BACKGROUND Treatment of tuberculosis (TB) in China is partially covered by national programs and health insurance schemes, though TB patients often face considerable medical expenditures. For some, especially those from poorer households, non-medical costs, such as transport, accommodation, and nutritional supplementation may be a substantial additional burden. In this article we aim to evaluat...

In resource-limited settings, the choice between utilizing biomedical health services and/or traditional healers is critical to the success of the public health mission. In the literature, this choice has been predicted to be influenced by three major factors: knowledge about biomedical etiologies; cultural modernization; and rational choice. The current study investigated all three of these pr...

OBJECTIVES To compare the costs and cost-effectiveness of managing patients with uncontrolled blood pressure (BP) using telemonitoring versus usual care from the perspective of the National Health Service (NHS). DESIGN Within trial post hoc economic evaluation of data from a pragmatic randomised controlled trial using an intention-to-treat approach. SETTING 20 socioeconomically diverse gene...

Obesity on the rise “Consumption of free sugars, including products like sugary drinks, is a major factor in the global increase of people suffering from obesity and diabetes,” says Dr Douglas Bettcher, Director of WHO’s Department for the Prevention of NCDs. “If governments tax products like sugary drinks, they can reduce suffering and save lives. They can also cut healthcare costs and increas...

BACKGROUND Community-based public health campaigns, such as those used in mass deworming, vitamin A supplementation and child immunization programs, provide key healthcare interventions to targeted populations at scale. However, these programs often fall short of established coverage targets. The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate the impact of strategies used to increase treatme...

Vaccination Week in the Americas (VWA) is an initiative of the countries and territories of the Americas that works to advance equity and access to vaccination. The initiative focuses on reaching populations with limited access to regular health services and promotes solidarity among countries. As the Expanded Program on Immunization is one of the world's best-established health programs, integ...

Globally, about two hundred million people suffer from anaemia per annum with the highest prevalence rates found among women of reproductive age, infants and young children, and especially those of poor socioeconomic status. This study is a survey-based descriptive study conducted among 400 pregnant women to determine the prevalence of anaemia and the influence of some factors associated with a...

Introduction Enhanced Recovery (ER) after Surgery (or Fast Track) is a bundle of ‘best evidence based practices’ delivered by a multi-professional health care team, with the intention of helping patients recover faster after surgery [1]. Professor Henrik Kehlet, a surgeon from Denmark, pioneered the concept more than a decade ago but practitioners in the UK remained sceptical of his amazing res...

OBJECTIVE To assess the effectiveness of weekly and daily schemes of preventive supplementation with supplementary iron to prevent iron deficiency anemia in non-anemic infants. METHODS A prospective population study with a quantitative approach and preventive intervention was performed in the city of Viçosa, Southeastern Brazil, in 2007-8. A total of 103 non-anemic children, aged between six ...

Mercury is a naturally occurring metal, one of the most toxic metals within the food chain and has a number of uses in the Irish health care sector. This paper reports on a mercury survey in Ireland with the purpose to present a picture of mercury use in health settings. The findings show 50% of health settings free of all mercury medical equipment. Mercury spills occur within 30% of health set...