Bulletin of the World Health Organization
Volume 94, Number 4, April 2016, 233-308
http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/94/4/en/

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EDITORIALS
Best practices for sharing information through data platforms: establishing the principles
Vasee S Moorthy, Cathy Roth, Piero Olliaro, Christopher Dye & Marie Paule Kieny
http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.16.172882

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Addressing the health of vulnerable populations: a call for papers
Viroj Tangcharoensathien, Churnrurtai Kanchanachitra, Rebekah Thomas, James Headen Pfitzer & Paige Whitney
http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.16.172783

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Knowledge sharing during public health emergencies: from global call to effective implementation
Sophie Delaunay, Patricia Kahn, Mercedes Tatay & Joanne Liu
http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.16.172650
[Initial text]
In February 2016, the issue of data sharing during emergencies made headlines around the world after leading research funders, academic journals and nongovernmental organizations signed a joint declaration of commitment to rapidly share data relevant to the Zika virus outbreak.1 This action followed repeated calls from some of the same constituencies for sharing data from clinical trials2,3 conducted in the context of public health emergencies4,5 and public health in general.6,7
While the Zika open data initiative is a positive step, it also highlights the shortcomings of calling for knowledge sharing after an outbreak has already begun. To improve epidemic emergency response and to accelerate related research, health authorities in potentially exposed countries must put in place the necessary frameworks for collecting, managing and swiftly making available good-quality, standardized data and for safely securing and sharing biomaterial¬ – such as patient samples – collected during the outbreak…

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Assessment of universal health coverage for adults aged 50 years or older with chronic illness in six middle-income countries
Christine Goeppel, Patricia Frenz, Linus Grabenhenrich, Thomas Keil & Peter Tinnemann
http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.15.163832

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An approach for setting evidence-based and stakeholder-informed research priorities in low- and middle-income countries
Eva A Rehfuess, Solange Durão, Patrick Kyamanywa, Joerg J Meerpohl, Taryn Young, Anke Rohwer, on behalf of the CEBHA+ & consortium
http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.15.162966

Child Care, Health and Development
March 2016 Volume 42, Issue 2 Pages 149–295
Original Articles
Deportation experiences and depression among U.S. citizen-children with undocumented Mexican parents (pages 220–230)
L. E. Gulbas, L. H. Zayas, H. Yoon, H. Szlyk, S. Aguilar-Gaxiola and G. Natera
Article first published online: 9 DEC 2015 | DOI: 10.1111/cch.12307
Abstract
Background
There is a critical need to document the mental health effects of immigration policies and practices on children vulnerable to parental deportation. Few studies capture the differential experiences produced by U.S. citizen-children’s encounters with immigration enforcement, much less in ways that analyse mental health outcomes alongside the psychosocial contexts within which those outcomes arise.
Methods
We explore the psychosocial dimensions of depression in U.S. citizen-children with undocumented Mexican parents to examine differences between citizen-children affected and not affected by parental deportation. An exploratory mixed-method design was used to integrate a quantitative measure of depression symptoms (CDI-2) within qualitative data collected with 48 citizen-children aged 8 to 15 with and without experiences of parental deportation.
Results
Stressors elicited by citizen-children in the qualitative interview included an inability to communicate with friends, negative perceptions of Mexico, financial struggles, loss of supportive school networks, stressed relation with parent(s) and violence. Fifty percent of citizen-children with probable depression – regardless of experiences with parental deportation – cited ‘stressed relation with parents,’ compared to 9% without depression. In contrast, themes of ‘loss of supportive school network’ and ‘violence’ were mentioned almost exclusively by citizen-children with probable depression and affected by parental deportation.
Conclusions
While citizen-children who suffer parental deportation experience the most severe consequences associated with immigration enforcement, our findings also suggest that the burden of mental health issues extends to those children concomitantly affected by immigration enforcement policies that target their undocumented parents.

Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness
Volume 10 – Issue 02 – April 2016

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?jid=DMP&tab=currentissue

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Concepts in Disaster Medicine
The Waterless Portable Private Toilet: An Innovative Sanitation Solution in Disaster Zones
Yongkyun Kim, Shervin Hashemi, Mooyoung Han, Tschungil Kim and Hong-Gyoo Sohn
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2015.166 (About DOI), Published online: 19 January 2016
Abstract
Catastrophes can occur without warning and inevitably cause short-term and long-term problems. In disaster zones, having an action plan to alleviate difficulties can reduce or prevent many long-lasting complications. One of the most critical and urgent issues is sanitation. Water, energy, personnel, transportation, and the allocation of resources in disaster areas tend to become very limited during emergencies. Sanitation systems suffer in the process, potentially leading to crises due to unsafe and unhygienic surroundings. This article explores the problems of current sanitation practices in disaster areas and identifies the essential characteristics of sustainable sanitation systems. This study also presents a plan for an innovative and sustainable sanitation system using a waterless, portable, private toilet, in addition to a procedure for collecting and disposing waste. The system is agronomic, is socially acceptable, prevents contact with human waste, and can be used for individuals or families. Environmental pollution and social problems (such as sexual harassment) can be reduced both during and after restoration. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:281–285)

