It is estimated that as many as 300 million people of all ages, and all ethnic backgrounds, suffer from asthma and the burden of this disease to governments, health care systems, families, and patients is increasing worldwide. In 1989 the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) program was initiated in ...an effort to raise awareness among public health and government officials, health care workers, and the general public that asthma was on the increase. The GINA program recommends a management program based on the best available scientific evidence to provide effective medical care for asthma tailored to local health care systems and resources.
more
Lancet Public Health 2018 Published Online September 12, 2018 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ S2468-2667(18)30138-5
Snakebite envenoming is a potentially life-threatening disease that typically results from the injection of a mixture of different toxins (“venom”) following the bite of a venomous snake. Envenoming can also be caused by venom being sprayed into a person’s eyes by certain species of snakes tha...t have the ability to spit venom as a defence measure. Not all snakebites result in envenoming: some snakes are non-venomous and venomous snakes do not always inject venom during a bite. About 50–55% of all snakebites result in envenoming. Snake venoms are complex mixtures of protein and peptide toxins, varying from one species to another, and even within species. The toxins in snake venoms are evolutionarily adapted to interact with a large variety of cellular targets in the organisms exposed to them. In humans and animals, snakebite envenoming affects multiple organ systems (depending on the particular species of snake and the classes of toxins present in the venom) and can cause, among other things: haemorrhage and prolonged disruption of haemostasis, neuromuscular paralysis, tissue necrosis, myolysis (muscle degeneration), cardiotoxicity, acute kidney injury, thrombosis and hypovolaemic shock.
more
The Region of the Americas comprises 46 countries and territories and Brazil and Peru are among the WHO high- TB burden
countries. T o illustrate the recent increase in TB incidence in the region, we selected 12 countries from Latin America (Argentina,
Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador..., Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela), which account for approximately 80% of the total estimated TB cases in the region.
more
We aimed to estimate the incidence, mortality, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in 204 countries and territories. We examined the variations in these trends by country, gender, age group, and sociodemographic index (SDI).
Public Health and the Environment
Lancet Neurol 2019 Volume 18, ISSUE 5, P459-480, May 01, 2019
Published OnlineMarch 14, 2019 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ S1474-4422(18)30499-X
The aim of this toolkit is to guide countries on how to best estimate their current burden of dengue by combining existing data from dengue surveillance systems with on-going research efforts to measure the community burden
of dengue.
Lancet Glob Health 2018, Published Online September 12, 2018 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(18)30387-5
Capacity Project Gender Research Brief | In Lesotho, as in many other countries, the HIV and AIDS care burden falls on the shoulders of women and girls in unpaid, invisible household and community work. This gender inequity in HRH needs to be addressed to ensure fair and sustainable responses to the... need for home and community-based HIV/AIDS care and support. The Capacity Project addressed these issues through a study of men as providers of HIV/AIDS care and support.
more
Chromoblastomycosis (CBM), represents one of the primary implantation mycoses caused by melanized fungi widely found in nature. It is characterized as a Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD) and mainly affects populations living in poverty with significant morbidity, including stigma and discrimination.
Lancet Glob Health 2018 Published Online September 12, 2018 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(18)30407-8
Lancet Planet Health 2021; 5: e415–25
BACKGROUND. Asthma is a heterogeneous condition characterised by chronic inflammation and variable expiratory airflow limitation, as well as airway reversibility. The burden of asthma in children is increasing in low- and middle-income countries and remains under-recognised and poorly managed.
OBJE...CTIVES. To quantify the burden of asthma in the South African (SA) population and identify the risk factors associated with disease severity in the local context.
METHODS. The SA Childhood Asthma Working Group (SACAWG) convened in January 2017 with task groups, each headed by a section leader, constituting the editorial committee on assessment of asthma epidemiology, diagnosis, control, treatments, novel treatments and self-management plans. The epidemiology task group reviewed the available scientific literature and assigned evidence according to the Grades of Recommendation Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system.
CONCLUSIONS. Asthma in children remains a common condition, which has shown an increasing prevalence in urban and rural populations of SA. Of concern is that almost half of children in urban communities experience severe asthma symptoms, and many asthmatics lack a formal diagnosis and thus access to treatment. Exposure to tobacco smoke and living in highly polluted areas increase the severity of wheezing in young children.
more
This booklet provides an overview of all findings from the Global Burden of Disease 2017 study. Published in The Lancet in November 2018, GBD 2017 provides for the first time an independent estimation of population, for each of 195 countries and territories and the globe, using a standardized, repli...cable approach, as well as a comprehensive update on fertility. Produced with the input of 3,676 collaborators from 146 countries and territories, GBD 2017 incorporates major data additions and improvements, and methodological refinements. GBD 2017 also includes estimates at the subnational level for selected locations.
more
In order to target resources and drugs to reach trachoma elimination targets by the year 2020, data on the burden of disease are required. Using prevalence data in African countries derived from the Global Atlas of Trachoma (GAT), the distribution of trachoma continues to be focused in East and West... Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and a few endemic countries in Central Sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, 129.4 million people are estimated to live in areas that are confirmed to be trachoma endemic and 98 million are known to require access to the SAFE strategy. The maps and information presented in this work highlight the GAT as important open-access planning and advocacy tool for efforts to finalize trachoma mapping and assist national programmes in planning interventions.
more
Lancet Neurol. 2019 Apr;18(4):357-375. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(18)30454-X. Epub 2019 Feb 14.