Legal capacities required for prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases

Law lies at the centre of successful national strategies for prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases. By law we mean international agreements, national and subnational legislation, regulations and other executive instruments, and decisions of courts and tribunals. However, the vital role of law in global health development is often poorly understood, and eclipsed by other disciplines such as medicine, public health and economics. This paper identifies key areas of intersection between law and noncommunicable diseases, beginning with the role of law as a tool for implementing policies for prevention and control of leading risk factors. We identify actions that the World Health Organization and its partners could take to mobilize the legal workforce, strengthen legal capacity and support effective use of law at the national level. Legal and regulatory actions must move to the centre of national noncommunicable disease action plans. This requires high-level leadership from global and national leaders, enacting evidence-based legislation and building legal capacities

Techno-economic evaluation of electrocoagulation for cattle slaughterhouse wastewater treatment using aluminum electrodes in batch and continuous experiment

Abstract This study aimed to investigate, from a techno-economic point of view, cattle slaughterhouse wastewater (CSWW) treatment via the electrocoagulation (EC) technique. A novel lab-scale EC unit with a 3 L volume was manufactured and tested. The EC unit contains nine identical cylindrical shape electrodes from aluminum material in connection with a controllable DC power supply. Investigation of optimum operating parameters in terms of pH, current density (CD), contact time, and electrolyte concentration was carried out in batch mode and then applied to continuous mode. At each batch, a cost analysis was calculated in terms of the consumption of electrode material and electrical power. The optimum operating conditions at which the best removal efficiency was achieved were pH 7, contact time 75 min, total dissolved solids of 3000 mg L−1, and CD of 4 mA cm−2. After application of these conditions on continuous flow mode, the removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand, color, turbidity, biological oxygen demand, and oil, grease were 95, 99, 99, 97 and 95%, respectively. The total electrode consumption and electrical consumptions were 0.6 kg m−3 and 0.87 kWh m−3 with an operational cost of about $1.5 m−3. This proved that EC is a techno-economically effective treatment method than other conventional treatment methods for high-rate removal of pollutants from CSWW

National public health institutes in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: Insights from experts in the field

National public health institutes (NPHIs) are crucial to the effectiveness of public health systems, including delivering essential public health functions and generating evidence for national health policies, strategies and plans. Currently, there is a significant lack of information regarding NPHI or NPHI-like organisations in Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) countries, including how they fit into their broader health systems governance landscape. NPHIs exist in 12 out of 22 EMR countries, yet there is no official International Association of National Public Health Institutes (IANPHI) regional network for the EMR, despite established IANPHI networks in four other regions. In 2022, the WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office led a study comprising an online survey and key informant interviews, which synthesised expert insights and summarised recommendations to strengthen the health systems governance-related role of NPHIs in EMR countries. Study participants included current and former high-level representatives of NPHIs, the government (eg, Ministries of Health, health regulatory authorities), multilateral organisations or non-governmental organisations focusing on health, and others identified as senior health systems governance experts from EMR. Insights and recommendations from experts varied widely, but there were also many common elements and overlaps. These included the need for enhancing NPHI functionalities and collaborative efforts with the public health sector (eg, Ministry of Health, Health Council) in health policy and decision-making formulation and implementation. This, in turn, requires advancing NPHI’s fit-for-purpose and sustainable governance and financing arrangements, improving the accessibility and transparency of health data for NPHIs, strengthening engagement and collaboration between NPHIs and other health system actors (including the private sector), and promoting a more prominent role for NPHIs in the development and implementation of public health-related policies and legislation. While many excellent insights and thoughtful strategic guidance are provided, further adaptation may be needed to implement the proposed recommendations in different EMR country contexts going forward

Trends in childhood trauma mortality in the fast economically developing State of Qatar

Background: The aim of this study was to explore the trends in injury mortality in children aged 0-18 years in the State of Qatar. No such study has been conducted previously in Qatar

Pandemic preparedness and response: strengthening health systems for global health security and universal health coverage

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a suite of international initiatives has been developed to strengthen and reform the global architecture for pandemic preparedness and response (PPR), including proposals for a pandemic treaty, financial intermediary fund, and mechanisms for equitable access to medical countermeasures, among others. These proposed initiatives seek to draw upon critical lessons gleaned from the ongoing crisis by addressing gaps in health security and traditional public health functions. However, to date, there is insufficient consideration of the vital role of universal health coverage and robust primary health care in sustainably, equitably, and efficiently safeguarding health systems from future public health threats. The international community must not repeat the mistakes of past health security efforts that ultimately fueled the COVID-19 catastrophe – in particular, by overlooking the importance of coherent, multisectoral health systems. This paper outlines major (though often neglected) gaps in PPR, and identifies opportunities to reconceptualize health security by scaling up universal health coverage. We then propose a comprehensive set of recommendations to help inform the development of key PPR mechanisms across three themes – legal governance, financing mechanisms, and supporting initiatives. By synthesizing approaches that simultaneously strengthen global health architecture for both health security and universal health coverage, we aim to provide tangible solutions that equitably meet the needs of all communities while ensuring resilience to future pandemic threats

Discovery of novel thiazolyl-pyrazolines as dual EGFR and VEGFR-2 inhibitors endowed with in vitro antitumor activity towards non-small lung cancer

New series of thiazolyl-pyrazoline derivatives (7a-7d, 10a-10d and 13a-13f) have been synthesised and assessed for their potential EGFR and VEGFR-2 inhibitory activities. Compounds 10b and 10d exerted potent and selective inhibitory activity towards the two receptor tyrosine kinases; EGFR (IC50 = 40.7 ± 1.0 and 32.5 ± 2.2 nM, respectively) and VEGFR-2 (IC50 = 78.4 ± 1.5 and 43.0 ± 2.4 nM, respectively). The best anti-proliferative activity for the examined thiazolyl-pyrazolines was observed against the non-small lung cancer cells (NSCLC). Compounds 10b and 10d displayed pronounced efficacy against A549 (IC50 = 4.2 and 2.9 µM, respectively) and H441 cell lines (IC50 = 4.8 and 3.8 µM, respectively). Moreover, our results indicated that 10b and 10d were much more effective towards EGFR-mutated NSCLC cell lines (NCI-H1650 and NCI-H1975 cells) than gefitinib. Finally, compounds 10b and 10d induce G2/M cell cycle arrest and apoptosis and inhibit migration in A549 cancerous cells