Public health challengesPub Date : 2026-09-15eCollection Date: 2026-09-01DOI: 10.1002/puh2.70362
Sellah Vitumbiko Nkowani, Benard C G Kamanga, Zondiwe Chingati, Thokozani Mzumara
{"title":"Management of Menstrual Hygiene in Promoting Education Among Adolescent Girls in Enqucwini Education Zone in Mzimba District.","authors":"Sellah Vitumbiko Nkowani, Benard C G Kamanga, Zondiwe Chingati, Thokozani Mzumara","doi":"10.1002/puh2.70362","DOIUrl":"10.1002/puh2.70362","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Poor menstrual hygiene management (MHM) greatly impacts girls' education negatively-however, studies exploring menstrual health management in sub-Saharan rural region are rare.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>The study explored MHM practices among adolescent girls in rural Mzimba, ⁴ Malawi.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>It was a mixed-methods study with a sample size of 81. Data were collected through questionnaires, direct observations, FGDs, key informants and participant observation that were used to collect the experiences. Qualitative data were analysed using a thematic approach, and quantitative data using SPSS.</p><p><strong>Findings: </strong>The study results showed that common sanitary facilities were pit latrines (100%), no bathroom during the study period (0%) to be used to bathe and change. Further, the study found that lack of education on menstrual management (96%) and 63% of the respondents cited lack of adequate facilities. The study found lack of water buckets at the toilets (28.1%), and about 23.1% said they did not wash hands because of a lack of handwashing soap. However, the majority of the participants explained that hand washing was not done because of both reasons: lack of water buckets and soap for hand washing (48.8%). Cultural practices promoted absenteeism among young adolescent girls who are prevented from attending school during menstruation to avoid shaming the family.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The study recommends compliance with the sanitation policy, that is, school management to invest in the development of facilities and promotion of menstrual hygiene practices through education to curb harmful cultural practices related to menstruation.</p>","PeriodicalId":74613,"journal":{"name":"Public health challenges","volume":"5 3","pages":"e70362"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13577830/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148984317","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Food Safety Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Among University Students in Rajasthan, India: A Cross-Sectional Study.","authors":"Naresh Kumar Sharma, Naveen Kumar, Ravinder Kaushik, Vijay Pal Singh, Sanjeeb Kumar Mishra","doi":"10.1002/puh2.70364","DOIUrl":"10.1002/puh2.70364","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Foodborne diseases remain a major public health concern worldwide and are frequently associated with unsafe food-handling practices and inadequate hygiene. University students often prepare or consume food independently and may lack sufficient awareness of hygienic food-handling practices.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>To assess food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices among university students in Rajasthan, India and to identify factors associated with hygienic food-handling behaviour.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A cross-sectional study was conducted among 412 university students in Rajasthan, India, using a non-probability convenience sampling approach through an online questionnaire. Data were collected using a structured, self-administered questionnaire comprising items on sociodemographic characteristics, food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices. Knowledge was assessed using 12 statements with true, false and do not know response options. Attitudes and practices were evaluated using a five-point scale. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise the data collected. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the predictors of good food safety practices.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The mean knowledge score was 8.21 ± 2.13 out of 12. Good knowledge was observed in 39.8% of the participants, whereas 51.5% demonstrated a positive attitude towards food safety. However, only 34.5% of the respondents reported good food safety practices. Knowledge scores were positively correlated with practice scores (<i>ρ</i> = 0.41, <i>p</i> < 0.001), and attitude scores were positively correlated with practice scores (<i>ρ</i> = 0.36, <i>p</i> < 0.001). Higher knowledge scores (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 1.38; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.22-1.56; <i>p</i> < 0.001) and previous food safety training (AOR: 1.74; 95% CI: 1.18-2.56; <i>p</i> = 0.004) were significant predictors of good food safety practice.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>University students demonstrated moderate food safety knowledge and generally positive attitudes; however, hygienic food-handling practices were less consistently followed. Strengthening food safety education and awareness programmes among university students may improve food safety behaviours and help reduce the risk of foodborne diseases.</p>","PeriodicalId":74613,"journal":{"name":"Public health challenges","volume":"5 3","pages":"e70364"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13577936/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148984336","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Public health challengesPub Date : 2026-09-15eCollection Date: 2026-09-01DOI: 10.1002/puh2.70378
Sana Rasheed, Azka Mujeeb, Misbah Sarfraz, Abedin Samadi, Ahmed Asad Raza
