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Mapping residual transmission for malaria elimination
As countries get closer to eliminating malaria, targeting their resources effectively becomes an increasingly urgent question. Swaziland has made great progress in reducing malaria in recent years. Its National Malaria Control Program has reported a substantial decline in cases since 1999, and it has the potential to achieve the goal of eliminating the disease entirely. In order to do so, though, decision-makers in Swaziland need to look beyond national trends and focus more closely on differences that exist within the country – to identify the hot spots where malaria hasn’t yet been eliminated, and where risk of transmission is highest. In order to help in this effort, researchers have developed a model that captures an important aspect of the potential for malaria transmission in the country: how many new malaria infections are caused by each case, and how this varies across Swaziland.
Coverage and system efficiencies of insecticide-treated nets in Africa from 2000 to 2017
Insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) for malaria control are widespread but coverage remains inadequate. We developed a Bayesian model using data from 102 national surveys, triangulated against delivery data and distribution reports, to generate year-by-year estimates of four ITN coverage indicators.
A shortened verbal autopsy instrument for use in routine mortality surveillance systems
Verbal autopsy (VA) is recognized as the only feasible alternative to comprehensive medical certification of deaths in settings with no or unreliable vital registration systems. However, a barrier to its use by national registration systems has been the amount of time and cost needed for data collection. In this paper we describe a shortened version of the VA instrument developed for the Population Health Metrics Research Consortium Gold Standard Verbal Autopsy Validation Study using a systematic approach.
Improving performance of the Tariff Method for assigning causes of death to verbal autopsies
In the absence of comprehensive medical certification of deaths, the only feasible way to collect essential mortality data is verbal autopsy (VA). The Tariff Method was developed by the Population Health Metrics Research Consortium to ascertain causes of death from VA information. We describe the further development of the Tariff Method.
Benchmarking health system performance across regions in Uganda: a systematic analysis of levels and trends in key maternal and child health interventions and outcomes, 1990–2011
Globally, countries are increasingly prioritizing the reduction of health inequalities and provision of universal health coverage. While national benchmarking has become more common, such work at subnational levels is rare. The timely and rigorous measurement of local levels and trends in key health interventions and outcomes is vital to identifying areas of progress and detecting early signs of stalled or declining health system performance.
The global burden of injury: incidence, mortality, disability-adjusted life years and time trends from the Global Burden of Disease study 2013
The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors study (GBD) used the disability-adjusted life year (DALY) to quantify the burden of diseases, injuries, and risk factors. This paper provides an overview of injury estimates from the 2013 update of GBD, with detailed information on incidence, mortality, DALYs, and rates of change from 1990 to 2013 for 26 causes of injury, globally, by region, and by country.
Assessing Impact, Improving Health: Progress in Child Health Across Regions in Uganda
Assessing Impact, Improving Health: Progress in Child Health Across Regions in Uganda is the culmination of the Malaria Control Policy Assessment (MCPA) project, which has sought to quantify the impact of malaria control and other child health interventions on reductions in under-5 mortality.
Ambient air pollution exposure estimation for the Global Burden of Disease 2013
Exposure to ambient air pollution is a major risk factor for global disease. Assessment of the impacts of air pollution on population health and the evaluation of trends relative to other major risk factors requires regularly updated, accurate, spatially resolved exposure estimates.
Estimating distributions of health state severity for the Global Burden of Disease study
Many major causes of disability in the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study present with a range of severity, and for most causes finding population distributions of severity can be difficult due to issues of sparse data, inconsistent measurement, and need to account for comorbidities. We developed an indirect approach to obtain severity distributions empirically from survey data.
Deficiencies under plenty of sun: Vitamin D status among adults in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2013
Vitamin D deficiency has been correlated with several diseases and injuries including diabetes, osteoporosis, fractures, and falls. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), current data on vitamin D status are lacking. To inform Saudi public health authorities on the current status of blood levels vitamin D deficiency, we analyzed data from the Saudi Health Interview Survey.
The health status of Saudi women: findings from a national survey
We conducted a large national survey in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2013. We report on the health status of Saudi women and their health challenges.
