HIV, AIDS, and Drug Abuse in the International Sector

1997 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
James A. Inciardi ◽  
Lana D. Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Hiv Infection ◽  
Full Range ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Cumulative Distribution ◽  
African Women ◽  
World Health ◽  
Childbearing Age ◽  
The World ◽  
Hiv Aids

AIDS has become the leading cause of death among people under age 45 in many major cities throughout the United States and Western Europe, and the projected mortality rate for those infected with HIV is virtually 100%. As of July 5, 1996, the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Programme on AIDS reported a cumulative 1,393,649 AIDS cases from 193 countries (WHO 1996). This represented a 19% increase in actual cases reported a year earlier. However, the WHO estimates that allowing for incomplete reporting and under-diagnosis, there were probably some 7.7 million cumulative AIDS cases by mid-1996. In terms of HIV, the WHO estimates that there has been a cumulative distribution of almost 30 million HIV-infected individuals as of mid-1996 (WHO 1996). The joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) estimated that some 20.1 million adults were living with HIV infection or AIDS at the close of 1995. By the year 2000, UNAIDS estimates project that 30 to 40 million people will have been infected with HIV worldwide (UNAIDS 1996). With more than 19 million HIV-infected adults, Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most affected region of the world (WHO 1996). The predominant mode of transmission since the beginning of the epidemic has been through heterosexual contact. The reuse of unsterilized hypodermic needles in transfusions and inoculations is also relatively common in many African nations. In a number of countries in that part of the world, furthermore, HIV infection has been spread through population movements due to situations of conflict or poverty (Decosas et al. 1995). The lower status of women in a number of African nations has also contributed to the rapid spread of the epidemic (UNAIDS 1996). HIV infections in African women outnumber men by a ratio of 6 to 5. More than 6 million women of childbearing age have been affected, and UNAIDS believes that as many as I million children may already have been infected either prior to or during birth, or during breast feeding (UNAIDS 1996). Another contributing factor has been the full range of sexually transmitted diseases, which increase the risk of HIV infection if left untreated (UNAIDS 1996).

scholarly journals Evaluation of an ICD logging system to supplement an EMR in a Sub-Saharan country

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Araba A. Wubah ◽  
Jean A. Yankson ◽  
Cameron Sumpter ◽  
Fred Rawlins ◽  
Dean Sutphin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Developing Country ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
World Health ◽  
Medical Documentation ◽  
The World ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
College Of Osteopathic Medicine

Adoption of electronic medical records (EMRs) has been spotty and sluggish in the world, including the United States, despite the multiple benefits of medical technology and informatics. Though there are difficulties in establishing and maintaining an EMR system in a developing country, it is not impossible. The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) Logger, called CREDO (Clinical Rotation Evaluation and Documentation Organizer), developed by Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM), provides a straightforward, economical EMR system to use in a developing country, such as Ghana. However, with a recently established EMR system developed locally and being used at the target new hospital, Healthwise Medical Center, the aim of the study was to use the common medical documentation language of the World Health Organization (WHO) ICD-10 codes to add value to the local EMR. This demonstration enabled the comparison of medical encounters in Ghana to those in the United States, specifically in Appalachia where VCOM students typically do their clinical rotations. We also evaluated the issues and tested the CREDO ICD Logger as a simple, stand-alone EMR system. Therefore, by collecting ICD data twice weekly from Ghana, a data point in Sub-Saharan Africa, it became possible to compare a public health snapshot of developing countries and sites in the United States.

scholarly journals Evaluation of hepatotoxicity in elderly with HIV/AIDS using isoniazid

2020 ◽  
pp. 98-107
Author(s):  
Claudinei Alves Santana ◽  
Gustavo Alves Andrade dos Santos
Keyword(s):  
Hiv Infection ◽  
World Health ◽  
Concomitant Treatment ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Health Report ◽  
Laboratory Test Results ◽  
The World ◽  
Laboratory Results ◽  
Pre Treatment ◽  
Hiv Aids

