•The addition of flu could cripple the health care system during the COVID-19 pandemic.•Fears of coronavirus have intensified the shortage of flu vaccine in developing countries.•We present an ...optimization model for equitable flu vaccine distribution.•The model utilizes an equitable objective function to distribute vaccines to high-risk people.•We present a case study to exhibit efficacy and demonstrate the model’s applicability.
The addition of other respiratory illnesses such as flu could cripple the healthcare system during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. An annual seasonal influenza vaccine is the best way to help protect against flu. Fears of coronavirus have intensified the shortage of influenza shots in developing countries that hope to vaccinate many populations to reduce stress on their health services. We present an inventory-location mixed-integer linear programming model for equitable influenza vaccine distribution in developing countries during the pandemic. The proposed model utilizes an equitable objective function to distribute vaccines to critical healthcare providers and first responders, elderly, pregnant women, and those with underlying health conditions. We present a case study in a developing country to exhibit efficacy and demonstrate the optimization model’s applicability.
In an article that forms part of the PLoS Medicine series on Big Food, guest editors David Stuckler and Marion Nestle lay out why more examination of the food industry is necessary, and offer three ...competing views on how public health professionals might engage with Big Food.
While there is a broad feminist literature on the lives and experiences of Third World women and their role in development, there has been a tendency either to ignore men as gendered subjects, or to ...consign them to stereotypical gender roles, often as exploiters of Third World women. This reader focuses on the lives and roles of Third World men.
A volume of essays by one of the senior most Indian feminists alive today drawing on her work and scholarship spanning seven decades of the women's movement and the rise of development economics in ...India.
Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) have become the major contributors to death and disability worldwide. Nearly 80% of the deaths in 2010 occurred in low- and middle-income countries, which have ...experienced rapid population aging, urbanization, rise in smoking, and changes in diet and activity. Yet the health systems of low- and middle-income countries, historically oriented to infectious disease and often severely underfunded, are poorly prepared for the challenge of caring for people with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and chronic respiratory disease. We have discussed how primary care can be redesigned to tackle the challenge of NCDs in resource-constrained countries. We suggest that four changes will be required: integration of services, innovative service delivery, a focus on patients and communities, and adoption of new technologies for communication.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health challenge and developing countries are more vulnerable to the adverse health impacts of AMR. Health care workers including pharmacists can play a key ...role to support the appropriate use of antimicrobials in developing countries and reduce AMR.
The aim of this review is to investigate the role of pharmacists in the appropriate use of antibiotics and to identify how the pharmacists' role can be enhanced to combat AMR in developing countries.
The databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science and Google Scholar were searched for articles published between 2000 and the end of August 2017 that involved studies on the role of pharmacists in developing countries, the expanded services of pharmacists in patient care in developed countries and pharmacists' contributions in antimicrobial use in both developed and developing nations.
In developing countries pharmacists role in patient care are relatively limited. However, in developed nations, the pharmacists' role has expanded to provide multifaceted services in patient care resulting in improved health outcomes from clinical services and reduced health care costs. Success stories of pharmacist-led programs in combating AMR demonstrates that appropriately trained pharmacists can be part of the solution to overcome the global challenge of AMR. Pharmacists can provide education to patients enabling them to use antibiotics appropriately. They can also provide guidance to their healthcare colleagues on appropriate antibiotic prescribing.
This review highlights that appropriately trained pharmacists integrated into the health care system can make a significant impact in minimising inappropriate antibiotic use in developing countries. Strengthening and enhancing the pharmacists' role in developing countries has the potential to positively impact the global issue of AMR.
The use of mobile health (mHealth) technologies to improve population-level health outcomes around the world has surged in the last decade. Research supports the use of mHealth apps to improve health ...outcomes such as maternal and infant mortality, treatment adherence, immunization rates, and prevention of communicable diseases. However, developing countries face significant barriers to successfully implement, sustain, and expand mHealth initiatives to improve the health of vulnerable populations.
We aimed to identify and synthesize barriers to the use of mHealth technologies such as text messaging (short message service SMS), calls, and apps to change and, where possible, improve the health behaviors and health outcomes of populations in developing countries.
We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses checklist. Deriving search criteria from the review's primary objective, we searched PubMed and CINAHL using an exhaustive terms search (eg, mHealth, text messaging, and developing countries, with their respective Medical Subject Headings) limited by publication date, English language, and full text. At least two authors thoroughly reviewed each article's abstract to verify the articles were germane to our objective. We then applied filters and conducted consensus meetings to confirm that the articles met the study criteria.
Review of 2224 studies resulted in a final group of 30 articles for analysis. mHealth initiatives were used extensively worldwide for applications such as maternal health, prenatal care, infant care, HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment adherence, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and health education. Studies were conducted in several developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. From each article, we recorded the specific health outcome that was improved, mHealth technology used, and barriers to the successful implementation of the intervention in a developing country. The most prominent health outcomes improved with mHealth were infectious diseases and maternal health, accounting for a combined 20/30 (67%) of the total studies in the analysis. The most frequent mHealth technology used was SMS, accounting for 18/30 (60%) of the studies. We identified 73 individual barriers and grouped them into 14 main categories. The top 3 barrier categories were infrastructure, lack of equipment, and technology gap, which together accounted for 28 individual barriers.
This systematic review shed light on the most prominent health outcomes that can be improved using mHealth technology interventions in developing countries. The barriers identified will provide leaders of future intervention projects a solid foundation for their design, thus increasing the chances for long-term success. We suggest that, to overcome the top three barriers, project leaders who wish to implement mHealth interventions must establish partnerships with local governments and nongovernmental organizations to secure funding, leadership, and the required infrastructure.
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