Showing papers by "J. Jaime Miranda published in 2007"

Mental Health in the Millennium Development Goals: Authors' Reply

Abstract: We appreciate the feedback and responses generated since the publication of our paper of September 13, 2005 [1]. It clearly fulfils our aim of initiating a debate around the core issue expressed in our work—mainly how the targets expressed in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) may have the unintended consequence of relegating mental health and noncommunicable diseases in general from the vision of policy makers. Using evidence on mental health in developing countries, we argued in our paper that addressing mental health problems is an integral part of health system interventions aimed at achieving some of the key MDGs, a view supported by the responses to our paper. However, we should clarify that within the MDGs there is not a “millennium mental health development goal” as suggested by Kasi et al [2]. Sachs and Sachs state that “the reason that the MDGs do not explicitly address noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular or psychiatric is because the MDGs focus on the gap in health status of rich and poor countries, a gap mainly accounted for by infectious diseases, malnutrition, and unsafe childbirth. The goals were crafted to address these large gaps rather than to solve all pressing health problems” [3] We think this assertion deserves their reassessment. It is a common view to assume that the developing world suffers mainly from infectious diseases. In fact, noncommunicable diseases kill people at economically and socially productive ages and kill them mostly in the developing world: 80% of chronic disease deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries [4]. Another misconception is that the epidemic of noncommunicable diseases is still to come. That is no longer true: it is here already [5–7]. We need an informed debate about the health interventions needed to tackle the burden of disease in the developing world, and one that goes beyond the MDGs as they are currently configured. We are delighted to learn that the Sachs are “exploring ways to integrate mental health care within the health systems,” and agree that development and public health communities—including mental health professionals—need to work together to ensure that the MDGs can be achieved. Explicitly tackling these mental health gaps, in parallel with achieving the existing MDGs, would be a major achievement, resulting in significant improvement in mental health around the world.

Factores de riesgo asociados a infección aguda por hepatitis B en población militar destacada al departamento de Amazonas, Perú

Abstract: ReSUMeN AbSTRACT Peru is considered a mid-high endemic country for viral hepatitis B virus (HBV) and its prevalence varies between regions. There is limited reported data of the problem of HBV infection in rural areas and military personnel. Objective. We evaluated risk factors associated with an increased risk of HBV infection in an outbreak among military personnel deployed in the rainforest region of Ampama, Amazonas, