Search results
Found 468 matches for
Oxford Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health
Population genomics and transcriptomics of Plasmodium falciparum in Cambodia and Vietnam uncover key components of the artemisinin resistance genetic background
Posted 17/12/2024. Tom Peto and colleagues collected Plasmodium falciparum parasites from malaria patients in Cambodia and Vietnam between 2018 and 2020 in the MORU-led TACT-CV study. Novel molecular analyses of these samples at Nanyang Technological University identified new genetic factors that appear under selective pressure and may contribute to artemisinin resistance mechanisms in clinical settings.
Public service motivation, public sector preference and employment of Kenyan medical doctor interns: a cross-sectional and prospective study
Posted 11/09/2024. Daniel Mbuthia and colleagues surveyed 356 Kenyan medical doctors, to understand what influences their career choices at labour market entry, specifically understanding the role of public service motivation. They highlighted that nearly all surveyed doctors are public service oriented, many doctors stated intention to work in the public sector but were unable due to lack of job opportunities. Unfortunately, 13% of the doctors were unemployed one year after completing their internship.
Examining liminality in professional practice, relational identities, and career prospects in resource-constrained health systems: Findings from an empirical study of medical and nurse interns in Kenya
Posted 03/09/2024. Yingxi Zhao, Stephanie Nzekwu and colleagues examined new Kenyan doctors' and nurses' experiences of transitioning from training to practising as health professionals, drawing on the concept of liminality. The research highlighted three dimensions of liminal experiences in professional practice, relational inter- and intra-professional identity and status, and professional careers.
New Tools and Nuanced Interventions to Accelerate Achievement of 2030 Roadmap for Neglected Tropical Diseases
Posted 15/05/2024. Collection of articles in the Clinical Infectious Disease Journal supplement. NTDs are a major cause of death, disability, and economic hardship, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. The research by Professor Déirdre Hollingsworth et al aims to better understand which interventions are needed to achieve the 2030 NTD targets, determine the best strategies for keeping NTDs under control after target achievement, and assess the costs associated with different options.
Climate change, malaria and neglected tropical diseases: a scoping review
Posted 10/05/2024. The NTD Modelling Consortium contributed to the World Health Organization scoping review led by Petra Klepac et al. It highlights the urgent need for collaborative modelling and greater evidence to understand the effects of climate change impacts on neglected tropical diseases and malaria.
Factors influencing the development, recruitment, integration, retention and career development of advanced practice providers in hospital health care teams: a scoping review
Posted 10/07/2024. Physician associate and nurse practitioner roles have been developed largely to meet changing healthcare demand and increasing workforce shortages. Yingxi Zhao and colleagues summarise the factors influencing their development and integration in hospital teams, advocating for organisation context-specific workforce solutions, long-term investment, substantial resources, and transparent processes to meet evolving healthcare challenges.
Obesity differs from diabetes mellitus in antibody and T-cell responses post-COVID-19 recovery
Posted 04/07/2024. Some known risk factors for severe COVID-19 outcomes disproportionately affect South Asian populations. In Bangladesh, Mohammad Ali and colleagues showed that overweight/obesity is linked to lower neutralising antibody levels and higher T-cell responses post-COVID-19 recovery, while type 2 diabetes does not alter antibody or T-cell responses. This research highlights the importance of targeted vaccination and treatment strategies.
Rectal artesunate: lives not saved
Posted 03/06/2024. Childhood deaths from severe malaria can be prevented by giving rectal artesunate suppositories (RAS) but in January 2022, based on preliminary interpretation of a flawed observational study, WHO issued a moratorium on RAS. This has now been partially lifted, but use of RAS has markedly declined and thousands of malaria deaths have not been prevented. By Nick White.
Decolonising global health: why the new Pandemic Agreement should have included the principle of subsidiarity
Posted 14/05/2024. The WHO Pandemic Agreement aims to promote a better global response to pandemics. Caesar Atuire and colleagues argue that not including the principle of subsidiarity as a pragmatic strategy was a missed opportunity to decolonise global health governance and promote global solidarity. Subsidiarity empowers local units to make decisions and address issues at their level, fostering collaboration, coordination, and cooperation. We discuss the elements of subsidiarity—agency and non-abandonment—and highlight the need to strike a balance between them.
Accelerating Progress Towards the 2030 Neglected Tropical Diseases Targets: How Can Quantitative Modeling Support Programmatic Decisions?
