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WHF Roadmap for Digital Health in Cardiology

Tromp, J.; Jindal, D.; Redfern, J. et al. Global Heart (2022) CC

ABSTRACT More than 500 million people worldwide live with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Health systems today face fundamental challenges in delivering optimal care due to ageing populations, healthcare workforce constraints, financing, availability and affordability of CVD medicine, and service del ... more

Cardiovascular diseases in Africa in the twenty-first century: Gaps and priorities going forward

Minja, N.W.; Nakagaayi, D.; Aliku, T. et al. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine (2022) CC

In 2015, the United Nations set important targets to reduce premature cardiovascular disease (CVD) deaths by 33% by 2030. Africa disproportionately bears the brunt of CVD burden and has one of the highest risks of dying from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) worldwide. There is currently an epide ... miological transition on the continent, where NCDs is projected to outpace communicable diseases within the current decade. Unchecked increases in CVD risk factors have contributed to the growing burden of three major CVDs—hypertension, cardiomyopathies, and atherosclerotic diseasesleading to devastating rates of stroke and heart failure. The highest age standardized disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to hypertensive heart disease (HHD) were recorded in Africa. The contributory causes of heart failure are changing—whilst HHD and cardiomyopathies still dominate, ischemic heart disease is rapidly becoming a significant contributor, whilst rheumatic heart disease (RHD) has shown a gradual decline. In a continent where health systems are traditionally geared toward addressing communicable diseases, several gaps exist to adequately meet the growing demand imposed by CVDs. Among these, high-quality research to inform interventions, underfunded health systems with high out-of-pocket costs, limited accessibility and affordability of essential medicines, CVD preventive services, and skill shortages. Overall, the African continent progress toward a third reduction in premature mortality come 2030 is lagging behind. More can be done in the arena of effective policy implementation for risk factor reduction and CVD prevention, increasing health financing and focusing on strengthening primary health care services for prevention and treatment of CVDs, whilst ensuring availability and affordability of quality medicines. Further, investing in systematic country data collection and research outputs will improve the accuracy of the burden of disease data and inform policy adoption on interventions. This review summarizes the current CVD burden, important gaps in cardiovascular medicine in Africa, and further highlights priority areas where efforts could be intensified in the next decade with potential to improve the current rate of progress toward achieving a 33% reduction in CVD mortality. more

Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, Diagnosis and Treatment of Heart Failure in Diabetes

Park, J.J. Diabetes & Metabolism Journal (2021) CC

The cardiovascular disease continuum begins with risk factors such as diabetes mellitus (DM), progresses to vasculopathy and myocardial dysfunction, and finally ends with cardiovascular death. Diabetes is associated with a 2- to 4-fold increased risk for heart failure (HF). Moreover, HF patients wit ... more

Prevention and management of CVD in LMICs: why do ethnicity, culture, and context matter?

Anand, S.; Bradshaw, C.; Prabhakaran, D. BMC Medicine (2020) CC

Background Low- and middle-income countries now experience the highest prevalence and mortality rates of cardiovascular disease. Main text While improving the availability and delivery of proven, effective therapies will no doubt mitigate this burden, we posit that studies evaluating cardiovasc ... more

Management and Prevention Strategies for Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) and Their Risk Factors

Budreviciute, A.; Damiati, S.; Khdr Sabir, D. et al. (2020) CC

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are of increasing concern for society and national governments, as well as globally due to their high mortality rate. The main risk factors of NCDs can be classified into the categories of self-management, genetic factors, environmental factors, factors of medical co ... more

Qualitative assessment of community health workers’ perspective on their motivation in community-based primary health care in rural Malawi

Ndambo, M.K.; Munyaneza, F.; Aron, M.B. et al. BMC Health Services Research (2022) CC

Background: Community Health Workers (CHWs) have a positive impact on the provision of community-based primary health care through screening, treatment, referral, psychosocial support, and accompaniment. With a broad scope of work, CHW programs must balance the breadth and depth of tasks to mainta ... in CHW motivation for high-quality care delivery. Few studies have described the CHW perspective on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to enhance their programmatic activities. Methods: We utilized an exploratory qualitative study design with CHWs employed in the household model in Neno District, Malawi, to explore their perspectives on intrinsic and extrinsic motivators and dissatisfiers in their work. Data was collected in 8 focus group discussions with 90 CHWs in October 2018 and March–April 2019 in seven purposively selected catchment areas. All interviews were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, coded, and analyzed using Dedoose. Results: Themes of complex intrinsic and extrinsic factors were generated from the perspectives of the CHWs in the focus group discussions. Study results indicate that enabling factors are primarily intrinsic factors such as positive patient outcomes, community respect, and recognition by the formal health care system but can lead to the chal- lenge of increased scope and workload. Extrinsic factors can provide challenges, including an increased scope and workload from original expectations, lack of resources to utilize in their work, and rugged geography. However, a posi- tive work environment through supportive relationships between CHWs and supervisors enables the CHWs. Conclusion: This study demonstrated enabling factors and challenges for CHW performance from their perspec- tive within the dual-factor theory. We can mitigate challenges through focused efforts to limit geographical distance, manage workload, and strengthen CHW support to reinforce their recognition and trust. Such programmatic empha- sis can focus on enhancing motivational factors found in this study to improve the CHWs’ experience in their role. The engagement of CHWs, the communities, and the formal health care system is critical to improving the care provided to the patients and communities, along with building supportive systems to recognize the work done by CHWs for the primary health care systems. more

