scholarly journals Helping Québec Pharmacists Seize the Vaccination Service Opportunity: The Pharmacy Best Practice Workshops

Pharmacy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 51
Author(s):  
Kajan Srirangan ◽  
Arnaud Lavenue
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Educational Interventions ◽  
World Health ◽  
Participant Satisfaction ◽  
Pharmacy Profession ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Vulnerable Population Groups

Vaccinations are a safe and effective way to protect against infectious diseases. The World Health Organization estimates vaccines have saved more lives than any other interventions and every year about two to three million deaths are averted worldwide through immunization. To improve vaccination coverage, pharmacists have been increasingly involved in immunization roles in their communities—as advocates, educators, and immunizers. Community pharmacy-based vaccination services have increased both in the number of immunization providers and the number of sites where patients can receive immunizations. In Canada, health care is under provincial legislation—and so, there are distinct differences in scope of pharmacist practice across the country. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020, in Québec, Canada’s second-largest province, pharmacists did not have the authority to administer vaccines. To help prepare pharmacists in Québec to become immunizers, we developed and deployed a series of accredited workshops. In these facilitated workshops, pharmacists were able to share best practices that may lead to providing effective vaccination services, identify common competency gaps, discuss effective patient communication skills, and determine how to target the most vulnerable population groups. Participants were also asked to evaluate the workshop. Our results indicate the evaluation was very reliable in measuring participant satisfaction (Cronbach’s α = 0.94) and pharmacists commented that the workshops’ learning outcomes exceeded their expectations, and the topics covered were relevant and applicable. The evaluation also asked participants to identify weaknesses of training, so future educational interventions can be planned accordingly. We believe this work will contribute to the continual growth and advancement of the pharmacy profession in Canada.

scholarly journals The “Obiettivo Antibiotico” Campaign on Prudent Use of Antibiotics in Sicily, Italy: The Pilot Phase

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
pp. 3077 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina Barchitta ◽  
Annalisa Quattrocchi ◽  
Andrea Maugeri ◽  
Maria Clara La Rosa ◽  
Claudia La Mastra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Antimicrobial Resistance ◽  
General Public ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Educational Interventions ◽  
World Health ◽  
Pilot Phase ◽  
The Public ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

The issue of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a focus of the World Health Organization, which proposes educational interventions targeting the public and healthcare professionals. Here, we present the first attempt at a regionwide multicomponent campaign in Sicily (Italy), called “Obiettivo Antibiotico”, which aims to raise the awareness of prudent use of antibiotics in the public and in healthcare professionals. The campaign was designed by an interdisciplinary academic team, and an interactive website was populated with different materials, including key messages, letters, slogans, posters, factsheets, leaflets, and videos. The campaign was launched in November 2018 and, as of 21 December 2018, the website had a total of 1159 unique visitors, of which 190 became champions by pledging to take simple actions to support the fight against AMR. Data from social media showed that the audience was between 18 and 54 years of age, with a high proportion of female participants (64%). Interestingly, the LinkedIn page received more than 1200 followers, and Facebook 685 followers. The number of actions taken (pledges) by the audience was 458, evenly divided between experts (53%) and the general public (47%). Additional efforts are needed to reach more people, thus future efforts should focus on further promotion within the Sicilian region to sustain the engagement with the campaign.

scholarly journals Life in Anticipation of the COVID-19 Pandemic ‘Peak’: Reflecting on ‘Strategies’ for and Variations in attempts at ‘Flattening the Curve’ and Managing the Crisis

2021 ◽  
pp. 2150016
Author(s):  
Reidar Staupe-Delgado
Keyword(s):  
Initial Phase ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
World Health ◽  
Concerted Effort ◽  
The World ◽  
Global Spread ◽  
Precautionary Measures ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Emergency Measures

