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Background Mothers who have children removed from their care often have complex needs. These women have poor health outcomes and are dying earlier than their peers from preventable and amenable causes. Yet there is little known about how health care services might mitigate these risks. This study aimed to listen to the voices of women who had children removed from their care to understand their experiences of health and healthcare. Methods We used a narrative approach to collect and analyse interview data with six mothers who had experienced child removal in England. Each participant was asked to reflect on their life and main health challenges. Results Three narrative subplots were developed to consolidate experiences of unmet health need: (i) 'on paper you're normal': narratives of complex need, (ii) 'in my family, everyone had issues': narratives of whole family need and (iii) 'I'm still mummy, no matter where they are': narratives of maternal identity and health. Conclusions Findings highlight limitations within current systems of support, including a culture of distrust and women falling between the gaps of services. Women's narratives illustrate opportunities for health intervention, especially immediately following child removal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In case of scientific misconduct, the papers can be retracted at the request of the journal's editors and/or authors. However, the retracted articles continue to be fully available through online resources, including journals websites. This paper argues that a classical retraction is insufficient to mitigate the adverse effect some retracted papers continue to have on critical issues, e.g. public health. The more strict approach, 'Hard Retraction', is presented for consideration. Its implementation would lead to (1) complete deletion of the full text of the retracted paper, (2) substitution of the original abstract with a detailed retraction notice, (3) removal of the paper from the citation databases, (4) deposition of the retracted paper in the dedicated repository accessible for registered members. The benefits and risks of such an approach are discussed. Nevertheless, it should only be reserved for cases of fraud or grave errors with broad impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Chagas disease represents a major public health concern in several Latin American countries, including Bolivia. Methods We present a longitudinal serosurvey for Trypanosoma cruzi antibodies among a cohort of 120 school-age children from rural communities in the Bolivian Chaco at three time points between 2017 and 2019. Serum samples extracted from dry blood spots collected on filter paper were tested for T. cruzi antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and rapid diagnostic test. Results T. cruzi antibodies were detected in 7/120 (5.8%), 8/120 (6.7%) and 11/120 (9.2%) samples in 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively. An average incidence of 1.76 per 100 person-years was observed. Conclusions Our findings support the persistence of vector-borne T. cruzi transmission in this area, highlighting the need for strengthening multidisciplinary efforts against Chagas disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovations are urgently required for clinical development of antibacterials against multidrug-resistant organisms. Therefore, a European, public-private working group (STAT-Net; part of Combatting Bacterial Resistance in Europe [COMBACTE]), has reviewed and tested several innovative trials designs and analytical methods for randomized clinical trials, which has resulted in 8 recommendations. The first 3 focus on pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic modeling, emphasizing the pertinence of population-based pharmacokinetic models, regulatory procedures for the reassessment of old antibiotics, and rigorous quality improvement. Recommendations 4 and 5 address the need for more sensitive primary end points through the use of rank-based or time-dependent composite end points. Recommendation 6 relates to the applicability of hierarchical nested-trial designs, and the last 2 recommendations propose the incorporation of historical or concomitant trial data through Bayesian methods and/or platform trials. Although not all of these recommendations are directly applicable, they provide a solid, evidence-based approach to develop new, and established, antibacterials and address this public health challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evaluation of a country's medical research outputs should include measures of their impact on medical practice, on health policy, and decision-making, as well as conventional citations in the serial literature. This study examined three measures of impact: geometric mean, arithmetic mean, and world scale mean, applied to one disease area, namely, diabetes, to investigate the amount of agreement between them in terms of the impacts of the research of different European countries. First, citations to diabetes research papers in the Web of Science from 31 European countries from 2002 to 2013 were analysed. Papers from Finland, Switzerland, Denmark, and the UK were the most cited by other papers on both geometric and arithmetic means, and in terms of their presence in the top 5% of papers with the most citations. Secondly, the references on 103 European diabetes clinical practice guidelines from 21 countries were analysed. Papers from The Netherlands, Finland, the UK, and Austria were the most cited in the clinical guidelines relative to the countries' presence amongst diabetes research. Finally, an analysis of newspaper stories about non-communicable disease research from 22 European countries included 822 on diabetes research (9.6% of the total) and showed that the subject was of substantial interest. The countries whose papers were the most cited relative to their presence in the subject area were Finland, Norway, the UK, and Belgium, but those from Japan, China, and South Korea were not well cited. Different European countries scored highly on these three measures. Scandinavian countries and the UK appeared to perform strongly on all three, but Switzerland only on conventional citation counts. The increased emphasis placed on demonstration of the social and economic impacts stemming from research makes the methodologies described herein of particular value to future evaluations of medical research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes papers published in the journal with the term "complexity" in title and abstracts in an effort to provide a description and reflection on complexity diffusion in the health promotion community. Topics covered include the finding that complexity often was referred to as a generic descriptive term without any association to complexity concepts, theories or frameworks, and a summary of revised papers and their contribution to complexity informed health promotion practice.

