The impact of coronavirus pandemic shutdowns on immunization completion in Hadeetha, Anbar, Iraq: A case-study of vaccine completion in a recovering healthcare system.

The SARS-COV2 pandemic caused significant disruptions in immunization delivery. Baseline deficit gaps in immunization completion exacerbated ongoing disparities in immunization coverage in low- and middle-income. Emerging reports focused on global strategies for return to routine immunization schedules.

Providing Hemodialysis in Unstable Areas: An Assessment and Framework for Effective Care.

Introduction: Providing hemodialysis to patients with kidney failure (KF) in conflict-affected areas poses a significant challenge. Achieving and sustaining reasonable quality hemodialysis operations in such regions necessitates a comprehensive approach.

Methods: In the conflict area of Northwest (NW) Syria, a 3-phase project was initiated to address the quality of hemodialysis operations.

COVID-19 in Baghdad, Iraq: adaptive and emotional findings in a household cluster survey.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to assess the impact of COVID-19 infection on households in Baghdad, Iraq.

Methods: A cross-sectional household survey was conducted in early 2022; 41 clusters were selected proportional to population size from the districts of the Baghdad governorate. Households were randomly selected for inclusion.

Correction: Civil war and death in Yemen: Analysis of SMART survey and ACLED data, 2012-2019.

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

Civil war and death in Yemen: Analysis of SMART survey and ACLED data, 2012-2019.

Conflict in Yemen has displaced millions and destroyed health infrastructure, resulting in the world's largest humanitarian disaster. The objective of this paper is to examine mortality in Yemen to determine whether it has increased significantly since the conflict began in 2015 compared to the preceding period. We analysed 91 household surveys using the Standardized Monitoring and Assessment of Relief and Transitions methodology, covering 2,864 clusters undertaken from 2012-2019, and deaths from Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project database covering the conflict period 2015-2019.

Resilience of health systems in conflict affected governorates of Iraq, 2014-2018.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess the resilience of health systems in four governorates affected by conflict from 2014 to 2018, and to convey recommendations.

Methods: Health managers from Al Anbar, Ninawa, Salah al-Din, and Kirkuk governorates discussed resilience factors of Primary Health Care services affected by the 2014-2017 ISIS insurgency in focus groups, and general discussions. Additional information was gathered from key informants and a UNICEF health facility survey.

Associations between caesarean births and breastfeeding in the Middle East: a scoping review.

Background: There is a paucity of published studies on factors influencing feeding practices for infants and young children born via caesarean section.

Aims: To assess whether the mode of childbirth affects early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding, and to identify factors that positively or negatively influence breastfeeding after caesarean births in selected countries in the Middle East.

Methods: We conducted a scoping review of publicly available population-based surveys and peer-reviewed literature on the associations between birthing mode and breastfeeding published between 2000 and 2018.

Violence against doctors in Iraq during the time of COVID-19.

Objectives: This study assessed patterns in reported violence against doctors working in 11 Baghdad hospitals providing care for patients with COVID-19 and explored characteristics of hospital violence and its impact on health workers.

Methods: Questionnaires were completed by 505 hospital doctors (38.6% male, 64.

Conflict-related intentional injuries in Baghdad, Iraq, 2003-2014: A modeling study and proposed method for calculating burden of injury in conflict.

Background: Previous research has focused on the mortality associated with armed conflict as the primary measure of the population health effects of war. However, mortality only demonstrates part of the burden placed on a population by conflict. Injuries and resultant disabilities also have long-term effects on a population and are not accounted for in estimates that focus solely on mortality.

Assessment of Critical Care Surge Capacity During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan.

Japan has the highest proportion of older adults worldwide but has fewer critical care beds than most high-income countries. Although the COVID-19 infection rate in Japan is low compared with Europe and the United States, by the end of 2020, several infected people died in ambulances because they could not find hospitals to accept them. Our study aimed to examine the Japanese healthcare system's capacity to accommodate critically ill COVID-19 patients during the pandemic.

Health Care and Care-Seeking in Mosul 1 Year After Defeat of ISIS.

Objective: Our objective was to compare care-seeking patterns in Mosul, Iraq, in 2018, 1 y after Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) control, with findings from neighborhoods that had been sampled in 2017.

Methods: For this multi-stage randomized cluster household survey, we created one cluster in each of 20 neighborhoods randomly selected from the 40 neighborhoods in the 2016/17 survey; 12 in east Mosul, 8 in west Mosul. In each, 30 households were interviewed beginning at a randomly selected start house.

Health service utilization and adherence to medication for hypertension and diabetes among Syrian refugees and affected host communities in Lebanon.

Methods: This study uses data from a 2015 household survey of Syrian refugees and Lebanese host communities. A total of 1,376 refugee and 686 host community households were surveyed using a cluster design with probability proportional to size sampling. Differences in outcomes of interest by population group were examined using Pearson's chi-square and t-test methods and the crude and adjusted odds of care-seeking and interrupted medication adherence among Syrian refugees were estimated using logistic regression.

