Aim: The medical specialty of physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) has had a proven impact on persons with disability and on healthcare systems. Documents such as The White Book on Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine in Europe have been important in defining the scope of practice within various regions. However on some continents the practice has not been well defined. The aim of this paper was to explore the practice of PM&R in subSaharan Africa and Antarctica.
Methods: Medline searches, membership data searches, fax survey of medical schools, Internet searches, and interviews with experts.
Results: The continents are dissimilar in terms of climate and government; However, both Antarctica and subSaharan Africa have no PM&R training programs, no professional organizations, no specialty board requirements, and no practicing physicians in the field. Since there are no known disabled children on Antarctica and adults are airlifted to world-class health care, the consequences of this deficit are minimal there. However the 788,000,000 permanent residents of subSaharan Africa including approximately 78 million persons with disability are left unserved.
Conclusions: Antarctica is doing fine. Africa is in a crisis. Local medical schools, hospitals doctors, and persons with disability; along with foreign volunteers, aid groups, and policymakers can impact the crisis. However government specifically national ministries of health is ultimately responsible for the health and wellbeing of citizens.
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Biomark Res
January 2025
Department of Radiology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China.
Background And Objective: Esophageal cancer (EC) is the seventh most prevalent cancer globally and the sixth leading cause of cancer-related mortality. This study aimed to provide an updated stratified assessment of rates in EC incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) from 1990 to 2021 by sex, age, and Socio-demographic Index (SDI) at global, regional, and national levels, as well as to project the future trends of EC both globally and regionally.
Methods: Data about age-standardized rates (ASRs) of incidence (ASIR), mortality (ASDR), probability of death (ASPoD) and DALYs (ASDALYRs) of EC were obtained from the 2021 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study.
Nat Med
January 2025
Training and Research Unit of Excellence (TRUE), Blantyre, Malawi.
Over 46% of African pregnant women are anemic. Oral iron is recommended but often suboptimal, particularly late in pregnancy. Intravenous ferric carboxymaltose (FCM) could treat anemia in women in the third trimester in sub-Saharan Africa.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMJ Open
January 2025
Department of Public Health, Debre Markos University, Debre Markos, Ethiopia.
Objective: This study aimed to assess gender-based violence and associated factors during the time of armed conflict among female high school students in Kobo administration town, North Wollo, Ethiopia.
Study Design: An institutional-based, quantitative and cross-sectional study was conducted.
Setting: This research was carried out in Kobo town, North Wollo, Ethiopia high schools.
BMJ Open
January 2025
School of Nursing, Haramaya University College of Health and Medical Sciences, Harar, Ethiopia.
Introduction: Although evidence exists on the impact of microbiota on pregnancy outcomes in many high-resource settings, there is a lack of research in many low-resource settings like Ethiopia. This study aims to fill this gap by studying the gut and vaginal microbiota changes throughout pregnancy and assess how these changes relate to pregnancy outcomes among a cohort of pregnant women in eastern Ethiopia.
Methods And Analysis: Vaginal and stool samples will be collected using DNA/RNA Shield Collection kits three times starting at 12-22 weeks, 28-36 weeks and at birth (within 7 days).
BMJ Open
January 2025
IMA World Health, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Objectives: To understand the current state of maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) among internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees and host communities in remote counties of Jonglei state.
Design: Cross-sectional, randomly sampled, mixed-methods, population-based household study.
Setting: Ayod, Nyirol, Fangak and Pigi counties of Jonglei, South Sudan.
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