International Health Community Research Articles

CeO2 nanoparticles and cerium species as antiviral agents: Critical review

Viral infections account for a large proportion of the total number of fatal diseases and require close attention from the international public health community. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted problems in medicine and healthcare related to the search for effective substances for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of viral infections. According to many scientific studies, cerium species are very promising biomedical materials for combatting viral infections and have shown encouraging results in killing viruses on non-living objects, reducing viral load both in vitro and in vivo, relieving symptoms and reducing the consequences of viral diseases. This review critically examines the current level of knowledge on cerium species and their practical applications, with a focus on CeO2 nanoparticles (CeNPs). This review also seeks to assess the prospects for their development and use in antiviral theranostics.

Anti-discriminatory language in public health research and practice in Germany

Abstract Anti-discriminatory language has long been an important topic in the education and media sector, and has also been discussed in international public health research since the 1980s. However, the topic has so far had little presence in public health in Germany. Therefore, a guideline on discrimination-sensitive language around migration and health was developed at the Robert Koch Institute within the Improving Health Monitoring in Migrant Populations project. The 5 basic principles together with an overview of relevant terms and concepts are an orientation for responsible communication in public health research and invites people to critically examine and reflect on their own use of language. Expertise from the education and media sector, as well as from our anti-racist network played a crucial role the creation of the guideline. We will present and discuss the guideline with the international public health community to continue the learning process initiated during the creation process.

Canadian policing wellness check conference 2023

Across the globe, leaders in policing are increasingly recognizing the urgency and significance of addressing the health and wellness of law enforcement personnel as concerning trends related to the mental health of officers continue to grow. Emerging from three years of some of the most challenging circumstances that Canadian policing has faced, and over five years since the last national check-in, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) designed the 2023 Canadian Policing Wellness Check Conference to bring about a renewed sense of focus to the wellness of the policing community. Organized by the CACP and moderated by esteemed advisor and educator Norm Taylor, the conference brought together 176 delegates, speakers, sponsors, and leaders from the international and national policing and mental health communities for an inspiring, fast-paced two-day conference at the Fairmont Château Laurier in Ottawa, Ontario, on March 7 and 8, 2023. The following paper provides a comprehensive report on the proceedings.

HTA53 How Can the International Health and Development Communities Support HTA Implementation at the Country Level? A Review of International Cooperation and Collaboration Initiatives in the Americas

The global development agenda is focusing on strengthening health systems. One key area is the equitable, rational and efficient use of medicines, for which Health Technology Assessments (HTAs) is a reliable tool. Hence, international health and development organizations are pushing for HTA implementation in the Americas. The aim of this study was to explore the role of these organizations in advancing HTA implementation in the region.

Monkeypox detection from skin lesion images using an amalgamation of CNN models aided with Beta function-based normalization scheme.

We have recently been witnessing that our society is starting to heal from the impacts of COVID-19. The economic, social and cultural impacts of a pandemic cannot be ignored and we should be properly equipped to deal with similar situations in future. Recently, Monkeypox has been concerning the international health community with its lethal impacts for a probable pandemic. In such situations, having appropriate protocols and methodologies to deal with the outbreak efficiently is of paramount interest to the world. Early diagnosis and treatment stand as the only viable option to tackle such problems. To this end, in this paper, we propose an ensemble learning-based framework to detect the presence of the Monkeypox virus from skin lesion images. We first consider three pre-trained base learners, namely Inception V3, Xception and DenseNet169 to fine-tune on a target Monkeypox dataset. Further, we extract probabilities from these deep models to feed into the ensemble framework. To combine the outcomes, we propose a Beta function-based normalization scheme of probabilities to learn an efficient aggregation of complementary information obtained from the base learners followed by the sum rule-based ensemble. The framework is extensively evaluated on a publicly available Monkeypox skin lesion dataset using a five-fold cross-validation setup to evaluate its effectiveness. The model achieves an average of 93.39%, 88.91%, 96.78% and 92.35% accuracy, precision, recall and F1 scores, respectively. The supporting source codes are presented in https://github.com/BihanBanerjee/MonkeyPox.