Longitudinal control of blood pressure among a cohort of Ghanaians with hypertension: A multicenter, hospital-based study.

There are limited data on factors associated with longitudinal control of blood pressure (BP) among Ghanaians on antihypertensive treatment. We sought to evaluate associations between prospective BP control and 24 putative factors within socio-demographic, biological, and organizational domains. This is a cohort study involving 1867 (65%) adults with hypertension and 1006 (35%) with both hypertension and diabetes mellitus at five public hospitals.

Providing healthcare under ISIS: A qualitative analysis of healthcare worker experiences in Mosul, Iraq between June 2014 and June 2017.

During ISIS occupation of the Northern Iraqi city of Mosul between June 2014 to June 2017, healthcare workers remaining in Mosul continued to provide medical services. Little is currently known about Iraqi healthcare workers' personal and professional lives in the ISIS healthcare system, and how these individuals adapted. This study sought to explore their experiences during occupation through thematic analysis of qualitative data from twenty interviews conducted immediately after ISIS withdraw from Mosul in August 2017.

Health and Health Seeking in Mosul During ISIS Control and Liberation: Results From a 40-Cluster Household Survey.

Objectives: ISIS seized Mosul in June 2014. This survey was conducted to assess health status, health needs, and health-seeking behavior during ISIS control and the subsequent Iraqi military campaign.

Methods: Forty clusters were chosen: 25 from east Mosul and 15 from west Mosul.

Characteristics of Syrian and Lebanese Diabetes and Hypertension Patients in Lebanon.

Background: Given the protracted nature of the crisis in Syria, the large caseload of Syrian refugee patients with non-communicable diseases, and the high costs of providing non-communicable disease care, implications for Lebanon's health system are vast.

Objective: To provide a profile of the health status of diabetes and hypertension patients enrolled in a longitudinal cohort study in Lebanon.

Methods: A longitudinal cohort study was implemented from January 2015 through August 2016 to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment guidelines and an mHealth application on the quality of care and health outcomes for patients in primary health care facilities in Lebanon offering low-cost services serving both Syrian refugees and Lebanese host communities.

Injury and death during the ISIS occupation of Mosul and its liberation: Results from a 40-cluster household survey.

Background: Measurement of mortality and injury in conflict situations presents many challenges compared with stable situations. However, providing information is important to assess the impact of conflict on populations and to estimate humanitarian needs, both in the immediate and longer term. Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, was overrun by fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on June 4, 2014.

Health Care Providers in War and Armed Conflict: Operational and Educational Challenges in International Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Conventions, Part II. Educational and Training Initiatives.

ABSTRACTNo discipline has been impacted more by war and armed conflict than health care has. Health systems and health care providers are often the first victims, suffering increasingly heinous acts that cripple the essential health delivery and public health infrastructure necessary for the protection of civilian and military victims of the state at war. This commentary argues that current instructional opportunities to prepare health care providers fall short in both content and preparation, especially in those operational skill sets necessary to manage multiple challenges, threats, and violations under international humanitarian law and to perform triage management in a resource-poor medical setting.

A multi-center prospective cohort study to evaluate the effect of differential pricing and health systems strengthening on access to medicines and management of hypertension and diabetes in Ghana: A study protocol.

There is evidence to suggest that the prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), in particular cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, are being recognized as forming a substantial proportion of the burden of disease among populations in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs).  Access to treatment is likely a key barrier to the control and prevention of NCD outcomes.  Differential pricing, an approach used to price drugs based on the purchasing power of patients in different socioeconomic segments, has been shown to be beneficial and leads to improved access and affordability.

Health Care Providers in War and Armed Conflict: Operational and Educational Challenges in International Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Conventions, Part I. Historical Perspective.

Since 1945, the reason for humanitarian crises and the way in which the world responds to them has dramatically changed every 10 to 15 years or less. Planning, response, and recovery for these tragic events have often been ad hoc, inconsistent, and insufficient, largely because of the complexity of global humanitarian demands and their corresponding response system capabilities. This historical perspective chronicles the transformation of war and armed conflicts from the Cold War to today, emphasizing the impact these events have had on humanitarian professionals and their struggle to adapt to increasing humanitarian, operational, and political challenges.

Perceptions, experiences and expectations of Iraqi medical students.

Background: The environment for medical education in Iraq has been difficult for many years. The 2003 invasion of Iraq accelerated a steady emigration of faculty and graduates. Kidnappings and deaths of doctors became commonplace.

Factors associated with uncontrolled blood pressure among Ghanaians: Evidence from a multicenter hospital-based study.

Background: The burden of uncontrolled hypertension in Low-and-Middle Income Countries (LMICs) is high, with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases and chronic renal failure in these settings.

Objective: To assess the factors associated with uncontrolled blood pressure control in a cross-section of Ghanaian hypertensive subjects involved in an on-going multicenter epidemiological study aimed at improving access to hypertension treatment.

Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 2,870 participants with hypertension with or without diabetes who were enrolled at 5 hospitals in Ghana (2 tertiary, 2 district and 1 rural hospital).