The article offers information on the updated position paper on the policies relating to HIV infection in the U.S. The position paper on HIV policy has been established in collaboration with the HIV Medicine Association of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the American College of Physicians. The updated HIV policy highlights major advances on the treatment of HIV infection, the expansion of HIV as a pandemic and the prevalence of HIV transmission in health care settings. Details on these updates emphasizing public health and clinical imperatives in identifying HIV infection are discussed.

In the article, the author examines the articles published by various scientific journals about the COVID-19 pandemic to determine whether the appropriate topics are being tackled. Also cited are the countries with the highest number of published articles about the pandemic including the U.S., China, and Italy, as well as the recommended topics for the articles like the virus's genetic sequence, the origin of the virus, and whether asymptomatic patients can spread the virus.

Much has been written about the measurement of socio-economic position (SEP) in high-income countries (HIC). Less has been written for an epidemiology, health systems and public health audience about the measurement of SEP in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). The social stratification processes in many LMIC—and therefore the appropriate measurement tools—differ considerably from those in HIC. Many measures of SEP have been utilized in epidemiological studies; the aspects of SEP captured by these measures and the pathways through which they may affect health are likely to be slightly different but overlapping. No single measure of SEP will be ideal for all studies and contexts; the strengths and limitations of a given indicator are likely to vary according to the specific research question. Understanding the general properties of different indicators, however, is essential for all those involved in the design or interpretation of epidemiological studies. In this article, we describe the measures of SEP used in LMIC. We concentrate on measures of individual or household-level SEP rather than area-based or ecological measures such as gross domestic product. We describe each indicator in terms of its theoretical basis, interpretation, measurement, strengths and limitations. We also provide brief comparisons between LMIC and HIC for each measure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To assess the evidence for a reduced risk of acute coronary events following comprehensive smoke-free legislation. Methods Two independent systematic reviews were undertaken using PubMed, Embase and Science Direct with no date restrictions imposed. Meta-analysis was undertaken using a random effects model to obtain a pooled estimate of the relative risk. Linear regression was used to examine possible bias and meta-regression was used to investigate possible causes of heterogeneity. Main outcome measure Acute coronary events. Results The 17 eligible studies (10 from North America, 6 from Europe and 1 from Australasia) provided 35 estimates of effect size. Apart from five subgroup analyses, all of the published results suggested a reduction in the incidence of acute coronary events following the introduction of smoke-free legislation. Meta-analysis produced a pooled estimate of the relative risk of 0.90 (95% CI 0.86 to 0.94). There was significant heterogeneity (overall I=95.1%, p<0.001) but there was no evidence of small study bias (p=0.714). On univariate random effects meta-regression analysis, studies with longer data collection following legislation produced greater estimates of risk reduction and remained significant after adjustment for other study characteristics (adjusted coefficient −0.005, 95% CI −0.007 to −0.002, multiplicity adjusted p=0.006). Conclusions There is now a large body of evidence supporting a reduction in acute coronary events following the implementation of comprehensive smoke-free legislation, with the effect increasing over time from implementation. Countries that have not yet adopted smoke-free legislation should be encouraged to do so. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The authors discuss the new open access format of the "European Journal of Public Health" starting February 2022. The European Public Health Association decided on the new format in November 2020. They emphasize the lack of change in the content and structure of the journal. They point out that the open access format is adapted to the modern ways of accessing articles and the movement toward open access to scientific information.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the leading causes of death across the world. CVD can lead to angina, heart attacks, heart failure, strokes, and eventually, death; among many other serious conditions. The early intervention with those at a higher risk of developing CVD, typically with statin treatment, leads to better health outcomes. For this reason, clinical prediction models (CPMs) have been developed to identify those at a high risk of developing CVD so that treatment can begin at an earlier stage. Currently, CPMs are built around statistical analysis of factors linked to developing CVD, such as body mass index and family history. The emerging field of machine learning (ML) in healthcare, using computer algorithms that learn from a dataset without explicit programming, has the potential to outperform the CPMs available today. ML has already shown exciting progress in the detection of skin malignancies, bone fractures and many other medical conditions. In this review, we will analyse and explain the CPMs currently in use with comparisons to their developing ML counterparts. We have found that although the newest non-ML CPMs are effective, ML-based approaches consistently outperform them. However, improvements to the literature need to be made before ML should be implemented over current CPMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the papers presented by Grigg and Farewell and Marshall and colleagues, regarding monitoring health care and clinical performance. Processes for which Grigg and Farewell compared risk-adjusted charting methods; Emphasis placed by Marshall and colleagues on the need to consider the performance of an entire system of charts; Issues regarding the proportion of emergencies detected.

