In recent years, a number of countries have had notable success in eliminating measles using a variety of vaccination strategies. Three WHO regions — the Americas, the Eastern Mediterranean and Europe — now have measles elimination goals. In the Americas a strategy based on supplementing high routine coverage with an initial catch-up and periodic follow-up campaigns has achieved a dramatic redu...

BACKGROUND Tiered pricing - the concept of selling drugs and vaccines in developing countries at prices systematically lower than in industrialized countries - has received widespread support from industry, policymakers, civil society, and academics as a way to improve access to medicines for the poor. We carried out case studies based on a review of international drug price developments for an...

Articles freely available online are more highly cited. For greater impact and faster scientific progress, authors and publishers should aim to make research easy to access. The volume of scientific literature typically far exceeds the ability of scientists to identify and utilize all relevant information in their research. Improvements to the accessibility of scientific literature, allowing sc...

BACKGROUND Many low- and moderate-income individuals and families have at least one unmet legal need (for example, unsafe housing conditions, lack of access to food and/or income support, lack of access to health care), which, if left unaddressed, can have harmful consequences on health. Eighty unique medical-legal partnership programs, serving over 180 clinics and hospitals nationwide, seek to...

BACKGROUND We define electronic consultations ("e-consults") as asynchronous, consultative, provider-to-provider communications within a shared electronic health record (EHR) or web-based platform. E-consults are intended to improve access to specialty expertise for patients and providers without the need for a face-to-face visit. Our goal was to systematically review and summarize the literatu...

BACKGROUND Front-line health providers have a unique role as brokers (patient advocates) between the health system and patients in ensuring access to medicines (ATM). ATM is a fundamental component of health systems. This paper examines in a South African context supply- and demand- ATM barriers from the provider perspective using a five dimensional framework: availability (fit between existing...

The International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) is a global organization with a regional focus. Working in partnership with supranational and ICO member societies, the ICO is building a "World Alliance for Sight" to improve access to the highest-quality eye care worldwide. Designed to preserve and restore vision on an international scale, the ICO initiative, "Refocusing Ophthalmic Education," ...

We examined the extent to which arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi root improved the acquisition of simple organic nitrogen (ON) compounds by their host plants. In a greenhouse-based study, we used quantum dots (fluorescent nanoparticles) to assess uptake of each of the 20 proteinaceous amino acids by AM-colonized versus uncolonized plants. We found that AM colonization increased uptake of pheny...

In social world, the healthcare provider must become culturally competent with various and diverse populations. Now in the growing technology age, there is even more expanding diversity within the online social media and communities. With the advancement and daily uses of technology , there is a growing interest in researching what other areas technology can impact. Social media provide a stron...