Posted 08/05/2024. The NTD Modelling consortium and WHO hosted a stakeholder meeting to identify priority modelling questions that are relevant for decision-makers, especially those designing, implementing and evaluating national and subnational programs, to achieve the ambitious targets set out in the NTD 2021–2030 road map. Future modelling studies should continue to move towards models which support better programmatic action by incorporating local context. By Andreia Vasconcelos.
Comparison of lumefantrine, mefloquine, and piperaquine concentrations between capillary plasma and venous plasma samples in pregnant women with uncomplicated falciparum and vivax malaria
Posted 01/05/2024. Makoto Saito and SMRU colleagues compared capillary and venous plasma concentrations of mefloquine, lumefantrine, and piperaquine in pregnant women with malaria. While there was a strong correlation, direct interchangeability was limited. Predictability within a ±10% precision range varied by drug. Caution is needed when converting capillary samples at the individual level.
Strategies for Deploying Pediatric Death Audit to Improve Quality of Care
Posted 26/04/2024. Pediatric death audits can be used to improve health care quality and outcomes for children. In this report, MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership examined the use of death audits in Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and Zambia. These experiences suggested both challenges in the use of death audits for improving pediatric quality care as well as options to begin developing effective systems that incorporate audits, even in low-resource settings. Three HSC researchers are members of the Momentum team.
Effectiveness of a multi-country implementation-focused network on quality of care: Delivery of interventions and processes for improved maternal, newborn and child health outcomes
Posted 12/03/2024. The Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (QCN) works with healthcare professionals to improve quality of care at global, national and local levels. In this evaluation Mike English and colleagues explore QCN’s effectiveness in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Malawi and Uganda and provide useful knowledge for future multi-country global health networks.
Breaking the silence on first referral hospitals and universal health coverage
Posted 01/03/2024. First referral hospitals (FRHs) are neglected in the current discourse on universal health coverage (UHC) in low-income and middle-income countries. Mike English and colleagues propose a comprehensive approach that increases the focus on FRHs in the UHC discourse and shows that they are integral to enhancing primary health care (PHC) in low-income and middle-income countries.
First referral hospitals in low- and middle-income countries: the need for a renewed focus
Posted 28/02/2024. First referral hospitals (FRHs) fulfil important functions in health systems in low- and middle-income countries. Through three reviews Rosanna Mazhar and colleagues found confusion around the definition and function of FRHs and called for renewed interest and investment in FRHs from the global health academic and policy-making community.
Individualised, short-course antibiotic treatment versus usual long-course treatment for ventilator-associated pneumonia (REGARD-VAP): a multicentre, individually randomised, open-label, non-inferiority trial
Posted 26/01/2024. Ventilator-associated pneumonia is common amongst critically-ill patients. Mo Yin and colleagues investigated a personalized approach to shorten antibiotic duration, and found it as effective as a longer treatment in terms of death or pneumonia recurrence; it also reduced antibiotic side effects significantly. This study provides crucial evidence to guide antibiotic prescription to reduce resistance emergence.
Scoping review of interventions to improve continuity of postdischarge care for newborns in LMICs
Posted 19/01/2024. Newborn mortality rates post-hospital discharge in low-and-middle-income countries are a growing concern, with most deaths occurring within 30 days of discharge. Gulraj Grewal and colleagues highlight the interventions used to support care continuity post-discharge, assumptions underpinning these interventions, opportunities and challenges, and whether participatory methods were used in intervention development.
Characterising support and care assistants in formal hospital settings: a scoping review
Posted 05/12/2023. The adoption of ‘Care Assistants’ in formal hospital settings as a HRH strategy is gaining more traction in the Global North than the Global South. Vincent Kagonya and colleagues highlight their effect on care as well as gaps in the labelling, role assignment, training, clinical governance, and regulation in the clinical environment.
The influence of internship training experience on Kenyan and Ugandan doctors’ career intentions and decisions: a qualitative study
Posted 28/11/23. Medical internship is a key period for doctors’ individual career planning and also a transition period for the broader labour market. Daniel Mbuthia and colleagues highlighted how experience during internship shaped medical doctors’ career intentions in Kenya and Uganda, and emphasized the importance of job availability and context in influencing doctors’ career choices.
A systematic review of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in Myanmar
Posted 21/11/2023. Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a group of preventable and treatable diseases common in Myanmar, primarily affecting marginalized rural communities. Myo Swe and colleagues provide an overview of reported NTDs in Myanmar over 100 years, indicating gaps in knowledge about certain diseases to inform future research directions related to NTDs in Myanmar.