scholarly journals Impact of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and interventions to contain the virus on society and patients with kidney disease in Cambodia

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tam Nov ◽  
Toru Hyodo ◽  
Yukie Kitajima ◽  
Kenichi Kokubo ◽  
Toshihide Naganuma ◽  
...  

AbstractCambodia detected its first case of COVID-19 just 3 days before WHO declared that the outbreak constituted as PHEIC. As of February 15, 2021, and after two major outbreaks, only 479 cases had been reported, 396 (83%) of which were imported. This small number of cases was largely thanks to stringent measures and policies put in place by the government to curb the spread. Despite these efforts, a third cluster outbreak was declared on February 20, 2021. It has disrupted all aspects of life in Cambodia. As in many other countries affected by the virus, economic hardship, lockdowns in cities, and food insecurity ensued. Against the backdrop of this widespread impact on the citizens of Cambodia, we conducted this review article to better understand the situation of healthcare workers in nephrology and dialysis patients and the challenge they face in providing and receiving essential medical care. Healthcare providers have continued working to serve their patients despite facing a high risk of catching SARS-CoV-2 and other challenges including difficulties in traveling to work, increased physical and mental burden, and higher stress due to measures taken to minimize the risk of transmission during patients’ care. Some healthcare workers have been discriminated against by neighbors. The most difficult mission is when having to deal with families whose loved one is denied access to a hemodialysis session due to suspected COVID-19 while waiting for PCR test results. Hemodialysis patients reported facing economic hardship and increasingly difficult circumstances. When access to food is limited, patients have eaten canned or dried salted food rather than an appropriate hemodialysis diet. Because hemodialysis centers are concentrated in a few cities, access has become even harder during the travel ban. In-center hemodialysis rules are stricter and does not allow family members or escorts to enter the unit. Only a few hemodialysis patients have been vaccinated. Before COVID-19, hemodialysis patients already faced major burdens. The pandemic appears to be decreasing their quality of life and survival even further. Through this study, we have revealed current hardships and the need to improve the situations for both healthcare workers in nephrology and hemodialysis patients in Cambodia.

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahin Naderifar ◽  
Mansoureh Zagheri Tafreshi ◽  
Mahnaz Ilkhani ◽  
Magid Reza Akbarizadeh ◽  
Fereshteh Ghaljaei

Introduction: Institutionalizing adherence to treatment in hemodialysis patients is one of the important nursing goals for improving quality of life in these patients. Adherence to treatment approach in these patients can play a pivotal role in improving the health level and feeling of well-being. Objectives: This study aimed at determining the quality of life in hemodialysis patients presenting to hemodialysis centers affiliated to Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, on the basis of adherence to treatment. Patients and Methods: This is a correlational descriptive-analytic study. The study population consisted of hemodialysis patients in five hospitals affiliated to Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, in 2017. The data were collected during 8 months from October 2016 to May 2017 in Tehran. A sample volume of 200 patients was determined in this study. Demographic information questionnaire, KDQOL-SF, and ESRD-AQ were applied in data collection. Availability sampling method was used to select the samples on the basis of inclusion criteria. The data were analyzed with SPSS version 18 using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: Our findings showed that 50% of the patients were male. Most of the respondents of the study (23%) were 51-60 years old. The results indicated that the mean score of quality of life of patients was 50.42±22.81. The mean total score of adherence to treatment was 901.13±85.30. Also, the correlation coefficient in this study revealed a significant correlation between total score of quality of life and adherence to treatment (r=0.218, P<0.01). Conclusion: Considering the significant correlation between adherence to treatment and life quality of patients, healthcare providers can promote the life quality of these patients via focusing on planning programs for emphasizing the role of education and interventions that improve adherence to treatment in these patients.


2011 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 413-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Fornaciari ◽  
Arthur Vleugels ◽  
Stefaan Callens ◽  
Kristof Eeckloo

AbstractThe Belgian healthcare system consists of a complex of more or less autonomous groups of healthcare providers. It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that the fundamental right to qualitative healthcare is secured through the services they provide. In Belgium, the regulatory powers in healthcare are divided between the federal state and the three communities. Both levels, within their area of competence, monitor the quality of healthcare services. Unique to the Belgian healthcare system is that the government that providers are accountable to is not always the same as the government that is competent to set the criteria. The goal of this article is to provide an overview of the main mechanisms that are used by the federal government and the government of the Flemish community to monitor healthcare quality in hospitals. The Flemish community is Belgian’s largest community (6.2 million inhabitants). The overview is followed by a critical analysis of the dual system of quality monitoring.