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Editorial
Zika: Defining the Public Health and Exposing its Vulnerabilities
Frederick M. Burkle, Jr.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2016.27 (About DOI), Published online: 08 March 2016
[No abstract]

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Commentary
US Public Health Preparedness for Zika and Other Threats Remains Vulnerable
Jeffrey S. Duchin
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2016.26 (About DOI), Published online: 08 March 2016
Abstract
The unanticipated global outbreak of Zika virus infection is the most current but certainly not the last emerging infectious disease challenge to confront the US public heath system. Despite a number of such threats in recent years, significant gaps remain in core areas of public health system readiness. Stable, sustained investments are required to establish a solid foundation for achieving necessary national public health emergency preparedness and response capacity. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:298–299)

Ethics & International Affairs
Spring 2016 (Issue 30.1) | March 10, 2016
http://www.ethicsandinternationalaffairs.org/2016/spring-2016-issue-30-1/

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Essay
Defining Down Sovereignty: The Rights and Responsibilities of Nations
Amitai Etzioni | March 10, 2016
[Initial text]
“Defining down sovereignty” refers to the normative thesis that sovereignty should not grant a state absolute protection against armed intervention in its internal affairs by other states, and that instead the international community should condition such immunity on states living up to particular standards. This essay suggests two modifications to this thesis. First, the international community should spell out the kinds of failures to protect civilians that can justify armed interventions by other states, as well as which agency has the authority to determine when such failures have occurred. In other words, the international community should determine how low to set the bar for intervention, and who makes the rules. Second, the international community needs to establish an additional international responsibility, namely, a responsibility to prevent international terrorism. The essay treats both of these modifications as shared international normative understandings; it does not attempt to translate these changes into international law…

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FEATURES
Democracies and the Power to Revoke Citizenship
Patti Tamara Lenard
[Initial text]
Citizenship status is meant to be secure, that is, inviolable. Recently, however, several democratic states have adopted or are considering adopting laws that allow them the power to revoke citizenship. This claimed right forces us to consider whether citizenship can be treated as a “conditional” status, in particular whether it can be treated as conditional on the right sort of behavior. Those who defend such a view argue that citizenship is a privilege rather than a right, and thus in principle is revocable. Participating in a foreign state’s military, treason, spying, or committing acts that otherwise threaten the national security of one’s state may all warrant revocation. This article assesses the justifications given for the claimed power to revoke citizenship in democratic states and concludes that, ultimately, such a power is incompatible with democracy…

Globalization and Health
http://www.globalizationandhealth.com/
[Accessed 2 April 2016]

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Commentary
The ESTHER hospital partnership initiative: a powerful levy for building capacities to combat the HIV pandemic in low-resource countries
Gilles Raguin
Published on: 1 April 2016

Research
Protecting health workers from infectious disease transmission: an exploration of a Canadian-South African partnership of partnerships
Annalee Yassi, Muzimkhulu Zungu, Jerry M. Spiegel, Barry Kistnasamy, Karen Lockhart, David Jones, Lyndsay M. O’Hara, Letshego Nophale, Elizabeth A. Bryce and Lincoln Darwin
Published on: 31 March 2016

Journal of Medical Ethics
April 2016, Volume 42, Issue 4
http://jme.bmj.com/content/current

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Current controversy
The Ebola outbreak in Western Africa: ethical obligations for care
Aminu Yakubu, Morenike Oluwatoyin Folayan, Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, Patrick Nguku, Kristin Peterson, Brandon Brown
J Med Ethics 2016;42:209-210 Published Online First: 9 September 2014 doi:10.1136/medethics-2014-102434
Abstract
The recent wave of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Western Africa and efforts to control the disease where the health system requires strengthening raises a number of ethical challenges for healthcare workers practicing in these countries. We discuss the implications of weak health systems for controlling EVD and limitations of the ethical obligation to provide care for patients with EVD using Nigeria as a case study. We highlight the right of healthcare workers to protection that should be obligatorily provided by the government. Where the national government cannot meet this obligation, healthcare workers only have a moral and not a professional obligation to provide care to patients with EVD. The national government also has an obligation to adequately compensate healthcare workers that become infected in the course of duty. Institutionalisation of policies that protect healthcare workers are required for effective control of the spread of highly contagious diseases like EVD in a timely manner.

