Collectively achieving primary health care and educational goals through school-based platforms: financing solutions for intersectoral collaboration.

Despite abundant evidence demonstrating that improvements to health and education are positively correlated, and the importance of school-based platforms to achieve shared impacts, collaboration between ministries of health and education remains limited across low- and middle-income countries. Enhancing this collaboration is essential to realize mutually beneficial results, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic, which severely impacted health and education outcomes globally and highlighted the importance of resilient, domestically funded systems for delivering key social services including primary health care and education. We argue that the lack of an effective joint financing mechanism has hindered adoption of collaborative multisectoral approaches such as the WHO/UNESCO's Health Promoting Schools (HPS) model.

Getting ready for reduced donor dependency: the co-financing of family planning commodities.

Family planning (FP) programmes in low and lower-middle income countries are confronting the dual impact of reduced external donor commitments and stagnant or reduced domestic financing, worsened by economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Co-financing-a donor-government agreement to jointly fund aspects of a programme, with transition towards the government assuming increasing responsibility for total cost-can be a powerful tool to help build national ownership, fiscal sustainability and programme visibility. Using Gavi's successful co-financing model as reference, the current paper draws out a set of key considerations for developing policies on co-financing of FP commodities in resource-poor settings.

Increasing incidence of IV-drug use associated endocarditis in southern West Virginia and potential economic impact.

Background: The opioid crisis has disproportionally affected Appalachia. One of the potentially lethal and costly complications associated with IV drug use is infective endocarditis (IE). The goal of this study was to assess the trend and costs of substance abuse associated IE admissions in Southern West Virginia.

Integrating emergency risk communication (ERC) into the public health system response: Systematic review of literature to aid formulation of the 2017 WHO Guideline for ERC policy and practice.

The World Health Organization (WHO) commissioned a systematic review of literature to facilitate evidence syntheses for the development of emergency risk communication (ERC) guidelines for its member states. The goal of this review was to integrate ERC best practices into governmental and non-governmental health systems for all emergencies of public health concern, by addressing three questions: (1) to identify best practices for the integration of ERC into national and international public health preparedness; (2) to identify mechanisms to establish effective intra-agency, inter-agency, and/or cross-jurisdictional information sharing; and (3) to identify methods to coordinate risk communication activities between responding agencies across organizations and levels of response. The review covered scientific and grey literature publications between January 2003 and February 2016, and searches were conducted in 17 English language electronic libraries besides Chinese, Portuguese and Spanish language databases.

Persistent Distress after Water Contamination.

Background: A chemical spill contaminated the public water supply of Charleston, West Virginia in January 2014 for at least a week. Psychological distress is common after disasters.

Methods: We surveyed the exposed population to assess psychological distress during and three months after the incident.

Personal vis-a-vis social responsibility for disparities in health status: An issue of justice.

Health inequities are disparities which can be avoided through rational actions on the part of policymakers. Such inequalities are unnecessary and unjust and may exist between and within nations, societies, and population groups. Social determinants such as wealth, income, occupation, education, gender, and racial/ethnic groups are the principal drivers of this inequality since they determine the health risks and preventive behaviors, access to, and affordability of health care.

Observational studies and the difficult quest for causality: lessons from vaccine effectiveness and impact studies.

Although randomized placebo-controlled trials (RCT) are critical to establish efficacy of vaccines at the time of licensure, important remaining questions about vaccine effectiveness (VE)-used here to include individual-level measures and population-wide impact of vaccine programmes-can only be answered once the vaccine is in use, from observational studies. However, such studies are inherently at risk for bias. Using a causal framework and illustrating with examples, we review newer approaches to detecting and avoiding confounding and selection bias in three major classes of observational study design: cohort, case-control and ecological studies.

Synbiotics for Prevention and Treatment of Atopic Dermatitis: A Meta-analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials.

Importance: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a highly prevalent condition that may be associated with an altered gastrointestinal microbiota that promotes an immune environment more susceptible to allergic disease. Synbiotics, a mixture of prebiotics and probiotics, have been used for the prevention and treatment of AD.

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of synbiotics for primary prevention and treatment of AD.

Comparison of two contraceptive pills containing drospirenone and 20 μg or 30 μg ethinyl estradiol for polycystic ovary syndrome.

Objective: To compare the effects of 30 μg and 20 μg ethinyl estradiol (EE) among women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Methods: In a randomized study, patients with PCOS, a history of six or fewer menstrual cycles in the previous 12 months, and abnormal body hair growth were enrolled at a center in Kolkata, India, between May 1, 2012, and January 31, 2014. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) using a computer-generated randomization table to receive an oral contraceptive pill containing 3mg drospirenone and either 30 μg EE or 20 μg EE.

Environmental arsenic toxicity in West Bengal, India: A brief policy review.

High-level arsenic contamination of drinking water in West Bengal (WB), India is a grave public health concern, with 26 million people remaining affected. Two decades of research has provided detailed information on multiple aspects of exposure assessment and risk characterization. However, policy paralysis due to lack of finances and lack of any administrative coordination between the Central and State Governments has hampered the implementation of long-term solutions.

Studying Policy Changes in Disaster Management in India: A Tale of Two Cyclones.