The psychological implications of health disparities are damaging as humans of different religions, genders, races, cultures, and socioeconomic backgrounds seek entry into healthcare systems and receive poor quality of treatment related to health care workers' and healthcare providers' conscious and unconscious biases. Linguistics, a cultural aspect of diversity, also impacts healthcare disparities, as language barriers affect health literacy. Psychologically impaired by both perceived and overt expressions of discrimination, affected persons can develop discomfort in seeking health care treatment secondary to a history of maltreatment by healthcare workers and providers. However, this pattern of maltreatment can be altered when healthcare workers are educated about unconscious biases and how, if not brought to awareness and removed from the daily interactions with others, they impact the physical and mental health of generations of people.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-106
Author(s):  
Budi Respati Nur Mulianingsih ◽  
Dwi Endarti ◽  
Anna Wahyuni Widayanti

Hypertension is a health problem that increases mortality and morbidity and the economic burden of healthcare in Indonesia. Analysis of Cost of Illness (COI) must be conducted from different perspectives to provide additional information for policymakers about the economic impact caused by hypertension. This review aims to explain the components of healthcare costs in hypertension based on different perspectives, namely patient, payer, and healthcare providers. The results of this study show that direct and non-medical costs are the largest component of healthcare costs. Drug, doctor consultations, supporting examinations (laboratory tests), healthcare workers, administration costs are the highest direct medical costs. Travel and food expenses are components of direct non-medical costs. The lost productivity of patients or caregivers is calculated using the human capital approach and occupies health expenses as indirect costs. This can help the government and other researchers have the same perception in determining the components of the health costs under study. A study of COI can help the government control hypertension with promotive and preventive efforts and improve the government's public health program for hypertension.


BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. e033202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasiliki Papageorgiou ◽  
Alexandra Wharton-Smith ◽  
Ines Campos-Matos ◽  
Helen Ward

AimTo explore healthcare providers’ perceptions and experiences of the implications of a patient data-sharing agreement between National Health Service (NHS) Digital and the Home Office on access to NHS services and quality of care received by migrant patients in England.DesignA qualitative study using semi-structured interviews, thematic analysis and constant-comparison approach.ParticipantsEleven healthcare providers and one non-clinical volunteer working in community or hospital-based settings who had experience of migrants accessing NHS England services. Interviews were carried out in 2018.SettingEngland.ResultsAwareness and understanding of the patient data-sharing agreement varied among participants, who associated this with a perceived lack of transparency by the government. Participants provided insight into how they thought the data-sharing agreement was negatively influencing migrants’ health-seeking behaviour, their relationship with clinicians and the safety and quality of their care. They referred to the policy as a challenge to their core ethical principles, explicitly patient confidentiality and trust, which varied depending on their clinical specialty.ConclusionsA perceived lack of transparency during the policy development process can result in suspicion or mistrust towards government among the health workforce, patients and public, which is underpinned by a notion of power or control. The patient data-sharing agreement was considered a threat to some of the core principles of the NHS and its implementation as adversely affecting healthcare access and patient safety. Future policy development should involve a range of stakeholders including civil society, healthcare professionals and ethicists, and include more meaningful assessments of the impact on healthcare and public health.


2021 ◽  
pp. 001955612110457
Author(s):  
O. Grace Ngullie ◽  
Arib Ahmad Ansari

The sheer extent of the Covid-19 pandemic and its crippling effect on the entire economy gave cold creeps. Suddenly the fragile, one-of-a-kind arrangement through which the daily wagers and the migrant workers were surviving broke down with the imposition of the lockdown, and we had a novel disaster on our hands. In such a hanging-by-thread situation, the adversely affected poor had to rely on the government machinery for sustenance. We attempt to undertake a first-hand evidence-based study of the implementation of the Public Distribution System in Delhi while examining the impact of the pandemic on livelihood and food security. Some policy gaps that we have identified include inconsistency with the quantity and quality of rations received and promised, exclusion and ultimately access to food. Based on the empirical examination of the specific problems faced by the poor on the ground, we recommend policy solutions corresponding to those specific problems which include utilising modern and emerging technologies, creating new cadre for monitoring and upwardly revising the allocation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 9779
Author(s):  
Wei-Chun Tseng ◽  
Ya-Chu Yang ◽  
Yun-Ju Chen ◽  
Yung-Chih Chen

