Publications by authors named "Mikkelsen B"

The burden of cardiovascular disease has declined in high-income countries in the past 3 decades but is growing in low- and middle-income countries due to epidemiological, demographic, and socioeconomic shifts. A range of cost-effective policies and interventions are available for advancing cardiovascular health (CVH) through primordial, primary, and secondary prevention. We showcase multifaceted challenges that stifle the global progress of CVH including shortcomings in financial protection, health systems, primary health care, national health policies, service coverage, and surveillance.

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More than a billion people live in fragile, conflict-affected, and vulnerable settings requiring humanitarian support, where cancer is a substantial health issue. Despite its substantial effect on populations, cancer care remains underprioritised in emergency preparedness and response frameworks and humanitarian operational planning. This Policy Review summarises the perspectives and actionable recommendations from the First Global High-Level Technical Meeting on Non-communicable Diseases in Humanitarian Settings, with a focus on cancer.

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Article Synopsis
  • Enhancing primary care capacity is essential for quality care of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), addressing issues like inadequate training resources and standards.
  • The WHO South-East Asia Region utilized the OpenWHO platform to create four online courses tailored for low- or middle-income countries, focusing on NCD service planning, interventions, diabetic foot care, and palliative care for primary health-care managers.
  • Launched on October 26, 2023, these courses gained significant interest, with 18,250 enrollments in 100 days, primarily from young health professionals, leading to over 7,000 certificates awarded through assessments.
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Cardiovascular diseases (CVD), principally ischemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke, are the leading causes of death (18. 6 million deaths annually) and disability (393 million disability-adjusted life-years lost annually), worldwide. High blood pressure is the most important preventable risk factor for CVD and deaths, worldwide (10.

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Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and maternal newborn and child health (MNCH) are two deeply intertwined health areas that have been artificially separated by global health policies, resource allocations and programming. Optimal MNCH care can provide a unique opportunity to screen for, prevent and manage early signs of NCDs developing in both the woman and the neonate. This paper considers how NCDs, NCD modifiable risk factors, and NCD metabolic risk factors impact MNCH.

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Project SoL was a 19-month (September 2012 to April 2014) community-based multi-component intervention based on the supersetting approach that was designed to promote healthier eating and physical activity among children and their families. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a multi-component intervention (level 1) and a mass media intervention alone (level 2) compared to a control area (level 3) on food sales. The design was quasi-experimental.

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The WHO's report Health literacy development for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) delivers practical what-to-do how-to-do guidance for health literacy development to build, at scale, contextually-relevant public health actions to reduce inequity and the burden of NCDs on individuals, health systems and economies. The key premise for health literacy development is that people's health awareness and behaviours are linked to lifelong experiences and social practices, which may be multilayered, hidden and beyond their control. Meaningful community engagement, local ownership and locally driven actions are needed to identify health literacy strengths, challenges and preferences to build locally fit-for-purpose and implementable actions.

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Aims: This study aimed to learn from people with lived experiences of diabetes to raise the quality of diabetes communications.

Methods: An online key informant survey for people (18+) with a direct and/or adjacent (caregiver, friend, family-member etc.,) lived experience of diabetes.

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Before 2005, cancer and other non-communicable diseases were not yet health and development agenda priorities. Since the 2005 World Health Assembly Resolution, which encouraged WHO, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to jointly work on cancer control, progress was achieved in low-income and middle-income countries on a small scale. Recently, rapid acceleration in UN collaboration and global cancer activities has focused attention in global cancer control.

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Background: Recent estimates report that 2.4 billion people with health conditions globally could benefit from rehabilitation. While the benefits of rehabilitation for individuals and society have been described in the literature, many individuals, especially in low- and middle-income countries do not have access to quality rehabilitation.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study explores the distribution and genetic diversity of anisakid nematodes (Anisakis spp.) in cetaceans, revealing that this aspect of marine ecosystems is often overlooked.
  • A total of 478 specimens from various cetacean species across the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean were analyzed, showing clear host preferences for different Anisakis species among cetacean families.
  • Findings indicate significant genetic differences in some Anisakis populations depending on their cetacean hosts and geographic locations, highlighting the importance of understanding these interactions for conservation in the face of climate change.
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