Implementation and Cost Analysis of a Novel Silicosis Case-Finding Program For Mine Workers in Rural Rwanda.

Little is known about the burden of silicosis in Africa, despite extensive mining and construction operations in the region putting numerous people at risk. The implementation experience and costs of case-finding for occupational lung disease in resource-limited settings are also currently unknown. We describe the first-ever silicosis case-finding project in rural Rwanda using chest X-ray, symptom questionnaires, and spirometry.

Critical care capacity and care bundles on medical wards in Malawi: a cross-sectional study.

Introduction: As low-income countries (LICs) shoulder a disproportionate share of the world's burden of critical illnesses, they must continue to build critical care capacity outside conventional intensive care units (ICUs) to address mortality and morbidity, including on general medical wards. A lack of data on the ability to treat critical illness, especially in non-ICU settings in LICs, hinders efforts to improve outcomes.

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of the cross-sectional Malawi Emergency and Critical Care (MECC) survey, administered from January to February 2020, to a random sample of nine public sector district hospitals and all four central hospitals in Malawi.

Evaluation of emergency care education and triage implementation: an observational study at a hospital in rural Liberia.

Introduction: In Liberia, emergency care is still in its early development. In 2019, two emergency care and triage education sessions were done at J. J.

Characteristics and impact of bedside procedure services in the United States: A systematic review.

Background: Bedside procedure services are increasingly employed within internal medicine departments to meet clinical needs and improve trainee education. Published literature on these largely comprises single-center studies; an updated systematic review is needed to synthesize available data.

Purpose: This review examined published literature on the structure and function of bedside procedure services and their impact on clinical and educational outcomes (PROSPERO ID: 192466).

Applying the WHO-ICRC BEC course to train emergency and inpatient healthcare workers in Sierra Leone early in the COVID-19 outbreak.

Background: Treating critical illness in resource-limited settings during disease outbreaks is feasible and can save lives. Lack of trained healthcare workers is a major barrier to COVID-19 response. There is an urgent need to train healthcare workers to manage COVID-19.

The Malawi emergency and critical care survey: A cross-sectional national facility assessment.

Background: Data on emergency and critical care (ECC) capacity in low-income countries (LICs) are needed to improve outcomes and make progress towards realizing the goal of Universal Health Coverage.

Methods: We developed a novel research instrument to assess public sector ECC capacity and service readiness in LICs. From January 20th to February 18th, 2020 we administered the instrument at all four central hospitals and a simple random sample of nine of 24 district hospitals in Malawi, a landlocked and predominantly rural LIC of 19·1 million people in Southern Africa.

Critical care service delivery across healthcare systems in low-income and low-middle-income countries: protocol for a systematic review.

Introduction: Critical care in low-income and low-middle income countries (LLMICs) is an underdeveloped component of the healthcare system. Given the increasing growth in demand for critical care services in LLMICs, understanding the current capacity to provide critical care is imperative to inform policy on service expansion. Thus, our aim is to describe the provision of critical care in LLMICs with respect to patients, providers, location of care and services and interventions delivered.

Combating information chaos: a case for collaborative clinical guidelines in a pandemic.

The speed and scale of new information during the COVID-19 pandemic required a new approach toward developing best practices and evidence-based clinical guidance. To address this need, we produced COVIDProtocols.org, a collaborative, evidence-based, digital platform for the development and dissemination of COVID-19 clinical guidelines that has been used by over 500,000 people from 196 countries.

Baseline predictors of efavirenz-containing antiretroviral regimen adverse experiences.

Purpose: We aimed to identify modifiable, routinely available patient characteristics associated with adverse experiences potentially attributable to efavirenz-based regimens in patients in Botswana.

Methods: HIV-infected treatment naïve individuals starting a standard antiretroviral regimen including two nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitors and efavirenz in Botswana were enrolled in a prospective cohort. Adverse experiences were measured at 1 and 6 months using the efavirenz checklist, a 35-item instrument developed by the AIDS Clinical Trials Group.