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Research led by participants: a new social contract for a new kind of research
Effy Vayena, Roger Brownsword, Sarah Jane Edwards, Bastian Greshake, Jeffrey P Kahn, Navjoyt Ladher, Jonathan Montgomery, Daniel O’Connor, Onora O’Neill, Martin P Richards, Annette Rid, Mark Sheehan, Paul Wicks, John Tasioulas
J Med Ethics 2016;42:216-219 Published Online First: 30 March 2015 doi:10.1136/medethics-2015-102663

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Paper: Incorporating ethical principles into clinical research protocols: a tool for protocol writers and ethics committees
Rebecca H Li, Mary C Wacholtz, Mark Barnes, Liam Boggs, Susan Callery-D’Amico, Amy Davis,
Alla Digilova, David Forster, Kate Heffernan, Maeve Luthin, Holly Fernandez Lynch, Lindsay McNair, Jennifer E Miller, Jacquelyn Murphy, Luann Van Campen, Mark Wilenzick, Delia Wolf,
Cris Woolston, Carmen Aldinger, Barbara E Bierer
J Med Ethics 2016;42:229-234 Published Online First: 25 January 2016 doi:10.1136/medethics-2014-102540
Abstract
A novel Protocol Ethics Tool Kit (‘Ethics Tool Kit’) has been developed by a multi-stakeholder group of the Multi-Regional Clinical Trials Center of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard. The purpose of the Ethics Tool Kit is to facilitate effective recognition, consideration and deliberation of critical ethical issues in clinical trial protocols. The Ethics Tool Kit may be used by investigators and sponsors to develop a dedicated Ethics Section within a protocol to improve the consistency and transparency between clinical trial protocols and research ethics committee reviews. It may also streamline ethics review and may facilitate and expedite the review process by anticipating the concerns of ethics committee reviewers. Specific attention was given to issues arising in multinational settings. With the use of this Tool Kit, researchers have the opportunity to address critical research ethics issues proactively, potentially speeding the time and easing the process to final protocol approval

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Ethics briefing
The Mediterranean refugee crisis: ethics, international law and migrant health
Sophie Brannan, Ruth Campbell, Martin Davies, Veronica English, Rebecca Mussell, Julian C Sheather
J Med Ethics 2016;42:269-270 doi:10.1136/medethics-2016-103444
Extract
Europe is experiencing levels of forced migration not seen since the Second World War. Its sources lie in the fragile, strife-torn states of the Middle East and Africa: four million people have fled Syria since the conflict began; 12 million of those remaining require humanitarian assistance. Large numbers of people are fleeing violence in Iraq, Afghanistan and Eritrea. Although millions have been displaced by violence, others are seeking relief from endemic poverty and brutally restricted life-choices. Overwhelmingly their chosen routes into Europe are perilous—according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) over 590 000 people have arrived in Europe by sea this year.1 Nor do their difficulties end once they reach Europe. The asylum systems of the frontline countries, overwhelmingly Greece and Italy, never designed for such high levels of migration, are inadequate. In this thematic ethics brief we provide some background information to the crisis and raise a number of ethical issues it gives rise to…

Journal of the Royal Society – Interface
01 March 2016; volume 13, issue 116
http://rsif.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/current

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Life Sciences–Mathematics interface
Research article:
Model-based reconstruction of an epidemic using multiple datasets: understanding influenza A/H1N1 pandemic dynamics in Israel
R. Yaari, G. Katriel, L. Stone, E. Mendelson, M. Mandelboim, A. Huppert
J. R. Soc. Interface 2016 13 20160099; DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2016.0099. Published 30 March 2016

