Current and projected gaps in the availability of radiotherapy in the Asia-Pacific region: a country income-group analysis.

Background: Cancer incidence and mortality is increasing rapidly worldwide, with a higher cancer burden observed in the Asia-Pacific region than in other regions. To date, evidence-based modelling of radiotherapy demand has been based on stage data from high-income countries (HIC) that do not account for the later stage at presentation seen in many low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We aimed to estimate the current and projected demand and supply in megavoltage radiotherapy machines in the Asia-Pacific region, using a national income-group adjusted model.

Time is a terrible thing to waste: optimising use of intraoperative monitoring practitioner time towards maximising in-house IOM service provision and reducing spend on external provision.

Intraoperative monitoring (IOM) during orthopaedic and neurosurgical operations informs surgeons about the integrity of patients' central and peripheral nervous systems. It is provided by IOM practitioners (IOMPs), who are usually neurophysiology healthcare scientists. Increasing awareness of the benefits for patient safety and surgical outcomes, along with post-COVID-19 service recovery, has resulted in a material increase in demand for IOM provision nationally, and particularly at Salford Royal Hospital (SRH), which is a regional specialist neurosciences centre.

The social return on investment of physical activity and nutrition interventions-a scoping review.

Introduction: Scarcity of resources and mounting pressures on health systems make it critical to evaluate new and existing public health interventions related to physical activity and nutrition. The Social Return on Investment (SROI) framework has gained prominence for capturing traditional variables such as economic costs and returns, as well as wider beneficial social and environmental outcomes. A scoping review was conducted to present the existing evidence on the SROI of physical activity and nutrition interventions, demonstrating the wider benefits of these interventions.

Collaboration in a Partnership for Primary Health Care: A Case Study From Papua New Guinea.

Introduction: In low- and middle-income countries, public-private partnerships (PPPs) are often used to support the delivery of primary health care (PHC). We explore the processes of collaboration in a corporate social responsibility investment in PHC that was delivered through a PPP model in Western Province, Papua New Guinea, in 2009-2018 to strengthen PHC services.

Methods: Qualitative interviews were conducted with stakeholders in the PPP (N=20).

Development of a cross-sectoral antimicrobial resistance capability assessment framework.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an urgent and growing global health concern, and a clear understanding of existing capacities to address AMR, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), is needed to inform national priorities, investment targets and development activities. Across LMICs, there are limited data regarding existing mechanisms to address AMR, including national AMR policies, current infection prevention and antimicrobial prescribing practices, antimicrobial use in animals, and microbiological testing capacity for AMR. Despite the development of numerous individual tools designed to inform policy formulation and implementation or surveillance interventions to address AMR, there is an unmet need for easy-to-use instruments that together provide a detailed overview of AMR policy, practice and capacity.

The effectiveness of court-mandated compulsory treatment in promoting abstinence among people with substance use disorders in Iran.

Background: In Iran, people living with substance use disorders who engage in public drug use may be subjected to court-mandated treatment in compulsory drug detention and rehabilitation centers (CDDRC). This study aims to assess residential CDDRC's effectiveness in promoting sustained abstinence among people who use drugs (PWUD) in Kerman, Iran.

Methods: Between October 1, 2021, and September 30, 2022, 1,083 adult male PWUD with a diagnosis of substance use disorders and a history of engagement in public drug use were admitted to the CDDRC in Kerman.

Expert Pathology for Gestational Trophoblastic Disease: Towards an International Multidisciplinary Team Meeting.

Background: Gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD), comprising hydatidiform moles and gestational trophoblastic tumours, is extremely rare. Exact diagnosis is crucial to indicate the appropriate treatment and to prevent complications. The scarcity and variability in the number of cases available for reporting, lack of specialised training in GTD, and non-existence of refresher courses implies that the pathologist dealing with these rare and, at times, extremely challenging cases is not completely confident in their diagnosis.

Contextual factors affecting integration of eye health into school health programme in Zanzibar: a qualitative health system research.

Background: Short-term school eye health programmes supported by external funders have sustainability issues. This study aimed to understand the contextual factors affecting integrating eye health into the school health programme.

Methods: We elicited responses from 83 respondents, purposefully selected from the Ministry of Health (n = 7), Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (n = 7), hospitals/eye centres (n = 5), master trainers (4) and schools (n = 60) who participated in in-depth interviews.

Do participants in a physical activity program from a Care Sport Connector become healthier? An explorative study from the Netherlands.

Introduction: Care Sport Connectors (CSCs) have been appointed to create a connection between the primary care and physical activity (PA) sectors to stimulate residents who are inactive to become more physically active to gain health benefits. The objective of this explorative study was to find out whether CSCs achieve these goals by testing the hypothesis that more residents become physically active, and score higher for health-related fitness and health-related quality of life.

Method: We conducted a longitudinal study design whereby participants (n = 402) were measured at three time points: at the start of their PA program (T0); after 6 months (T1); and after 1 year (T2).

Advancing the social return on investment framework to capture the social value of public health interventions: semistructured interviews and a review of scoping reviews.

Objectives: Investment in public health has far-reaching impacts, not only on physical health but also on communities, economies and the environment. There is increasing demand to account for the wider impact of public health and the social value that can be created, which can be captured through the use of the social return on investment (SROI) framework. This study aims to explore the application of SROI and identify areas of advancement for its use in public health.

Standards for clinical trials for treating TB.