Risk factors for asthma among schoolchildren who participated in a casecontrol study in urban Uganda

Mpairwe, H.; Namutebi, M.; Nkurunungi, G. et al. eLife (2019) CC

Data on asthma aetiology in Africa are scarce. We investigated the risk factors for asthma among schoolchildren (5–17 years) in urban Uganda. We conducted a case-control study, among 555 cases and 1115 controls. Asthma was diagnosed by study clinicians. The main risk factors for asthma were tertia ... more

Parental understanding of wheeze and its impact on asthma prevalence estimates

Michel, G.; Silverman, M.; Strippoli, M-P. F. et al. European Respiratory Journal (2006) CC

The epidemiology of wheeze in children, when assessed by questionnaires, is dependent on parents' understanding of the term “wheeze”. In a questionnaire survey of a random population sample of 4,236 children aged 6–10 yrs, parents' definition of wheeze was assessed. Predictors of a correct ... more

Ambient air pollution and non-communicable respiratory illness in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review of the literature

Glenn, B. E.; Espira, L. M.; Larson, M. C.; Larson, P. S. BMC (2022) CC2

Aerosol pollutants are known to raise the risk of development of non-communicable respiratory diseases (NCRDs) such as asthma, chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and allergic rhinitis. Sub-Saharan Africa’s rapid pace of urbanization, economic expansion, and population growt ... more

Global tuberculosis report 2024

World Health Organisation WHO (2024) C_WHO

The WHO Global tuberculosis report 2024 provides a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the TB epidemic, and of progress in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the disease, at global, regional and country levels. This is done in the context of global TB commitments, strategies and targets.

Birth defects surveillance training: facilitator’s guide, second edition

World Health Organisation (WHO) (2024) C_WHO

This Birth Defect Surveillance facilitator (train-the-trainer) guide 2nd edition covers foundational skills needed to begin the development, implementation and ongoing improvement of a congenital anomaly surveillance programme, whether population-based or hospital-based, in particular for countries ... more

Estimated Burden of Fungal Infections in Namibia

Dunaiski, C. M.; Denning, D. W. (2019) CC2

J Fungi (Basel) . 2019 Aug 16;5(3):75. doi: 10.3390/jof5030075 . Namibia is a sub-Saharan country with one of the highest HIV infection rates in the world. Although care and support services are available that cater for opportunistic infections related to HIV, the main focus is narrow and predominan ... more

Core components, concepts and strategies for parasitic and vector-borne disease elimination with afocus on schistosomiasis: A landscape analysis

Monnier, N.; IT. Barth-Jaegg, S. Knopp, (2020) CC

PLoS Negl TropDis14(10): e0008837. https://doi.org/ 10.1371/journal.pntd.0008837. We conducted alandscape analysis on parasitic and vector-borne disease elimination approaches with the aim toidentify evidence-based strategies, core components and key concepts for achieving and sustaining schistosom ... more

Edutainment and infographics for schistosomiasis health education in Ndumo area, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

Tafadzwa Mindu, Muhubiri Kabuyaya & Moses J. Chimbari (2020) CC

Cogent Medicine, 7:1, 1794272, PUBLIC HEALTH & PRIMARY CARE | RESEARCH ARTICLE Edutainment and infographics for schistosomiasis health education in Ndumo area, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa Tafadzwa Mindu1*, Muhubiri Kabuyaya1 and Moses J. Chimbari1 Educational interventions targeting communiti ... more

Global Assessment of Schistosomiasis Control Over the Past Century Shows Targeting the Snail Intermediate Host Works Best

Sokolow SH, CL Wood, IJ Jones, (2016) CC

PLoS Negl Trop Dis 10(7): e0004794. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0004794

Operational handbook on tuberculosis: module 6: tuberculosis and co-morbidities, 3rd ed

World Health Organization WHO (2025) C_WHO

Addressing comorbidities and risk factors for tuberculosis (TB) is a crucial component of the World Health Organization (WHO)’s End TB Strategy. This WHO operational handbook on tuberculosis. Module 6: tuberculosis and comorbidities aims to support countries in scaling up people-centred care, base ... more

Treating Buruli Ulcer

Médecines sans Frontièrs MSF (2013) CC

A review of prospects for existing antibiotics ad new therapeutics

BuDb: A Curated Drug Discovery Database for Buruli Ulcer

Kwofie, S.K.; et al. (2022) CC

Journal of Computational Biophysics and ChemistryVol. 22, No. 01, pp. 31-41 (2023)

Evidence summary: systematic review of oral fexinidazole as first line treatment for rhodesiense Human African Trypanosomiasis

World Health Organization WHO (2024) C_WHO

Guidelines for the treatment of human African trypanosomiasis. Web Annex A. Commissioned by WHO Cochrane Response