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Research articles:
Potential impact of spatially targeted adult tuberculosis vaccine in Gujarat, India
Sourya Shrestha, Susmita Chatterjee, Krishna D. Rao, David W. Dowdy
J. R. Soc. Interface 2016 13 20151016; DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2015.1016. Published 23 March 2016
Abstract
Some of the most promising vaccines in the pipeline for tuberculosis (TB) target adolescents and adults. Unlike for childhood vaccines, high-coverage population-wide vaccination is significantly more challenging for adult vaccines. Here, we aimed to estimate the impact of vaccine delivery strategies that were targeted to high-incidence geographical ‘hotspots’ compared with randomly allocated vaccination. We developed a spatially explicit mathematical model of TB transmission that distinguished these hotspots from the general population. We evaluated the impact of targeted and untargeted vaccine delivery strategies in India—a country that bears more than 25% of global TB burden, and may be a potential early adopter of the vaccine. We collected TB notification data and conducted a demonstration study in the state of Gujarat to validate our estimates of heterogeneity in TB incidence. We then projected the impact of randomly vaccinating 8% of adults in a single mass campaign to a spatially targeted vaccination preferentially delivered to 80% of adults in the hotspots, with both strategies augmented by continuous adolescent vaccination. In consultation with vaccine developers, we considered a vaccine efficacy of 60%, and evaluated the population-level impact after 10 years of vaccination. Spatial heterogeneity in TB notification (per 100 000/year) was modest in Gujarat: 190 in the hotspots versus 125 in the remaining population. At this level of heterogeneity, the spatially targeted vaccination was projected to reduce TB incidence by 28% after 10 years, compared with a 24% reduction projected to achieve via untargeted vaccination—a 1.17-fold augmentation in the impact of vaccination by spatially targeting. The degree of the augmentation was robust to reasonable variation in natural history assumptions, but depended strongly on the extent of spatial heterogeneity and mixing between the hotspot and general population. Identifying high-incidence hotspots and quantifying spatial mixing patterns are critical to accurate estimation of the value of targeted intervention strategies.

The Lancet
Apr 02, 2016 Volume 387 Number 10026 p1347-1482 e24
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/current

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Editorial
Yellow fever: a global reckoning
The Lancet
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)30116-7
Summary
Angola is currently facing its worst outbreak of yellow fever in 30 years. Since December, 2015, when the outbreak was first declared in the capital of Luanda, there have been 178 deaths, more than 1000 suspected cases, and spread to several provinces. Imported cases have now been reported in China, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, posing a global health security risk. A mass vaccination campaign in Luanda began in February, but the emergency stockpile of the vaccine has already been exhausted.

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Comment
Lean economies and innovation in mental health systems
Sara Evans-Lacko, Wagner Ribeiro, Elisa Brietzke, Martin Knapp, Jair Mari, David McDaid, Cristiane S Paula, Renee Romeo, Graham Thornicroft, Lawrence Wissow
1356

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The Lancet Commissions
Public health and international drug policy
Joanne Csete, Adeeba Kamarulzaman, Michel Kazatchkine, Frederick Altice, Marek Balicki, Julia Buxton, Javier Cepeda, Megan Comfort, Eric Goosby, João Goulão, Carl Hart, Thomas Kerr, Alejandro Madrazo Lajous, Stephen Lewis, Natasha Martin, Daniel Mejía, Adriana Camacho, David Mathieson, Isidore Obot, Adeolu Ogunrombi, Susan Sherman, Jack Stone, Nandini Vallath, Peter Vickerman, Tomáš Zábranský, Chris Beyrer
1427
Summary
In September, 2015, the member states of the UN endorsed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030, which aspire to human-rights-centred approaches to ensuring the health and wellbeing of all people. The SDGs embody both the UN Charter values of rights and justice for all and the responsibility of states to rely on the best scientific evidence as they seek to better humankind. In April, 2016, these same states will consider control of illicit drugs, an area of social policy that has been fraught with controversy and thought of as inconsistent with human rights norms, and in which scientific evidence and public health approaches have arguably had too limited a role.

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Case Report
Guillain-Barré syndrome associated with Zika virus infection
Patrícia Brasil, Patricia Carvalho Sequeira, Andrea D’Avila Freitas, Heruza Einsfeld Zogbi, Guilherme Amaral Calvet, Rogerio Valls de Souza, André Machado Siqueira, Marcos Cesar Lima de Mendonca, Rita Maria Ribeiro Nogueira, Ana Maria Bispo de Filippis, Tom Solomon
1482

The Lancet Infectious Diseases
Apr 2016 Volume 16 Number 4 p385-506 e34-e63
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/issue/current

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Editorial
Costs, compassion, and the case for vaccination
The Lancet Infectious Diseases
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(16)00139-0
Summary
If you want an overview of the major political issues in the UK, the government’s petitioning website is a good place to start. Calls for action on Islamic State, immigration, and the National Health Service (NHS) have all garnered hundreds of thousands of signatures. But the most popular current petition—indeed, the issue that has received the most signatures ever on the site—concerns meningitis B vaccination.

