Publications by authors named "Damme W"

Aim: Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) has emerged as a global public health concern. People with the most advanced stage of CKD require renal replacement therapies, either dialysis (the focus of this study) or a kidney transplant. Research on CKD has primarily focused on its clinical, epidemiological, and public health aspects.

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Background: We report a successful wound treatment of a chronic ulcer with bone exposure using a somehow forgotten technique of creating burr holes into the bone. Most clinics would promote flap surgery to cover wounds with bone exposure, however, in some cases invasive surgery is not mandatory. We bring up an alternative treatment for such cases.

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Introduction: The SCUBY project aimed to provide knowledge on the scaling-up of an Integrated Care Package (ICP) for type 2 diabetes and hypertension across three distinct health systems (Cambodia, Slovenia, and Belgium). Here, we analyse the different elements of the country-specific scale-up roadmaps to identify similarities and differences, and share lessons learned.

Methods: Thematic analysis was used to derive crucial roadmap elements from key SCUBY documents (n = 20), including policy briefs, interim reports, research outputs, and consortium meeting notes.

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Introduction: With the rising prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D), three care initiatives for T2D are being scaled-up in Cambodia to improve availability and accessibility of integrated care for T2D: (1) , (2) , and (3) . This case study aims to share learnings from an in-depth analysis of the level of integrated care implementation in these care initiatives for T2D in Cambodia.

Description: Twenty public health facilities in five operational districts were assessed on six integrated care components: (1) early detection and diagnosis, (2) treatment in primary care services, (3) health education, (4) self-management support, (5) structured collaboration, and (6) organisation of care.

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Article Synopsis
  • The SCUBY project analyzes the challenges and facilitators of scaling integrated care (IC) in Cambodia, Slovenia, and Belgium using a multi-case study approach with various data collection methods.
  • Key barriers identified across all three countries include issues with governance, workforce shortages, inadequate financing, and fragmented information systems.
  • The study suggests that responding to health workforce challenges through task shifting, along with a focus on the unique contexts of each country's health system, could enhance the scaling of integrated care.
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  • Achieving universal health coverage (UHC) in low-income countries, like Burkina Faso, faces challenges due to uncertainties; this study explores how policy learning can influence health financing outcomes.
  • The research employed qualitative methods to assess the presence and impact of different modes of policy learning, finding that while reflective learning was present, other crucial types were lacking, which hindered progress.
  • Despite initial setbacks in implementing strategic health purchasing, effective facilitation and conducive contexts allowed for some advancements, highlighting the need for comprehensive learning approaches in health policy efforts.
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  • This study examines the seroprevalence of COVID-19 antibodies among healthcare workers and their households in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, highlighting significant changes over time.
  • The researchers collected data from 1,305 individuals across six rounds (July 2020-January 2022), revealing a baseline seroprevalence of 17.3% among healthcare workers and 7.8% among household members, with fluctuations from 9% to 62.1%.
  • Factors influencing seropositivity included age, gender, and being a healthcare worker, while the data suggested low transmission of COVID-19 from healthcare workers to their households.
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Global cholera guidelines support wider healthcare system strengthening interventions, alongside vertical outbreak responses, to end cholera. Well-trained healthcare providers are essential for a resilient health system and can create synergies with childhood diarrhoea, which has higher mortality. We explored how the main provider groups for diarrhoea in cholera hotspots interact, decide on treatment, and reflect on possible limiting factors and opportunities to improve prevention and treatment.

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Objectives: Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is among the hardest hit low-income and middle-income countries by diabetes. Innovative Care for Chronic Conditions (ICCC) framework has been adopted by the WHO for health system transformation towards better care for chronic conditions including diabetes. We conducted an umbrella review of systematic reviews on diabetes care components effectively implemented in the ASEAN health systems and map those effective care components into the ICCC framework.

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Background: Financial risk protection is a core dimension of universal health coverage. Hardship financing, defined as borrowing and selling land or assets to pay for healthcare, is a measure of last recourse. Increasing indebtedness and high interest rates, particularly among unregulated money lenders, can lead to a vicious cycle of poverty and exacerbate inequity.

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Introduction: The 'SCale-Up diaBetes and hYpertension care' Project aims to support the scale-up of integrated care for diabetes and hypertension in Cambodia, Slovenia and Belgium through the co-creation, implementation and evaluation of contextualised roadmaps. These roadmaps offer avenues for action and are built on evidence as well as stakeholder engagement in policy dialogues. Roadmaps and policy dialogues are very much intertwined and considered to be key elements for successful stakeholder-supported scale-up in integrated chronic care.