The Impact of the Implementation of International Law on Marine Environmental Protection on International Public Health Driven by Multi-Source Network Comment Mining

With the increase of people's living space, global warming caused by the decrease of greening urban spaces and the serious decline of greenspace quality has led to extreme weather events and coastal erosion, which has become the biggest threat to the ocean and has also led to the occurrence of international public safety incidents. Therefore, it is of great practical significance to explore the tense relationship between the current marine environmental protection and global public safety for the development of an international healthy community. Firstly, this paper discusses the influence of implementing the international law of marine environmental protection on global public health after the reduction of green urban space and the decline of green space quality. Secondly, K-means and discrete particle swarm optimization algorithms are introduced and the particle swarm optimization-K-means clustering (PSO-K-means) algorithm is designed to screen and deal with the mapping relationship between latent variables and word sets about the impact of implementing the international marine ecological protection law on the international public health community in network data information. Moreover, the influencing factors are clustered and the scenarios are evaluated. The results show that the clustering analysis of the marine environment can promote the clustering of marine characteristic words. Meanwhile, the PSO-K-means algorithm can effectively cluster vulnerability data information. When the threshold is 0.45, the estimated recall rate of the corresponding model is 88.75%. Therefore, the following measures have been formulated, that is, increasing greening urban spaces and enhancing the quality of green space to enhance the protection of marine environment, which has practical reference value for realizing the protection of marine environment and the sustainable development of marine water resources and land resources.

Synergistic effect of honey in combination with silver nanoparticles on isolated pathogens from urinary tract infection

Background Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most prevalent bacterial infections, affecting 150 million people worldwide each year. UTIs can be caused by a variety of pathogens, but Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Proteus mirabilis are the most frequent culprits. The growth and development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria are currently a major worry for the international health community. Looking for a treatment substitute could be effective in tackling this issue. The honey has a low pH (mean 4.4) value, which makes it unfavorable for bacterial growth; undiluted honey combination with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) shows synergistic antimicrobial effect and helps lessen infection.Aim This study was undertaken to find out the effectiveness of honey containing AgNPs in the antibacterial activity of isolated urine pathogens.Patients and methods A total of 30 patients with UTI were included through purposive sampling technique, and urine samples were collected from them. A semiquantitative approach was used to cultivate specimens of urine on MacConkey agar and blood agar. After 24 h of incubation, bacterial growth was seen on the plates. Then, colonies were counted and the number of microorganisms per milliliter in the original material was calculated by multiplying the number of CFUs by 1000.Results A total of 10 bacterial isolates were found in the 30 urine samples, and biochemical studies showed that these isolates were from three different species. The most common strain of E. coli represented 82%, followed by P. aeruginosa (12%) and P. mirabilis (6%). In all three organisms examined with undiluted honey mixed with AgNPs, the zone of inhibition was more pronounced when compared with only honey, AgNPs, and diluted honey mixed with AgNPs.Conclusion The results of the current investigation showed that multifloral honey combined with AgNPs was effective against urinary infections.

All That We Need to Know About the Current and Past Outbreaks of Monkeypox: A Narrative Review.

Monkeypox is a rare, zoonotic viral illness that was initially endemic mainly to Africa. The virus later spread to non-African countries and, in 2022, it exploded on a global scale, with an unprecedented number of cases. The rapid, multi-country transmission, primarily in men who have sex with men (MSM), and evolving clinical manifestations and demographic traits of the current outbreak have raised serious concerns among the international health community. An in-depth inquiry into the past and present outbreaks are required, especially when contrasting features are witnessed across countries and outbreaks. This narrative review aims to summarize the evolution in the epidemiology, clinical features, mode of transmission, and management protocol of human monkeypox infection (H-MPVX) over the decades. For a detailed characterization of the novelties associated with the current outbreak that would facilitate the accurate dissemination of information and policy-making, we performed a thorough literature search for MPVX infection on PubMed, Google Scholar, and Science Direct, using appropriate keywords to choose relevant articles.

