scholarly journals Compassionate Drug Use – Time Arising for a New Law in Bulgaria in the Era of COVID-19

Folia Medica ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 592-596
Author(s):  
Nigyar Dzhafer ◽  
Jannis V. Papathanasiou
Keyword(s):  
Critical Period ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Compassionate Use ◽  
National Regulation ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Drug Agency ◽  
Investigational Drugs ◽  
Care Systems ◽  
The Government

Nowadays the health care systems over the world are in a critical period trying to take control over the pandemic of COVID-19. The Bulgarian the Government introduced rapidly (8-to March 2020), restrictive control measures including general lockdown and social distancing. Despite several clinical trials, there are still no specific therapies or any vaccine against COVID-19. The only option available is using investigational drugs for compassionate use (CU). The global pandemic mandates Bulgarian Drug Agency (BDA) for a reasonable update of the existing national regulation concerning CU and off-label therapies. The update of the existing national regulation regarding CU is vital to ensure the effective and sustainable development of health policies and technologies over the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Kebijakan Ekonomi Di Masa Pandemi Covid-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-145
Author(s):  
Nur Afni
Keyword(s):  
Health Workers ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
World Health ◽  
Medium Term ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Care Systems ◽  
The Government ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Taking Action

COVID-19 discovered a global pandemic that gave rise to the emergence of various groups, especially the public. Inaugurated by the World Health Organization as a global pandemic, the management of COVID-19 is a challenge for countries with limited energy sources and health care systems. Citizens' understanding continues to grow along with the number of positive problems and deaths due to COVID-19 which continues to grow in a relatively short time. The ability of each country to adapt to the existing conditions during efficient and anticipatory implementation varies greatly. The policy finds an early ground that must be tested in order to be able to tackle these cases successfully. Anticipatory policy decisions related to efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, take action against infected patients, protect health workers, and control public awareness are carefully considered. For this reason, the Government is trying to schedule a New Normal policy so that the economic impact of the pandemic does not create a sustainable crisis. This policy is linked to planning where the Government has established programs, as well as major projects in the 2020-2024 National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN). The government needs to review the medium-term plan considering that in 2020 all programs that are trying to focus on taking action against Covid-19. The government has 3 alternatives in the medium term, whether it is always quality, making moderate improvements, or changing it with a new plan with assumptions made from the Covid-19 pandemic and the consequences that accompany it.

scholarly journals Potential impact of seasonal forcing on a SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A. Neher ◽  
Robert Dyrdak ◽  
Valentin Druelle ◽  
Emma B. Hodcroft ◽  
Jan Albert
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Variation ◽  
Infection Control ◽  
Transmission Rate ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Rate Variation ◽  
Small Peak ◽  
Infection Control Measures ◽  
Care Systems ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

A novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) first detected in Wuhan, China, has spread rapidly since December 2019, causing more than 80,000 confirmed infections and 2,700 fatalities (as of Feb 27, 2020). Imported cases and transmission clusters of various sizes have been reported globally suggesting a pandemic is likely.Here, we explore how seasonal variation in transmissibility could modulate a SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Data from routine diagnostics show a strong and consistent seasonal variation of the four endemic coronaviruses (229E, HKU1, NL63, OC43) and we parameterize our model for SARS-CoV-2 using these data. The model allows for many subpopulations of different size with variable parameters. Simulations of different scenarios show that plausible parameters result in a small peak in early 2020 in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere and a larger peak in winter 2020/2021. Variation in transmission and migration rates can result in substantial variation in prevalence between regions.While the uncertainty in parameters is large, the scenarios we explore show that transient reductions in the incidence rate might be due to a combination of seasonal variation and infection control efforts but do not necessarily mean the epidemic is contained. Seasonal forcing on SARS-CoV-2 should thus be taken into account in the further monitoring of the global transmission. The likely aggregated effect of seasonal variation, infection control measures, and transmission rate variation is a prolonged pandemic wave with lower prevalence at any given time, thereby providing a window of opportunity for better preparation of health care systems.

scholarly journals Comprehensive Review of Cardiovascular Involvement in COVID-19