Public funding for research on antibacterial resistance in the JPIAMR countries, the European Commission, and related European Union agencies: a systematic observational analysis
Ruth Kelly, Ghada Zoubiane, Desmond Walsh, Rebecca Ward, Herman Goossens
431
Open Access

Preventive malaria treatment for contacts of patients with Ebola virus disease in the context of the west Africa 2014–15 Ebola virus disease response: an economic analysis
Cristina Carias, Bradford Greening Jr, Caresse G Campbell, Martin I Meltzer, Mary J Hamel
449

Potential for reduction of burden and local elimination of malaria by reducing Plasmodium falciparum malaria transmission: a mathematical modelling study
Jamie T Griffin, Samir Bhatt, Marianne E Sinka, Peter W Gething, Michael Lynch, Edith Patouillard, Erin Shutes, Robert D Newman, Pedro Alonso, Richard E Cibulskis, Azra C Ghani
Open Access

Association between spending on social protection and tuberculosis burden: a global analysis
Andrew Siroka, Ninez A Ponce, Knut Lönnroth

Lancet Global Health
Apr 2016 Volume 4 Number 4 e215-e286
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/issue/current

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Comment
A second affordable oral cholera vaccine: implications for the global vaccine stockpile
Sachin N Desai, Lorenzo Pezzoli, Stephen Martin, Alejandro Costa, Carmen Rodriguez, Dominique Legros, William Perea
Summary
On Dec 23, 2015, WHO prequalified a second affordable oral cholera vaccine (OCV), Euvichol (Eubiologics, South Korea), which is expected to double current global OCV production and has the potential to further increase production capacity.1 The increased production will have implications for vaccine availability and reduced costs per dose, and will ultimately represent an added value for global cholera prevention and control.

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Articles
Accuracy of the WHO Haemoglobin Colour Scale for the diagnosis of anaemia in primary health care settings in low-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Heiko Marn, Julia Alison Critchley

Timing of initiation, patterns of breastfeeding, and infant survival: prospective analysis of pooled data from three randomised trials
NEOVITA Study Group

The UN Commission on Life Saving Commodities 3 years on: global progress update and results of a multicountry assessment
Paul M Pronyk, Bennett Nemser, Blerta Maliqi, Nora Springstubb, Diana Sera, Rouslan Karimov, Elizabeth Katwan, Benedicte Walter, Pascal Bijleveld, UNCoLSC Technical Resource Teams, UN Agency Leads, UNCoLSC Monitoring and Evaluation Advisory Group

New England Journal of Medicine
March 31, 2016 Vol. 374 No. 13
http://www.nejm.org/toc/nejm/medical-journal
Special Report
The Neglected Dimension of Global Security — A Framework for Countering Infectious-Disease Crises
Peter Sands, M.P.A., Carmen Mundaca-Shah, M.D., Dr.P.H., and Victor J. Dzau, M.D.
N Engl J Med 2016; 374:1281-1287 March 31, 2016 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMsr1600236
[Initial text]
Pandemics and epidemics have ravaged human societies throughout history. The plague, cholera, and smallpox killed tens of millions of people and destroyed civilizations. In the past 100 years, the “Spanish Flu” of 1918–1919 and HIV–AIDS caused the deaths of nearly 100 million people.

Advances in medicine have transformed our defenses against the threat of infectious disease. Better hygiene, antibiotics, diagnostics, and vaccines have given us far more effective tools for preventing and responding to outbreaks. Yet the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and the recent West African Ebola outbreak show that we cannot be complacent (Figure 1). Infectious-disease outbreaks that turn into epidemics and potential pandemics can cause massive loss of life and huge economic disruption.

Indeed, Ebola demonstrated how ill-prepared we are for such infectious-disease crises. There were failures at almost every level. Identifying the outbreak in the community and raising alerts took too long. Local health systems were quickly overwhelmed. Response teams did not adequately engage communities and deepened distrust in health authorities. The international response was slow, cumbersome, and poorly coordinated. Rapid diagnostics, protective equipment, effective therapeutics, and a vaccine were lacking. Ultimately, the crisis was contained, thanks to the courage and commitment of medical staff and communities on the ground and a massive deployment of international resources. Yet the cost in human lives and economic and social disruption was far greater than it should have been.

In this context, the Commission on a Global Health Risk Framework for the Future was initiated in the spring of 2015. Eight sponsors came together to support the initiative. The U.S. National Academy of Medicine provided leadership and guidance. An International Oversight Group comprising 12 leaders in science, business, and government was established to set up and guide the Commission…

PLoS Medicine
http://www.plosmedicine.org/
(Accessed 2 April 2016)

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Editorial
Pragmatic Trials for Noncommunicable Diseases: Relieving Constraints
Anushka Patel, Ruth Webster
| published 29 Mar 2016 | PLOS Medicine
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001986
[No abstract]

PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
http://www.plosntds.org/
(Accessed 2 April 2016)

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Research Article
Cost-Effectiveness of Antivenoms for Snakebite Envenoming in 16 Countries in West Africa
Muhammad Hamza, Maryam A. Idris, Musa B. Maiyaki, Mohammed Lamorde, Jean-Philippe Chippaux, David A. Warrell, Andreas Kuznik, Abdulrazaq G. Habib
Research Article | published 30 Mar 2016 | PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004568
Author Summary
Antivenom is the main intervention against snakebite poisoning but is relatively scarce, unaffordable and the situation has been compounded further by the recent cessation of production of effective antivenoms and marketing of inappropriate products. Given this crisis, we assessed the cost effectiveness of providing antivenoms in West Africa by comparing costs associated with antivenom treatment against their health benefits in decreasing mortality. In the most comprehensive analyses ever conducted, it was observed the incremental cost effectiveness ratio of providing antivenom ranged from $1,997 in Guinea Bissau to $6,205 for Liberia and Sierra-Leone per death averted while cost per Disability Adjusted Life Year (DALY) averted ranged from $83 for Benin Republic to $281 for Sierra-Leone. There is probability of 97.3–100% that antivenoms are very cost-effective in the analyses. These demonstrate antivenom is highly cost-effective and compares favorably to other commonly funded healthcare interventions. Providing and broadening antivenom access throughout areas at risk in rural West Africa should be prioritized given the considerable reduction in deaths and DALYs that could be derived at a relatively small cost.

PLoS One
http://www.plosone.org/
[Accessed 2 April 2016]

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Research Article
Knowledge and Perceptions about Clinical Trials and the Use of Biomedical Samples: Findings from a Qualitative Study in Rural Northern Ghana
Samuel Chatio, Frank Baiden, Fabian Sebastian Achana, Abraham Oduro, James Akazili
Research Article | published 01 Apr 2016 | PLOS ONE
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0152854
Abstract
Introduction
Clinical trials conducted in sub-Saharan Africa have helped to address the prevalent health challenges. The knowledge about how communities perceive clinical trials is however only now evolving. This study was conducted among parents whose children participated in past clinical trials in northern Ghana to assess their knowledge and perceptions of clinical trials and the use of biomedical samples.
Method
This was a qualitative study based on eighty in-depth interviews with parents. The participants were randomly selected from among parents whose children were enrolled in a clinical trial conducted in the Kassena-Nankana districts between 2000 and 2003. The interviews were transcribed and coded into emergent themes using Nvivo 9 software. The thematic analysis framework was used to analyze the data.
Results
Study participants reported that clinical trials were carried out to determine the efficacy of drugs and to make sure that these drugs were suitable for human beings to use. The conduct of clinical trials was perceived to have helped to reduce the occurrence of diseases such as malaria, cerebrospinal meningitis and diarrhea. Quality of care was reported to be better in clinical trials than in the routine care. Parents indicated that participation in clinical trials positively influenced their health-seeking behavior. Apprehensions about blood draw and the use to which samples were put were expressed, with suspicion by a few participants that researchers sold blood samples. The issue of blood draw was most contentious.
Conclusion
Parents perception about the conduct of clinical trials in the study districts is generally positive. However, misconceptions made about the use of blood samples in this study must be taken seriously and strategies found to improve transparency and greater community acceptability.

PNAS – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/
(Accessed 2 April 2016)

