PLoS Medicine
http://www.plosmedicine.org/
(Accessed 12 March 2016)

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Trans-Pacific Partnership Provisions in Intellectual Property, Transparency, and Investment Chapters Threaten Access to Medicines in the US and Elsewhere
Brook K. Baker
Essay | published 08 Mar 2016 | PLOS Medicine
10.1371/journal.pmed.1001970
Summary Points
:: The recently negotiated Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) contains provisions that would dramatically and negatively impact access to affordable medicines in the United States and elsewhere if it is ratified.
:: Provisions in the Intellectual Property (IP) Chapter of TPP lengthen, broaden, and strengthen patent-related monopolies on medicine and erect new monopoly protections on regulatory data as well. IP Chapter enforcement provisions also mandate injunctions preventing medicines sales, increase damage awards, and expand confiscation of medicines at the border.
:: IP rightholders gain new powers in the Investment Chapter to bring private, IP-related investor-state-dispute-settlement (ISDS) damage claims directly against foreign governments before unreviewable, three-person arbitration panels. Unrestricted IP-investor damage claims deter countries’ willingness to render adverse IP decisions and to adopt IP policy flexibilities designed to increase access to affordable medicines.
:: The Transparency Chapter contains provisions that allow pharmaceutical companies more access to government decisions listing medicines and medical devices for reimbursement.
At the very least, these multiple TPP provisions that extend pharmaceutical powers should be scaled back to the minimum consensus standards reached in the 1994 World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement. Health advocates should convince the US Congress and opponents in other countries to reject an agreement that could so adversely impact access to medicines.

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Length of Stay After Childbirth in 92 Countries and Associated Factors in 30 Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Compilation of Reported Data and a Cross-sectional Analysis from Nationally Representative Surveys
Oona M. R. Campbell, Luca Cegolon, David Macleod, Lenka Benova
Research Article | published 08 Mar 2016 | PLOS Medicine
10.1371/journal.pmed.1001972
Abstract
Background
Following childbirth, women need to stay sufficiently long in health facilities to receive adequate care. Little is known about length of stay following childbirth in low- and middle-income countries or its determinants.
Methods and Findings
We described length of stay after facility delivery in 92 countries. We then created a conceptual framework of the main drivers of length of stay, and explored factors associated with length of stay in 30 countries using multivariable linear regression. Finally, we used multivariable logistic regression to examine the factors associated with stays that were “too short” ( Across countries, the mean length of stay ranged from 1.3 to 6.6 d: 0.5 to 6.2 d for singleton vaginal deliveries and 2.5 to 9.3 d for cesarean-section deliveries. The percentage of women staying too short ranged from 0.2% to 83% for vaginal deliveries and from 1% to 75% for cesarean-section deliveries.
Our conceptual framework identified three broad categories of factors that influenced length of stay: need-related determinants that required an indicated extension of stay, and health-system and woman/family dimensions that were drivers of inappropriately short or long stays. The factors identified as independently important in our regression analyses included cesarean-section delivery, birthweight, multiple birth, and infant survival status. Older women and women whose infants were delivered by doctors had extended lengths of stay, as did poorer women. Reliance on factors captured in secondary data that were self-reported by women up to 5 y after a live birth was the main limitation.
Conclusions
Length of stay after childbirth is very variable between countries. Substantial proportions of women stay too short to receive adequate postnatal care. We need to ensure that facilities have skilled birth attendants and effective elements of care, but also that women stay long enough to benefit from these. The challenge is to commit to achieving adequate lengths of stay in low- and middle-income countries, while ensuring any additional time is used to provide high-quality and respectful care.

Editors’ Summary
Background
The general recommendation to women, especially to women in resource-poor settings (where more than 95% of all maternal and newborn deaths occur), is to give birth in a health facility. How long women and infants should stay after birth, i.e., the appropriate time to discharge, depends on many factors, but it is known that during the first 24 hours after birth mothers and children are at the highest risk of complications and death. During the postpartum stay, the objectives are to monitor maternal and newborn health, and to provide education on breastfeeding and signs for health problems in mothers and infants. WHO recommends that, in resource-poor settings, mothers and newborns stay for a minimum of 24 hours after vaginal birth.
Why Was This Study Done?
Considerable effort has gone into getting women to give birth in health facilities, and some countries have even made it illegal to give birth at home. However, some reports have suggested that women and infants often spend less than the recommended minimum time after birth in the facility. Actual data on duration of postpartum stays are limited, especially for low- and middle-income countries. This study was done to provide an overview of the reality in all countries for which current data exist, and to explore factors that influence the postpartum length of stay…
What Do these Findings Mean?
For many countries, the researchers were unable to find information on postpartum length of stay, and additional research seems warranted. Moreover, in the 30 DHS countries included in the analysis here, the percentage of births in health facilities ranged from 25.1% to 99.2%, suggesting that many countries still need to increase facility births. The postpartum lengths of stay reported vary widely between countries and are likely influenced by national norms and health system features in addition to specific needs of mothers and newborns. The reasons why women leave or are discharged early appear complex and are not well understood. Nonetheless, it seems that many women stay too short to receive adequate postnatal care. This is alarming, especially in low-income settings, where access to care after discharge is often limited. Countries in which staying too short is common should examine the reasons, clearly define appropriate care in health facilities during and after birth, and ensure both that such care is offered and that mothers and newborns stay long enough to receive it.