Censorship or democratization? The media regulation in Brazil

This article aims to reflect on the project model of media regulation, mostly what is under discussion in Brazil, and especially how it is affected by the distribution of broadcasting concessions. The media regulation project proposes, among other topics, the economic regulation that attempts to control the formation of monopolies and oligopolies of communication groups in the country. The link between electronic media and political and economic groups mischaracterizes the pluralism of media and information that are the pillars of democratic societies. In this paper, we will discuss the concept of cross-ownership, which has no limitations in Brazil, and how a possible economic regulation will not constitute a type of programming or content censorship, but inspired by examples of regulation of other countries, would seek to fulfill its basic role as social interlocutor, with greater democratization of content and a greater plurality of information

Atendimento aos pacientes do Centro de Oncologia Bucal da Faculdade de Odontologia de Araçatuba

O Centro de Oncologia Bucal (COB) da Faculdade de Odontologia da UNESP, Câmpus de Araçatuba, realiza o tratamento interdisciplinar de pacientes portadores de patologias bucais benignas e neoplasias malignas de cabeça e pescoço para a cidade de Araçatuba e região, sendo referência para o tratamento dessas enfermidades. Este projeto proporciona a inter-relação do paciente com uma equipe de profissionais necessários ao seu atendimento integral, como cirurgião-dentista, estomatologista, oncologista, cirurgião de cabeça e pescoço, anestesista, fisioterapeuta, fonoaudiólogo, protesista bucomaxilofacial, enfermeiro e epidemiologista. Socialmente, o projeto atende uma clientela externa que possui necessidade de diagnóstico e tratamento dessas doenças bucais. Além desses pacientes, são beneficiados os alunos de graduação voluntários e bolsistas do projeto. A ajuda financeira desse projeto permite a compra de alguns materiais necessários para aumentar e otimizar o número de atendimentos, principalmente na área de Dentística Restauradora em pacientes oncológicos. O projeto objetiva ampliar os atendimentos de pacientes portadores dessas doenças, orientar os alunos nos procedimentos de exame clínico, complementares e cirúrgicos, visando ao diagnóstico e tratamento adequados. Os alunos de graduação bolsistas e voluntários do projeto reciclam todos os estudos realizados na graduação e, em alguns casos, despertam a vontade de realizar Iniciação Científica e Mestrado. Os demais profissionais da saúde realizam o tratamento dos pacientes com câncer bucal de forma integrada e humanizada. Como resultado social, o projeto atendeu pacientes portadores de patologia bucais de Araçatuba e região, em especial os portadores de neoplasias malignas da boca, sendo esta formada em sua maioria por pessoas com situação socioeconômica de carência. A primeira execução deste projeto foi há quatro anos, quando foram beneficiados 17 alunos de graduação, sendo seis com bolsa de extensão universitária (inicialmente três alunos foram contemplados e considerando que estes receberam bolsa de Iniciação Científica de agência de fomento à pesquisa, outros três alunos de graduação substituíram os três primeiros), nove alunos da pós-graduação e aproximadamente 600 pacientes portadores de patologia bucais de Araçatuba e região. Esse atendimento especializado no Centro evita que o paciente se desloque para cidades mais distantes em busca de tratamento especializado, bem como traz melhoria da sua qualidade de vida

Atendimento aos pacientes do Centro de Oncologia Bucal da Faculdade de Odontologia de Araçatuba