Introduction: The aging of the population becomes notorious from the twentieth century reaching several countries of the world. Data from the 2019 Epidemiological Bulletin of the Ministry of Health report an increase in the incidence of AIDS among elderly males in the period 2008 to 2018 of 9.7% and a 5% reduction among women. The impairment of the immune system favors the emergence of diseases considered opportunistic and Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death among individuals with AIDS. One of the measures to prevent TB/HIV co-infection in young and elderly adults, according to the World Health Organization, is treatment with the drug isoniazid, which aims to reduce the risk of illness from Mycobacterium tuberculosis and consequently the manifestation of TB. Regarding isoniazid, hepatotoxicity is a potentially serious adverse reaction that can even result in death. Objective: To evaluate the risk of hepatotoxicity to the use of isoniazid measured through laboratory test results through liver enzymes. METHOD: Descriptive and analytical retrospective cross-sectional study with elderly patients with HIV/AIDS using isoniazid in a specialized HIV/AIDS Service from 2008 to 2011. Laboratory results of hepatic transaminases (AST and ALT) and glutaryltranferase range from a secondary database at 3 specific moments (pre-treatment, concomitant treatment and post-treatment with isoniazid) and subjects’ characteristics (age, gender, time of HIV infection) were analyzed. The data were analyzed in statistical program SPSS 20. Result: We analyzed 12 subjects aged 60 years or older, 75% (9) men, mean age 63 years and 25% (3) women, mean age 68 years. The subjects had an average of 15 years of HIV infection. There was an increase of 20.9% in AST, and 11.5% in the Range Gutamiltransferase concomitant with the treatment in relation to the pre-treatment values. Conclusion: Laboratory results for the use of isoniazid showed a slight hepatotoxicity elevation without the need to discontinuation of preventive treatment with isoniazid, however, follow-up by a multidisciplinary and pharmaceutical team is necessary.

The Basic Structure as Object: Institutions and Humanitarian Concern

2005 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 253-278
Author(s):  
Leif Wenar
Keyword(s):  
Disease Burden ◽  
Rural Poverty ◽  
Basic Structure ◽  
The United States ◽  
Bronchial Tree ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
World Health ◽  
The World ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Health Organization

One third of the human species is infested with worms. The World Health Organization estimates that worms account for 40 per cent of the global disease burden from tropical diseases excluding malaria. Worms cause a lot of misery.In this article I will focus on one particular type of infestation, which is hookworm. Approximately 740 million people suffer from hookworm infection in areas of rural poverty: more than one human in ten, a total greater than twenty-three times the population of Canada or twice the population of the United States. The greatest numbers of cases occur in China, Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa- that is, mostly in the places in the world where poverty is most severe.Hookworm larvae pierce the skin, enter the bloodstream, work their way into the heart and then into the lungs, where they climb the bronchial tree into the throat and are swallowed.

The Ethics of COVID-19 Vaccine Passports

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
Joseph Meaney ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
The United States ◽  
Scientific Data ◽  
World Health ◽  
Medical Decisions ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Divided Society ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

COVID-19 vaccine passports run the risk of creating a divided society where social privileges or restrictions based on “fitness” lead to discrimination based on immunization status. Individuals have a strong right to be free of coercion to take a COVID-19 vaccine, and we should be very leery of further invasion of private medical decisions. These concerns are shared both internationally and in the United States, and the World Health Organization, the Biden administration, and many US governors oppose COVID-19 vaccine credentials. In addition, regulations for COVID-19 vaccine credentials face practical barriers, including lack of access globally, especially among the poor; and lack of scientific data on the efficacy of these vaccines.

(Mis)Information on Digital Platforms: Lessons from Twitter and Sina Weibo in the COVID-19 Pandemic (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Kreps
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
Sina Weibo ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Relative Prevalence