The value, speed of completion and robustness of the evidence generated by TB treatment trials could be improved by implementing standards for best practice. A global panel of experts participated in a Delphi process, using a 7-point Likert scale to score and revise draft standards until consensus was reached. Eleven standards were defined: Standard 1, high quality data on TB regimens are essential to inform clinical and programmatic management; Standard 2, the research questions addressed by TB trials should be relevant to affected communities, who should be included in all trial stages; Standard 3, trials should make every effort to be as inclusive as possible; Standard 4, the most efficient trial designs should be considered to improve the evidence base as quickly and cost effectively as possible, without compromising quality; Standard 5, trial governance should be in line with accepted good clinical practice; Standard 6, trials should investigate and report strategies that promote optimal engagement in care; Standard 7, where possible, TB trials should include pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic components; Standard 8, outcomes should include frequency of disease recurrence and post-treatment sequelae; Standard 9, TB trials should aim to harmonise key outcomes and data structures across studies; Standard 10, TB trials should include biobanking; Standard 11, treatment trials should invest in capacity strengthening of local trial and TB programme staff.

Efficacy and moderators of efficacy of cognitive behavioural therapies with a trauma focus in children and adolescents: an individual participant data meta-analysis of randomised trials.

Background: Existing clinical trials of cognitive behavioural therapies with a trauma focus (CBTs-TF) are underpowered to examine key variables that might moderate treatment effects. We aimed to determine the efficacy of CBTs-TF for young people, relative to passive and active control conditions, and elucidate putative individual-level and treatment-level moderators.

Methods: This was an individual participant data meta-analysis of published and unpublished randomised studies in young people aged 6-18 years exposed to trauma.

The WHO Mental Health Gap Action Programme for mental, neurological, and substance use conditions: the new and updated guideline recommendations.

The WHO Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) guideline update reflects 15 years of investment in reducing the treatment gap and scaling up care for people with mental, neurological, and substance use (MNS) conditions. It was produced by a guideline development group and steering group, with support from topic experts, using quantitative and qualitative evidence and a systematic review of use of mhGAP. 90 recommendations from the 2015 guideline update were validated and endorsed for use in their current format.

The 2023 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: the imperative for a health-centred response in a world facing irreversible harms.

Unlabelled: The Countdown is an international research collaboration that independently monitors the evolving impacts of climate change on health, and the emerging health opportunities of climate action. In its eighth iteration, this 2023 report draws on the expertise of 114 scientists and health practitioners from 52 research institutions and UN agencies worldwide to provide its most comprehensive assessment yet. In 2022, the Countdown warned that people’s health is at the mercy of fossil fuels and stressed the transformative opportunity of jointly tackling the concurrent climate change, energy, cost-of-living, and health crises for human health and wellbeing.

Genomic revolution: Transforming tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment with the use of Whole Genome Sequencing - A consensus statement.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a preventable, treatable, and curable disease. However, in 2020, 9∙9 million people were estimated to have developed tuberculosis, and 1.5 million people were estimated to have died from it.

Determinants of the onset and prognosis of the post-COVID-19 condition: a 2-year prospective observational cohort study.

Background: At least 5-10% of subjects surviving COVID-19 develop the post-COVID-19 condition (PCC) or "Long COVID". The clinical presentation of PCC is heterogeneous, its pathogenesis is being deciphered, and objective, validated biomarkers are lacking. It is unknown if PCC is a single entity or a heterogeneous syndrome with overlapping pathophysiological basis.

Does a "hernia center" label provide better 30-day outcomes following elective ventral hernia repair?: An analysis of the ACHQC database.

Introduction: Currently, there is no agreed upon definition of a designated hernia center (DHC) and no study has investigated the association of hernia center designation with ventral hernia repair (VHR) outcomes. We sought to investigate the current utilization of DHC and the association of hernia center designation with VHR outcomes.

Methods: All patients who underwent elective, ventral hernia repair with mesh with 30-day follow-up from 2013 through 2020 were in the Americas Hernia Society Quality Collaborative (ACHQC) database.

A collective autoethnography of coproduction in mental health research by academic researchers and young people in Brazil.

Introduction: Coproduction of mental health research and interventions involving researchers and young people is increasingly common. However, this model raises challenges, related, for instance, to communication, power and control. This paper narrates-from a collective first-person perspective-the lived experience of coproduction of a digital intervention by institutional researchers and young citizen researchers in Brazil.

Mapping regional funding for COVID-19 research in the Asia-Pacific region.

Introduction: The Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness (GloPID-R) is a network of funders supporting research on infectious diseases of epidemic/pandemic potential. GloPID-R is establishing regional hubs to strengthen stakeholder engagement particularly among low-income and middle-income countries. The first pilot hub, led from Republic of Korea (South Korea), has been launched in the Asia-Pacific region, a region highly prone to outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases.

A Multicenter Study Validates the WHO 2022 Classification for Conjunctival Melanocytic Intraepithelial Lesions With Clinical and Prognostic Relevance.

Several nomenclature and grading systems have been proposed for conjunctival melanocytic intraepithelial lesions (C-MIL). The fourth "WHO Classification of Eye Tumors" (WHO-EYE04) proposed a C-MIL classification, capturing the progression of noninvasive neoplastic melanocytes from low- to high-grade lesions, onto melanoma in situ (MIS), and then to invasive melanoma. This proposal was revised to the WHO-EYE05 C-MIL system, which simplified the high-grade C-MIL, whereby MIS was subsumed into high-grade C-MIL.

Lack of patient and primary care physician follow-up in geriatric emergency department patients with head trauma from a fall.

Study Objective: Falls are the leading cause of injuries in the US for older adults. Follow-up after an ED-related fall visit is essential to initiate preventive strategies in these patients who are at very high risk for recurrent falls. It is currently unclear how frequently follow-up occurs and whether preventive strategies are implemented.