Objective: The mainstay of India's disaster management policy until the early 2000s had been relief and rescue operations. The Odisha Super Cyclone (1999) with 10,000 deaths and US $3 billion economic damage provided a rude awakening. Recognizing the importance of preemptive preparedness, the government initiated systematic steps to implement a national framework interlinking economic, environmental, and overall developmental issues for efficient response to and mitigation of disasters.

The Use of Social Media by State Health Departments in the US: Analyzing Health Communication Through Facebook.

The use of social media as a powerful health communication tool is an area of current research interest. Our objective was to describe use of Facebook by State Health Departments (SHDs) in US, and their relationship with CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data. Facebook pages of 34 SHDs were studied over a 200 day period, coding 2597 posts into 19 broad health communication categories.

Correction: Self-Reported Household Impacts of Large-Scale Chemical Contamination of the Public Water Supply, Charleston, West Virginia, USA.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Self-reported household impacts of large-scale chemical contamination of the public water supply, Charleston, West Virginia, USA.

A January 2014 industrial accident contaminated the public water supply of approximately 300,000 homes in and near Charleston, West Virginia (USA) with low levels of a strongly-smelling substance consisting principally of 4-methylcyclohexane methanol (MCHM). The ensuing state of emergency closed schools and businesses. Hundreds of people sought medical care for symptoms they related to the incident.

Social determinants of good hand-washing practice (GHP) among adolescents in a rural Indian community.

A cross-sectional study was conducted in 5 randomly selected villages to assess prevalence of good hand-washing practice (GHP) among adolescents, and describe the social determinants. The prevalence of adolescent GHP was 32.1% (95% CI = 27.

Comparative study of the therapeutic effects of oral contraceptive pills containing desogestrel, cyproterone acetate, and drospirenone in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Objective: To compare the effects of oral contraceptive pills containing desogestrel, cyproterone acetate, and drospirenone, in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), after 6 and 12 months of therapy.

Design: Double-blind randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Gynecologic clinic of the first author.

Exploring the quality of life (QOL) in the Indian software industry: a public health viewpoint.

Objectives: Our objectives were to describe the QOL and its determinants among software professionals of Kolkata, and to compare the same according to information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services (ITeS) sub-sectors.

Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among software professionals of Kolkata applying a two-stage stratified random sampling technique. The WHO QOL BREF questionnaire was administered along with a list of pertinent variables.

Prevalence and risk of metabolic syndrome in adolescent Indian girls with polycystic ovary syndrome using the 2009 'joint interim criteria'.

Aim: Our objective was to study the prevalence and risk of metabolic syndrome (MS) among adolescent Indian girls with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), compared to those without, as per the recent 'joint interim statement' criteria. We also aimed to compare the selected study parameters across PCOS adolescents with and without MS.

Material & Methods: Cross-sectional data of 96 adolescent girls were retrospectively analyzed applying the 2009 'joint interim criteria' for MS.

Therapeutic effects of nandrolone and testosterone in adult male HIV patients with AIDS wasting syndrome (AWS): a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Purpose: We aimed to compare therapeutic effects of intramuscular (IM) nandrolone decanoate and IM testosterone enanthate in male HIV patients with AIDS wasting syndrome (AWS) with placebo control.

Methods: In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 12-week trial, 104 patients with AWS who satisfied our inclusion criteria were randomly allotted in a 2:2:1 ratio to the 3 intervention groups: nandrolone, testosterone, and placebo. We administered 150 mg nandrolone and 250 mg testosterone (both IM, biweekly).

Effects of transdermal estradiol gel and oral tibolone on health-related quality of life after surgical menopause.

Objective: To study the effects of 6 months of treatment with transdermal estradiol gel versus oral tibolone on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) after surgical menopause.

Methods: In a randomized single-blind trial, Indian women received either oral tibolone tablets (2.5 mg) or transdermal estradiol gel (0.

A comparison of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) after natural and surgical menopause.

Objective: To compare the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of women at surgical menopause with that of women at natural menopause, utilizing the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS-II).

Study Design: An institution-based cross-sectional study design was used, with 32 participants in each of two groups: women who had undergone surgical menopause of 9-12 months previously; and women who were more than 40 years of age and had had oligomenorrhoea for at least 1 year. The MRS-II was used to assess HRQOL.

Intensive phase non-compliance to anti tubercular treatment in patients with HIV-TB coinfection: a hospital-based cross-sectional study.

We aimed to study the prevalence and determinants of non compliance to intensive phase anti tubercular treatment (ATT) in 111 HIV-TB coinfection patients, attending the APEX Referral Center for HIV/AIDS at Medical College, Kolkata with a specially-designed, semi-structured, pre-tested questionnaire. Compliance was defined as taking ≥95% of the total scheduled doses of anti-TB medicines during the intensive phase. Data was collected on socio-demographic parameters, disease information, patient's knowledge and barriers to treatment.

Prevalence and risk of depressive disorders in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

This comparative cross-sectional study found that women with polycystic ovary syndrome are at a significantly higher risk of depression compared with non-PCOS women. The study fails to find enough evidence to explain the high prevalence of depression among PCOS patients by the selected sociodemographic, clinical, and biochemical parameters.