BACKGROUND Misinformation about COVID-19 has presented challenges to public health authorities during pandemics. Understanding the prevalence and type of misinformation across contexts offers a way to understand the discourse around COVID-19 while informing potential countermeasures. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to study COVID-19 content on two prominent microblogging platform, Twitter, based in the United States, and Sina Weibo, based in China, and compare the content and relative prevalence of misinformation to better understand public discourse of public health issues across social media and cultural contexts. METHODS A total of 3,579,575 posts were scraped from both Weibo and Twitter, focusing on content from January 30th, 2020, when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” and February 6th, 2020. A 1% random sample of tweets that contained both the English keywords “coronavirus” and “covid-19” and the equivalent Chinese characters was extracted and analyzed based on changes in the frequencies of keywords and hashtags. Misinformation on each platform was compared by manually coding and comparing posts using the World Health Organization fact-check page to adjudicate accuracy of content. RESULTS Both platforms posted about the outbreak and transmission but posts on Sina Weibo were less likely to reference controversial topics such as the World Health Organization and death and more likely to cite themes of resisting, fighting, and cheering against the coronavirus. Misinformation constituted 1.1% of Twitter content and 0.3% of Weibo content. CONCLUSIONS Quantitative and qualitative analysis of content on both platforms points to cross-platform differences in public discourse surrounding the pandemic and informs potential countermeasures for online misinformation.

scholarly journals Individual, community and societal correlates of insecticide treated net use among pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa: a multi-level analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Kwabena Ameyaw
Keyword(s):  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Maternal And Newborn Health ◽  
African Countries ◽  
The World ◽  
Itn Use ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Sub Saharan

Abstract Background Malaria in pregnancy is a crucial public health concern due to the enormous risk it poses to maternal and newborn health. The World Health Organisation therefore recommends insecticide-treated net (ITN) for pregnant women. The world over, sub-Saharan Africa bears the highest prevalence of malaria and its associated complications. This study investigated the individual, community and society level factors associated with ITN use among pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods The study was conducted with Demographic and Health Survey data of 21 sub-Saharan African countries. A total of 17,731 pregnant women who possessed ITN participated in the study. Descriptive computation of ITN use by survey country and socio-demographic characteristics was conducted. Further, five multi-level binary logistic regression models were fitted with MLwiN 3.05 package in STATA. The Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) estimation procedure was used in estimating the parameters whilst the Bayesian Deviance Information Criterion was used for the model fitness test. Results On average, 74.2% pregnant women in SSA used ITN. The highest prevalence of ITN use occurred in Mali (83.7%) whilst the least usage occurred in Namibia (7%). Women aged 30–34 were more likely to use ITN compared with those aged 45–49 [aOR = 1.14; Crl = 1.07–1.50]. Poorest women were less probable to use ITN relative to richest women [aOR = 0.79; Crl = 0.70–0.89]. Compared to women who did not want their pregnancies at all, women who wanted their pregnancies [aOR = 1.06; Crl = 1.04–1.19] were more probable to use ITN. Women in male-headed households had higher likelihood of ITN use compared to those from female-headed households [aOR = 1.28; Crl = 1.19–1.39]. On the whole, 38.1% variation in ITN use was attributable to societal level factors whilst 20.9% variation was attributable to community level factors. Conclusion The study has revealed that in addition to individual level factors, community and society level factors affect ITN use in SSA. In as much as the study points towards the need to incorporate community and societal variations in ITN interventions, active involvement of men can yield better outcome for ITN utilisation interventions in SSA.

scholarly journals The Relationship Between the Global Burden of Influenza From 2017 to 2019 and COVID-19: Descriptive Epidemiological Assessment (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan David Baral ◽  
Katherine Blair Rucinski ◽  
Jean Olivier Twahirwa Rwema ◽  
Amrita Rao ◽  
Neia Prata Menezes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Respiratory Infections ◽  
Temporal Trends ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
World Health ◽  
Respiratory Pathogens ◽  
Modes Of Transmission ◽  
The World ◽  
Influenza Activity ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Health Organization

