Journal Article > LetterFull Text
Rev Soc Bras Med Trop. 2018 December 31; Volume 52; DOI:10.1590/0037-8682-0262-2018
Forsyth C, Marchiol A, Herazo R, Chatelain E, Batista C, et al.
Rev Soc Bras Med Trop. 2018 December 31; Volume 52; DOI:10.1590/0037-8682-0262-2018
Journal Article > CommentaryFull Text
BMJ Glob Health. 2022 April 1; Volume 7 (Issue 4); e009010.; DOI:10.1136/bmjgh-2022-009010
Lazarus JV, Abdool Karim SS, van Selm L, Doran J, Batista C, et al.
BMJ Glob Health. 2022 April 1; Volume 7 (Issue 4); e009010.; DOI:10.1136/bmjgh-2022-009010
SUMMARY BOX
-- There has been open and closed vial COVID-19 vaccine wastage in low-income, middle-income and high-income countries, with wastage rates of up to 30%.
-- Plans to monitor, forecast and ultimately reduce vaccine wastage are urgently needed in every country.
-- Open vial wastage should be reduced by strategies increasing overall vaccination rates, such as overbooking appointments and appointment-free vaccination, as well as through technologies maximising the number of doses being extracted from the vial.
-- Closed vial wastage should be reduced by timely, well-organised surplus donations and reallocations, as well as supporting effective supply chain management in recipient countries.
-- There has been open and closed vial COVID-19 vaccine wastage in low-income, middle-income and high-income countries, with wastage rates of up to 30%.
-- Plans to monitor, forecast and ultimately reduce vaccine wastage are urgently needed in every country.
-- Open vial wastage should be reduced by strategies increasing overall vaccination rates, such as overbooking appointments and appointment-free vaccination, as well as through technologies maximising the number of doses being extracted from the vial.
-- Closed vial wastage should be reduced by timely, well-organised surplus donations and reallocations, as well as supporting effective supply chain management in recipient countries.
Journal Article > CommentaryFull Text
E Clinical Medicine. 2021 June 1; Volume 36; 100911.; DOI:10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.100911
Batista C, Shoham S, Ergonul O, Hotez PJ, Bottazzi ME, et al.
E Clinical Medicine. 2021 June 1; Volume 36; 100911.; DOI:10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.100911
Journal Article > CommentaryFull Text
BMJ Glob Health. 2020 July 20; Volume 5 (Issue 7); e003175.; DOI:10.1136/bmjgh-2020-003175
Kumar M, Daly M, de Plecker E, Jamet C, McRae M, et al.
BMJ Glob Health. 2020 July 20; Volume 5 (Issue 7); e003175.; DOI:10.1136/bmjgh-2020-003175
SUMMARY BOX
• The COVID-19 pandemic has begun to severely limit access to sexual and reproductive healthcare, including contraception and safe abortion care (SAC), which have historically not been regarded as essential health services.
• Shutdown or delays of contraception and SAC during COVID-19 will disproportionately impact the most vulnerable populations, including women and girls in low-income and middle-income countries, and lead to considerable and preventable death and lifelong disability.
• Médecins Sans Frontières calls on the global health community to strengthen access to contraception and SAC for populations everywhere, and especially in poor and crisis settings, by engaging with women and their communities to develop self-managed models of care.
• The COVID-19 pandemic has begun to severely limit access to sexual and reproductive healthcare, including contraception and safe abortion care (SAC), which have historically not been regarded as essential health services.
• Shutdown or delays of contraception and SAC during COVID-19 will disproportionately impact the most vulnerable populations, including women and girls in low-income and middle-income countries, and lead to considerable and preventable death and lifelong disability.
• Médecins Sans Frontières calls on the global health community to strengthen access to contraception and SAC for populations everywhere, and especially in poor and crisis settings, by engaging with women and their communities to develop self-managed models of care.
Journal Article > ReviewFull Text
E Clinical Medicine. 2023 May 1; Volume 59; 101965.; DOI:10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.101965
Shoham S, Batista C, Ben Amor Y, Ergonul O, Hassanain M, et al.
E Clinical Medicine. 2023 May 1; Volume 59; 101965.; DOI:10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.101965
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted immunocompromised patients. This diverse group is at increased risk for impaired vaccine responses, progression to severe disease, prolonged hospitalizations and deaths. At particular risk are people with deficiencies in lymphocyte number or function such as transplant recipients and those with hematologic malignancies. Such patients' immune responses to vaccination and infection are frequently impaired leaving them more vulnerable to prolonged high viral loads and severe complications of COVID-19. Those in turn, have implications for disease progression and persistence, development of immune escape variants and transmission of infection. Data to guide vaccination and treatment approaches in immunocompromised people are generally lacking and extrapolated from other populations. The large clinical trials leading to authorisation and approval of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and therapeutics included very few immunocompromised participants. While experience is accumulating, studies focused on the special circumstances of immunocompromised patients are needed to inform prevention and treatment approaches.
Journal Article > CommentaryFull Text
E Clinical Medicine. 2021 June 1; Volume 36; 100925.; DOI:10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.100925
Naniche D, Hotez PJ, Bottazzi ME, Ergonul O, Figueroa J, et al.
