The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on conflict and health system-related violent events in Libya: An interrupted time series analysis.

As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations Security Council passed resolution S/RES2532 (2020), requesting the cessation of hostilities. Despite ceasefire initiatives, evidence suggests that both conflict and violent events remained unabated-and, in some cases, escalated during the first months of the pandemic. This study uses interrupted time series analyses to examine the impact of the pandemic on violent and non-violent political events-including health system-related violence-in Libya, which has been experiencing a protracted conflict since 2014.

Patient Preferences for Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Care in South Africa: A Discrete Choice Experiment.

Objective: This study examined the trade-offs low-resource setting community members were willing to make in regard to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest care using a discrete choice experiment survey.

Methods: We administered a discrete choice experiment survey to a sample of community members 18 years or older across South Africa between April and May 2022. Participants were presented with 18 paired choice tasks comprised of 5 attributes (distance to closest adequate facility, provider of care, response time, chances of survival, and transport cost) and a range of 3 to 5 levels.

The cost-effectiveness of school-based interventions for chronic diseases: a systematic review.

Background: Chronic diseases, or non-communicable diseases (NCD), are conditions of long duration and often influenced and contributed by complex interactions of several variables, including genetic, physiological, environmental, and behavioral factors. These conditions contribute to death, disability, and subsequent health care costs. Primary and secondary school settings provide an opportunity to deliver relatively low cost and effective interventions to improve public health outcomes.

Evidence on the impact of community health workers in the prevention, identification, and management of undernutrition amongst children under the age of five in conflict-affected or fragile settings: a systematic literature review.

Background: Malnutrition, specifically undernutrition, is a significant global challenge that contributes to nearly half of deaths in children under the age of five. The burden of undernutrition is disproportionately borne by conflict-affected, fragile settings (CAFS); children living in a conflict zone being more than twice as likely to suffer from malnourishment. Community health worker (CHW) models have been employed in CAFS to improve healthcare coverage and identify and treat illnesses.

Access to Financial Assistance Programs and Their Impact on Overall Spending on Oral Anticancer Medications at an Integrated Specialty Pharmacy.

Purpose: Financial assistance (FA) programs are increasingly used to help patients afford oral anticancer medications (OAMs), but access to such programs and their impact on out-of-pocket (OOP) spending has not been well explored. This study aimed to (1) characterize the impact of receipt of FA on both OOP spending and likelihood of catastrophic spending on OAMs and (2) evaluate racial/ethnic disparities in access to FA programs.

Methods: Patients with a cancer diagnosis prescribed an OAM anytime between January 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021 were included in this retrospective, single-center study at an integrated specialty pharmacy affiliated with a tertiary academic cancer center.

Projected impact of population aging on non-communicable disease burden and costs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2020-2030.

Background: The number of people aged greater than 65 years per 100 people aged 20-64 years is expected to almost double in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) between 2020 and 2030. We therefore aimed to quantify the growing non-communicable disease (NCD) burden in KSA between 2020 and 2030, and the impact this will have on the national health budget.

Methods: Ten priority NCDs were selected: ischemic heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney disease, dementia, depression, osteoarthritis, colorectal cancer, and breast cancer.

Behavioural economic interventions to reduce health care appointment non-attendance: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Appointment non-attendance - often referred to as "missed appointments", "patient no-show", or "did not attend (DNA)" - causes volatility in health systems around the world. Of the different approaches that can be adopted to reduce patient non-attendance, behavioural economics-oriented mechanisms (i.e.

A novel approach to estimate the impact of health workforce investments on health outcomes through increased coverage of HIV, TB and malaria services.

Background: Globally, HIV, TB and malaria account for an estimated three million deaths annually. The Global Fund partnered with the World Health Organization to assist countries with health workforce planning in these areas through the development of an integrated health workforce investment impact tool. Our study illustrates the development of a user-friendly tool (with two MS Excel calculator subcomponents) that computes associations between human resources for health (HRH) investment inputs and reduced morbidity and mortality from HIV, TB, and malaria via increased coverage of effective treatment services.

Emergency care in post-conflict settings: a systematic literature review.

Background: Emergency care systems (ECS) organize and provide access to life-saving care both during transport and at health facilities. Not enough is known about ECS in uncertain contexts such as post-conflict settings. This review aims to systematically identify and summarize the published evidence on the delivery of emergency care in post-conflict settings and to guide health sector planning.

The mental health impact of multiple deprivations under protracted conflict: A multi-level study in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Building on the literatures examining the impacts of deprivation and war and conflict on mental health, in this study, we investigate the impact of different forms of deprivation on mental health within a context of prolonged conflict in the occupied Palestinian territory(oPt). We expand the operationalization go deprivation while accounting for more acute exposures to conflict and political violence and spatial variations. We use multilevel modelling of data from the Socio-Economic & Food Security Survey 2014 conducted by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, which included a sample size of 7827 households in the West Bank(WB) and Gaza Strip(GS).

National Oral Health Policy and Financing and Dental Health Status in 19 Countries.

Objective: Dental caries in permanent teeth is one of the most common health issues-despite being preventable in early stages-due to inadequate regulation of preventive dental services in many countries. This study evaluates the association between regulation of preventive dental services and oral health outcomes.

