Small and medium enterprises and access to finance in Egypt

The purpose of this study is to put a spotlight on some of the problems of access to finance that stand in the way of small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) in Egypt and to draw the attention of policy makers to try to solve those issues. These problems vary from financial issues such as getting access to money to non-financial shortcomings in such areas as knowhow, marketing, management and accounting systems. Furthermore, SMEs in Egypt suffer from complex governmental regulations as well. To address the overall research question, “how do informal areas SMEs meet their financing needs and why do they make these choices,†the study used interviews and a written questionnaire both conducted with SME owners in the informal area of Imbaba in Giza. The study found that a large majority of SMEs have never used formal financial institutions due to lack of knowledge about how to deal with banks and the banks’ complicated procedures. A minority of those surveyed did use bank loans but suffered great difficulty in dealing with the system, repaying the loan, and dealing with high interest rates. The field work was complemented by a review of the literature, which found that banks\u27 regulations and minimum loan size discourages SME owners from trying to obtain bank finance. Many interviewees expressed their anger at the complex and seemingly purposeless documentation required to obtain loans. Cut off from formal funding, most of the workshop owners interviewed depends on their social ties for financing, borrowing money from relatives and friends or participating in rotating credit associations. The study recommends that greater efforts be made by the government to ease regulations on starting a business. Banks should more aggressively pursue SME business, visiting shops and working with the owners to remove barriers to credit. NGOs should give assistance to shops facing difficulties in repayment to address the causes of their problems. If greater efforts are not made by the government and others to improve access to finance, SMEs will not be able to grow as quickly, with negative impacts on the Egyptian economy and on societal problems such as unemployment

Occupational impacts of early inflammatory arthritis : results from the National Early Inflammatory Arthritis Audit

Peer reviewe

Optimising use of electronic health records to describe the presentation of rheumatoid arthritis in primary care: a strategy for developing code lists

Background Research using electronic health records (EHRs) relies heavily on coded clinical data. Due to variation in coding practices, it can be difficult to aggregate the codes for a condition in order to define cases. This paper describes a methodology to develop ‘indicator markers’ found in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA); these are a broader range of codes which may allow a probabilistic case definition to use in cases where no diagnostic code is yet recorded. Methods We examined EHRs of 5,843 patients in the General Practice Research Database, aged ≥30y, with a first coded diagnosis of RA between 2005 and 2008. Lists of indicator markers for RA were developed initially by panels of clinicians drawing up code-lists and then modified based on scrutiny of available data. The prevalence of indicator markers, and their temporal relationship to RA codes, was examined in patients from 3y before to 14d after recorded RA diagnosis. Findings Indicator markers were common throughout EHRs of RA patients, with 83.5% having 2 or more markers. 34% of patients received a disease-specific prescription before RA was coded; 42% had a referral to rheumatology, and 63% had a test for rheumatoid factor. 65% had at least one joint symptom or sign recorded and in 44% this was at least 6-months before recorded RA diagnosis. Conclusion Indicator markers of RA may be valuable for case definition in cases which do not yet have a diagnostic code. The clinical diagnosis of RA is likely to occur some months before it is coded, shown by markers frequently occurring ≥6 months before recorded diagnosis. It is difficult to differentiate delay in diagnosis from delay in recording. Information concealed in free text may be required for the accurate identification of patients and to assess the quality of care in general practice

Subgrouping of Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis Based on Pain, Fatigue, Inflammation, and Psychosocial Factors

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108023/1/art38682.pd

Outcome studies in rheumatoid arthritis

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN029297 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo