Turkey’s COVID-19 strategy: “the West is jealous of us”

Populist nationalist attacks on health and human rights have been increasing throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. These attacks may be used to divert attention from the government’s inability to control the virus, to deflect blame, or even to consolidate power. Authoritarian governments have increased the rhetoric of nationalism, created bogus enemies and alternative narratives, increased the authority of security forces, and banned democratic demonstrations. In this article, we discuss how the Turkish government has hidden the truth about the extent of the disease, spent considerable effort on polishing its own image, promoted the notion of Western jealousy, and fabricated a host of scapegoats to blame for its own failure to protect its people from the ravages of this crippling epidemic.publishedVersio

Tobacco Use and Risk Factors for Hypertensive Individuals in Kenya

Abstract: This study aimed to examine the association between hypertension and tobacco use as well as other known hypertensive risk factors (BMI, waist–hip ratio, alcohol consumption, physical activity, and socio-economic factors among adults) in Kenya. The study utilized the 2015 Kenya STEPs survey (adults aged 18–69) and investigated the association between tobacco use and hypertension. Descriptive statistics, correlation, frequencies, and regression (linear and logistic) analyses were used to execute the statistical analysis. The study results indicate a high prevalence of hypertension in association with certain risk factors—body mass index (BMI), alcohol, waist–hip ratio (WHR), and tobacco use—that were higher in males than females among the hypertensive group. Moreover, the findings noted an exceptionally low awareness level of hypertension in the general population. BMI, age, WHR, and alcohol use were prevalent risks of all three outcomes: hypertension, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure. Healthcare authorities and policymakers can employ these findings to lower the burden of hypertension by developing health promotion and intervention policies.publishedVersio

Assessment of Norwegian physicians’ knowledge, experience and attitudes towards medical cannabis

Background Medicinal cannabis (MC) has been used extensively throughout history. However, its criminalization in the United States in 1937 spurred the international community to follow suit, including Norway. Despite being reintroduced as a medical treatment in many countries in recent years, the use of MC in Norway is confined to a select few patient groups, and medical specialists must formally apply for authorization from the Norwegian authorities to prescribe the drug. Objective To assess Norwegian physicians’ perceived knowledge of, experience with, and attitudes towards MC. Methods A cross-sectional survey consisting of 31 closed-ended items captured physicians’ perceived knowledge of, experience with, and attitudes towards this treatment. Results A total of 102 physicians participated in this study. Physicians generally agreed that MC is a legitimate treatment option (n = 45, 44.1%), that it represents a therapeutic agent for treating cancer and chemotherapy-induced side effects (n = 88, 86%), and that it has the potential to reduce unnecessary opioid use in patients with chronic pain (n = 40, 39.2%). Statistically significant differences were found between subgroups in the sample in terms of years of practice, specialty, age, country the medical diploma was obtained from, and practice type. Conclusions This study found acceptance of cannabis as a therapeutic agent as well as acceptance towards MC being introduced by prescription in Norway. Further large-scale in-depth studies on provider perspectives towards MC are warranted.publishedVersio

A Comparative Analysis of Public Hospital Pharmacy Systems in Norway and Pakistan: A Pilot Implementation of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists’ (ASHP) Guidelines

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Global injury morbidity and mortality from 1990 to 2017: results from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background: Past research in population health trends has shown that injuries form a substantial burden of population health loss. Regular updates to injury burden assessments are critical. We report Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 Study estimates on morbidity and mortality for all injuries. Methods: We reviewed results for injuries from the GBD 2017 study. GBD 2017 measured injury-specific mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) using the Cause of Death Ensemble model. To measure non-fatal injuries, GBD 2017 modelled injury-specific incidence and converted this to prevalence and years lived with disability (YLDs). YLLs and YLDs were summed to calculate disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Findings: In 1990, there were 4 260 493 (4 085 700 to 4 396 138) injury deaths, which increased to 4 484 722 (4 332 010 to 4 585 554) deaths in 2017, while age-standardised mortality decreased from 1079 (1073 to 1086) to 738 (730 to 745) per 100 000. In 1990, there were 354 064 302 (95% uncertainty interval: 338 174 876 to 371 610 802) new cases of injury globally, which increased to 520 710 288 (493 430 247 to 547 988 635) new cases in 2017. During this time, age-standardised incidence decreased non-significantly from 6824 (6534 to 7147) to 6763 (6412 to 7118) per 100 000. Between 1990 and 2017, age-standardised DALYs decreased from 4947 (4655 to 5233) per 100 000 to 3267 (3058 to 3505). Interpretation: Injuries are an important cause of health loss globally, though mortality has declined between 1990 and 2017. Future research in injury burden should focus on prevention in high-burden populations, improving data collection and ensuring access to medical care.publishedVersio