Tuberculosis conundrum - current and future scenarios: A proposed comprehensive approach combining laboratory, imaging, and computing advances.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a global threat, with the rise of multiple and extensively drug resistant TB posing additional challenges. The International health community has set various 5-yearly targets for TB elimination: mathematical modelling suggests that a 2050 target is feasible with a strategy combining better diagnostics, drugs, and vaccines to detect and treat both latent and active infection. The availability of rapid and highly sensitive diagnostic tools (Gene-Xpert, TB-Quick) will vastly facilitate population-level identification of TB (including rifampicin resistance and through it, multi-drug-resistant TB). Basic-research advances have illuminated molecular mechanisms in TB, including the protective role of Vitamin D. Also, Mycobacterium tuberculosis impairs the host immune response through epigenetic mechanisms (histone-binding modulation). Imaging will continue to be key, both for initial diagnosis and follow-up. We discuss advances in multiple imaging modalities to evaluate TB tissue changes, such as molecular imaging techniques (including pathogen-specific positron emission tomography imaging agents), non-invasive temporal monitoring, and computing enhancements to improve data acquisition and reduce scan times. Big data analysis and Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms, notably in the AI sub-field called “Deep Learning”, can potentially increase the speed and accuracy of diagnosis. Additionally, Federated learning makes multi-institutional/multi-city AI-based collaborations possible without sharing identifiable patient data. More powerful hardware designs - e.g., Edge and Quantum Computing- will facilitate the role of computing applications in TB. However, “Artificial Intelligence needs real Intelligence to guide it!” To have maximal impact, AI must use a holistic approach that incorporates time tested human wisdom gained over decades from the full gamut of TB, i.e., key imaging and clinical parameters, including prognostic indicators, plus bacterial and epidemiologic data. We propose a similar holistic approach at the level of national/international policy formulation and implementation, to enable effective culmination of TB’s endgame, summarizing it with the acronym “TB - REVISITED”.

Attainment of universal health coverage in the occupied Palestinian territory assessed by a general equilibrium approach: is informality an irreversible hurdle for universality?

BackgroundAchieving universal health coverage (UHC) has recently received attention in response to calls from international organisations to expand health coverage to hard-to-reach segments of the population (eg, informal workers, and unemployed and poor people). Despite the strong commitment to achieving UHC, its implementation continues to spark vigorous debate among policy makers, scholars, and the international health community. Much of the recent debate has focused on the macro-fiscal challenges that many developing countries face in implementing and sustaining UHC-oriented reforms, and there has also been debate in relation to challenges of the micro-behavioural sphere (at the level of the individual). Some of these challenges pertain to the structure of the labour market in developing countries, which is characterised by the large size of non-contributory segments of the population, mainly informal workers and unemployed individuals. This raises the important policy questions of the feasibility of expanding health coverage to the informal sector and the unemployed on a contributory basis. MethodsWe assessed the feasibility of UHC using a dynamic general equilibrium approach while accounting for heterogeneity across households in terms of their employment and socioeconomic status. The model was calibrated using the Palestinian Expenditures and Consumption Survey (PECS, 2011), and the Social Accounting Matrix (SAM, 2011). We assessed alternative health insurance designs proposed to target the informal workers. Fiscal sustainability of the reforms was examined using the debt-to-GDP ratio and the microeconomic impact was assessed using the concept of consumption equivalent variation (CEV), defined as the amount of additional consumption a household would give up to move from the pre-insurance to the post-insurance level of welfare. A positive CEV value indicates that individuals are willing to pay for the health insurance. The higher the CEV value, the higher the gains of health insurance. FindingsA simultaneous expansion of UHC coverage of the population and health-care costs would enhance welfare for all households. However, such an expansion would reduce government expenditure that is allocated to other sectors; for example, it was estimated that the reduction would have been approximately 10% in 2020. To finance this UHC-driven debt, we examined the impact of a tax-financed UHC-oriented reform and a low-premium, low-coverage government-sponsored health insurance that targets informal workers. Although both policies would generate additional revenues to serve the UHC debt, government-sponsored health insurance targeting informal workers seems to be more feasible in terms of its impact on household welfare. That is, the informal workers would be better off under the government-sponsored health insurance scheme. InterpretationIn the absence of precise information on the ability to pay of informal workers, which in some cases might be comparable to that of formal workers, it is reasonable for the government to charge better-off informal workers rather than naively exempting them. The findings corroborate previous evidence suggesting that informal workers are willing to join health insurance schemes that charge them lower premiums for a slightly less generous benefit package than the health insurance schemes of formal workers. This health insurance might be deemed equitable in terms of the degree of financial protection that informal workers can obtain compared with the scenario in which they are left to bear high out-of-pocket health-care costs. FundingThe A*MIDEX project (number ANR-11-IDEX-0001-02).

Associations Between Obesity, Physical Inactivity, Healthcare Capacity, and the Built Environment: Geographic Information System Analysis.

BackgroundObesity is one of the major critical health conditions affecting many people across the world. One of the major causes of obesity is identified to be sedentary lifestyles and physical inactivity, which may be associated with environmental factors.ObjectiveThe study analyzes variations in obesity and physical inactivity in the State of South Carolina, US, and their association with healthcare capacity and the built environment.MethodsData were obtained from different secondary sources and surveys, 2012, and then linked on the county-level using ArcGIS. Global Moran’s I was used to examine the spatial distribution at the state level, and Anselin’s local Moran’s I was used to detect any significant clusters at the county level. Ordinary least squares regression models were calculated for obesity and physical inactivity separately.ResultsMore than 70% of SC counties had high levels of obesity and physical inactivity. Spatial analysis showed statistical clusters of high obesity, high physical inactivity, and low access to exercise opportunities in rural areas compared to urban areas. Conversely, clusters of high density of health-care facilities appeared in urban areas. Through the regression models, the density of primary care physicians (p = 0.025) and access to exercise opportunities (p = 0.075) were negatively associated with obesity, while the low perception of own health (p = 0.001) and obesity rate (0.011) were positively associated with physical inactivity.ConclusionGIS was useful to illustrate and identify significant geographic variations and high clusters of obesity and physical inactivity in rural areas, compared with high clusters of access to exercise opportunities and health-care facilities in urban areas. The international health community is encouraged to utilize spatial information systems to examine variations and recommend evidence-based recommendations to redistribute equitable public health efforts. The development of strategies and initiatives toward reducing variation in health and sustainable development is key to promote the population wellbeing.

Perspective of schools of public health on war in Ukraine – reactions to military conflict in Europe and international cooperation

Since February 24, 2022, the hybrid war between Russia and Ukraine has been transformed into a very severe and open military conflict, having dramatic humanitarian and public health consequences – first of all, for the Ukrainians, but also for the whole world, in various dimensions. The impacts of this war are complex, multidimensional and multilateral. This paper aims to characterize the selected major impacts of the ongoing war on public health, as well as to characterize the selected reactions of the international academic public health community, including especially the three organizations from Moldova, Poland and France. Several positive responses of the academic community to the unprecedented humanitarian and public health crises caused by the Russo-Ukrainian war have been described. These efforts should be continued, developed and modified to the dynamically changing situation. The already existing international cooperation platforms, networks and alliances should be used for that purpose.

2020: Renewing the Paradigms for Orofacial Pain

In 2020, two important changes were adapted by the international health community: a new definition of pain and a new classification for orofacial pain conditions. With these changes new tasks and challenges also emerged, and clinicians from several disciplines begun to adopt and reconsidered classic paradigms, and the policies derived from them. This new perspective article, examine the new definition of pain proposed by the International Association for the Study of Pain, and the new International Classification of Orofacial Pain; analyzing the positive impact and further perspectives of these.

Evolution of media frames about e-cigarettes from 2004 to 2019: a content analysis of newspapers in China.

This study conducted a content analysis of 639 news articles about e-cigarettes in China from 2004-2019 to examine longitudinal changes in media frames and media tones about e-cigarettes in Chinese newspapers. Results indicated that policy frame was the most frequently used frame, followed by human impact frame, information frame, and uncertainty frame. Dividing the time period of 2004-2019 into four phases (i.e., 2004-2006, 2007-2010, 2011-2017 and 2018-2019), the study found that the frequency of the information frame significantly decreased over time, while the policy frame and uncertainty frame significantly increased, with the policy frame being the dominant frame in recent years. In contrast, the use of the economic frame and morality frame fluctuated, both reaching peaks in the phase of 2007-2010 and decreasing in the most recent phase. Overall, the tone of the large majority of news articles was unfavorable, and the turning point occurred in the phase of 2007-2010 when the percentage of news articles with negative tone exceeded those with positive tone for the first time. Framing of e-cigarette news articles in China demonstrated the pivotal role of policy makers in defining the e-cigarette issue, and the influence of the international public health community, as an important and reliable information source, on defining the health risk of e-cigarettes, which has implication for not only e-cigarette control, but tobacco control in China in general.