Globally, 40 million people need palliative care; about 69% are people over 60 years of age. The highest proportion (78%) of adults are from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where palliative care still developing and is primarily limited to urban areas. This integrative review describes strategies used by LMICs to establish palliative care in rural areas. A rigorous integrative review methodology was utilized using four electronic databases (Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Emcare, Embase classic+Embase and CINAHL). The search terms were: 'palliative care', 'hospice care', 'end of life care', 'home-based care', 'volunteer', 'rural', 'regional', 'remote' and 'developing countries' identified by the United Nations (UN) as 'Africa', 'Sub-Saharan Africa', 'low-income' and 'middle- income countries'. Thirty papers published in English from 1990 to 2019 were included. Papers were appraised for quality and extracted data subjected to analysis using a public health model (policy, drug availability, education and implementation) as a framework to describe strategies for establishing palliative care in rural areas. The methodological quality of the reviewed papers was low, with 7 of the 30 being simple programme descriptions. Despite the inclusion of palliative care in national health policy in some countries, implementation in the community was often reliant on advocacy and financial support from non-government organizations. Networking to coordinate care and medication availability near-patient homes were essential features of implementation. Training, role play, education and mentorship were strategies used to support health providers and volunteers. Home- and community-based palliative care services for rural LMICs communities may best be delivered using a networked service among health professionals, community volunteers, religious leaders and technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the issue between medical journal and politics. German pathologist Rudolph Virchow states that medicine is a social science and politics is nothing else but medicine on a large scale. It mentions that it would be negligent of a medical journal to ignore the political determinants in a world where many of the determinants of disease are intensely political.

This editorial provides an overview of the six papers included in this special supplement on health leadership in Africa. Together the papers provide evidence of leadership in public hospital settings and of initiatives to strengthen leadership development. On the one hand, they demonstrate both that current leadership practices often impact negatively on staff motivation and patient care, and that contextual factors underpin poor leadership. On the other hand, they provide some evidence of the positive potential of new forms of participatory leadership, together with ideas about what forms of leadership development intervention can nurture new forms of leadership. Finally, the papers prompt reflection on the research needed to support the implementation of such interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concerns have emerged of how the professionalization agenda in the development sector may water down the 'spirit of volunteerism' that thrives on community initiative, informality, and flexibility. This paper explores the role of literacy and learning practices in the bureaucratization of community development drawing from an ethnography of local volunteering in the Philippines. Through literacy practices such as preparing community health classes, making budget plans, and writing to government institutions, volunteers were inducted into 'bureaucratic' ways of working that, at times, clashed with their expectations and practices of volunteering that were founded on community building, solidarity, and agency. While volunteering could be seen as a means for community participation in development, findings in this paper signal that the formalization and bureaucratization of grassroots volunteer groups may shift the intended community dynamics and volunteers' expectations, practices, and identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Alcohol increases cancer risk, but less is known about public awareness of this link. This scoping review summarizes recent findings on the public awareness of alcohol as a cancer risk factor in European Union and UK. Methods Four databases (Web of Science, MEDLINE, PsycInfo, CINAHL) were searched for papers containing data on awareness of alcohol as cancer risk factor in EU or UK published between January 2017 and December 2022, and complemented with grey literature searches. Results In total, 45 studies were included covering 18 EU countries (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden) and UK, presenting data collected between 2009 and 2022. Studies covered general population (17 studied a nationally representative sample), women, health professionals, patients and young people. Awareness of alcohol causing cancer in general was higher and studied more often than awareness of alcohol's impact on specific cancers. Among the EU general population, awareness of the link between alcohol and breast cancer ranged between 10% and 20%, head and neck cancer 15–25%, colorectal and oesophagus cancer 15–45% and liver cancer 40%. Awareness was higher among young people and specialized health professions and lower among women (the latter specifically for the breast cancer). Conclusions While awareness rates varied depending on the exact question wording, many studies showed low awareness of the alcohol-cancer link, especially for specific types such as breast and colon cancer. Public should be better informed about alcohol consumption-related cancer risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction loneliness is prevalent worldwide. It is also associated with an increased risk for depression, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, stroke and early death. As such, loneliness is a major public health issue. This paper summarizes the salient points clinicians should know and encourages clinicians to assume an active part in the identification, mitigation and prevention of loneliness. Sources of data white papers, academic publications. Areas of agreement loneliness is a distressful subjective experience, which does not always correlate with social isolation. Both internal (personal) and external (contextual, societal) factors determine whether an individual would feel lonely in a given situation. Areas of controversy identifying loneliness in the clinic may be time consuming and challenging. There is a scarce robust evidence to support interventions. Growing points due to increased individualization and incidence of infectious diseases, loneliness is likely to become even more prevalent. Areas timely for developing research more research is needed to further elucidate the health impacts of loneliness as well as to