Methods: This mixed-method study analysed data from 19 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Health-care worker retention in post-conflict settings: a systematic literature review.

Conflicts affect health-care systems not only during but also well beyond periods of violence and immediate crises by draining resources, destroying infrastructure and perpetrating human resource shortages. Improving health-care worker (HCW) retention is critical to limiting the strain placed on health systems already facing infrastructure and financial challenges. We reviewed the evidence on the retention of HCWs in fragile, conflict-affected and post-conflict settings and evaluated strategies and their likely success in improving retention and reducing attrition.

The role of community health worker-based care in post-conflict settings: a systematic review.

Countries affected by conflict often experience the deterioration of health system infrastructure and weaken service delivery. Evidence suggests that healthcare services that leverage local community dynamics may ameliorate health system-related challenges; however, little is known about implementing these interventions in contexts where formal delivery of care is hampered subsequent to conflict. We reviewed the evidence on community health worker (CHW)-delivered healthcare in conflict-affected settings and synthesized reported information on the effectiveness of interventions and characteristics of care delivery.

Indirect COVID-19 health effects and potential mitigating interventions: Cost-effectiveness framework.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic led to important indirect health and social harms in addition to deaths and morbidity due to SARS-CoV-2 infection. These indirect impacts, such as increased depression and substance abuse, can have persistent effects over the life course. Estimated health and cost outcomes of such conditions and mitigation strategies may guide public health responses.

Pathways to food insecurity in the context of conflict: the case of the occupied Palestinian territory.

Background: Conflict reduces availability of production input and income, increases the number of days households had to rely on less preferred foods, and limits the variety of foods eaten and the portion size of meals consumed. While existing studies examine the impact of conflict on different food security measures (e.g.

A Retrospective Global Assessment of Factors Associated With COVID-19 Policies and Health Outcomes.

Background: The 2019 Global Health Security (GHS) Index measured the capacities of countries to prepare for and respond to epidemics and pandemics. However, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed that GHS Index scores were poorly correlated with ability to respond to infectious disease threats. It is critical to understand how public health policies may reduce the negative impacts of pandemics.

Accelerating cancer clinical trial recruitment through a financial reimbursement program integrated with patient navigation: an interrupted time series analysis.

Background: Cancer treatment clinical trials face major challenges with patient recruitment. Strategies to address patient indirect costs associated with clinical trial participation may accelerate accrual overall. The current study examined the effect of the IMproving Patient Access to Clinical Trials (IMPACT) intervention on patient accrual to cancer treatment clinical trials at an academic medical center.

Individual performance-based incentives for health care workers in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member countries: a systematic literature review.

In response to rising costs and growing concerns about safety, quality, equity and affordability of health care, many countries have now developed and deployed performance-based incentives, targeted at facilities as well as individuals. Evidence of the effect of these efforts has been mixed; it remains unclear how effective strategies of varying design and magnitude (relative to provider salary) are at incentivizing individual-level performance. This study reviews the current evidence on effectiveness of individual-level performance-based incentives for health care in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, which are relatively well situated to implement, monitor and evaluate performance-based incentives programs.

Implementation of a Multisite Financial Reimbursement Program in Cancer Clinical Trials Integrated With Patient Navigation: A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial.

Purpose: Cancer clinical trial participants face considerable indirect costs associated with participation, such as travel and lodging, which may contribute to poor enrollment. Here, we report the findings in IMproving Patient Access to Cancer clinical Trials, a pilot feasibility study investigating the efficacy of offering a financial reimbursement program (FRP) during a therapeutic clinical trial discussion with or without additional outreach in improving patient enrollment.

Methods: Study participants for this study were recruited at two National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers (CCCs) from April 8, 2019, to September 19, 2019.

Projecting health labor market dynamics for a health system in transition: planning for a resilient health workforce in Saudi Arabia.

Background: Health workforce planning is critical for health systems to safeguard the ability to afford, train, recruit, and retain the appropriate number and mix of health workers. This balance is especially important when macroeconomic structures are also reforming. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is moving toward greater diversification, privatization, and resiliency; health sectorreform is a key pillar of this transition.

Food insecurity in the context of conflict: analysis of survey data in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Background: Conflict impacts food security and decreases household dietary diversity. However, few studies have explored the routes by which prolonged conflict and social stressors affect food insecurity experience and food diversity. This study examines the influence of political, economic, and agricultural stressors on food insecurity and food diversity, and evaluates variations in food insecurity and food diversity with location of residence for households in the occupied Palestinian territory.

The psychological impact of deprivation in regions affected by conflict: a multilevel analysis of a cross-sectional survey in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Background: Deprivation is an important determinant of poor health. Locality can be key in understanding variation in deprivation across a population. This study aimed to analyse how different forms of deprivation affect mental health among Palestinians, and how they account for locality effects in the occupied Palestinian territory.

A needs-based methodology to project physicians and nurses to 2030: the case of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Background: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), as part of its 2030 National Transformation Program, set a goal of transforming the healthcare sector to increase access to, and improve the quality and efficiency of, health services. To assist with the workforce planning component, we projected the needed number of physicians and nurses into 2030. We developed a new needs-based methodology since previous global benchmarks of health worker concentration may not apply to the KSA.