{"title":"Integrating Conventional and Emerging Approaches in Cardiovascular Risk Assessment and Management.","authors":"Sana Rasheed, Azka Mujeeb, Misbah Sarfraz, Abedin Samadi, Ahmed Asad Raza","doi":"10.1002/puh2.70378","DOIUrl":"10.1002/puh2.70378","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain the leading cause of global mortality, and the burden is rising fastest in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Conventional risk calculators, such as Framingham and Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation (SCORE), incorporate age, blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes and smoking, yet they underperform in populations that differ from their derivation cohorts and leave substantial residual risk unexplained. This narrative review evaluates traditional risk factors alongside emerging tools, including coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring, polygenic risk scores (PRS) and inflammatory biomarkers such as high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and interleukin-6. It examines the contribution of lifestyle and environmental exposures-chronic stress, physical inactivity, and air pollution-to inflammatory and atherogenic pathways and considers the role of imaging, molecular biomarkers, and artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted algorithms in risk stratification. Management strategies combining pharmacological therapy (statins, antihypertensives and antidiabetic agents) with individualised de-escalation, lifestyle modification and precision medicine are summarised. Rather than describing each tool in isolation, this review compares them directly on incremental predictive value, cost, infrastructure requirements, equity implications and readiness for routine implementation, and proposes a stepwise pathway for integrating them into cardiovascular risk assessment. Particular attention is given to feasibility in resource-constrained health systems, where most of the global CVD burden now falls. We conclude that the near-term public health gain lies less in broad adoption of novel tests than in their selective use where they change management, coupled with stronger delivery of established, low-cost preventive care.</p>","PeriodicalId":74613,"journal":{"name":"Public health challenges","volume":"5 3","pages":"e70378"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13577832/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148984375","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Cultural Beliefs and Perceptions of Breast Cancer Among Adolescent Girls in Semi-Urban Bangladesh: A School-Based Cross-Sectional Study.","authors":"Ryadul Alam, Sadia Akter, Tanaa Mohammad, Rowshanara Rini, Mst Mariyam, Afrana Akter Priti, Aishwaria Mitra Ayshee, Md Shahriar Hossen Sayem, Afsana Mohammad Mimi, Zubaida Iftekhar, Md Habibullah Talukder, Md Tajuddin Sikder","doi":"10.1002/puh2.70369","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/puh2.70369","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women and poses a growing public health burden in developing countries, including Bangladesh. Cultural stigma, limited awareness, and delayed recognition contribute to late diagnosis, particularly among younger females. This study examines cultural beliefs and perceptions of breast cancer among adolescent girls in semi-urban Bangladesh.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted among adolescent girls in semi-urban Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh, from January to May 2025. Four schools were randomly selected, and 384 participants were recruited using stratified random sampling. Cultural beliefs about breast cancer were assessed using a modified 13-item Ferrans Cultural Beliefs Scale, translated into Bangla using a committee-based approach. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 26 with descriptive statistics, <i>t</i>-tests, one-way ANOVA, and multiple linear regression.</p><p><strong>Result: </strong>Cultural belief score is 7.38 ± 2.08, rooted misconceptions among participants. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that a higher class of study was positively associated with cultural belief scores (<i>β</i> = 0.236, <i>p</i> = 0.037), whereas having a family history of breast cancer was strongly associated with lower cultural belief scores (<i>β</i> = -1.979, <i>p</i> < 0.001). Reliance on friends as a source of information significantly increased cultural belief scores (<i>β</i> = 1.358, <i>p</i> < 0.001). Parental education and average monthly family income were not significant predictors (<i>p</i> > 0.05).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Adolescent girls in semi-urban Bangladesh showed a moderate level of cultural beliefs about breast cancer, with a higher class of study, reliance on friends as an information source, and the absence of a family history of breast cancer associated with a greater endorsement of these beliefs, underscoring the need for early, culturally sensitive school-based education.</p>","PeriodicalId":74613,"journal":{"name":"Public health challenges","volume":"5 3","pages":"e70369"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13577932/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148993010","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Public health challengesPub Date : 2026-09-15eCollection Date: 2026-09-01DOI: 10.1002/puh2.70358
Ehmaidy Al Qaf'an, Stewart Alford, Holly A Mack, David Lim
{"title":"Decision-Making in Public Health Crises: A Qualitative Systematic Review and Meta-Ethnography.","authors":"Ehmaidy Al Qaf'an, Stewart Alford, Holly A Mack, David Lim","doi":"10.1002/puh2.70358","DOIUrl":"10.1002/puh2.70358","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Decision-making (DM) during public health crises occurs under uncertainty, time pressure and resource constraints. Although numerous studies examine leadership and governance during crises, evidence remains fragmented and has not been systematically synthesised to integrate the DM models used in practice with the factors that shape those decisions. This qualitative systematic review addresses this gap by examining how health system leaders make decisions during public health crises.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A qualitative systematic review using a meta-ethnographic approach was conducted in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) 2020 guidelines. The protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023475382). PubMed, Medline, Embase, Scopus, Business Source, CINAHL and ProQuest were searched for English-language qualitative studies published since 1962.