Burden of injury along the development spectrum: associations between the Socio-demographic Index and disability-adjusted life year estimates from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Mihajlo Jakovljevic Serbia acknowledges support through the Grant OI 175 014 of the Ministry of Education Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia. Shahrzad Bazargan-Hejai acknowledges support through the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS) UCLA CTSI Grant Number UL1TR001881". Ashish Awasthi acknowledges support from the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, New Delhi through INSPIRE Faculty program. Rafael Tabarés-Seisdedos acknowledges support in part by grant number PROMETEOII/2015/021 from Generalitat Valenciana and the national grant PI17/00719 from ISCIII-FEDER. Abdallah M Samy acknowledges support from a fellowship from the Egyptian Fulbright Mission Program. Eduarda Fernandes acknowledges support ID/MULTI/04378/2019 and UID/QUI/50006/2019 with FCT/MCTES support through Portuguese national funds. Félix Carvalho acknowledges support ID/MULTI/04378/2019 and UID/QUI/50006/2019 with FCT/MCTES support through Portuguese national funds. Ilais Moreno Velásquezis acknowledges support from the Sistema Nacional de Investigacion, SENACYT (Panama). Louisa Degenhardt acknowledges support by an NHMRC research fellowship (#1135991) and by NIH grant NIDA R01DA1104470; The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre is supported by funding from the Australian Government Department of Health under the Drug and Alcohol Program. Milena Santric Milicevic acknowledges the support from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Republic of Serbia (Contract No. 175087). Kebede Deribe KD is supported by a grant from the Wellcome Trust [grant number 201900] as part of his International Intermediate Fellowship. Syed Aljunid acknowledges support from the International Centre for Casemix and Clinical Coding, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Malaysia and Department of Health Policy and Management, Faculty of Public Health, Kuwait University for the approval and support to participate in this research project. Jan-Walter De Neve was supported by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Michael R Phillips acknowledges support from the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, No. 81371502). Sheikh Mohammed Shariful Islam acknowledges support from the National Heart Foundation of Australia and from a senior research fellowship from Deakin University. Duduzile Edith Ndwandwe acknowledges support from Cochrane South Africa, South African Medical Research Council.Tissa Wijeratne acknowledges the Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rajarata, Saliyapura, Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka for their support.publishedVersio

Adolescent transport and unintentional injuries: a systematic analysis using the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Bill & Melinda Gates FoundationpublishedVersio

Global, Regional, and National Levels and Trends in Burden of Oral Conditions from 1990 to 2017: A Systematic Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease 2017 Study

Government and nongovernmental organizations need national and global estimates on the descriptive epidemiology of common oral conditions for policy planning and evaluation. The aim of this component of the Global Burden of Disease study was to produce estimates on prevalence, incidence, and years lived with disability for oral conditions from 1990 to 2017 by sex, age, and countries. In addition, this study reports the global socioeconomic pattern in burden of oral conditions by the standard World Bank classification of economies as well as the Global Burden of Disease Socio-demographic Index. The findings show that oral conditions remain a substantial population health challenge. Globally, there were 3.5 billion cases (95% uncertainty interval [95% UI], 3.2 to 3.7 billion) of oral conditions, of which 2.3 billion (95% UI, 2.1 to 2.5 billion) had untreated caries in permanent teeth, 796 million (95% UI, 671 to 930 million) had severe periodontitis, 532 million (95% UI, 443 to 622 million) had untreated caries in deciduous teeth, 267 million (95% UI, 235 to 300 million) had total tooth loss, and 139 million (95% UI, 133 to 146 million) had other oral conditions in 2017. Several patterns emerged when the World Bank’s classification of economies and the Socio-demographic Index were used as indicators of economic development. In general, more economically developed countries have the lowest burden of untreated dental caries and severe periodontitis and the highest burden of total tooth loss. The findings offer an opportunity for policy makers to identify successful oral health strategies and strengthen them; introduce and monitor different approaches where oral diseases are increasing; plan integration of oral health in the agenda for prevention of noncommunicable diseases; and estimate the cost of providing universal coverage for dental careA.V. is a team member of the Program for Oral Health Improvement in Children and Youth in Serbia, program 1802, project 4015, approved by the Government of Serbia, Ministry of Health. A.M.S. acknowledges support from a fellowship from the Egyptian Fulbright Mission Program. B.U. acknowledges institutional support from Kasturba Medical College and Manipal Academy of Higher Education. T.W.B. was supported by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation through the Alexander von Humboldt Professor Award, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. S.L.J. reports grants from Sanofi Pasteur, outside the submitted work.publishedVersio