2021 ◽  
pp. e1-e19
Author(s):  
Ruff Joseph Macale Cajanding
Keyword(s):  
Cardiac Involvement ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
The Body ◽  
Cardiac Pathology ◽  
Current State ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Cardiovascular Involvement ◽  
Disease Causation ◽  
Care Systems ◽  
Clinically Significant

COVID-19 has emerged as one of the most devastating and clinically significant infectious diseases of the last decade. It has reached global pandemic status at an unprecedented pace and has placed significant demands on health care systems worldwide. Although COVID-19 primarily affects the lungs, epidemiologic reports have shown that the disease affects other vital organs of the body, including the heart, vasculature, kidneys, brain, and the hematopoietic system. Of importance is the emerging awareness of the effects of COVID-19 on the cardiovascular system. The current state of knowledge regarding cardiac involvement in COVID-19 is presented in this article, with particular focus on the cardiovascular manifestations and complications of COVID-19 infection. The mechanistic insights of disease causation and the relevant pathophysiology involved in COVID-19 as they affect the heart are explored and described. Relevant practice essentials and clinical management implications for patients with COVID-19 with a cardiac pathology are presented in light of recent evidence.

scholarly journals Οικονομική αξιολόγηση του ελληνικού συστήματος υγείας

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Νικόλαος Πολύζος ◽  
Στυλιανός Δρακόπουλος
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Main Element ◽  
International Context ◽  
Continuous Evaluation ◽  
Care Systems ◽  
And Control ◽  
Continuous Measures

<p>International analysis of macro-economic<br />indicators is the main element of economic<br />evaluation of health care systems. Health<br />expenditures have continuously increased<br />both in Greece and in the international context,<br />despite the continuous measures and the<br />reforms. Public fi nancing has remained<br />stable, while private fi nancing has gone<br />up. This situation is even worse in Greece,<br />where serious fi nancial inequalities, either<br />regionally, or among various social insurance<br />funds are predominant. Continuous evaluation<br />and control measures, along with a total<br />reconsideration and reform of fi nancing in<br />the health fi eld of our country will provide the<br />much needed solutions.</p>

scholarly journals A prospect on the use of antiviral drugs to control local outbreaks of COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Torneri ◽  
Pieter Libin ◽  
Joris Vanderlocht ◽  
Anne-Mieke Vandamme ◽  
Johan Neyts ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Control Measure ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Antiviral Drug ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Final Size ◽  
Antiviral Compound ◽  
Intervention Measures ◽  
Care Systems

AbstractBackgroundCurrent outbreaks of COVID-19 are threatening the health care systems of several countries around the world. Control measures, based on isolation and quarantine, have been shown to decrease and delay the burden of the ongoing epidemic. With respect to the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic, recent modelling work shows that this intervention technique may be inadequate to control local outbreaks, even when perfect isolation is assumed. Furthermore, the effect of infectiousness prior to symptom onset combined with a significant proportion of asymptomatic infectees further complicates the use of contact tracing. Antivirals, which decrease the viral load and reduce the infectiousness, could be integrated in the control measures in order to augment the feasibility of controlling the epidemic.MethodsUsing a simulation-based model of viral transmission we tested the efficacy of different intervention measures for the control of COVID-19. For individuals that were identified through contact tracing, we evaluate two procedures: monitoring individuals for symptoms onset and testing of individuals. Moreover, we investigate the effect of a potent antiviral compound on the contact tracing process.FindingsThe use of an antiviral drug, in combination with contact tracing, quarantine and isolation, results in a significant decrease of the final size, the peak incidence, and increases the probability that the outbreak will fade out.InterpretationFor an infectious disease in which presymptomatic infections are plausible, an intervention measure based on contact tracing performs better when realized together with testing instead of monitoring, provided that the test is able to detect infections during the incubation period. In addition, in all tested scenarios, the model highlights the benefits of the administration of an antiviral drug in addition to quarantine, isolation and contact tracing. The resulting control measure, could be an effective strategy to control local and re-emerging out-breaks of COVID-19.

scholarly journals About Psychological Adaptation of Medical Universities Students to the Process of Distance Learning During the Pandemic of the New Coronavirus Infection