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Twenty-one studies were included with seven DM models and eight prioritised decision factors identified. Adaptive and evidence-based models predominated, reflecting the need to act under conditions of urgency while continuously incorporating emerging information. Knowledge and urgency emerged as key, interdependent drivers shaping model selection, highlighting that effective crisis DM depends not only on the choice of model but also on how the tension between rapid action and informed judgement is managed.</p><p><strong>Limitations: </strong>Non-English literature was excluded, and the evidence base was dominated by COVID-19 studies and developed-country settings, which may limit transferability to lower resource contexts.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This review provides an integrated synthesis of DM models and prioritised decision factors during public health crises. The findings underscore the importance of strengthening real-time evidence systems and adaptive decision capacity to support timely, accountable and context-sensitive crisis decisions.</p>","PeriodicalId":74613,"journal":{"name":"Public health challenges","volume":"5 3","pages":"e70358"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13577831/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148984340","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Public health challengesPub Date : 2026-09-15eCollection Date: 2026-09-01DOI: 10.1002/puh2.70379
Abraham Fessehaye Sium, Don Eliseo Lucero-Prisno
{"title":"The Terminator-A Blood Test for Early Detection of 50 Cancers.","authors":"Abraham Fessehaye Sium, Don Eliseo Lucero-Prisno","doi":"10.1002/puh2.70379","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/puh2.70379","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Globally, cancer remains the second leading cause of premature death. Although there are existing cancer screening programs for early detection of some of the cancers, screening remains ineffective and at times difficult for the deadliest ones, as a result of which patients present in advanced stages with guarded prognoses. Recently, promising results have been found in the largest interventional study (PATHFINDER2) of Galleri test (a multi-cancer early detection [MCED] test). In this article, we dive below this headline and discuss its implications for actual clinical care and what it may contribute in addressing cancer as a top public health problem.</p>","PeriodicalId":74613,"journal":{"name":"Public health challenges","volume":"5 3","pages":"e70379"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13578097/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148992978","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Predictive Modelling of Climate-Driven Malaria Transmission for Optimal Control Using a Coupled SEIR-SEI and GIS Framework.","authors":"Tafadzwa Chivasa, Mlamuli Dhlamini, Auther Maviza, Wilfred Njabulo Nunu","doi":"10.1002/puh2.70375","DOIUrl":"10.1002/puh2.70375","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Climate change is a potent intensifier of vector-borne disease dynamics; however, its impact on malaria in pre-elimination settings remains poorly understood. A climate-sensitive transmission model integrated with 11 years of clinical surveillance and facility-level spatial risk data was applied to assess malaria elimination prospects in Zimbabwe's Mberengwa District. Under mid-century warming in a high-emission scenario, the peak infectious prevalence is projected to increase by more than 4-fold, and the duration of high-intensity transmission will increase from 213 to 250 days per year. Decadal seasonal oscillations in case counts were reproduced by the model, whereas recent overestimation reflected intensified elimination activities that suppressed transmission below climate-driven expectations. Sensitivity analysis identified temperature-dependent mosquito mortality as the dominant source of uncertainty, with insecticide-based indoor spraying being the most influential, modifiable intervention. Simulations indicate that high-coverage spraying alone can achieve elimination, and a fully integrated strategy, including bed nets, spraying and gametocyte-targeting therapy, can reduce transmission by 85%. Spatial mapping of 37 health facility catchments highlighted five high-priority hotspots concentrated in the southern and south-eastern health facilities, where climate exposure and the current burden of disease converge. These results provide a locally informed, climate-intelligent framework to support malaria elimination in the context of accelerating climate change.</p>","PeriodicalId":74613,"journal":{"name":"Public health challenges","volume":"5 3","pages":"e70375"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13577938/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148984341","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Public health challengesPub Date : 2026-09-15eCollection Date: 2026-09-01DOI: 10.1002/puh2.70372
Don Eliseo Lucero Prisno, Mohamed Mustaf Ahmed, Zhinya Kawa Othman, Rahmatullah Nazari, Uthman Okikiola Adebayo, Olalekan John Okesanya, Shuaibu Saidu Musa, Francesco Branda, Abdullahi Hassan Elmi, Jerico Bautista Ogaya