Global, regional, and national burden of chronic kidney disease, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background Health system planning requires careful assessment of chronic kidney disease (CKD) epidemiology, but data for morbidity and mortality of this disease are scarce or non-existent in many countries. We estimated the global, regional, and national burden of CKD, as well as the burden of cardiovascular disease and gout attributable to impaired kidney function, for the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2017. We use the term CKD to refer to the morbidity and mortality that can be directly attributed to all stages of CKD, and we use the term impaired kidney function to refer to the additional risk of CKD from cardiovascular disease and gout. Methods The main data sources we used were published literature, vital registration systems, end-stage kidney disease registries, and household surveys. Estimates of CKD burden were produced using a Cause of Death Ensemble model and a Bayesian meta-regression analytical tool, and included incidence, prevalence, years lived with disability, mortality, years of life lost, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs). A comparative risk assessment approach was used to estimate the proportion of cardiovascular diseases and gout burden attributable to impaired kidney function. Findings Globally, in 2017, 1·2 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 1·2 to 1·3) people died from CKD. The global all-age mortality rate from CKD increased 41·5% (95% UI 35·2 to 46·5) between 1990 and 2017, although there was no significant change in the age-standardised mortality rate (2·8%, −1·5 to 6·3). In 2017, 697·5 million (95% UI 649·2 to 752·0) cases of all-stage CKD were recorded, for a global prevalence of 9·1% (8·5 to 9·8). The global all-age prevalence of CKD increased 29·3% (95% UI 26·4 to 32·6) since 1990, whereas the age-standardised prevalence remained stable (1·2%, −1·1 to 3·5). CKD resulted in 35·8 million (95% UI 33·7 to 38·0) DALYs in 2017, with diabetic nephropathy accounting for almost a third of DALYs. Most of the burden of CKD was concentrated in the three lowest quintiles of Socio-demographic Index (SDI). In several regions, particularly Oceania, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America, the burden of CKD was much higher than expected for the level of development, whereas the disease burden in western, eastern, and central sub-Saharan Africa, east Asia, south Asia, central and eastern Europe, Australasia, and western Europe was lower than expected. 1·4 million (95% UI 1·2 to 1·6) cardiovascular disease-related deaths and 25·3 million (22·2 to 28·9) cardiovascular disease DALYs were attributable to impaired kidney function. Interpretation Kidney disease has a major effect on global health, both as a direct cause of global morbidity and mortality and as an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease. CKD is largely preventable and treatable and deserves greater attention in global health policy decision making, particularly in locations with low and middle SDI.Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.publishedVersio

Death, Dying, and End-of-Life Care in the US and the Netherlands: A Scoping Review

Introduction: The aim of End of Life (EOL)-care in any setting is to improve the quality of life of patients and families through medical or non-medical interventions. The study aims at identifying gaps in the literature produced on the topic and informs areas for future research in the field. Objective: To identify articles that discuss death and dying, with the elderly > = 70, living at home, or in nursing homes, in assisted living, or community centres, in hospice or palliative care, in hospitals or emergency care. Methods: A scoping review of studies in the U. S. and in the Netherlands. Using the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the selected studies were analysed and categorized by themes, and then summarized based on positive, negative and ambiguous views on death discussions at all four (4) levels of discussion. Results: From a total of one hundred and fifty-nine studies, twenty-five studies passed the selection criteria. Twenty-one were for the U. S., and four were for the Netherlands. The selected studies were analysed and categorized by themes. Conclusion: The review pointed to a dearth of material that measured the outcome of discussions on the subject of death and dying with the elderly. Future studies could consider discussions on death and dying from the perspective of patients’ anxiety and distress, instead of concerns over financial support, religious and ethnic issues, ethical and legal parameters, and extra medical training.publishedVersio