Analysis of biomedical and health research in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Background: Several bibliometric analyses have been conducted in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR), however, there is limited data from such analyses for the establishment of national or regional health research agenda.

Aim: To assess the biomedical and health research outputs in EMR countries for 2004-2018 and their alignment with the regional strategic health priority areas identified by the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean.

Methods: We searched and reviewed health-related articles indexed in PubMed and originating from EMR countries from 2004 to 2018 and used these as indicators of the country's total biomedical research publication level.

COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Studies against Symptomatic and Severe Outcomes during the Omicron Period in Four Countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Vaccine effectiveness (VE) studies provide real-world evidence to monitor vaccine performance and inform policy. The WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean supported a regional study to assess the VE of COVID-19 vaccines against different clinical outcomes in four countries between June 2021 and August 2023. Health worker cohort studies were conducted in 2707 health workers in Egypt and Pakistan, of whom 171 experienced symptomatic laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Healthcare workers' informal uses of mobile phones and other mobile devices to support their work: a qualitative evidence synthesis.

Background: Healthcare workers sometimes develop their own informal solutions to deliver services. One such solution is to use their personal mobile phones or other mobile devices in ways that are unregulated by their workplace. This can help them carry out their work when their workplace lacks functional formal communication and information systems, but it can also lead to new challenges.

Measuring progress on health and well-being in the Eastern Mediterranean Region via voluntary national reviews, 2016-2021: What does the data reveal?

Background: Country submission of Voluntary National Reviews is the formal mechanism to report on progress of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite strong political commitment to strong information systems, large data gaps exist in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Methods: This study aims to review reports submitted by countries in the region to assess the comprehensiveness of reporting on the health-reported SDG targets and indicators.

Integrating health across the Sustainable Development Goals in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: Assessment of Voluntary National Reviews from 18 countries.

Voluntary National Reviews are the formal mechanism for countries to report on progress and share lessons learned on SDG implementation. We assessed the Voluntary National Reviews submitted by countries in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region to note the reported progress on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) implementation, the review preparation process and how health is positioned and framed to identify priorities for accelerating progress on the health-related SDGs. We extracted quantitative and qualitative data from 26 Voluntary National Reviews from 18 countries submitted during the period 2016 to January 2022.

Filling the Blank Space: Branched 4-Nonylphenol Isomers Are Responsible for Robust Constitutive Androstane Receptor (CAR) Activation by Nonylphenol.

4-Nonylphenol (4-NP), a -substituted phenolic compound with a straight or branched carbon chain, is a ubiquitous environmental pollutant and food contaminant. 4-NP, particularly the branched form, has been identified as an endocrine disruptor (ED) with potent activities on estrogen receptors. Constitutive Androstane Receptor (CAR) is another crucial nuclear receptor that regulates hepatic lipid, glucose, and steroid metabolism and is involved in the ED mechanism of action.

Sumatriptan mitigates bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis in male rats: Involvement of inflammation, oxidative stress and α-SMA.

Introduction: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a fibrotic lung condition that produces symptoms including coughing which may cause by excessive accumulation of scar tissue inflammatory and oxidative stress exacerbation. Sumatriptan, utilized for migraine treatment as a selective 5-HT receptor agonist, has demonstrated significant anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties in multiple preclinical investigations. Operating primarily on serotonin receptors, sumatriptan leverages the diverse physiological functions of serotonin, playing a pivotal role in regulating both inflammation and oxidative stress which is particularly relevant in the context of IPF.

Achieving integrated disease surveillance in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Access to reliable and timely information is key for healthcare decision-making at the regional, national and sub-national levels. However, lack of access to such information hampers to progress towards achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR), as indicated in the Regional Progress Report on Health-Related Sustainable Development Goals.

WHO's Investigations and Studies, Unity Studies: A global initiative creating equitable opportunities for enhanced surveillance, operational research, capacity building, and global knowledge sharing.

The World Health Organization's Unity Studies global initiative provides a generic preparedness and readiness framework for conducting detailed investigations and epidemiological studies critical for the early and ongoing assessment of emerging respiratory pathogens of pandemic potential. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the initiative produced standardized investigation protocols and supported Member States to generate robust and comparable data to inform public health decision making. The subsequent iteration of the initiative is being implemented to develop revised and new investigation protocols, implementation toolkits and work to build a sustainable global network of sites, enabling the global community to be better prepared for the next emerging respiratory pathogen with epidemic or pandemic potential.

All in for Universal Health Coverage and global health security - reinforcing partner engagement in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

The WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) Vision 2023 "Health for All by All" and the EMR Strategy 2020-2023 "Turning Vision into Action" place partnerships at the centre of WHO engagement, to enhance its voice, extend its technical and operational reach, and mobilize needed resources. To be effective, partnerships need to evolve from primarily transactional imperatives to strategic collaboration based on shared vision, value addition and trust.

Classification and focus comparison of health financing frameworks: A scoping review.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to review the current frameworks for understanding and assessing health financing and draw out the dimensions of conceptual frameworks.

Methods: This scoping review was conducted using the five stages of Arksey and O'Malley's framework. We reviewed all published peer-reviewed literature indexed in PubMed, SCOPUS, and Embase from 2000 up to 2021 for inclusion.

A Stepped-Wedge Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial of a Multi-interventional Approach for Fall Prevention.

Background And Objectives: Falls are one of the most common adverse events at hospitals that may result in injury and even death. They are also associated with raised length of stay (LOS) and hospitalization costs. This experiment aimed to examine the effectiveness of multiple interventions in reducing inpatient fall rates and the consequent injuries.

Enhancing the quality and accuracy of national cancer registries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

We cannot prevent cancer, detect it early, diagnose, treat, and palliate it without reliable data. Continuous, systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of cancer-related data are essential to effectively plan, implement and evaluate cancer control activities and policies. Enhancing routine health information systems to ensure that cancer-related data are well captured is essential, just as fostering functioning cancer surveillance systems, particularly population-based cancer registries (1,2).

Developing a Conceptual Framework for an Age-Friendly Health System: A Scoping Review.

Background: Population aging is usually associated with increased health care needs. Developing an age-friendly health system with special features, structure, and functions to meet the special needs of older people and improving their health status and quality of life is essential. This study aimed to develop a conceptual framework for an age-friendly health system, which would offer a conceptual basis for providing the best possible care for older people in health system to let them experience a successful, healthy, and active aging.

Capacity-building for conducting COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness studies to enhance evidence-informed vaccination policymaking in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Background: Vaccine effectiveness studies provide evidence on the effects of vaccines for preventing disease and the adverse outcomes following a vaccination rollout programme in a country or a specific population.

Aims: To document the technical and capacity-building support provided by WHO to countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region to conduct COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness studies.

Methods: WHO implemented interventions to enhance the capacity of EMR countries to conduct COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness and similar epidemiological studies.

Next generation support and stronger institutions for evidence-informed policy-making.

Evidence-informed policy-making benefitted from much-needed attention and resources during the COVID-19 pandemic (1). As a result, 3 key movements and innovations are now making it possible to provide better evidence support (higher quality and more aligned to the speed of advisory and decision-making) for policy-making than ever.

Enhancing the use of geographic information systems for public health planning and decision-making in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region.

From distributing healthcare resources equitably to identifying disease outbreaks, most of the information needs of local health system decision-makers have a geographic component (1). Recognizing the value of geographic information systems for public health planning and decision-making, a 2007 resolution by the Regional Committee of the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) called upon Member States to develop institutional frameworks, policies, processes, and to provide the infrastructure and resources needed to support health mapping activities in EMR (2).