{"title":"Top 10 Public Health Challenges in 2025: Lessons and Priorities for 2025-2030.","authors":"Don Eliseo Lucero Prisno, Mohamed Mustaf Ahmed, Zhinya Kawa Othman, Rahmatullah Nazari, Uthman Okikiola Adebayo, Olalekan John Okesanya, Shuaibu Saidu Musa, Francesco Branda, Abdullahi Hassan Elmi, Jerico Bautista Ogaya","doi":"10.1002/puh2.70372","DOIUrl":"10.1002/puh2.70372","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>By 2025, global public health will be shaped by interconnected and intensifying threats that demand coordinated international action. Ten key public health challenges were identified and examined. This perspective reviews the challenges that shaped 2025 and the priorities set for the period 2025-2030, using evidence available up to July 2026; therefore, it is in part a retrospective assessment of that year rather than solely a prospective identification of challenges at its outset. The designation of the Top 10 denotes prominence and salience rather than a strict ordinal ranking. The challenges selected for this year include drug-resistant infections, health consequences of a warming planet, rising rates of psychological distress, persistent burden of long-term diseases and health inequities, preparedness for future disease outbreaks, widespread hunger and poor nutrition, shortages of doctors and nurses, harmful use of alcohol and drugs, barriers to reproductive and sexual well-being, and ethical questions raised by the growing role of computing and data-driven tools in medicine. Each challenge was examined in terms of its current scope, the populations most affected, and the strategies needed to mount an effective response to it. The analysis draws out the cross-cutting links among the 10 challenges and sets out a proposed agenda for action for 2025-2030. The adoption of the World Health Organization Pandemic Agreement by the World Health Assembly in May 2025 established an important framework for future cooperation, although the agreement had not been opened for signature and had not entered into force at the time of writing, and progress across most indicators continued to fall short of global targets. Pressures that intensified in 2025, notably the retrenchment of international health financing and the rapid clinical adoption of artificial intelligence ahead of rigorous evaluation, further sharpened several of these challenges.</p>","PeriodicalId":74613,"journal":{"name":"Public health challenges","volume":"5 3","pages":"e70372"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13577931/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148984389","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Public health challengesPub Date : 2026-09-15eCollection Date: 2026-09-01DOI: 10.1002/puh2.70363
K L Holloway-Kew, M Henneberg
{"title":"Can Multidrug-Resistant and Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis be Treated More Successfully?","authors":"K L Holloway-Kew, M Henneberg","doi":"10.1002/puh2.70363","DOIUrl":"10.1002/puh2.70363","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Signs and symptoms of tuberculosis (TB) are a result of a disturbed balance between <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> and the patient's tolerance to its pathogenic properties. Pharmacological treatments elicit the evolution of drug resistance, and there is a need to consider alternative treatment methods. We performed a statistical analysis of World Health Organization (WHO) data, combined with an analysis of old medical records, aimed at suggesting a new treatment.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Data from the WHO for all countries worldwide (<i>N</i> = 215) on the epidemiology of all TB cases, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related TB, multidrug-resistant TB (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR) in 2012-2022 contain prevalence, success rate of treatment, mortality and numbers of failed treatments and patients lost-to-follow-up. Data on success rates in old 'sanatoria treatment', widespread before the 1940s, were used to predict hypothetical success rates of drug-resistant cases if sanatoria treatment were added to treatment regimes.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>After 2012, the number of MDR and XDR cases increased faster than the total number of TB cases, as did their proportions among the total. Success rates of MDR (∼70%) and XDR (around 60%) treatments would hypothetically increase to around 90%, when supplemented by sanatoria treatment success.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Adding treatments for increasing tolerance to TB infection to the current pharmacological treatments may improve outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":74613,"journal":{"name":"Public health challenges","volume":"5 3","pages":"e70363"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13577933/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148984307","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Public health challengesPub Date : 2026-09-10eCollection Date: 2026-09-01DOI: 10.1002/puh2.70278
Panagiotis Douris, George Kodovazenitis
{"title":"AI-Driven Dentistry and Public Health Surveillance: Opportunities and Challenges.","authors":"Panagiotis Douris, George Kodovazenitis","doi":"10.1002/puh2.70278","DOIUrl":"10.1002/puh2.70278","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into dentistry is reshaping clinical workflows, opening new possibilities for population-level public health monitoring. Machine learning approaches, such as convolutional neural networks and other deep learning architectures, are becoming more and more capable to exhibit diagnostic performances, which are close to those of expert human readers. Beyond single-clinic decision support, aggregated outputs that have been collected from AI diagnostic systems could be used as real-time signals for population surveillance: When combined with geospatial and socioeconomic datasets, they may help reveal structural barriers to care. This review presents opportunities and constraints at the intersection of diagnostic AI and dental public health surveillance and outlines a five-stage framework (data ingestion, spatiotemporal aggregation, socioeconomic enrichment, predictive modeling, and dashboard deployment) for turning de-identified AI outputs into actionable, equity-focused public health intelligence. This article also examines methodological, privacy, and governance challenges-including bias, interpretability, and accountability-as well as ethical issues and proposes safeguards to support equitable deployment.</p>","PeriodicalId":74613,"journal":{"name":"Public health challenges","volume":"5 3","pages":"e70278"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13561582/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148932041","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}