find evidence-based interventions to prevent and mitigate loneliness that could then be implemented by policy-makers and clinicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The term 'long COVID' describes ongoing symptoms and conditions experienced by people infected with SARS-CoV-2. This paper illustrates how a public health approach was used to influence and inform the development of post-COVID services across two Integrated Care Systems (ICSs). Methods A literature review was conducted between October and December 2020 to identify prevalence estimates for long COVID. The prevalence estimates were applied to locally available data on the susceptible population to estimate the number of people with long COVID. They were also used to develop a dashboard to predict fluctuations in the number of people experiencing persistent symptoms over time. Results A substantial number of people in each ICS may have experienced persistent symptoms or complications as a result of COVID-19. In Lancashire and South Cumbria, it is estimated that 33 000 people may have experienced post-COVID-19 syndrome since the beginning of the pandemic, which will include respiratory or cardiovascular complications. Conclusions The findings have been valuable in informing early service developments, engaging with managers and clinicians, and supporting applications for funding at a local level. Continued attention to emergent evidence on this topic will be vital in refining estimates and supporting service planning in the longer term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergency response to sudden public health incident often encounters problems such as the long distance between the medical material supply node and the demand point or the destruction of key roads, which makes it difficult to transport materials directly to the disaster area by vehicles in time. Helicopters are increasingly being used to transport critical medical emergency resources, but it is not easy to distribute medical supplies through helicopter in large-scale public health incidents. In order to solve the above problems, a two-stage combined transportation method for medical supplies based on clustering is proposed in this paper. In the first stage, the quantum bacterial foraging (QBF) algorithm is used to select emergency transit points and divide the medical assistance points. In view of the imbalance of remaining capacity in QBF division, an improved division method (quantum bacterial foraging with capacity constraints (QBFwCC)) is proposed and a 'helicopter–vehicle' medical material combined transportation network structure is constructed in consideration of capacity constraints. In the second stage, a transportation route optimization model based on clustering is established to determine the specific transportation route from the emergency transit point to the medical assistance point. The performance of the method proposed in the paper was analyzed through experimental COVID-19 simulation and compared between QBF and QBFwCC. The results show that the method not only achieves the goal of optimization, but also effectively reduces the number of vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background In 2010, 240 billion US dollars was invested worldwide to conduct research for health; unfortunately, 200 billion was misused in the production and reporting of the evidence researched. Universities could facilitate students to acquire leadership competencies to move well-conducted research findings into practical use; this could be an essential move to reduce the misuse of investment. Methods A literature review was done based on the Equator Network and Cochrane guidelines, followed by three Delphi rounds to select competencies. Results Eleven papers were analysed out of 1121 items and 39/78 identified competencies were prioritized to be presented in the Delphi. Four out of 12 participants accepted to be involved in this project, and 22 competencies reached consensus and stability after three rounds. This framework conceptualizes competencies as the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values. The competencies were framed in four domains: knowledge management, engage diverse others in public health initiatives, training and capacity building/change management and communication. Conclusion This framework offers guidance to universities when instructing students with leadership competencies for KT. This project emphasizes that effective leadership should include personal conscience and self-determination values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health Impact Assessment is a key approach used internationally to identify positive or negative impacts of policies, plans and proposals on health and well-being. In 2020, HIAs were undertaken in Scotland and Wales to identify the potential health and well-being impacts of the 'stay at home' and physical distancing measures implemented at the start of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. There is sparse evidence evaluating whether the impacts predicted in HIAs occur following policy implementation. This paper evaluates the impacts anticipated in the COVID-19 HIAs against actual observed trends. The processes undertaken were compared and predicted impacts were tabulated by population groups and main determinants of health. Routine data and literature evidence were collated to compare predicted and observed impacts. Nearly all health impacts anticipated in both HIAs have occurred in the direction predicted. There have been significant adverse impacts through multiple direct and indirect pathways including loss of income, social isolation, disruption to education and services, and psychosocial effects. This research demonstrates the value of prediction in impact assessment and fills a gap in the literature by comparing the predicted impacts identified within the HIAs with observed trends. Post-COVID-19 recovery should centre health and well-being within future policies and decisions. Processes like HIA can support this as part of a 'health in all policies' approach to improve the health and well-being of populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated and surfaced long-standing inadequacies in the country's health and social systems. In response to the Philippine government's inefficient and ineffective COVID-19 response and their dismissal of the calls for accountability, Filipinos at the barangay level organized community pantries to respond to the needs of the community. Using WHO's Framework for Community Health Engagement, this study positions community pantries as a unique health phenomenon during the COVID-19 pandemic within the Philippine context. This study explores the ways that the Maginhawa Community Pantry—the critical case study—addresses both emergent and pre-existing health needs among Filipinos during the COVID-19 pandemic. By examining community pantries from the perspective of the Maginhawa