O Centro de Oncologia Bucal (COB) da Faculdade de Odontologia da UNESP, Câmpus de Araçatuba, realiza o tratamento interdisciplinar de pacientes portadores de patologias bucais benignas e neoplasias malignas de cabeça e pescoço para a cidade de Araçatuba e região, sendo referência para o tratamento dessas enfermidades. Este projeto proporciona a inter-relação do paciente com uma equipe de profissionais necessários ao seu atendimento integral, como cirurgião-dentista, estomatologista, oncologista, cirurgião de cabeça e pescoço, anestesista, fisioterapeuta, fonoaudiólogo, protesista bucomaxilofacial, enfermeiro e epidemiologista. Socialmente, o projeto atende uma clientela externa que possui necessidade de diagnóstico e tratamento dessas doenças bucais. Além desses pacientes, são beneficiados os alunos de graduação voluntários e bolsistas do projeto. A ajuda financeira desse projeto permite a compra de alguns materiais necessários para aumentar e otimizar o número de atendimentos, principalmente na área de Dentística Restauradora em pacientes oncológicos. O projeto objetiva ampliar os atendimentos de pacientes portadores dessas doenças, orientar os alunos nos procedimentos de exame clínico, complementares e cirúrgicos, visando ao diagnóstico e tratamento adequados. Os alunos de graduação bolsistas e voluntários do projeto reciclam todos os estudos realizados na graduação e, em alguns casos, despertam a vontade de realizar Iniciação Científica e Mestrado. Os demais profissionais da saúde realizam o tratamento dos pacientes com câncer bucal de forma integrada e humanizada. Como resultado social, o projeto atendeu pacientes portadores de patologia bucais de Araçatuba e região, em especial os portadores de neoplasias malignas da boca, sendo esta formada em sua maioria por pessoas com situação socioeconômica de carência. A primeira execução deste projeto foi há quatro anos, quando foram beneficiados 17 alunos de graduação, sendo seis com bolsa de extensão universitária (inicialmente três alunos foram contemplados e considerando que estes receberam bolsa de Iniciação Científica de agência de fomento à pesquisa, outros três alunos de graduação substituíram os três primeiros), nove alunos da pós-graduação e aproximadamente 600 pacientes portadores de patologia bucais de Araçatuba e região. Esse atendimento especializado no Centro evita que o paciente se desloque para cidades mais distantes em busca de tratamento especializado, bem como traz melhoria da sua qualidade de vida

Atendimento aos pacientes do Centro de Oncologia Bucal da Faculdade de Odontologia de Araçatuba

O Centro de Oncologia Bucal (COB) da Faculdade de Odontologia da UNESP, Câmpus de Araçatuba, realiza o tratamento interdisciplinar de pacientes portadores de patologias bucais benignas e neoplasias malignas de cabeça e pescoço para a cidade de Araçatuba e região, sendo referência para o tratamento dessas enfermidades. Este projeto proporciona a inter-relação do paciente com uma equipe de profissionais necessários ao seu atendimento integral, como cirurgião-dentista, estomatologista, oncologista, cirurgião de cabeça e pescoço, anestesista, fisioterapeuta, fonoaudiólogo, protesista bucomaxilofacial, enfermeiro e epidemiologista. Socialmente, o projeto atende uma clientela externa que possui necessidade de diagnóstico e tratamento dessas doenças bucais. Além desses pacientes, são beneficiados os alunos de graduação voluntários e bolsistas do projeto. A ajuda financeira desse projeto permite a compra de alguns materiais necessários para aumentar e otimizar o número de atendimentos, principalmente na área de Dentística Restauradora em pacientes oncológicos. O projeto objetiva ampliar os atendimentos de pacientes portadores dessas doenças, orientar os alunos nos procedimentos de exame clínico, complementares e cirúrgicos, visando ao diagnóstico e tratamento adequados. Os alunos de graduação bolsistas e voluntários do projeto reciclam todos os estudos realizados na graduação e, em alguns casos, despertam a vontade de realizar Iniciação Científica e Mestrado. Os demais profissionais da saúde realizam o tratamento dos pacientes com câncer bucal de forma integrada e humanizada. Como resultado social, o projeto atendeu pacientes portadores de patologia bucais de Araçatuba e região, em especial os portadores de neoplasias malignas da boca, sendo esta formada em sua maioria por pessoas com situação socioeconômica de carência. A primeira execução deste projeto foi há quatro anos, quando foram beneficiados 17 alunos de graduação, sendo seis com bolsa de extensão universitária (inicialmente três alunos foram contemplados e considerando que estes receberam bolsa de Iniciação Científica de agência de fomento à pesquisa, outros três alunos de graduação substituíram os três primeiros), nove alunos da pós-graduação e aproximadamente 600 pacientes portadores de patologia bucais de Araçatuba e região. Esse atendimento especializado no Centro evita que o paciente se desloque para cidades mais distantes em busca de tratamento especializado, bem como traz melhoria da sua qualidade de vida

Post-intervention Status in Patients With Refractory Myasthenia Gravis Treated With Eculizumab During REGAIN and Its Open-Label Extension

