Prioritising women's and girls' health in disaster settings: Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and the overlapping crises affecting Beirut, Lebanon.

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed strain on healthcare systems across the world; however, countries experiencing overlapping crises such as economic or political unrest face immense pressure in ensuring routine healthcare services can continue to operate. Despite being less likely suffer severe disease or die from COVID-19, data suggest women have experienced poorer mental health, higher rates of unemployment, and more social isolation during the pandemic. In general, we know women and girls experience multiple forms of disadvantage in disaster contexts including being more likely to become homeless, work as an unpaid carer, and to experience poverty.

Prescribing antibiotics in adults with respiratory tract infections in Lebanon.

Introduction: Antibiotic resistance is a global concern that has significant health and economic burden. The inappropriate use of antibiotics is a major cause of antibiotic resistance; this includes both unnecessary and incorrect prescriptions. Most antibiotics are prescribed in primary care, mainly for respiratory tract infections.

Occupational Exposure to Blood-Borne Pathogens among Healthcare Workers in a Tertiary Care Center in Lebanon.

Objectives: Despite numerous initiatives, occupational exposure to blood-borne pathogens (BBP) caused by percutaneous injuries or mucosal contamination remain common among healthcare workers (HCWs). These exposures were decreasing at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) in the previous decades. Recently, the medical center activity has been increasing with higher number of interventions performed and shorter hospital stay.

Psychological Distress among Syrian Refugee Women and a Control Group in an Urban Settlement in Beirut- a Pilot Study.

The Syrian conflict has created approximately five million refugees. Of these, more than one million have settled in Lebanon. This project aimed to determine the prevalence of psychological distress (PD) amongst Syrian refugee mothers compared to a control group of local mothers living in the same informal urban settlement in Beirut.

Improving statin prescription through the involvement of nurses in the provision of ASCVD score: a quality improvement initiative in primary care.

Objectives: This study compares two methods of providing CVD risk score on the percentage of appropriate statin therapy for primary prevention of CVD in family medicine clinics, according to the American Heart Association guidelines.

Methods: Participants were non-diabetic patients aged 40 to 75 with a recently ordered low-density lipoprotein (LDL) level, not on statin therapy and free of CVD. The first intervention is passive with a display of the score on the EMR in the vital signs section and lasted for three months.

Systems thinking: advancing health advocacy training; a perspective from junior family physicians in the Middle East.

Healthcare systems are becoming increasingly complex. Physicians are expected to be agents of change to meet the growing health needs. In the Middle East, young family doctors are subtly creating a space for advocacy.

High rates of maternal depression amongst Syrian refugees in Lebanon - a pilot study.

This pilot study compares symptoms of depression and risk factors amongst Syrian refugees and low-income Lebanese mothers accessing a primary care centre in Beirut between January and June 2018. Women who gave birth in the previous two years or who were currently pregnant were included in the study. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Arabic Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS).