Treatment Of Endemic Diseases Research Articles

Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine in the environment and aquatic organisms: a review

Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are aminoquinolines used in the treatment of endemic diseases in Latin America such as malaria and non-endemic with wide prevalence such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus erythematosus. Described as persistent, bioaccumulative, and dangerous for aquatic biota, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are considered emerging pollutants intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic, occurring in low concentrations that are not totally removed in wastewater treatment plants and are not covered by legislation. This article presents a theoretical approach based on literature review following a semi-systematic methodology covering detection strategies of the chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine drugs in effluent and receiving water bodies; estimates of environmental concentrations during the pandemic; methods that use degradation and removal of compounds from water; and toxic effects on aquatic biota. Concentrations previously detected and estimated in the aquatic environment can lead to significant changes in animal physiology analyzed from biomarker changes, behavior and mortality in studies with native and non-native species. Studies are necessary to reproduce and understand possible environmental scenarios adopting the indiscriminate use of drugs to serve as standards for environmentally safe concentrations when there is no specific legislation.
 Keywords: COVID-19, emerging pollutants, toxicity.

TOGO TO GO: PRODUCTS AND COMPOUNDS DERIVED FROM LOCAL PLANTS FOR THE TREATMENT OF DISEASES ENDEMIC IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Background: Many African countries suffer from endemic diseases which are often caused by infections and seriously affect the social and
 economic development of these nations. While the access to proper medication is still limited, many of these countries are, at the same time, rich
 in medical plants.
 Materials and Methods: A review of relevant scientific (and gray) literature was carried out and information obtained from local authorities in
 medicinal plants. A synthesis of the data obtained was thereafter performed and recommendations for the future proposed.
 Results: Plants such as Cissus aralioides, Securidaca longipedunculata, Piliostigma thonningii, Nauclea latifolia, Ocimum gratissimum and
 Newbouldia laevis are widely reported to be used in the treatment of endemic diseases in Togo and her neighbouring countries.These plants
 often contain highly potent chemical compounds, such as quinones, xanthones, tannins and terpenes and therefore may provide an alternative
 avenue to short-term treatment. A combination of further analysis of plant materials and their active ingredients on the one hand, and modern
 technology to turn such natural products into commercial equivalents on the other, is required in order to identify the targets and modes of action
 of these natural materials, unlock access to them, and ultimately produce valuable medicines and phytoprotectants based on locally grown plant
 materials.
 Conclusion: The production of plant-derived products, as advocated in this paper, is in line with the WHO’s traditional medicine strategy 2014-
 2023, and will eventually yield a sustainable health-and-wealth generating cycle that will benefit a countries in the region, economically and
 ecologically.

Inequities in healthcare seeking in the treatment of communicable endemic diseases in Southeast Nigeria

This paper investigates the socio-economic inequities in healthcare seeking in the treatment of common communicable endemic diseases, with an emphasis on the use of primary health care (PHC) centres, where most endemic disease control activities take place. A questionnaire was used to collect information on occurrence of diseases and healthcare seeking from randomly selected households in four local government areas in Southeast Nigeria. Principal components analysis was used to create a socio-economic status (SES) index, which was divided into quartiles. The ratio of the values for the poorest quartile to that of the least poor quartile (bottom/top quartile) together with concentration indices for the variables under consideration was used as the measures of inequity. Logistic analysis was used to examine the determinants of use of PHC centres. The poorest quartile was more likely to use low-level providers (patent medicine dealers, shops, herbalists) and least likely to use the PHC centres. The concentration indices were −0.10, −0.06, −0.37, 0.11 and 0.04 for the use of herbalists, patent medicine dealers, community-health workers, PHC centres and hospitals, respectively. Also, the poorest quartile was more likely to lose person-days when ill. Logistic analysis showed that SES, availability of good services, proximity of the centres to the homes and polite health workers increased the use of the PHC centres. As such, improvement of quality of PHC services and improved geographic access could increase the overall use of PHC centres. Furthermore, in the long-term, a decrease in the amount of user fees, enhanced physical access and improved quality of services could decrease inequity in use of PHC centres and hospitals in the treatment of endemic diseases. The bottom/top quartile ratios and concentration indices produced similar results and hence both methods hence complement each other.

Injections and the fear of death: an essay on the limits of biomedicine among the Dagomba of northern Ghana

This article offers a cultural (“indigenous”) explanation of why people in their quest for therapy sometimes reject biomedicine. The argument is that in the current debate over the power of biomedicine, there is a lack of scrutiny of its “failures”, i.e. of why people occasionally refuse to accept the offers of biomedicine and its most powerful therapy, injection-therapy. After introducing the problem, the relevant literature and the methods used, the article proceeds by first using historical material regarding vaccination campaigns and the treatment of endemic diseases in Ghana and comparative data from elsewhere in Africa to show that people may be ambivalent and have a mixed view of the power of biomedicine. In the context of their experiences, people (possibly, in particular, older ones) have come to know both the (early) failures as well as the successes of injection-therapy. Turning to the ethnographic present (1990–1997) the record of Dagomba notions of health and illness as well as two cases are analyzed to define this ambiguity also among younger members of Dagomba culture. Thus, the article oscillates between ethnography and history to define people’s ambivalence and the conflict between biomedicine and local understandings.