Community Pantry organizer, this paper elucidates how community pantries engage in diverse initiatives that: (1) mobilize the community for health, (2) improve access to healthcare, (3) ensure community collaboration and (4) call for collective action for systemic issues. The findings of this paper highlight the capacity and potential of community pantries as a health response beyond the COVID-19 pandemic and address gaps in the Philippine healthcare system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When a cost-benefit analysis is applied to the optimization of practices involving radiation protection, the alpha value is used to determine the amount of money required to be invested in a practice to minimize radiation doses to acceptable levels. The alpha value is often linked to the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, so the monetary reference value of person-Sievert can often be different in each country. Evaluation of the alpha value in Brazil was performed in 1993 and 2000 making use of the procedure advised by ICRP to produce projections up to 2015 and subsequently in 2004 by using the procedure recommended by the IAEA. This paper, in response to the social and economic situation in Brazil, calculates the alpha value and compares it with the projections of the 1993 and 2000 papers and includes a dollar correction to take account of the differences in the purchasing power from that time. This procedure illustrates the significant gap of value in use and that the actual value should be two to three times higher. By GDP per capita, the authors could calculate the alpha value updated to various countries including the European Union and compare them with the official value currently in use. In conclusion, it is believed that all countries that adopt an alpha value should upgrade it to the present day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The term 'commercial determinants of health' (CDOH) is increasingly focussing attention upon the role of tobacco, alcohol and food and beverage companies and others—as important drivers of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). However, the CDOH do not seem to be clearly represented in the most common social determinants of health (SDOH) frameworks. We review a wide range of existing frameworks of the determinants of health to determine whether and how commercial determinants are incorporated into current SDOH thinking. Methods We searched for papers and non-academic reports published in English since 2000 describing influences on population health outcomes. We included documents with a formal conceptual framework or diagram, showing the integration of the different determinants. Results Forty-eight framework documents were identified. Only one explicitly included the CDOH in a conceptual diagram. Ten papers discussed the commercial determinants in some form in the text only and fourteen described negative impacts of commercial determinants in the text. Twelve discussed positive roles for the private sector in producing harmful commodities. Overall, descriptions of commercial determinants are frequently understated, not made explicit, or simply missing. The role of commercial actors as vectors of NCDs is largely absent or invisible in many of the most influential conceptual diagrams. Conclusions Our current public health models may risk framing public health problems and solutions in ways that obscure the role that the private sector, in particular large transnational companies, play in shaping the broader environment and individual behaviours, and thus population health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article asks two questions: first, is there enough cancer research in Russia and does it reflect the health needs of the country? and second, how does its quality or impact compare with world standards? Cancer is a serious and growing problem in Russia, but the amount of cancer research, based on papers in journals covered by the Web of Science from 1997 to the present, appears to be inadequate, nor is it well distributed by disease site. However it is quite clinical in character and appears to be well regarded on a number of indicators, although insufficiently publicised. A study of the funding acknowledgements on 2009 papers revealed that cancer research in Russia is almost totally dependent on the state, although there is now foreign support through international co-authorship, including some from private-non-profit and commercial sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Strategic management of primary health care centres is necessary for creating an efficient global health care system that delivers good care.Objectives: To perform a systematic literature review of the use of data envelopment analysis in estimating the relative technical efficiency of primary health care centres, and to identify the inputs, outputs and models used.Methods: PubMed, MEDLINE Complete, Embase and Web of Science were searched for papers published before the 25 March 2019.Results: Of a total of 4231 search results, 54 studies met the inclusion criteria. The identified inputs included personnel costs, gross expenditures, referrals and days of hospitalization, as well as prescriptions and investigations. Outputs included consultations or visits, registered patients, procedures, treatments and services, prescriptions and investigations. A variety of data envelopment analysis models used was identified, with no standard approach.Conclusions: Data envelopment analysis extends the scope of tools used to analyse primary care functioning. It can support health economic analyses when assessing primary care efficiency. The main issues are setting outputs and inputs and selecting a model best suited for the range of products and services in the primary health care sector. This article serves as a step forward in the standardization of data envelopment analysis, but further research is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Serbia's regional influence in the western Balkans enhanced strategic geopolitical partnership with Russia and China during COVID-19 pandemic. This paper critically analyzes Serbia COVID-19 vaccine strategy to the public health in the western Balkans. Importantly, this paper proposes strategic policy by enhancing 'joint coordinated EU–US-western Balkans COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing production' to accelerate inoculation, address gaps on vaccine hesitancy and promote long-term post-pandemic recovery plan to build back together and achieve herd immunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores Covid-19-related corruption in Bangladesh. Specifically, we analyse the issue of Covid-19-related corruption in the health sector of Bangladesh. We also explore how denial strategies adapted by government officials have worsened the problem. Using Cohen's notion of denial strategies (Cohen 2001. States of Denial. Cambridge: Polity), we analyse media reports during the pandemic that highlighted Covid-19-related corruption occurring in the Bangladeshi health sector. Our analyses reveal that the Covid-19 pandemic has given rise to a new wave of corruption, particularly in the procurement of testing kits and personal protective equipment (PPE), as well as the issuance of false Covid-19 certificates. We call for an in-depth investigation of Covid-19-related corruption in Bangladesh and other developing countries that follows similar social, contextual and cultural values via interviews with policymakers and health professionals. Our paper extends the ongoing debate on Covid-19-related corruption and its impacts on public health sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peer-reviewed journals provide an invaluable but inadequate vehicle for scientific communication. Preprints are now an essential complement to peer-reviewed publications. Eschewing preprints will slow scientific progress and reduce the public health impact of epidemiologic research. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic highlighted long-standing limitations of the peer-review process. Preprint servers, such as bioRxiv and medRxiv, served as crucial venues to rapidly disseminate research and provide detailed backup to sound-bite science that is often communicated through the popular press or social media. The major criticisms of preprints arise from an unjustified optimism about peer review. Peer review provides highly imperfect sorting and curation of research and only modest improvements in research conduct or presentation for most individual papers. The advantages of peer review come at the expense of months to years of delay in sharing research methods or results. For time-sensitive evidence, these delays can lead to important missteps and ill-advised policies. Even with research that is not intrinsically urgent, preprints expedite debate, expand engagement, and accelerate progress. The risk that poor-quality papers will have undue influence because they are posted on a preprint server is low. If epidemiology aims to deliver evidence relevant for public health, we need to embrace strategic uses of preprint servers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public reason demands that policies are justified to all reasonable citizens. Public health aims at protecting or improving aggregated health outcomes. Since health is not an uncontroversial value, an insurmountable chasm between public reason and public health seems to preclude any viable synthesis between the two outlooks. For any given public health policy, some reasonable citizen seems to have a reason to support 'no policy' over 'some policy', meaning that the policy cannot be justified to all. The paper first spells out what exactly this conflict is about. Then, using smoking as a case, the paper outlines a model of reconciliation between public reason and public health that should give us some optimism if we want to have public health policies that are compatible with treating citizens as free and equal in the public reason sense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the discussion on societal impact arrhythmia papers reporting on important public health issues. Topics include foods and food supplements, health behaviours, work and sleep environment, and life events increasing the incidence of AF; and daily alcohol consumption of one standard drink being protective in myocardial infarction, heart failure, and stroke.

Globally, there are over 1 billion people infected with soil-transmitted helminths (STHs), mostly living in marginalized settings with inadequate sanitation in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. The World Health Organization recommends an integrated approach to STH morbidity control through improved access to sanitation and hygiene education and the delivery of preventive chemotherapy (PC) to school-age children delivered through schools. Progress of STH control programs is currently estimated using a baseline (pre-PC) school-based prevalence survey and then monitored using periodical school-based prevalence surveys, known as Impact Assessment Surveys (IAS). We investigated whether integrating geostatistical methods with a Markov model or a mechanistic transmission model for projecting prevalence forward in time from baseline can improve IAS design strategies. To do this, we applied these 2 methods to prevalence data collected in Kenya, before evaluating and comparing their performance in accurately informing optimal survey design for a range of IAS sampling designs. We found that, although both approaches performed well, the mechanistic method more accurately projected prevalence over time and provided more accurate information for guiding survey design. Both methods performed less well in areas with persistent STH hotspots where prevalence did not decrease despite multiple rounds of PC. Our findings show that these methods can be useful tools for more efficient and accurate targeting of PC. The general framework built in this paper can also be used for projecting prevalence and informing survey design for other neglected tropical diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the history of drugs sold as "patent medicines" in India in the early twentieth century. The paper investigates their legitimacy as patenting of medicines was forbidden by the Indian Patents and Designs Act, 1911 (IPDA). The paper argues that the instrument of letters patents functioning as the prerogative of the Crown that gave monopolistic rights to grantees to sell any compound without having to disclose its constituents was the reason behind this seemingly conflicting historical relationship between the law and the market. Colonial law-making left sufficient space within the ambit of the IPDA for letters patents to have their ill effects. The colonial state made attempts to address this as a public health issue by incorporating concerns related to this class of medicines within regulations addressed to the drugs market in the 1930s. The currency of patent medicines in the market was further added to by Indian indigenous entrepreneurs fueled by cultural nationalism of Swadeshi ideology in Bengal in the early twentieth century. However, even such indigenous responses or attempts at hybridization of manufacturing and selling practices related to patent medicines were mostly informed by upper-caste/ upper-class interests and not so much by those of consumers of these medicines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective This paper presents the development of the Warwick Patient Experiences Framework (WaPEF) and describes how it informed the development of the NICE Guidance and Quality Standard, ‘Patient experience in adult NHS services: improving the experience of care for people using adult NHS services’. Design The WaPEF was developed using a thematic qualitative overview that utilized a