The burden of breast, cervical, and colon and rectum cancer in the Balkan countries, 1990-2019 and forecast to 2030.

Background: Despite effective prevention and control strategies, in countries of the Balkan region, cancers are the second leading cause of mortality, closely following circulatory system diseases.

Objective: To describe trends in the burden of breast, cervical, and colon and rectum cancer in the Balkan region and per country between 1990 and 2019, including a forecast to 2030.

Methods: We described the 2019 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) estimates for breast, cervical, and colon and rectum cancers in eleven Balkan countries over the period 1990-2019, including incidence, years lived with disability (YLD), years of life lost (YLL), and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) rates per 100,000 population and accompanied 95% uncertainty interval.

Methodological considerations in injury burden of disease studies across Europe: a systematic literature review.

Background: Calculating the disease burden due to injury is complex, as it requires many methodological choices. Until now, an overview of the methodological design choices that have been made in burden of disease (BoD) studies in injury populations is not available. The aim of this systematic literature review was to identify existing injury BoD studies undertaken across Europe and to comprehensively review the methodological design choices and assumption parameters that have been made to calculate years of life lost (YLL) and years lived with disability (YLD) in these studies.

Women's Safety and Gender-Based Violence in the Republic of North Macedonia.

Violence against women in the Republic of North Macedonia is the most common form of human rights violation, and women's safety is thus a high-priority public health problem. There have been significant achievements in the area of policy development: legislation harmonization for human rights protection, prevention of violence against women, protocols for the treatment and support of female victims, especially those with disabilities, and further collaboration and coordination between different sectors. In practice, there is still a need to establish a system of institutions for effective prevention, protection, gathering of evidence, and support of women victims of gender-based violence in addition to the prosecution of perpetrators.

The INHERIT Model: A Tool to Jointly Improve Health, Environmental Sustainability and Health Equity through Behavior and Lifestyle Change.

The need for analysis and action across the interrelated domains of human behaviors and lifestyles, environmental sustainability, health and inequality is increasingly apparent. Currently, these areas are often not considered in conjunction when developing policies or interventions, introducing the potential for suboptimal or conflicting outcomes. The INHERIT model has been developed within the EU-funded project INHERIT as a tool to guide thinking and intersectoral action towards changing the behaviors and lifestyles that play such an important role in today’s multidisciplinary challenges.

Are Resilient Factors Increasing the Risk for Childhood Psychological Victimization?

Background: Understanding the resilient factors and why some children do well despite early adverse experiences is crucial, because it can inform more effective policies and programs that help more children reach their full potential.

Aim: The main objective of the study is to describe the associations between psychological abuse in childhood and resilient risk factors on individual, relational, contextual level among adolescents in the country and see the probability of resiliency to predict psychological victimisation.

Material And Method: Cross-sectional study on two-stage quota sample of 622 university students was applied in the study, including adolescents at first and second year at the main public Ss Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, from the 12 faculties in the country.

Social Determinants of Self-reported Health Among Population in Republic of Macedonia - Results from a Case-control Study.

Introduction: Studying self-reported health is considered an indicator for morbidity and mortality that may be used in primary health care to detect poor health in certain population groups that predicts health care utilization.

Goal: The goal of the survey is to assess the socioeconomic self-rated health gradient and to describe contribution of behavioral risk factors to this gradient among population in Republic of Macedonia.

Material And Methods: Data is collected through a "nested case-control study", conducted in the period March - December, 2013.

Social determinants of equity in access to healthcare for tuberculosis patients in Republic of Macedonia - results from a case-control study.

Background: Health is a complex phenomenon and equity as a basic human right an integral part of constitutions in almost all countries in the world. In Republic of Macedonia (RM), Tuberculosis (TB) is clustered regionally and in certain ethnic groups. The main objective of this study was to analyze Social Determinants of Health (SDH) and equity in access to healthcare services for TB patients in RM, aimed at complex analysis of factors that cause inequities.

Strategy to improve quality in emergency medical services: from assessment to policy.

The aim of this paper was to present the strategic approach applied for improvement of quality in emergency medical services (EMS) in the Republic of Macedonia. This approach was accomplished through three stages: (I) assessment and recommendations for policies; (II) development of innovative evidence-based programmes; and (III) policy implementation. Strategic assessment of EMS was performed by applying WHO standard methodology.

Attitude of the Macedonian intensivists regarding withdrawal of therapy in intensive care patients: curriculum for policy development.

Unlabelled: Ethical confusion regarding withdraw of therapy led to the aim of the study in which the knowledge and attitude of the Macedonian Intensive Care Unit (ICU) doctors and their impact on decision making process were assessed.

Methods: Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) study has been conducted on a national sample of 217 ICU doctors (response rate 83.87%), applying restructured EURELD 2002 questionnaire as study instrument.

Quality of care and its impact on population health: a cross-sectional study from Macedonia.

Research has revealed significant variation in both the quality of clinical care and the health status of populations. We conducted a study to determine if variations in the quality of clinical care can be quantitatively linked to variations in health status, at the patient and the population level. This study, conducted at health facilities in four municipalities in Macedonia, collected cross-sectional data on (1) structural measures (such as infrastructure, facilities, equipment and costs) and the quality of clinical care provided by physicians (as measured by clinical vignettes); (2) detailed health and socioeconomic status information on patients using the facilities; and (3) nearly the same information on a random sample of adults in each municipality.

Public health capacity building in southeastern Europe: a partnership between the Open Society Institute and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The political disintegration of former Yugoslavia inaugurated in 1991 resulted in the decentralization of health systems in the federation's successor nation-states. Efforts by the Open Society Institute improved public health planning and management needs consequent to health sector changes. Beginning in Croatia in 2001, the Institute developed ongoing collaborations between Andrija Stampar School of Public Health and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Using vignettes to compare the quality of clinical care variation in economically divergent countries.

Objective: To determine whether clinical vignettes can measure variations in the quality of clinical care in two economically divergent countries.

Data Source/study Setting: Primary data collected between February 1997 and February 1998 at two Veterans Affairs facilities in the United States and four government-run outpatient facilities in Macedonia.

Study Design: Randomly selected, eligible Macedonian and U.

The impact of evidence-based education on a perinatal capacity-building initiative in Macedonia.

Context: The perinatal mortality rate (PMR) in Macedonia is among the highest in Europe. The World Bank supported a consultant (HEJ) to collaborate with a Macedonian team to develop a national perinatal strategy with the goal of reducing the PMR. Education was given priority in the form of a hospital-based initiative to develop the capacity of health professionals to introduce evidence-based perinatal practice into 16 participating hospitals.