BACKGROUND SARS-CoV-2 and influenza are lipid-enveloped viruses with differential morbidity and mortality but shared modes of transmission. OBJECTIVE With a descriptive epidemiological framing, we assessed whether recent historical patterns of regional influenza burden are reflected in the observed heterogeneity in COVID-19 cases across regions of the world. METHODS Weekly surveillance data reported by the World Health Organization from January 2017 to December 2019 for influenza and from January 1, 2020 through October 31, 2020, for COVID-19 were used to assess seasonal and temporal trends for influenza and COVID-19 cases across the seven World Bank regions. RESULTS In regions with more pronounced influenza seasonality, COVID-19 epidemics have largely followed trends similar to those seen for influenza from 2017 to 2019. COVID-19 epidemics in countries across Europe, Central Asia, and North America have been marked by a first peak during the spring, followed by significant reductions in COVID-19 cases in the summer months and a second wave in the fall. In Latin America and the Caribbean, COVID-19 epidemics in several countries peaked in the summer, corresponding to months with the highest influenza activity in the region. Countries from regions with less pronounced influenza activity, including South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, showed more heterogeneity in COVID-19 epidemics seen to date. However, similarities in COVID-19 and influenza trends were evident within select countries irrespective of region. CONCLUSIONS Ecological consistency in COVID-19 trends seen to date with influenza trends suggests the potential for shared individual, structural, and environmental determinants of transmission. Using a descriptive epidemiological framework to assess shared regional trends for rapidly emerging respiratory pathogens with better studied respiratory infections may provide further insights into the differential impacts of nonpharmacologic interventions and intersections with environmental conditions. Ultimately, forecasting trends and informing interventions for novel respiratory pathogens like COVID-19 should leverage epidemiologic patterns in the relative burden of past respiratory pathogens as prior information.

scholarly journals Quality Evaluation of Ethambutol Hydrochloride Tablet Batches Available in Governmental Health Facilities of Jimma Town, Southwest Ethiopia

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Meseret Yirdaw ◽  
Belachew Umeta ◽  
Yimer Mokennen
Keyword(s):  
World Health Organization ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Facilities ◽  
World Health ◽  
Southwest Ethiopia ◽  
Weight Variation ◽  
The World ◽  
Storage Area ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Jimma Town

Background. The availability of poor-quality drugs on the drug market might favor the ineffectiveness of the drug and/antimicrobial resistance. Aim. To evaluate the quality of similar batches of ethambutol hydrochloride tablets available in different governmental health facilities of Jimma town, southwest Ethiopia. Methods. The World Health Organization checklist was used to inspect the storage area of health facilities and check medicines for the sign of counterfeit. The test was conducted as per the United States Pharmacopeia on six similar batches of ethambutol hydrochloride sampled from different governmental health facilities. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20, and one-way ANOVA was used for comparing the dissolution profile and weight variation of batches. Results. Three health facilities did not comply with the storage area specifications for pharmaceuticals. No batches have shown any sign of counterfeit. All of the tablet batches tested complied with USP specifications for weight variation, percentage purity, and dissolution test. Conclusions and Recommendation. The entire tablet batches complied with the World Health Organization specification for packaging and labelling of pharmaceuticals. All tablet batches complied with the test for weight variation, purity of drug substance, and dissolution. Since some health facilities did not comply with at least one specification for storage of pharmaceuticals, regulatory agencies and stack holders are advised to inspect the health facilities to ensure appropriate storage of pharmaceuticals in health facilities.

scholarly journals Cluster analysis of the origins of the new influenza A(H1N1) virus

2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (21) ◽  
Author(s):  
A Solovyov ◽  
G Palacios ◽  
T Briese ◽  
W I Lipkin ◽  
R Rabadan
Keyword(s):  
Cluster Analysis ◽  
Influenza A ◽  
H1n1 Virus ◽  
Swine Influenza ◽  
The United States ◽  
Influenza Viruses ◽  
World Health ◽  
Influenza A H1n1 ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

In March and April 2009, a new strain of influenza A(H1N1) virus has been isolated in Mexico and the United States. Since the initial reports more than 10,000 cases have been reported to the World Health Organization, all around the world. Several hundred isolates have already been sequenced and deposited in public databases. We have studied the genetics of the new strain and identified its closest relatives through a cluster analysis approach. We show that the new virus combines genetic information related to different swine influenza viruses. Segments PB2, PB1, PA, HA, NP and NS are related to swine H1N2 and H3N2 influenza viruses isolated in North America. Segments NA and M are related to swine influenza viruses isolated in Eurasia.

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