terms of number of people killed and rapid geographic spread, Science and Science Translational Medicine have made this collection of ...research and news articles on the viral disease freely available to researchers and the general public.
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The Emergency Access Initiative (EAI) has been activated in support of medical efforts related to the Ebola Outbreak in West Africa. The Emergency Access Initiative is a col-
laborative partnership between the U.S. National Library of Medicine and participating publishers to provide free access to ...full text articles from over 650 biomedical serial Titles and over 4,000 reference books and online databases to healthcare professionals and libraries affected by disasters. The free access period is now to December 12, 2014
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