Bulletin of the World Health Organization最新文献

A policy assessment tool to identify causes of inequities that influence obesity prevalence.

IF 8.4 2区医学

Bulletin of the World Health Organization Pub Date : 2025-01-01 Epub Date: 2024-12-03 DOI: 10.2471/BLT.24.292061

Tim Lobstein, Mojca Gabrijelčič

{"title":"A policy assessment tool to identify causes of inequities that influence obesity prevalence.","authors":"Tim Lobstein, Mojca Gabrijelčič","doi":"10.2471/BLT.24.292061","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.24.292061","url":null,"abstract":"When policy-makers propose health-related initiatives they need to assess the impact on health inequalities, including disparities in diet-related diseases and obesity. Health impact assessments, including health equity assessments, can provide insights into the potential health outcomes, but they are usually based on engagement with stakeholders and beneficiaries and their quality is not easy to evaluate. In this paper, we propose a policy assessment tool designed to ask a set of questions on the impact on health equity of policies and interventions that may be answerable from empirical evidence or from public health principles. The results can be graded by strength of the impact and direction of the likely effects, and can provide a summary of how a policy or initiative may increase or decrease health inequity. The questions can be used as part of the scoping review for an impact assessment. We describe the application of this approach to the evaluation of three population-based policies to assess their likely impact on obesity inequalities: (i) policies to restrict children's exposure to the promotional marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages; (ii) policies on food and beverage reformulation; and (iii) policies to improve food procurement for public institutions.","PeriodicalId":9465,"journal":{"name":"Bulletin of the World Health Organization","volume":"103 1","pages":"57-65"},"PeriodicalIF":8.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11704626/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142945118","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Medicine availability and affordability for paediatric cancers, China.

IF 8.4 2区医学

Bulletin of the World Health Organization Pub Date : 2025-01-01 Epub Date: 2024-11-12 DOI: 10.2471/BLT.24.291640

Lin Bai, Tao Huang, Huangqianyu Li, Luwen Shi, Avram Denburg, Sumit Gupta, Xiaodong Guan

{"title":"Medicine availability and affordability for paediatric cancers, China.","authors":"Lin Bai, Tao Huang, Huangqianyu Li, Luwen Shi, Avram Denburg, Sumit Gupta, Xiaodong Guan","doi":"10.2471/BLT.24.291640","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.24.291640","url":null,"abstract":"Objective: To investigate access to essential anticancer medicines for children throughout China.Methods: We obtained cross-sectional drug use data for 2021 from 55 tertiary children's hospitals in seven geographical regions (one third of public children's hospitals in mainland China). Affordability was assessed by comparing the single-day copayment for each medicine with the same generic name and route of administration (i.e. product) or for a treatment course with daily disposable income per capita in each region. The median availability and affordability of all 33 anticancer medicines in the 2021 WHO Model list of essential medicines for children were calculated and compared by region and medicine type.Findings: Although all medicines had been approved in China, 14 (42.4%) were available in under 50% of hospitals and six (18.2%) products had a median single-day copayment exceeding daily disposable income. Median availability was higher among the 19 medicines with approval for paediatric indications than among the 14 without (80.0% versus 48.2%, respectively; P < 0.001). Overall, 42.4% (14/33) of medicines had both good availability and affordability; the lowest proportion was in north-west China (30.3%, 10/33). A Chinese resident needed to work for 5.3 days to afford 4 weeks' induction therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, the most common childhood cancer.Conclusion: Access to essential anticancer medicines for children remained suboptimal in China and varied across regions. Fewer than half the medicines studied had both good availability and affordability. Actions are warranted to address potential shortages and decrease the financial burden on families.","PeriodicalId":9465,"journal":{"name":"Bulletin of the World Health Organization","volume":"103 1","pages":"19-31B"},"PeriodicalIF":8.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11704639/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142945284","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Glenda Gray: overcoming obstacles, driving innovation.

IF 8.4 2区医学

Bulletin of the World Health Organization Pub Date : 2025-01-01 DOI: 10.2471/BLT.25.030125

引用次数: 0

Mitigating the unintended consequences of health-care initiatives.

IF 8.4 2区医学

Bulletin of the World Health Organization Pub Date : 2025-01-01 DOI: 10.2471/BLT.25.020125

引用次数: 0

What justifies public engagement in health financing decisions?

IF 8.4 2区医学

Bulletin of the World Health Organization Pub Date : 2025-01-01 DOI: 10.2471/BLT.24.291860

Matthew S McCoy, Johan L Dellgren, Ezekiel J Emanuel

{"title":"What justifies public engagement in health financing decisions?","authors":"Matthew S McCoy, Johan L Dellgren, Ezekiel J Emanuel","doi":"10.2471/BLT.24.291860","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.24.291860","url":null,"abstract":"The World Bank's report, Open and inclusive: fair processes for financing universal health coverage, represents an important effort to specify the benefits and criteria of fair processes in health financing decisions. Here we argue that the report's justification for increasing public engagement in health financing decisions, one of its most novel contributions, rests on a widely shared but flawed assumption that public engagement will produce more equitable outcomes. Examining evidence from national-level public engagement initiatives cited in the report, we argue that there is no reason to assume that engaged publics will prioritize equity over other relevant values such as the maximization of population health. We conclude that instead of seeing public engagement as a tool for advancing particular values, policy-makers should view it as a neutral way of assessing what the public values and gathering insights that can inform the design of health benefits packages. If policy-makers wish to prioritize equity, they should do so directly through substantive policy choices regarding the design and financing of coverage schemes.","PeriodicalId":9465,"journal":{"name":"Bulletin of the World Health Organization","volume":"103 1","pages":"32-36"},"PeriodicalIF":8.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11704629/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142944907","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Public health round-up.