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Biological Sciences – Sustainability Science – Social Sciences – Environmental Sciences:
Global fishery prospects under contrasting management regimes
Christopher Costello, Daniel Ovando, Tyler Clavelle, C. Kent Strauss, Ray Hilborn, Michael C. Melnychuk, Trevor A. Branch, Steven D. Gaines, Cody S. Szuwalski, Reniel B. Cabral, Douglas N. Rader, and Amanda Leland
PNAS 2016 ; published ahead of print March 28, 2016, doi:10.1073/pnas.15204201
Significance
What would extensive fishery reform look like? In addition, what would be the benefits and trade-offs of implementing alternative approaches to fisheries management on a worldwide scale? To find out, we assembled the largest-of-its-kind database and coupled it to state-of-the-art bioeconomic models for more than 4,500 fisheries around the world. We find that, in nearly every country of the world, fishery recovery would simultaneously drive increases in food provision, fishery profits, and fish biomass in the sea. Our results suggest that a suite of approaches providing individual or communal access rights to fishery resources can align incentives across profit, food, and conservation so that few trade-offs will have to be made across these objectives in selecting effective policy interventions.
Abstract
Data from 4,713 fisheries worldwide, representing 78% of global reported fish catch, are analyzed to estimate the status, trends, and benefits of alternative approaches to recovering depleted fisheries. For each fishery, we estimate current biological status and forecast the impacts of contrasting management regimes on catch, profit, and biomass of fish in the sea. We estimate unique recovery targets and trajectories for each fishery, calculate the year-by-year effects of alternative recovery approaches, and model how alternative institutional reforms affect recovery outcomes. Current status is highly heterogeneous—the median fishery is in poor health (overfished, with further overfishing occurring), although 32% of fisheries are in good biological, although not necessarily economic, condition. Our business-as-usual scenario projects further divergence and continued collapse for many of the world’s fisheries. Applying sound management reforms to global fisheries in our dataset could generate annual increases exceeding 16 million metric tons (MMT) in catch, $53 billion in profit, and 619 MMT in biomass relative to business as usual. We also find that, with appropriate reforms, recovery can happen quickly, with the median fishery taking under 10 y to reach recovery targets. Our results show that commonsense reforms to fishery management would dramatically improve overall fish abundance while increasing food security and profits.

Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública/Pan American Journal of Public Health (RPSP/PAJPH)
February 2016 Vol. 39, No. 2
http://www.paho.org/journal/

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ARTÍCULOS DE INVESTIGACIÓN ORIGINAL/ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLES
Establishing national noncommunicable disease surveillance in a developing country: a model for small island nations[Introducción de la vigilancia nacional de las enfermedades no transmisibles en un país en desarrollo: un modelo para las pequeñas naciones insulares]
Angela M. Rose, Ian R. Hambleton, Selvi M. Jeyaseelan, Christina Howitt, Rhea Harewood, Jacqueline Campbell, Tanya N. Martelly, Tracy Blackman, Kenneth S. George, Trevor A. Hassell, David O. Corbin, Rudolph Delice, Patsy Prussia, Branka Legetic, and Anselm J. Hennis

Traslación a la práctica de estrategias de empoderamiento en la prevención del dengue: facilitadores y barreras [Translation into practice of empowerment strategies for dengue prevention: facilitators and barriers]
Dennis Pérez, Marta Castro, Ángel Manuel Álvarez, Lizet Sánchez, María Eugenia Toledo, Damayanti Matos, Patrick Van der Stuyft y Pierre Lefèvre

Determinants of tuberculosis in countries of Latin America and the Caribbean [Determinantes de la tuberculosis en los países de América Latina y el Caribe]
Gustavo Bergonzoli, Luis G. Castellanos, Rodolfo Rodríguez, and Lina María Garcia

Diagnóstico de salud y percepción de riesgos, elementos clave para una propuesta de intervención en comunidades indígenas en México [Health diagnosis and risk perception: key elements of a proposed intervention for indigenous communities in Mexico]
Mónica Terán-Hernández, Fernando Díaz-Barriga y Ana Cristina Cubillas-Tejeda

Analysis of registered cancer clinical trials in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2007–2013 [Análisis de los ensayos clínicos sobre el cáncer registrados en América Latina y el Caribe del 2007 al 2013]
Bridget Lee, Luis G. Cuervo, Pablo Rodríguez-Feria, and Silvana Luciani

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OPINIÓN Y ANÁLSIS/OPINION AND ANALYSIS
Salud global: una visión latinoamericana [Global health: a Latin American vision]
Álvaro Franco-Giraldo

Science
01 April 2016 Vol 352, Issue 6281
http://www.sciencemag.org/current.dtl

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Policy Forum
Engage key social concepts for sustainability
By Christina C. Hicks, Arielle Levine, Arun Agrawal, Xavier Basurto, Sara J. Breslow, Courtney Carothers, Susan Charnley, Sarah Coulthard, Nives Dolsak, Jamie Donatuto, Carlos Garcia-Quijano, Michael B. Mascia, Karma Norman, Melissa R. Poe, Terre Satterfield, Kevin St. Martin, Phillip S. Levin
Science01 Apr 2016 : 38-40
Summary
With humans altering climate processes, biogeochemical cycles, and ecosystem functions (1), governments and societies confront the challenge of shaping a sustainable future for people and nature. Policies and practices to address these challenges must draw on social sciences, along with natural sciences and engineering (2). Although various social science approaches can enable and assess progress toward sustainability, debate about such concrete engagement is outpacing actual use. To catalyze uptake, we identify seven key social concepts that are largely absent from many efforts to pursue sustainability goals. We present existing and emerging well-tested indicators and propose priority areas for conceptual and methodological development.