Stroke prevalence, mortality and disability-adjusted life years in adults aged 20–64 years in 1990–2013: Data from the Global Burden of Disease 2013 study
Recent evidence suggests that stroke is increasing as a cause of morbidity and mortality in younger adults, where it carries particular significance for working individuals. Accurate and up-to-date estimates of stroke burden are important for planning stroke prevention and management in younger adults. This study aims to estimate prevalence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and their trends for total, ischemic stroke (IS), and hemorrhagic stroke (HS) in the world for 1990–2013 in adults aged 20–64 years.
Update on the global burden of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke in 1990–2013: the GBD 2013 study
Background Global stroke epidemiology is changing rapidly. Although age-standardized rates of stroke mortality have decreased worldwide in the past two decades, the absolute numbers of people who have a stroke every year, and live with the consequences of stroke or die from their stroke, are increasing. Regular updates on the current level of stroke burden are important for advancing our knowledge on stroke epidemiology and facilitating organization and planning of evidence-based stroke care.
Atlas of the global burden of stroke (1990–2013): The GBD 2013 Study
World mapping is an important tool to visualize stroke burden and its trends in various regions and countries. Geographic patterns are shown of incidence, prevalence, mortality, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and years lived with disability (YLDs) and their trends for ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke in the world for 1990–2013.
Sex differences in stroke incidence, prevalence, mortality and disability-adjusted life years: Results from the Global Burden of Disease study 2013
Background Accurate information on stroke burden in men and women is important for evidence-based healthcare planning and resource allocation. Previously, limited research suggested that the absolute number of deaths from stroke in women was greater than in men, but the incidence and mortality rates were greater in men. However, sex differences in various metrics of stroke burden on a global scale have not been a subject of comprehensive and comparable assessment for most regions of the world, nor have sex differences in stroke burden been examined for trends over time.
Missed opportunities for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) immunization in Mesoamerica: potential impact on coverage and days at risk
Recent outbreaks of measles in the Americas have received news and popular attention, noting the importance of vaccination to population health. To estimate the potential increase in immunization coverage and reduction in days at risk if every opportunity to vaccinate a child was used, we analyzed vaccination histories of children 11–59 months of age from large household surveys in Mesoamerica.
Global and regional patterns in cardiovascular mortality from 1990 to 2013
There is a global commitment to reduce premature cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) 25% by 2025. The purpose of the present report is to (1) describe global trends and regional variation in premature mortality attributable to CVD, (2) review past and current approaches to the measurement of these trends, and (3) describe the limitations of existing models of epidemiological transitions for explaining the observed distribution and trends of CVD mortality.
The clock is ticking: the rate and timeliness of antiretroviral therapy initiation from the time of treatment eligibility in Kenya
Understanding the determinants of timely antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation is useful for HIV programs intent on developing models of care that reduce delays in treatment initiation while maintaining a high quality of care. We analyzed patient- and facility-level determinants of time to ART initiation among patients who initiated ART in Kenya.
Cause-specific mortality for 240 causes in China during 1990–2013: a systematic subnational analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013
Following the methods of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 (GBD 2013), we have systematically analyzed all available demographic and epidemiological data sources for China at the provincial level. We assessed levels of and trends in all-cause mortality, causes of death, and years of life lost (YLL) in all 33 province-level administrative units in mainland China, all of which we refer to as provinces, for the years between 1990 and 2013.
Under-5 mortality in 2,851 Chinese counties, 1996–2012: a subnational assessment of achieving MDG 4 goals in China
In the past two decades, the under-5 mortality rate in China has fallen substantially, but progress with regard to the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4 at the subnational level has not been quantified. We aimed to estimate under-5 mortality rates in mainland China for the years 1970 to 2012.
Medication use for chronic health conditions among adults in Saudi Arabia: findings from a national household survey
Chronic diseases and their risk factors are believed to be common in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Most of them require long-term management through medications. We examined patterns of medication use for chronic health conditions (CHC) in KSA based on a national survey.