Safety and effectiveness of the anti-amyloid monoclonal antibody (mAb) drug lecanemab for early Alzheimer's disease: The pharmacovigilance perspective.

The development of humanized IgG1 anti-amyloid monoclonal antibodies, such as lecanemab, provides a promising novel treatment pathway with potential disease-modifying effects for patients with early Alzheimer's disease (AD). Lecanemab, which gained marketing approval by the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) in July 2023, has since been approved in multiple countries, including the United Kingdom (UK). The decision by the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to approve lecanemab in August 2024 followed similar regulatory decisions in the US and Japan.

Different models of pharmaceutical services and care in primary healthcare clinics in the Eastern Cape, South Africa: Challenges and opportunities for pharmacy practice.

Background: Primary health care (PHC) re-engineering forms a crucial part of South Africa's National Health Insurance (NHI), with pharmaceutical services and care being crucial to treatment outcomes. However, owing to a shortage of pharmacists within PHC clinics, task-shifting of the dispensing process to pharmacist's assistants and nurses is common practice. The implications of this task-shifting process on the provision of pharmaceutical services and care remains largely unstudied.

Balanced nutrition and hand hygiene for children in South Africa.

Globally, ∼5.9 million children under the age of 5 years died in 2015, with the challenges of child mortality and morbidity being common in developing countries. Many of these deaths are preventable and poor nutritional and hygienic practices contribute greatly to these rates.

Gender and leadership for health literacy to combat the epidemic rise of noncommunicable diseases.

Until recently, the noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) epidemic has been considered only a significant burden to men in high-income countries. However, latest figures indicate that half of all NCD-related deaths affect women, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), with global responses to the NCD epidemic overlooking the significance of women and girls in their approaches and programs. This case study highlights the burden of disease challenging South Africa that disproportionately affects women in the country and suggests that the country, along with other LMICs internationally, requires a shift in the gender-based leadership of health literacy and self-empowerment.