IF 8.4 2区医学

Bulletin of the World Health Organization Pub Date : 2025-01-01 DOI: 10.2471/BLT.25.010125

引用次数: 0

Disease foci of pharmaceutical research and development as reflected in applications for International Nonproprietary Names, 1953-2022.

IF 8.4 2区医学

Bulletin of the World Health Organization Pub Date : 2025-01-01 Epub Date: 2024-11-04 DOI: 10.2471/BLT.23.291203

Sarel F Malan, Sophie Aj Lasseur, Antonio Romeo, Raffaella Balocco

{"title":"Disease foci of pharmaceutical research and development as reflected in applications for International Nonproprietary Names, 1953-2022.","authors":"Sarel F Malan, Sophie Aj Lasseur, Antonio Romeo, Raffaella Balocco","doi":"10.2471/BLT.23.291203","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.23.291203","url":null,"abstract":"Objective: To evaluate trends in pharmaceutical research and development, and to correlate these trends with global medical need.Methods: We obtained details of proposed pharmaceutical substances from 1953 to 2022 from the International Nonproprietary Names (INN) database. We used the DrugBank and Cortellis databases to obtain the INN included in approved medicines over the same period. To evaluate trends, we categorized INN into 12 therapeutic classes according to their stem classification, and compared these trends with actual global medical need by extracting the INN in medicines included in essential medicines lists.Findings: Out of a total of 10 611 proposed INN within our 12 therapeutic groups, 2280 were included in approved or registered medicines. We observed a considerable decrease in the number of new INN for anti-infective and antiparasitic, central nervous system and cardiovascular system medicines over the study period. In contrast, the number of new substances in the fields of antineoplastic, immunomodulatory, blood and haemopoietic system, and cell and gene therapy medicines has been increasing. In terms of public health impact, only 17.3% (441/11 453) of all INN in approved medicines are included in the World Health Organization Model list of essential medicines, the highest proportion of which are anti-infective and antiparasitic medicines.Conclusion: Despite a high demand from global health systems, medicine development for neglected tropical and other infectious diseases remains largely dependent on national policy, governmental and philanthropic funding, and partnerships. Better alignment of research and development strategy and investment in global medical needs is required.","PeriodicalId":9465,"journal":{"name":"Bulletin of the World Health Organization","volume":"103 1","pages":"9-18"},"PeriodicalIF":8.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11704642/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142945172","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Fragmented markets for older antibiotics and child formulations, Denmark, Norway, Sweden.

IF 8.4 2区医学

Bulletin of the World Health Organization Pub Date : 2025-01-01 Epub Date: 2024-12-03 DOI: 10.2471/BLT.24.292102

Christine Årdal, Mohamed Gawad, Enrico Baraldi, Marianne Jahre, Charlotta Edlund

{"title":"Fragmented markets for older antibiotics and child formulations, Denmark, Norway, Sweden.","authors":"Christine Årdal, Mohamed Gawad, Enrico Baraldi, Marianne Jahre, Charlotta Edlund","doi":"10.2471/BLT.24.292102","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.24.292102","url":null,"abstract":"Antibiotic resistance is one of the most urgent threats to public health. The development of antibiotic resistance can be reduced by the use of narrow-spectrum antibiotics that target specific bacteria, meaning that fewer non-harmful bacteria are killed and other harmful bacteria are not exposed to selection pressure. However, many narrow-spectrum antibiotics were introduced decades ago and therefore lack regulatory documentation in line with current standards. An additional problem for a reliable supply is that of market fragmentation, where countries with similar resistance patterns and prescribing cultures (e.g. Norway and Sweden) prioritize different formulations and strengths. For example, over half of Sweden's highest priority paediatric antibiotics are not marketed in Denmark or Norway in the same formulations or dosages. Such market fragmentation, which can result in the annual demand of a country being smaller than batch production sizes, means that specific strengths and formulations may no longer be economical to supply. Further, once an antibiotic has been withdrawn from the market, it is difficult to attract a new supplier because of the cost of the clinical trials required to update approval of the drug. However, as resistance to antibiotics increases among populations, clinicians need access to the maximum possible range of antibiotics. Regional collaboration, that is, the harmonization of essential medicines lists (including strengths and formulations for older antibiotics) between countries, is a recommended first step towards reliable access to the necessary range of antibiotics.","PeriodicalId":9465,"journal":{"name":"Bulletin of the World Health Organization","volume":"103 1","pages":"51-56"},"PeriodicalIF":8.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11704633/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142945201","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Predatory journals: what can we do to protect their prey?

IF 8.4 2区医学

Bulletin of the World Health Organization Pub Date : 2025-01-01 DOI: 10.2471/BLT.24.293036

Christine Laine, Dianne Babski, Vivienne C Bachelet, Till W Bärnighausen, Christopher Baethge, Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, Frank Frizelle, Laragh Gollogly, Sabine Kleinert, Elizabeth Loder, João Monteiro, Eric J Rubin, Peush Sahni, Christina C Wee, Jin-Hong Yoo, Lilia Zakhama

引用次数: 0

Guidelines for contributors.

IF 8.4 2区医学

Bulletin of the World Health Organization Pub Date : 2025-01-01 DOI: 10.2471/BLT.25.960125

引用次数: 0