Barriers to healthcare access and experiences of stigma: Findings from a coproduced Long Covid case-finding study.

Background And Aim: Long Covid is often stigmatised, particularly in people who are disadvantaged within society. This may prevent them from seeking help and could lead to widening health inequalities. This coproduced study with a Community Advisory Board (CAB) of people with Long Covid aimed to understand healthcare and wider barriers and stigma experienced by people with probable Long Covid.

[Capacity building in schistosomiasis control institutions in China: a cross-sectional study].

Objective: To understand the current status of capacity building in schistosomiasis control institutes in schistosomiasis-endemic provinces (municipality, autonomous region) of China.

Methods: The responsibilities and construction requirements of various schistosomiasis control institutions were surveyed by expert discussions, and field interviews and visits during the period between May and June, 2023, and the questionnaire for capacity maintenance and consolidation in schistosomiasis control institutions was designed. An online questionnaire survey was conducted in county-, municipal-, and provincial-level institutions that undertook schistosomiasis control and surveillance activities through the Wenjuanxing program.

The reported impact of non-communicable disease investment cases in 13 countries.

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are a leading health and development challenge worldwide. Since 2015, WHO and the United Nations Development Programme have provided support to governments to develop national NCD investment cases to describe the socioeconomic dimensions of NCDs. To assess the impact of the investment cases, semistructured interviews and a structured process for gathering written feedback were conducted between July and October 2022 with key informants in 13 countries who had developed a national NCD investment case between 2015 and 2020.

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990-2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021.

Background: Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Outcomes and quality of care for women and their babies after caesarean section in Nigeria.

Objective: To describe the outcomes and quality of care for women and their babies after caesarean section (CS) in Nigerian referral-level hospitals.

Design: Secondary analysis of a nationwide cross-sectional study.

Setting: Fifty-four referral-level hospitals.

Improving access to general practice for and with people with severe and multiple disadvantage: a qualitative study.

Background: People with severe and multiple disadvantage (SMD) who experience combinations of homelessness, substance misuse, violence, abuse, and poor mental health have high health needs and poor access to primary care.

Aim: To improve access to general practice for people with SMD by facilitating collaborative service improvement meetings between healthcare staff, people with lived experience of SMD, and those who support them; participants were then interviewed about this work.

Design And Setting: The Bridging Gaps group is a collaboration between healthcare staff, researchers, women with lived experience of SMD, and a charity that supports them in a UK city.

Achieving universal social protection for people with tuberculosis.

As we mark World TB Day 2024, we take this opportunity to reflect on the 2023 UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting (HLM) on the fight against tuberculosis-a milestone in the commitment towards a more coordinated, comprehensive approach to end tuberculosis globally. The UN HLM declaration on the fight against tuberculosis includes a specific pledge that all people with tuberculosis should receive a social benefits package to mitigate financial hardship. However, it is not known how this specific pledge will be realised and through which concrete actions.

Global fertility in 204 countries and territories, 1950-2021, with forecasts to 2100: a comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021.

Background: Accurate assessments of current and future fertility-including overall trends and changing population age structures across countries and regions-are essential to help plan for the profound social, economic, environmental, and geopolitical challenges that these changes will bring. Estimates and projections of fertility are necessary to inform policies involving resource and health-care needs, labour supply, education, gender equality, and family planning and support. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 produced up-to-date and comprehensive demographic assessments of key fertility indicators at global, regional, and national levels from 1950 to 2021 and forecast fertility metrics to 2100 based on a reference scenario and key policy-dependent alternative scenarios.

Towards leaving no one behind in North Macedonia: a mixed methods assessment of barriers to effective coverage with health services.

Background: The Government of North Macedonia's Primary Health Care reform is committed to leaving no one behind on the path to Universal health Coverage (UHC). During mid-2022 to March 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) collaborated with the Government and other national stakeholders for an assessment of barriers to effective coverage with health services experienced by adult citizens, with a specific focus on rural areas and subpopulations in situations of vulnerability.

Methods: This study constituted the piloting of a draft forthcoming WHO handbook on assessing barriers for health services, grounded in the Tanahashi framework for effective coverage with health services.

The development of a digital NGO mapping platform in Tanzania, as a tool to strengthen civil society engagement, in pursuit of universal health coverage.

The role of civil society in economic development, improving livelihoods and in providing pathways towards achieving health for all has become increasingly evident. By mapping these organizations, the scope and scale as well as existing capacities, gaps, and opportunities are brought to light. This paper describes the implementation of a digital mapping platform for NGOs; an interactive site which collects, analyses, and visualizes data from a variety of sources about NGOs in Tanzania, through a series of interactive maps, graphs, and charts.

System-wide approaches to antimicrobial therapy and antimicrobial resistance in the UK: the AMR-X framework.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatens human, animal, and environmental health. Acknowledging the urgency of addressing AMR, an opportunity exists to extend AMR action-focused research beyond the confines of an isolated biomedical paradigm. An AMR learning system, AMR-X, envisions a national network of health systems creating and applying optimal use of antimicrobials on the basis of their data collected from the delivery of routine clinical care.