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether eculizumab helps patients with anti-acetylcholine receptor-positive (AChR+) refractory generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) achieve the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA) post-intervention status of minimal manifestations (MM), we assessed patients' status throughout REGAIN (Safety and Efficacy of Eculizumab in AChR+ Refractory Generalized Myasthenia Gravis) and its open-label extension. METHODS: Patients who completed the REGAIN randomized controlled trial and continued into the open-label extension were included in this tertiary endpoint analysis. Patients were assessed for the MGFA post-intervention status of improved, unchanged, worse, MM, and pharmacologic remission at defined time points during REGAIN and through week 130 of the open-label study. RESULTS: A total of 117 patients completed REGAIN and continued into the open-label study (eculizumab/eculizumab: 56; placebo/eculizumab: 61). At week 26 of REGAIN, more eculizumab-treated patients than placebo-treated patients achieved a status of improved (60.7% vs 41.7%) or MM (25.0% vs 13.3%; common OR: 2.3; 95% CI: 1.1-4.5). After 130 weeks of eculizumab treatment, 88.0% of patients achieved improved status and 57.3% of patients achieved MM status. The safety profile of eculizumab was consistent with its known profile and no new safety signals were detected. CONCLUSION: Eculizumab led to rapid and sustained achievement of MM in patients with AChR+ refractory gMG. These findings support the use of eculizumab in this previously difficult-to-treat patient population. CLINICALTRIALSGOV IDENTIFIER: REGAIN, NCT01997229; REGAIN open-label extension, NCT02301624. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study provides Class II evidence that, after 26 weeks of eculizumab treatment, 25.0% of adults with AChR+ refractory gMG achieved MM, compared with 13.3% who received placebo

Minimal Symptom Expression' in Patients With Acetylcholine Receptor Antibody-Positive Refractory Generalized Myasthenia Gravis Treated With Eculizumab

The efficacy and tolerability of eculizumab were assessed in REGAIN, a 26-week, phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody-positive (AChR+) refractory generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG), and its open-label extension

Height and body-mass index trajectories of school-aged children and adolescents from 1985 to 2019 in 200 countries and territories: a pooled analysis of 2181 population-based studies with 65 million participants

Summary Background Comparable global data on health and nutrition of school-aged children and adolescents are scarce. We aimed to estimate age trajectories and time trends in mean height and mean body-mass index (BMI), which measures weight gain beyond what is expected from height gain, for school-aged children and adolescents. Methods For this pooled analysis, we used a database of cardiometabolic risk factors collated by the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1985 to 2019 in mean height and mean BMI in 1-year age groups for ages 5–19 years. The model allowed for non-linear changes over time in mean height and mean BMI and for non-linear changes with age of children and adolescents, including periods of rapid growth during adolescence. Findings We pooled data from 2181 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in 65 million participants in 200 countries and territories. In 2019, we estimated a difference of 20 cm or higher in mean height of 19-year-old adolescents between countries with the tallest populations (the Netherlands, Montenegro, Estonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina for boys; and the Netherlands, Montenegro, Denmark, and Iceland for girls) and those with the shortest populations (Timor-Leste, Laos, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea for boys; and Guatemala, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Timor-Leste for girls). In the same year, the difference between the highest mean BMI (in Pacific island countries, Kuwait, Bahrain, The Bahamas, Chile, the USA, and New Zealand for both boys and girls and in South Africa for girls) and lowest mean BMI (in India, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, and Chad for boys and girls; and in Japan and Romania for girls) was approximately 9–10 kg/m2. In some countries, children aged 5 years started with healthier height or BMI than the global median and, in some cases, as healthy as the best performing countries, but they became progressively less healthy compared with their comparators as they grew older by not growing as tall (eg, boys in Austria and Barbados, and girls in Belgium and Puerto Rico) or gaining too much weight for their height (eg, girls and boys in Kuwait, Bahrain, Fiji, Jamaica, and Mexico; and girls in South Africa and New Zealand). In other countries, growing children overtook the height of their comparators (eg, Latvia, Czech Republic, Morocco, and Iran) or curbed their weight gain (eg, Italy, France, and Croatia) in late childhood and adolescence. When changes in both height and BMI were considered, girls in South Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and some central Asian countries (eg, Armenia and Azerbaijan), and boys in central and western Europe (eg, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, and Montenegro) had the healthiest changes in anthropometric status over the past 3·5 decades because, compared with children and adolescents in other countries, they had a much larger gain in height than they did in BMI. The unhealthiest changes—gaining too little height, too much weight for their height compared with children in other countries, or both—occurred in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, New Zealand, and the USA for boys and girls; in Malaysia and some Pacific island nations for boys; and in Mexico for girls. Interpretation The height and BMI trajectories over age and time of school-aged children and adolescents are highly variable across countries, which indicates heterogeneous nutritional quality and lifelong health advantages and risks