On March 11th, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the emerging COVID-19 threat a pandemic following the global spread of the virus. As countries around the world implemented emergency measures in a concerted effort to handle the emerging pandemic, the nature and implications of the different kinds of precautionary measures adopted have remained contested. The majority of countries opted for efforts to slow the rate of infection, whilst critics have argued for stricter and milder measures, respectively. The living experience of the pandemic is inherently temporal as it is shaped by sentiments of living in anticipation of the envisioned pandemic peak(s) and aftermath, as vividly illustrated with references to the need for ‘flattening the curve’ so as to reduce the impact of the looming or creeping crisis. This paper sets out to critically discuss the notion of pandemic ‘strategies’, recognizing also that governments altered their strategic stances throughout the initial phase of the pandemic. It is likely that the aftermath of the crisis will trigger discussions of what kind of response should be considered as best practice. Thus, greater attention to the notion of ‘strategies’ in light of the COVID-19 pandemic is in order.

scholarly journals Inclusive Policymaking Tools: A COVID-19 Pandemic Case Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ans Irfan ◽  
Ankita Arora ◽  
Christopher Jackson ◽  
Celina Valencia
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
The World ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Equity And Inclusion

World Health Organization (WHO) estimates indicate the United States of America has the highest novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) burden in the world, with over 5 million confirmed cases and nearly 165,000 associated deaths as of August 14th, 2020 (WHO 2020). As the COVID-19 mortality and morbidity has disproportionately impacted populations who experience vulnerabilities due to structural issues such as racism (Laurencin and McClinton 2020; Lin II and Money 2020; Martin 2020; Kim et al. 2020), it has become increasingly necessary to take this opportunity and intentionally codify diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices in the policymaking process. To encourage and facilitate this, we synthesize existing literature to identify best practices that can not only be used to inform COVID-19-related public policy activities but will also continue to inform inclusive policymaking processes in the future. We identify specific tools for policymakers at all levels of government to better operationalize the DEI framework and enact inclusive, equitable public policies as a result.

scholarly journals AN ASSESSMENT OF TOBACCO EXCISE ADMINISTRATION PRACTICES IN INDONESIA

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yudhi Dharma Nauly
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
World Health ◽  
Excise Tax ◽  
Revenue Collection ◽  
The World ◽  
Directorate General ◽  
Economic Slowdown ◽  
Health Organization

The global economic slowdown has unquestionably brought down the performance of the Indonesian economy. This, in turn, presented an extraordinary challenge to the Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DGCE) in collecting excise revenues. In the last few decades, tobacco has contributed the largest part of excise revenue. Accordingly, it is inevitable for the DGCE to implement best practices in administrating tobacco excise to optimize revenue collection, while at the same time, enhance public health. Conveniently, The World Health Organization (WHO) provides a series of extensive best practices in that particular field. This study assessed tobacco excise administration practices performed by the DGCE against best practices set by the WHO. This study revealed that, in general, the DGCE has performed well in several practices. However, there are some WHO’s best practices which are unsuitable to be implemented in Indonesia. Unique fiscal, economic, political and social circumstances in Indonesia need to be taken into account in determining and establishing tobacco excise tax policy. 

scholarly journals Supporting countries to achieve their malaria elimination goals: the WHO E-2020 initiative

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim A. Lindblade ◽  
Hong Li Xiao ◽  
Amanda Tiffany ◽  
Gawrie Galappaththy ◽  
Pedro Alonso ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Malaria Transmission ◽  
Malaria Elimination ◽  
Median Number ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
World Health ◽  
Malaria Programme ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Free Status