Sinophobic Stigma Going Viral: Addressing the Social Impact of COVID-19 in a Globalized World.

This article critically examines the recent literature on stigma that addresses the overspread association among the COVID-19 pandemic and racial and ethnic groups (i.e., mainland Chinese and East Asian populations) assumed to be the source of the virus.The analysis begins by reviewing the way in which infectious diseases have historically been associated with developing countries and their citizens, which, in turn, are supposed to become prime vectors of contagion. The latter extends to the current labeling of COVID-19 as the "Chinese virus," that-along with a number of other terms-has fueled race-based stigma against Asian groups in the United States and overseas. This review further discusses the limitations of current COVID-19 antistigma initiatives that mostly focus on individual-based education campaigns as opposed to multisectorial programs informed by human rights and intersectional perspectives.Finally, the article ends with a call to the international public health community toward addressing the most recent outbreak of stigma, one that has revealed the enormous impact of words in amplifying racial bias against particular minority populations in the developed world.

Safeguarding pregnant asylum-seekers and refugees during the era of COVID-19.

As it swept across the globe, the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (SARS-CoV-2, or COVID-19) triggered an international public health emergency, preoccupying families, communities, and continents worldwide Those most affected by this virus are also the most abandoned within their respective host countries: vulnerable populations of migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees While often scapegoated for introducing new or exotic illnesses, these displaced individuals are likely the first group to be neglected in a national crisis response [1] © 2021 The Author(S) Jogh © 2021 Isgh

A descriptive study of Forcefully Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMN) presenting for care at public health sector hospitals in Bangladesh

ABSTRACT Background In 2017 hundreds of thousands of ‘Rohingya’ fled to camps for Forcefully Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMN) in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Objective To describe the FDMNs presenting for care at public health facilities in Bangladesh so as to understand the health problems faced by the FDMNs and the burden on these public health facilities. Methods This study combined a retrospective review of existing hospital and clinic data with prospective surveillance in government health care centres. Findings The retrospective data showed a 26% increase in the number of consultations at the Kutupalong community clinic, the primary health facility closest to the camps, from 19,567 in 2015 to 26,309 in 2019. There was a corresponding 11% increase in admissions to health facilities in the area, from 80,991 in 2017 to 91,424 in 2019. Prospective surveillance of 9,421 FDMNs seeking health care from July 2018 to December 2019 showed that 29% had an infectious disease, 20% nutritional problems, 12% pregnancy-related conditions and 7% trauma or injury. Conclusions Great uncertainty remains regarding the return of FDMN to their home country of Myanmar. The current on-going protests following the military coup adds further insecurity to the status of the Rohingya. The presence of a large migrant population relative to a smaller host community burdens the limited facilities and resources of the public health sector. Continued support by the international public health community and civil society organizations is needed.

The Response to a Pandemic at Columbia University Irving Medical Center's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

The rapid evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City during the spring of 2020 challenged the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center to rely on its core values to respond effectively. In particular, five core values, “5 C's,” were engaged: Communication; Collaboration; Continuity; Community; and Culture. Beginning on March 11, 2020, the Department of Ob/Gyn used these values to navigate an unprecedented public health crisis, continuing to deliver care to the women and families of New York City, to protecting and supporting its team, and to sharing its lessons learned with the national and international women's health community.

Ahmadreza Djalali, MD, PhD is Dying.

Editor-in-Chief Note:Dr. Djalali is a well-known member of the international disaster medicine community. He is a man always with a smile and sincere in seeking the best for all mankind. His now extremely prolonged imprisonment without due process to allow him to defend himself represents one of the most profound inhumane acts on the globe. His torture and starvation are beyond comprehension for the international health and medicine community as well as all men and women. The pictures that accompany this editorial are published with proper permissions and have been authenticated as untouched from the originals.

Photography's Underappreciated Contributions to Neuropsychiatry: The Photographs of W. Eugene Smith in Minamata, Japan.

Photographers and filmmakers have made important contributions to the international mental health community through documentation and social commentary, leveraging the power of visual imagery. To illustrate, this article uses the example of W. Eugene Smith who photographed the catastrophic effects of methylmercury poisoning from industrial pollution in the region around Minamata Bay, Japan. Although many art forms have been comfortably integrated into mainstream psychiatry and neuropsychiatry, photography has been underappreciated and underutilized.