E Clinical Medicine. 2021 June 1; Volume 36; 100925.; DOI:10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.100925
Journal Article > CommentaryFull Text
E Clinical Medicine. 2021 August 3; Volume 39; DOI:10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.101053
Hotez PJ, Batista C, Amor YB, Ergonul O, Figueroa J, et al.
E Clinical Medicine. 2021 August 3; Volume 39; DOI:10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.101053
A Lancet Commission for COVID-19 task force is shaping recommendations to achieve vaccine and therapeutics access, justice, and equity. This includes ensuring safety and effectiveness harmonized through robust systems of global pharmacovigilance and surveillance. Global production requires expanding support for development, manufacture, testing, and distribution of vaccines and therapeutics to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Global intellectual property rules must not stand in the way of research, production, technology transfer, or equitable access to essential health tools, and in context of pandemics to achieve increased manufacturing without discouraging innovation. Global governance around product quality requires channelling widely distributed vaccines through WHO prequalification (PQ)/emergency use listing (EUL) mechanisms and greater use of national regulatory authorities. A World Health Assembly (WHA) resolution would facilitate improvements and consistency in quality control and assurances. Global health systems require implementing steps to strengthen national systems for controlling COVID-19 and for influenza vaccinations for adults including pregnant and lactating women. A collaborative research network should strive to establish open access databases for bioinformatic analyses, together with programs directed at human capacity utilization and strengthening. Combating anti-science recognizes the urgency for countermeasures to address a global-wide disinformation movement dominating the internet and infiltrating parliaments and local governments.
Journal Article > ReviewFull Text
PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2019 September 26; Volume 13 (Issue 9); e0007447..; DOI:10.1371/journal.pntd.0007447
Forsyth C, Meymandi S, Moss I, Cone J, Cohen RM, et al.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2019 September 26; Volume 13 (Issue 9); e0007447..; DOI:10.1371/journal.pntd.0007447
BACKGROUND
Chagas disease (CD) affects over 300,000 people in the United States, but fewer than 1% have been diagnosed and less than 0.3% have received etiological treatment. This is a significant public health concern because untreated CD can produce fatal complications. What factors prevent people with CD from accessing diagnosis and treatment in a nation with one of the world's most advanced healthcare systems?
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
This analysis of barriers to diagnosis and treatment of CD in the US reflects the opinions of the authors more than a comprehensive discussion of all the available evidence. To enrich our description of barriers, we have conducted an exploratory literature review and cited the experience of the main US clinic providing treatment for CD. We list 34 barriers, which we group into four overlapping dimensions: systemic, comprising gaps in the public health system; structural, originating from political and economic inequalities; clinical, including toxicity of medications and diagnostic challenges; and psychosocial, encompassing fears and stigma.
CONCLUSIONS
We propose this multidimensional framework both to explain the persistently low numbers of people with CD who are tested and treated and as a potential basis for organizing a public health response, but we encourage others to improve on our approach or develop alternative frameworks. We further argue that expanding access to diagnosis and treatment of CD in the US means asserting the rights of vulnerable populations to obtain timely, quality healthcare.
Chagas disease (CD) affects over 300,000 people in the United States, but fewer than 1% have been diagnosed and less than 0.3% have received etiological treatment. This is a significant public health concern because untreated CD can produce fatal complications. What factors prevent people with CD from accessing diagnosis and treatment in a nation with one of the world's most advanced healthcare systems?
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
This analysis of barriers to diagnosis and treatment of CD in the US reflects the opinions of the authors more than a comprehensive discussion of all the available evidence. To enrich our description of barriers, we have conducted an exploratory literature review and cited the experience of the main US clinic providing treatment for CD. We list 34 barriers, which we group into four overlapping dimensions: systemic, comprising gaps in the public health system; structural, originating from political and economic inequalities; clinical, including toxicity of medications and diagnostic challenges; and psychosocial, encompassing fears and stigma.
CONCLUSIONS
We propose this multidimensional framework both to explain the persistently low numbers of people with CD who are tested and treated and as a potential basis for organizing a public health response, but we encourage others to improve on our approach or develop alternative frameworks. We further argue that expanding access to diagnosis and treatment of CD in the US means asserting the rights of vulnerable populations to obtain timely, quality healthcare.
Journal Article > CommentaryFull Text
PLOS Med. 2021 September 13; Volume 18 (Issue 9); e1003772.; DOI:10.1371/journal.pmed.1003772
Figueroa J, Hotez PJ, Batista C, Ergonul O, Gilbert S, et al.
PLOS Med. 2021 September 13; Volume 18 (Issue 9); e1003772.; DOI:10.1371/journal.pmed.1003772
Journal Article > CommentaryFull Text
E Clinical Medicine. 2022 January 1; Volume 43; 101230.; DOI:10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.101230
Batista C, Hotez PJ, Ben Amor Y, Kim JH, Kaslow D, et al.
E Clinical Medicine. 2022 January 1; Volume 43; 101230.; DOI:10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.101230