Abstract Background Malaria causes more than 200 million cases of illness and 400,000 deaths each year across 90 countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) set a goal for 35 countries to eliminate malaria by 2030, with an intermediate milestone of 10 countries by 2020. In 2017, the WHO established the Elimination-2020 (E-2020) initiative to help countries achieve their malaria elimination goals and included 21 countries with the potential to eliminate malaria by 2020. Methods Across its three levels of activity (country, region and global), the WHO developed normative and implementation guidance on strategies and activities to eliminate malaria; provided technical support and subnational operational assistance; convened national malaria programme managers at three global meetings to share innovations and best practices; advised countries on strengthening their strategy to prevent re-establishment and preparing for WHO malaria certification; and contributed to maintaining momentum towards elimination through periodic evaluations, monitoring and oversight of progress in the E-2020 countries. Changes in the number of indigenous cases in E-2020 countries between 2016 and 2020 are reported, along with the number of countries that eliminated malaria and received WHO certification. Results The median number of indigenous cases in the E-2020 countries declined from 165.5 (interquartile range [IQR] 14.25–563.75) in 2016 to 78 (IQR 0–356) in 2020; 12 (57%) countries reported reductions in indigenous cases over that period, of which 7 (33%) interrupted malaria transmission and maintained a malaria-free status through 2020 and 4 (19%) were certified malaria-free by the WHO. Two countries experienced outbreaks of malaria in 2020 and 2021 attributed, in part, to the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions Although the E-2020 countries contributed to the achievement of the 2020 global elimination milestone, the initiative highlights the difficulties countries face to interrupt malaria transmission, even when numbers of cases are very low. The 2025 global elimination milestone is now approaching, and the lessons learned, experience gained, and updated guidance developed during the E-2020 initiative will help serve the countries seeking to eliminate malaria by 2025.

scholarly journals SMALL NODULES LOCALIZATION ON CT IMAGES OF LUNGS

2017 ◽  
Vol XLII-2/W4 ◽  
pp. 141-144
Author(s):  
E. V. Snezhko ◽  
S. A. Kharuzhyk ◽  
A. V. Tuzikov ◽  
V. A. Kovalev
Keyword(s):  
Lung Cancer ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Malignant Tumors ◽  
Pulmonary Nodules ◽  
World Health ◽  
Solitary Pulmonary Nodules ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Aided Diagnosis ◽  
Selection Of

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) lung cancer remains the leading cause of death of men among all malignant tumors [1, 2]. One of the reasons of such a statistics is the fact that the lung cancer is hardly diagnosed on the yearly stages when it is almost asymptomatic. The purpose of this paper is to present a Computer-Aided Diagnosis (CAD) software developed for assistance of early detection of nodules in CT lung images including solitary pulmonary nodules (SPN) as well as multiple nodules. The efficiency of nodule localization was intended to be as high as the level of the best practice. The software developed supports several functions including lungs segmentation, selection of nodule candidates and nodule candidates filtering.

scholarly journals Nanotechnology Law for Commercialization of Nano-Enabled Products

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Opinion Leaders ◽  
World Health ◽  
Exposure Limits ◽  
Governance Of Science ◽  
The World ◽  
Enforcement Authority ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Health Laws

This presentation begins with a very short overview of the emerging laws of nanotechnology and then moves forward to study the key trends in emerging nanoregulations. Now that nanomaterials are becoming part of the global codification of nanoregulations hundreds of emerging laws have begun to sprout like mushrooms in unexpected places all over the globe. Surrounding these mushrooms is a vague and treacherous swamp of new laws draft laws and pre-existing laws. Additionally there are rules emerging from powerful opinion leaders who have expertise but not regulatory authority, such as some USA federal government agencies and the World Health Organization (WHO). This overview of the emerging nanoregulations explores USA OSHA and EU REACh and NIOSH RELs (Recommended Exposure Limits) for carbon nanotubes and nanofibers, NIOSH documents such as TiO2 guidance for nanomaterials and an entire webpage full of sound approaches to nanomaterials should remove many questions about the methods for best practices but leaves legal authority unclear because NIOSH is not an enforcement authority and the concept of RELs itself does not appear anywhere in the OSH Act that created NIOSH. So too, WHO guidelines for workplace exposure to nanomaterials are an unprecedented well intended application of precautionary principles even though no data yet exists demonstrating a link between exposure to manufactured nanomaterials in the workplace and proven harm and WHO has no enforcement authority. This trend towards prevention in face of unquantifed risk is important. This presentation will examine what this means from the global health standpoint, regarding nanotechnology; what does this mean for global health law and governance of science and emerging technologies? This presentation concludes that the new nanomaterial rules focus on problems that haven’t happened yet but that experts believe are likely to occur. This unprecedented preventive phenomenon in nanoregulations impacts risk assessment, quality assurance for compliance and inevitably the acceptaable methods for preventing corporate or professional liability. Therefore nanoregulation is a dynamic process that will influence many health laws around the world.

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