Worldwide trends in underweight and obesity from 1990 to 2022: a pooled analysis of 3663 population-representative studies with 222 million children, adolescents, and adults

Background Underweight and obesity are associated with adverse health outcomes throughout the life course. We estimated the individual and combined prevalence of underweight or thinness and obesity, and their changes, from 1990 to 2022 for adults and school-aged children and adolescents in 200 countries and territories. Methods We used data from 3663 population-based studies with 222 million participants that measured height and weight in representative samples of the general population. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends in the prevalence of different BMI categories, separately for adults (age ≥20 years) and school-aged children and adolescents (age 5–19 years), from 1990 to 2022 for 200 countries and territories. For adults, we report the individual and combined prevalence of underweight (BMI <18·5 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2). For schoolaged children and adolescents, we report thinness (BMI <2 SD below the median of the WHO growth reference) and obesity (BMI >2 SD above the median). Findings From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity in adults decreased in 11 countries (6%) for women and 17 (9%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 that the observed changes were true decreases. The combined prevalence increased in 162 countries (81%) for women and 140 countries (70%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. In 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity was highest in island nations in the Caribbean and Polynesia and Micronesia, and countries in the Middle East and north Africa. Obesity prevalence was higher than underweight with posterior probability of at least 0·80 in 177 countries (89%) for women and 145 (73%) for men in 2022, whereas the converse was true in 16 countries (8%) for women, and 39 (20%) for men. From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of thinness and obesity decreased among girls in five countries (3%) and among boys in 15 countries (8%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80, and increased among girls in 140 countries (70%) and boys in 137 countries (69%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. The countries with highest combined prevalence of thinness and obesity in school-aged children and adolescents in 2022 were in Polynesia and Micronesia and the Caribbean for both sexes, and Chile and Qatar for boys. Combined prevalence was also high in some countries in south Asia, such as India and Pakistan, where thinness remained prevalent despite having declined. In 2022, obesity in school-aged children and adolescents was more prevalent than thinness with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 among girls in 133 countries (67%) and boys in 125 countries (63%), whereas the converse was true in 35 countries (18%) and 42 countries (21%), respectively. In almost all countries for both adults and school-aged children and adolescents, the increases in double burden were driven by increases in obesity, and decreases in double burden by declining underweight or thinness. Interpretation The combined burden of underweight and obesity has increased in most countries, driven by an increase in obesity, while underweight and thinness remain prevalent in south Asia and parts of Africa. A healthy nutrition transition that enhances access to nutritious foods is needed to address the remaining burden of underweight while curbing and reversing the increase in obesit