2021 ◽  
pp. 133-144
Author(s):  
Dmitrii Valerievich Sudakov ◽  
Oleg Valerievich Sudakov ◽  
Natalia Vladimirovna Iakusheva ◽  
Artiom Nikolaevich Shevtsov ◽  
Evgenii Vladimirovich Belov
Keyword(s):  
Distance Learning ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Psychological Adaptation ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Care Systems ◽  
Coronavirus Infection ◽  
Almost All

This work is devoted to some aspects of the psychological adaptation of students of a medical university to the distance learning process during a pandemic of a new coronavirus infection. The presented research is relevant for several reasons, the leading of which are: the ongoing reform of the education and health care systems in our country – both of which affect students of medical universities and various aspects of their educational activities, including their psychological adaptation to it; as well as the global pandemic of the new coronavirus infection COVID-19 that emerged in 2020, as a result of which, almost all scientists at various levels around the world were forced to switch to distance learning. The purpose of this work was to identify and analyze some elements of psychological adaptation of students directly to the distance learning process. The objects of the study were 200 men and women, students of the medical faculty. A certain interest in the study is also due to the fact that the same students were involved in it for 2 semesters (spring and autumn) of 2020. In order to track the development of their possible adaptation mechanisms to distance learning, the level of anxiety, both personal and situational, was determined; identified various depressive states; determined the reasons for the main fears and concerns, both directly to the period of an unfavorable epidemiological situation, and to the distance learning process itself. The main points of psychological adaptation were identified, with the identification of factors contributing to them. This work is of certain interest for all higher school teachers involved in the educational process with students, as well as for psychologists and all kinds of researchers dealing with the psychological health of students.

scholarly journals THE IGNORED PANDEMIC OF PUBLIC HEALTH CORRUPTION: A CALL FOR ACTION AMID AND BEYOND SARS-COV-2/COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 108-116
Author(s):  
Jorge A. Sánchez-Duque ◽  
◽  
Zhaohui Su ◽  
Diego Rosselli ◽  
Maria Camila Chica-Ocampo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Health Resources ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Health Initiatives ◽  
Care Systems

Corruption in healthcare is on the rise. When corruption infiltrates global health, causes embezzlement of public health funds, malfunctioning medical equipment, fraudulent or ineffective health services such as expired medicines and fake vaccines that could have life-or-death consequences. A corrupt healthcare system, amid global health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, when resources are in constraint and trust is in high demand, can lead to devastating, though avoidable, health and economic consequences. It is imperative for policymakers, health experts, patients, caregivers, and global health funders to promptly acknowledge and address corruption in healthcare. The current pandemic generates an emergency and disorder state on health care systems across the globe, especially in low- and middle-income countries, where a weakening of control measures is evident, creating the perfect storm for corruption. This paper builds on existing research to examine processes that support essential stakeholder engagement in anti-corruption efforts. In this context, an extensive review of literature has been conducted by using various databases such as PubMed, Science direct, SCOPUS, Research Gate, and Google Scholar and a total of 45 articles and documents on corruption and COVID-19 were screened and selected by authors independently. To fill the knowledge gaps about the need for actions to be taken during a pandemic like COVID-19, we propose an anti-corruption grassroots movement that focuses on changing the social norms surrounding corruption in healthcare. By pushing forward a practice that normalizes conversations about corruption in everyday health practices and involving more stakeholders in the protection of public health resources, we argue that not only local health systems can become more resilient and resistant to corruption, but also global health initiatives can become more effective and efficient to improve individual and global health.

scholarly journals The COVID-19 pandemic in Norway and Sweden – threats, trust, and impact on daily life: A comparative survey

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lise Helsingen ◽  
Erle Refsum ◽  
Dagrun Kyte Gjøstein ◽  
Magnus Løberg ◽  
Michael Bretthauer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Infection Control ◽  
Preventive Measures ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
School Closure ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Infection Control Measures ◽  
Care Systems