Impact of new direct-acting antiviral therapy on the prevalence and undiagnosed proportion of chronic hepatitis C infection.

Background: Patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) can be cured with the new highly effective interferon-free combination treatments (DAA) that were approved in 2014. However, CHC is a largely silent disease, and many individuals are unaware of their infections until the late stages of the disease. The impact of wider access to effective treatments and improved awareness of the disease on the number of infections and the number of patients who remain undiagnosed is not known in Canada.

Impact of inconsistent ethnicity recordings on estimates of inequality in child health and education data: a data linkage study of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in South London.

Objectives: Ethnicity data are critical for identifying inequalities, but previous studies suggest that ethnicity is not consistently recorded between different administrative datasets. With researchers increasingly leveraging cross-domain data linkages, we investigated the completeness and consistency of ethnicity data in two linked health and education datasets.

Design: Cohort study.

A blueprint for health technology assessment capacity building: lessons learned from Malta.

Objectives: The development and strengthening of health technology assessment (HTA) capacity on the individual and organizational level and the wider environment is relevant for cooperation on HTAs. Based on the Maltese case, we provide a blueprint for building HTA capacity.

Methods: A set of activities were developed based on Pichler et al.

Public health and social entrepreneurs as activators of equitable health ecosystems.

Objectives: To describe approaches that public health and social entrepreneurs take to address health equity, and identify strategies for equitable collaborations with these entrepreneurs.

Methods: We leveraged data from semi-structured interviews, conducted August to October 2022, with 20 public health and social entrepreneurs who focus on drivers of health and health equity. Two researchers employed content analysis, guided by a prior framework.

Pressure injury prevalence in critical care settings: An observational pre-post intervention study.

Aim: To explore pressure injury prevention practices and evaluate the impact of an educational intervention on PI prevalence before and after an educational intervention.

Design: A multi-centre observational study.

Method: Data were collected at two time points in May 2021 and April 2022 using a Qualtrics® online form.

Comparison between transradial and transfemoral mechanical thrombectomy for ICA and M1 occlusions: insights from the Stroke Thrombectomy and Aneurysm Registry (STAR).

Background: The role for the transradial approach for mechanical thrombectomy is controversial. We sought to compare transradial and transfemoral mechanical thrombectomy in a large multicenter database of acute ischemic stroke.

Methods: The prospectively maintained Stroke Thrombectomy and Aneurysm Registry (STAR) was reviewed for patients who underwent mechanical thrombectomy for an internal carotid artery (ICA) or middle cerebral artery M1 occlusion.

The Socioeconomic consequences of femoral shaft fracture for patients in Malawi.

Background: Femoral shaft fractures are common in Malawi, with an annual incidence of 44 per 100,000 people. Inadequate treatment and delayed presentation often result in functional, biopsychosocial, and financial challenges for patients. The purpose of this study was to examine the socioeconomic consequences of femoral shaft fractures for patients in Malawi.

Challenges and Solutions to Support Oncology Professionals Serving Underserved Populations With Cancer in the United States: Results From the ASCO Serving the Underserved Task Force.

Purpose: Little data exist regarding approaches to support oncology professionals who deliver cancer care for underserved populations. In response, ASCO developed the Serving the Underserved Task Force to learn from and support oncology professionals serving underserved populations.

Methods: The Task Force developed a 28-question survey to assess oncology professionals' experiences and strategies to support their work caring for underserved populations.

Mapping the Landscape of Brachial Plexus Birth Injury Research: A Comprehensive Bibliometric Study.

Brachial plexus birth injury (BPBI) is a relatively common condition that poses a significant challenge to children who endure functional impairments later on. This comprehensive bibliometric analysis sought to quantitatively evaluate the existing literature on BPBI, shedding light on authorship, collaboration, publication trends, and keyword analysis to both inform the medical community and foster future research growth. A thorough search of the Web of Science database yielded 712 relevant documents published between 1986 and 2022.

Expanding Access to Computed Tomographic Staging and Three-Dimensional Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy for Cervical Cancer in Ghana.

Purpose: To build capacity for improved treatment of locally advanced cervical cancer in Ghana, including computed tomography (CT) staging and intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT).

Materials And Methods: Patients with histologically confirmed cervical cancer were prospectively staged with abdominopelvic CT and ultrasound and offered the opportunity to have IMRT instead of conventional two-dimensional radiotherapy. The development of an efficient, high-quality, and safe IMRT program was facilitated by investment in new technology and comprehensive training of the interdisciplinary radiotherapy team in collaboration with a North American center of excellence.

Transforming modeling in neurorehabilitation: clinical insights for personalized rehabilitation.

Practicing clinicians in neurorehabilitation continue to lack a systematic evidence base to personalize rehabilitation therapies to individual patients and thereby maximize outcomes. Computational modeling- collecting, analyzing, and modeling neurorehabilitation data- holds great promise. A key question is how can computational modeling contribute to the evidence base for personalized rehabilitation? As representatives of the clinicians and clinician-scientists who attended the 2023 NSF DARE conference at USC, here we offer our perspectives and discussion on this topic.