systematic review approach. Search strategies were developed, inclusion and exclusion criteria developed and data extracted from papers. Results The WaPEF identifies seven key generic themes that are important to a high-quality patient experience: patient as active participant, responsiveness of services, an individualized approach, lived experience, continuity of care and relationships, communication, information and support. Conclusions The WaPEF is the first patient experiences framework with an explicit link to an underpinning patient evidence base, linking themes and sub-themes with specific references. The WaPEF informed the structure and content of the NICE Patient Experiences Guidance. The guidance, published in February 2012, will form a key part of the NHS Outcomes Framework in the UK for the future evaluation of health and social care. The proposed framework could be adapted to other country contexts and settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence-informed policymaking integrates the best available evidence on programme outcomes to guide decisions at all stages of the policy process and its importance becomes more pronounced in resource-constrained settings. In this paper, we have reviewed the use of systematic review evidence in framing National Health Programme (NHP) guidelines in India. We searched official websites of the different NHPs, linked to the main website of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), in December 2020 and January 2021. NHP guideline documents with systematic review evidence were identified and information on the use of this evidence was extracted. We classified the identified systematic review evidence according to its use in the guideline documents and analysed the data to provide information on the different factors and patterns linked to the use of systematic review evidence in these documents. Systematic reviews were mostly visible in guideline documents addressing maternal and newborn health, communicable diseases and immunization. These systematic reviews were cited in the guidelines to justify the need for action, to justify recommendations for action and opportunities for local adaptation, and to highlight implementation challenges and justify implementation strategies. Guideline documents addressing implementation cited systematic reviews about the problems and policy options more often than citing systematic reviews about implementation. Systematic reviews were linked directly to support statements in few guideline documents, and sometimes the reviews were not appropriately cited. Most of the systematic reviews providing information on the nature and scale of the policy problem included Indian data. It was seen that since 2014, India has been increasingly using systematic review evidence for public health policymaking, particularly for some of its high-priority NHPs. This complements the increasing investment in research synthesis centres and procedures to support evidence-informed decision making, demonstrating the continued evolution of India's evidence policy system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Mass participation sports event (MPSE)s have been identified as a potential referral pathway for engaging inactive patients in regular physical activity. This study aimed to review evidence of physical activity behaviour and associated health-related outcomes of engaging in MPSEs among the general population. A systematic review was performed of quantitative studies that examined the relationship between MPSEs and physical activity behaviour or secondary outcomes (e.g. physical activity motivation or confidence, physical or mental health) or any intervention to maintain physical activity following MPSEs. Search methods included searching five electronic databases and checking reference lists. Methodological quality was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. A total of 2079 papers were identified, 142 were independently assessed for eligibility and 39 were included. Data from prospective cohort studies suggested that levels of physical activity achieved in training for MPSEs tended to drop in the months after, but increases were reported in some studies of novice participants. Interventions involving health promotion materials provided post-event led to small increases in physical activity. Perceived benefits of participating in MPSEs included physical and mental health, fitness, self-efficacy and social connections. Existing evidence suggests that MPSEs can act as a motivator to initiate exercise in preparation for the event, but there is limited evidence on how best to sustain physical activity post-event. Given the short duration of most studies, longer prospective analyses are needed to delineate patterns of habitual and event-related activity and account for seasonal effects. Lay Summary: Mass participation sporting events can be attractive to low-active participants as well as regular exercisers, with a notable proportion identified as low active (one-fifth). Overall levels of physical activity tend to decline after event completion, suggesting that training in preparation for events was not maintained. There is some evidence of increased exercise post-event reported among novice participants, though evidence is limited on effective ways to sustain exercise after event completion. Regularly held events such as parkrun or booster interventions following events helped maintain exercise levels over 12 months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigated facilitators and barriers to implementing the European Football Fans in Training program (EuroFIT) in professional sports clubs in England, the Netherlands, Norway, and Portugal. We analyzed qualitative data collected at clubs that delivered EuroFIT, based on semi-structured interviews with coordinating staff (n = 15), coaches (n = 16), and focus group interviews with participants (n = 108), as well as data from clubs that considered delivering EuroFIT in the future, based on interviews with staff (n = 7) and stakeholders (n = 8). Facilitators for implementation related to the content and structure of the program, its evidence-base, and the context for delivery in the football stadia. Financial and human resources were both facilitators and barriers. Further barriers were mostly practical, relating to human resources and infrastructure. Major differences between countries related to experience and commitment to running community projects, and differences in infrastructure, financing, and human resources. Professional football clubs' ability to support health promotion efforts depended on their ethos and the financial and human resources available to them. Overall, the EuroFIT program was well received by clubs, coaches, participants, and stakeholders, which was reflected by the many facilitators supporting sustained implementation. For sustainable implementation, it is crucial that clubs and their stakeholders