Abstract Background: Norway and Sweden have similar populations and health care systems, but different reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic. Norway closed educational institutions, and banned sports and cultural activities; Sweden kept most institutions and training facilities open. We aimed to compare peoples’ attitudes towards authorities and control measures, and perceived impact of the pandemic and implemented control measures on life in Norway and Sweden.Methods: Anonymous web-based surveys for individuals age 15 or older distributed through Facebook using the snowball method, in Norway and Sweden from mid-March to mid-April, 2020. The survey contained questions about perceived threat of the pandemic, views on infection control measures, and impact on daily life. We performed descriptive analyses of the responses and compared the two countries.Results: 3,508 individuals participated in the survey (Norway 3000; Sweden 508). 79% were women, the majority were 30-49 years (Norway 60%; Sweden 47%), and about 45% of the participants in both countries had more than four years of higher education.Participants had high trust in the health services, but differed in the degree of trust in their government (High trust in Norway 17%; Sweden 37%). More Norwegians than Swedes agreed that school closure was a good measure (Norway 66%; Sweden 18%), that countries with open schools were irresponsible (Norway 65%; Sweden 23%), and that the threat from repercussions of the mitigation measures were large or very large (Norway 71%; Sweden 56%). Both countries had a high compliance with infection preventive measures (> 98%). Many lived a more sedentary life (Norway 69%; Sweden 50%) and ate more (Norway 44%; Sweden 33%) during the pandemic. Conclusion: Sweden had more trust in the authorities, while Norwegians reported a more negative lifestyle during the pandemic. The level of trust in the health care system and self-reported compliance with preventive measures was high in both countries despite the differences in infection control measures.

scholarly journals The COVID-19 pandemic in Norway and Sweden – threats, trust, and impact on daily life: a comparative survey

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lise M. Helsingen ◽  
◽  
Erle Refsum ◽  
Dagrun Kyte Gjøstein ◽  
Magnus Løberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Infection Control ◽  
Preventive Measures ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
School Closure ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Infection Control Measures ◽  
Care Systems

Abstract Background Norway and Sweden have similar populations and health care systems, but different reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic. Norway closed educational institutions, and banned sports and cultural activities; Sweden kept most institutions and training facilities open. We aimed to compare peoples’ attitudes towards authorities and control measures, and perceived impact of the pandemic and implemented control measures on life in Norway and Sweden. Methods Anonymous web-based surveys for individuals age 15 or older distributed through Facebook using the snowball method, in Norway and Sweden from mid-March to mid-April, 2020. The survey contained questions about perceived threat of the pandemic, views on infection control measures, and impact on daily life. We performed descriptive analyses of the responses and compared the two countries. Results 3508 individuals participated in the survey (Norway 3000; Sweden 508). 79% were women, the majority were 30–49 years (Norway 60%; Sweden 47%), and about 45% of the participants in both countries had more than 4 years of higher education. Participants had high trust in the health services, but differed in the degree of trust in their government (High trust in Norway 17%; Sweden 37%). More Norwegians than Swedes agreed that school closure was a good measure (Norway 66%; Sweden 18%), that countries with open schools were irresponsible (Norway 65%; Sweden 23%), and that the threat from repercussions of the mitigation measures were large or very large (Norway 71%; Sweden 56%). Both countries had a high compliance with infection preventive measures (> 98%). Many lived a more sedentary life (Norway 69%; Sweden 50%) and ate more (Norway 44%; Sweden 33%) during the pandemic. Conclusion Sweden had more trust in the authorities, while Norwegians reported a more negative lifestyle during the pandemic. The level of trust in the health care system and self-reported compliance with preventive measures was high in both countries despite the differences in infection control measures.

Information about Health Care Systems

2019 ◽  
pp. 6-53
Author(s):  
Alex Rajczi
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Insurance ◽  
Health Care Systems ◽  
Insurance Companies ◽  
Private Companies ◽  
Single Payer ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Care Systems ◽  
The Government ◽  
Universal Health

One cannot discuss the ethics of health policy without understanding how health systems work, so this chapter provides background on the American health system before and after the Affordable Care Act. It also describes two universal health insurance systems the U.S. could adopt. In Canada’s single-payer system, the government serves as the basic insurer for the entire population. In the regulated-market systems of Switzerland and the Netherlands, citizens must purchase health insurance through private companies, and the government’s main jobs are providing subsidies to less wealthy individuals and ensuring that insurance companies deal fairly with citizens. The chapter concludes by examining the core ideas behind consumer-driven health care, a set of specific policies that conservatives often add to their health care proposals.

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