Social Science & Medicine
Volume 153, Pages 1-266 (March 2016)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/02779536/153

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Review Article
Polio vaccine hesitancy in the networks and neighborhoods of Malegaon, India
Original Research Article
Pages 99-106
Jukka-Pekka Onnela, Bruce E. Landon, Anna-Lea Kahn, Danish Ahmed, Harish Verma, A. James O’Malley, Sunil Bahl, Roland W. Sutter, Nicholas A. Christakis
Abstract
Objectives
Eradication and control of childhood diseases through immunization can only work if parents allow their children to be vaccinated. To learn about social network factors associated with polio vaccine hesitancy, we investigated social and spatial clustering of households by their vaccine acceptance status in Malegaon, India, an area known for vaccine refusal and repeated detection of polio cases.
Methods
We interviewed family heads from 2462 households in 25 neighborhoods in July 2012 and constructed social networks based on advice seeking from other households. We restricted our main analyses to surveyed households for which we also had data on whether they accepted the polio vaccine for their eligible children or not.
Results
Data from 2452 households was retained and these households made 2012 nominations to 830 households. Vaccine-refusing households had fewer outgoing ties than vaccine-accepting households. After excluding 24 isolated households, vaccine-refusing households had 189% more nominations to other vaccine-refusing households (93% more in the largest component of the network) compared to vaccine-accepting households, revealing that vaccine-refusing households cluster in the social network. Since roughly half of all ties connect households within neighborhoods, vaccine-refusing clusters lie in spatially localized “pockets”.
Conclusions
The social (and spatial) clustering of vaccine-refusing households could be leveraged to tailor communication strategies to improve vaccine acceptance and community perceptions of immunization programs for polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases.

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Does parental migration really benefit left-behind children? Comparative evidence from Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam
Original Research Article
Pages 230-239
Cuong Viet Nguyen
Abstract
Millions of children are left behind when their parents migrate from home to another place. This study examines whether parental migration can affect health and cognitive ability of left-behind children aged at 5–8 years old in Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam. It uses data on 7725 children in the four countries collected from Young Lives surveys in 2007 and 2009. It finds that although parental migration helps families increase per capita consumption, it does not improve health and cognitive ability of children. The effect of parental migration varies across different countries and different types of migration. In Ethiopia, parental migration does not have a significant effect on children. However, parental migration reduces health outcomes of children in other three countries and decreases cognitive ability test scores in India and Vietnam. The negative effect on children tends to be higher for long-term parental migration than short-term parental migration.
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Stability: International Journal of Security & Development
http://www.stabilityjournal.org/articles
[accessed 2 April 2016]

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Research Article
Citizenship or Repression? Coca, Eradication and Development in the Andes
Thomas Grisaffi, Kathryn Ledebur
Abstract
For over two decades the US has funded repressive forced coca eradication in Peru, Colombia and Bolivia to reduce the illegal cocaine trade. These policies have never met their stated goals and have generated violence and poverty. In 2006 Bolivia definitively broke with the US anti-narcotics model, replacing the militarized eradication of coca crops with a community-based coca control strategy. The program substantially reduced the coca crop while simultaneously respecting human rights and allowing farmers to diversify their livelihoods. This article outlines the elements of the Bolivian initiative that ensure its continued successful functioning. It explores to what extent this model can be translated to other Andean contexts.

The Sentinel

Human Rights Action :: Humanitarian Response :: Health ::
Holistic Development :: Sustainable Resilience
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Week ending 26 March 2016

This weekly digest is intended to aggregate and distill key content from a broad spectrum of practice domains and organization types including key agencies/IGOs, NGOs, governments, academic and research institutions, consortia and collaborations, foundations, and commercial organizations. We also monitor a spectrum of peer-reviewed journals and general media channels. The Sentinel’s geographic scope is global/regional but selected country-level content is included. We recognize that this spectrum/scope yields an indicative and not an exhaustive product. Comments and suggestions should be directed to:

David R. Curry
Editor &
Founding Managing Director
GE2P2 – Center for Governance, Evidence, Ethics, Policy, Practice
david.r.curry@ge2p2center.net

pdf version: The Sentinel_ week ending 26 March 2016

blog edition: comprised of the 35+ entries  posted below.