Pangolins are currently the most smuggled mammals in the world. Meanwhile, Taiwan has demonstrated the world’s first case of the use of artificial feeding to raise pangolins to adulthood. The government has also begun to cooperate with farmers in pangolin-spotted areas. Agricultural products can earn the green label once they have passed the evaluation. The challenge is that very few farms have obtained the pangolin-friendly label so far. Our hypothesis is that farmers lack the knowledge that consumers would pay additional money for products that are labeled pangolin-friendly compared to regular ones. Thus, farmers have an insufficient incentive to apply for this label. This research aims to fill this gap by providing people with the necessary knowledge. Contingent valuation with the single-bounded dichotomous choice format was used, which involved investigating 417 valid observations. We found the following: (1) customers are willing to pay about 8.06 USD for pangolin-friendly rice (an increase of 397% in relation to the mean price of rice); (2) customers are willing to pay for about 11.46 USD for pangolin-friendly tea (an increase of 179% in relation to the mean price of tea); and (3) customers are willing to pay about 25.81 USD for pangolin-friendly coffee (an increase of 509% in relation to the mean price of coffee). Our findings give farmers more incentive to conduct eco-friendly production. Consequently, the quality of agricultural products as well as the habitats of endangered pangolins improve. Thus, consumers’ health, the environment, and the future of pangolin conservation can benefit in this attempt to achieve sustainability.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arash Nemat ◽  
Mohammad Faiq Sediqi ◽  
Yasir Ahmad Mohammed Elhadi ◽  
Mohammad Yasir Essar ◽  
Nahid Raufi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic emerged from Wuhan, China and has spread across the world and raised public health concerns. To curb the spread of the disease, the government has imposed prevention measures. The objective of this study was to examine the compliance of people with infection prevention practices during the third wave of the pandemic to provide an updated insight into the situation and help policy makers in designing effective measures. Methods This was an online survey of the general population in Afghanistan from April, 2021 to May, 2021. Non-probability convenience sampling technique was used to recruit the respondents. The target sample size was found to be around 1,094 respondents. Data collection was guided through self-administered questionnaire developed by the researchers according to the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. Results From 1,094 respondents, 78% were male. Majority of the respondents were aged ≤ 30 years and had an undergraduate education. Nearly, 1 in 3 participants were healthcare workers and 70% were living in households with 5 or more family members. Overall, 70% of the respondents reported good preventive practices. No significant association found between male and female participants with regard to preventive practices against the COVID-19. The frequency of good preventive practices was significantly higher in participants more than 30 years old (p = 0.035), people with a post-graduate education (p = 0.025), healthcare workers (p = 0.002), and households with less than five family members (p = 0.002). Conclusion Generally, the public in Afghanistan are following infection prevention rules. However, there are certain areas which require further improvement such as observing social distance and avoid shaking hands when meeting others. Negligence of these prevention practices can lead to the increase of infection transmission among people. Public awareness should be continued to keep the people supportive of the government policies. Social media, television advertisements, and similar platforms may be used for this purpose.


Author(s):  
Eliza Lai-Yi Wong ◽  
Nicole Kiang ◽  
Roger Yat-Nork Chung ◽  
Janice Lau ◽  
Patsy Yuen-Kwan Chau ◽  
...  

Background: In response to population aging, there is a need for health systems to focus on care for chronic disease, specifically palliative care, while focusing on people-centered care. The objective of this study is to explore the healthcare system enablers and barriers to the provision of quality palliative and end-of-life care from the perspective of healthcare professionals. Materials and Methods: Using purposive sampling, fifteen focus group interviews and nine individual interviews involving 72 healthcare providers were conducted. Primary qualitative data were collected between May 2016 and July 2017. All recorded discussions were transcribed verbatim and analyzed. A thematic framework was developed. Results: The provision of quality palliative and end-of-life care is influenced by the interaction and integration of nine sub-themes under four identified themes: (1) political context; (2) organization setting; (3) support to patients, caregivers, and family members, and (4) healthcare workers and the public. Conclusions: Integration of palliative and end-of-life care is an important pillar of healthcare service to improve quality of life by addressing patients’ values, wishes and preference, and assist their family to handle challenges at the end stage of life. Further improvements to the service framework would be required, specifically in the political framework, multidisciplinary approach, and readiness and competence in healthcare workers and community. These were highlighted in our study as key components in service provision to ensure that patients can receive continuous and integrated care between hospitals and the community as well as dignified care at the end stage of life.


2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-106
Author(s):  
Wiharyanto Wiharyanto

The study aims to analyze about the low graduation and certification exam training participants of the procurement of goods / services of the government and its contributing factors, and formulate a strategy of education and training and skills certification exams procurement of goods / services of the government. Collecting data using the method of study documentation, interviews, and questionnaires. Is the official source of information on the structural and functional Regional Employment Board, as well as the participants of the training and skills certification exams procurement of goods / services of the government in Magelang regency government environment. Analysis using 4 quadrant SWOT analysis, to determine the issue or strategic factors in improving the quality of education and training and skills certification exams procurement of government goods / services within the Government of Magelang regency. The results show organizer position is in quadrant I, which is supporting the growth strategy, with 3 alternative formulation strategies that improve the quality of education and training and skills certification exams procurement of government goods / services, and conducts certification examination of the procurement of government goods / services with computer assisted test system (CAT). Based on the research recommendations formulated advice to the organizing committee, namely: of prospective participants of the training and skills certification exams procurement of goods / services the government should consider the motivation of civil servants, is examinees who have attended training in the same period of the year, the need for simulation procurement of goods / services significantly, an additional allocation of training time, giving sanction to civil servants who have not passed the exam, the provision of adequate classroom space with the number of participants of each class are proportional, as well as explore the evaluation of education and training and skills certification exams procurement of goods / services for Government of participants.


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