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Introduction: Evidence on the real-world effects of "Treat All" on attrition has not been systematically reviewed. We aimed to review existing literature to compare attrition 12 months after antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation, before and after "Treat All" was implemented in Sub-Saharan Africa and describe predictors of attrition.

Methods: We searched Embase, Google Scholar, PubMed, and Web of Science in July 2020 and created alerts up to the end of June 2023.

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In the first two years of the pandemic, COVID-19 response policies have aimed to break Corona waves through non-pharmaceutical interventions and mass vaccination. However, for long-term strategies to be effective and efficient, and to avoid massive disruption and social harms, it is crucial to introduce the role of natural immunity in our thinking about COVID-19  (or future "Disease-X") control and prevention. We argue that any Corona or similar virus control policy must appropriately balance five key elements simultaneously: balancing the various fundamental interests of the nation, as well as the various interventions within the health sector; tailoring the prevention measures and treatments to individual needs; limiting social interaction restrictions; and balancing the role of vaccinations against the role of naturally induced immunity.

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Background: Cambodia has seen an increase in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) over the last 10 years. Three main care initiatives for T2D are being scaled up in the public health care system across the country: hospital-based care, health center-based care, and community-based care. To date, no empirical study has systematically assessed the performance of these care initiatives across the T2D care continuum in Cambodia.

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Background: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as type-2 diabetes (T2D) and hypertension (HTN) pose a massive burden on health systems, especially in low- and middle-income countries. In Cambodia, to tackle this issue, the government and partners have introduced several limited interventions to ensure service availability. However, scaling-up these health system interventions is needed to ensure universal supply and access to NCDs care for Cambodians.

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As a member state of the International Health Regulations 2005, Cambodia is continuously strengthening its capacity to respond to health emergencies and prevent the international spread of diseases. Despite this, Cambodia's capacity to prevent, detect and rapidly respond to public health threats remained limited at the onset of the pandemic, as was the case in most countries. This paper describes epidemiological phases, response phases, strategy and lessons learnt in Cambodia between 27 January 2020 and 30 June 2022.

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JNJ-64264681 is an irreversible covalent inhibitor of Bruton's tyrosine kinase. This phase 1, first-in-human, 2-part (single-ascending dose [SAD]; multiple-ascending dose [MAD]) study evaluated the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics (PK), and pharmacodynamics (PD; Bruton's tyrosine kinase occupancy [BTKO]) of JNJ-64264681 oral solution in healthy participants. For SAD (N = 78), 6 increasing doses of JNJ-64264681 (4-400 mg) or placebo were evaluated in fasted males.

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Objective: This paper examines the contributions made by the National Institute of Public Health to Cambodia's response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic during 2020-2021.

Methods: The activities conducted by the Institute were compared with adaptations of the nine pillars of the World Health Organization's 2020 COVID-19 strategic preparedness and response plan. To gather relevant evidence, we reviewed national COVID-19 testing data, information about COVID-19-related events documented by Institute staff, and financial and technical reports of the Institute's activities.

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The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impose a heavy burden on people around the world. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has also been affected. The objective of this study was to explore national policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in the DRC and drivers of the response, and to generate lessons for strengthening health systems' resilience and public health capacity to respond to health security threats.

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Objective: To assess usage of public and private healthcare, related healthcare expenditure, and associated factors for people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and/or hypertension (HTN) and for people without those conditions in Cambodia.

Methods: A cross-sectional household survey.

Settings: Five operational districts (ODs) in Cambodia.

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Introduction: Integrated care interventions for type 2 diabetes (T2D) and hypertension (HT) are effective, yet challenges exist with regard to their implementation and scale-up. The 'SCale-Up diaBetes and hYpertension care' (SCUBY) Project aims to facilitate the scale-up of integrated care for T2D and HT through the co-creation and implementation of contextualised scale-up roadmaps in Belgium, Cambodia and Slovenia. We hereby describe the plan for the process and scale-up evaluation of the SCUBY Project.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study evaluates Guinea's response to the COVID-19 pandemic from January 2020 to November 2021, identifying five key phases, including anticipation, strict measures, easing restrictions, dealing with multiple epidemics, and managing variants alongside vaccination efforts.
  • - Researchers used policy documents, research papers, and media content to analyze the situation, emphasizing the need for an established governance framework and emergency funding before epidemics strike.
  • - The findings indicate that each epidemic presents unique challenges, underscoring the importance of learning from past experiences while recognizing that excessive security measures can harm social stability.
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Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) epidemics have been extensively documented and have received large scientific and public attention since 1976. Until July 2022, 16 countries worldwide had reported at least one case of EVD, resulting in 43 epidemics. Most of the epidemics occurred in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) but the largest epidemic occurred from 2014-2016 in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia in West Africa.

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