engage fully with the EuroFIT program and understand that for an adequate program delivery their views (ethos) and ways of working influence the implementation and thereby the effectiveness of EuroFIT. An important prerequisite for future roll out of EuroFIT would be a strong EuroFIT delivery partner organization to ensure financial and human resources while overseeing and guiding the quality of delivery in clubs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the ethics of public health communication. We argue that a number of commonplace tools of public health communication risk qualifying as non-honest and question whether or not using such tools is ethically justified. First, we introduce the concept of honesty and suggest some reasons for thinking it is morally desirable. We then describe a number of common ways in which public health communication presents information about health-promoting interventions. These include the omission of information about the magnitude of benefits people can expect from health-promoting interventions, and failure to report uncertainty associated with the outcomes of interventions. Next we outline some forms of behaviour which are generally recognised by philosophers as being non-honest, including deception, manipulation, and so on. Finally, we suggest that many of the public health communicative practices identified earlier share features with the non-honest behaviours described and suggest this warrants reflection upon whether such non-honesty is justified by the goals of public health communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The tobacco industry has developed technologies to reduce the aversive qualities of cigarette smoke, including secondhand smoke (SHS). While these product design changes may lessen concerns about SHS, they may not reduce health risks associated with SHS exposure. Tobacco industry patents were reviewed to understand recent industry strategies to mask or minimize cigarette smoke from traditional cigarettes. Methods: Patent records published between 1997 and 2008 that related to cigarette smoke were conducted using key word searches. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office web site was used to obtain patent awards, and the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Patentscope and Free Patents Online web sites were used to search international patents. Results: The search identified 106 relevant patents published by Japan Tobacco Incorporated, British America Tobacco, Philip Morris International, and other tobacco manufacturers or suppliers. The patents were classified by their intended purpose, including reduced smoke constituents or quantity of smoke emitted by cigarettes (58%, n = 62), improved smoke odor (25%, n = 26), and reduced visibility of smoke (16%, n = 18). Innovations used a variety of strategies including trapping or filtering smoke constituents, chemically converting gases, adding perfumes, or altering paper to improve combustion. Conclusions: The tobacco industry continues to research and develop strategies to reduce perceptions of cigarette smoke, including the use of additives to improve smoke odor. Surveillance and regulatory response to industry strategies to reduce perceptions of SHS should be implemented to ensure that the public health is adequately protected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do you find the sources to write the history of the health of a city, particularly for the late twentieth century and into the digital age? This article explores this challenge in the case of the city of Bristol in the United Kingdom during the period from the creation of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948, through the transfer of the public health function from local government to the NHS in 1974 and up until the return of public health back to local government in 2013. The aims of the article are to scope the extant paper and digital official and academic documentary sources for the history of public health in the city, to critically assess the availability and completeness of the sources and to reflect on the challenges and opportunities of integrating earlier paper records with more recent digital ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explains the role of policy-making for the promotion of population health. Topics covered include some of the medieval and renaissance approaches to policing disease outbreaks, the implication of the current challenges faced by the public health community in relation to the anti-vaxxers and the objective of the field of health political science.

This article reports and reflects on an element of a recent survey of UK public health professionals, specifically in relation to the Public Health Knowledge and Skills Framework (PHSKF) and the ethical requirements that underpin public health practice. Only 38.4% of respondents reported accessing the PHKSF and a mere 13.7% reported accessing the accompanying background paper on ethical public health practice. Given that ethical practice underpins the PHSKF, it is concerning that so few respondents are familiar with the PHSKF and one of the source documents. While issuing frameworks and guidance is one way to support public health practice, there is a further need for greater integration of skills and knowledge around ethical public health practice within education and training initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This editorial discusses a collection of papers examining gender across a range of health policy and systems contexts, from access to services, governance, health financing, and human resources for health. The papers interrogate differing health issues and core health systems functions using a gender lens. Together they produce new knowledge on the multiple impacts of gender on health experiences and demonstrate the importance of gender analyses and gender sensitive interventions for promoting well-being and health systems strengthening. The findings from these papers collectively show how gender intersects with other axes of inequity within specific contexts to shape experiences of health and health seeking within households, communities and health systems; illustrate how gender power relations affect access to important resources; and demonstrate that gender norms, poverty and patriarchy interplay to limit women's choices and chances both within household interactions and within the health sector. Health systems researchers have a responsibility to promote the incorporation of gender analyses into their studies in order to inform more strategic, effective and equitable health systems interventions, programmes, and policies. Responding to gender inequitable systems, institutions, and services in this sector requires an 'all hands-on deck' approach. We cannot claim to take a 'people-centred approach' to health systems if the status quo continues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]