Burden of disease scenarios for 204 countries and territories, 2022–2050: a forecasting analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Future trends in disease burden and drivers of health are of great interest to policy makers and the public at large. This information can be used for policy and long-term health investment, planning, and prioritisation. We have expanded and improved upon previous forecasts produced as part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) and provide a reference forecast (the most likely future), and alternative scenarios assessing disease burden trajectories if selected sets of risk factors were eliminated from current levels by 2050. Methods: Using forecasts of major drivers of health such as the Socio-demographic Index (SDI; a composite measure of lag-distributed income per capita, mean years of education, and total fertility under 25 years of age) and the full set of risk factor exposures captured by GBD, we provide cause-specific forecasts of mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) by age and sex from 2022 to 2050 for 204 countries and territories, 21 GBD regions, seven super-regions, and the world. All analyses were done at the cause-specific level so that only risk factors deemed causal by the GBD comparative risk assessment influenced future trajectories of mortality for each disease. Cause-specific mortality was modelled using mixed-effects models with SDI and time as the main covariates, and the combined impact of causal risk factors as an offset in the model. At the all-cause mortality level, we captured unexplained variation by modelling residuals with an autoregressive integrated moving average model with drift attenuation. These all-cause forecasts constrained the cause-specific forecasts at successively deeper levels of the GBD cause hierarchy using cascading mortality models, thus ensuring a robust estimate of cause-specific mortality. For non-fatal measures (eg, low back pain), incidence and prevalence were forecasted from mixed-effects models with SDI as the main covariate, and YLDs were computed from the resulting prevalence forecasts and average disability weights from GBD. Alternative future scenarios were constructed by replacing appropriate reference trajectories for risk factors with hypothetical trajectories of gradual elimination of risk factor exposure from current levels to 2050. The scenarios were constructed from various sets of risk factors: environmental risks (Safer Environment scenario), risks associated with communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases (CMNNs; Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination scenario), risks associated with major non-communicable diseases (NCDs; Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario), and the combined effects of these three scenarios. Using the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways climate scenarios SSP2-4.5 as reference and SSP1-1.9 as an optimistic alternative in the Safer Environment scenario, we accounted for climate change impact on health by using the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change temperature forecasts and published trajectories of ambient air pollution for the same two scenarios. Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy were computed using standard methods. The forecasting framework includes computing the age-sex-specific future population for each location and separately for each scenario. 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) for each individual future estimate were derived from the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles of distributions generated from propagating 500 draws through the multistage computational pipeline. Findings: In the reference scenario forecast, global and super-regional life expectancy increased from 2022 to 2050, but improvement was at a slower pace than in the three decades preceding the COVID-19 pandemic (beginning in 2020). Gains in future life expectancy were forecasted to be greatest in super-regions with comparatively low life expectancies (such as sub-Saharan Africa) compared with super-regions with higher life expectancies (such as the high-income super-region), leading to a trend towards convergence in life expectancy across locations between now and 2050. At the super-region level, forecasted healthy life expectancy patterns were similar to those of life expectancies. Forecasts for the reference scenario found that health will improve in the coming decades, with all-cause age-standardised DALY rates decreasing in every GBD super-region. The total DALY burden measured in counts, however, will increase in every super-region, largely a function of population ageing and growth. We also forecasted that both DALY counts and age-standardised DALY rates will continue to shift from CMNNs to NCDs, with the most pronounced shifts occurring in sub-Saharan Africa (60·1% [95% UI 56·8–63·1] of DALYs were from CMNNs in 2022 compared with 35·8% [31·0–45·0] in 2050) and south Asia (31·7% [29·2–34·1] to 15·5% [13·7–17·5]). This shift is reflected in the leading global causes of DALYs, with the top four causes in 2050 being ischaemic heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, compared with 2022, with ischaemic heart disease, neonatal disorders, stroke, and lower respiratory infections at the top. The global proportion of DALYs due to YLDs likewise increased from 33·8% (27·4–40·3) to 41·1% (33·9–48·1) from 2022 to 2050, demonstrating an important shift in overall disease burden towards morbidity and away from premature death. The largest shift of this kind was forecasted for sub-Saharan Africa, from 20·1% (15·6–25·3) of DALYs due to YLDs in 2022 to 35·6% (26·5–43·0) in 2050. In the assessment of alternative future scenarios, the combined effects of the scenarios (Safer Environment, Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination, and Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenarios) demonstrated an important decrease in the global burden of DALYs in 2050 of 15·4% (13·5–17·5) compared with the reference scenario, with decreases across super-regions ranging from 10·4% (9·7–11·3) in the high-income super-region to 23·9% (20·7–27·3) in north Africa and the Middle East. The Safer Environment scenario had its largest decrease in sub-Saharan Africa (5·2% [3·5–6·8]), the Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario in north Africa and the Middle East (23·2% [20·2–26·5]), and the Improved Nutrition and Vaccination scenario in sub-Saharan Africa (2·0% [–0·6 to 3·6]). Interpretation: Globally, life expectancy and age-standardised disease burden were forecasted to improve between 2022 and 2050, with the majority of the burden continuing to shift from CMNNs to NCDs. That said, continued progress on reducing the CMNN disease burden will be dependent on maintaining investment in and policy emphasis on CMNN disease prevention and treatment. Mostly due to growth and ageing of populations, the number of deaths and DALYs due to all causes combined will generally increase. By constructing alternative future scenarios wherein certain risk exposures are eliminated by 2050, we have shown that opportunities exist to substantially improve health outcomes in the future through concerted efforts to prevent exposure to well established risk factors and to expand access to key health interventions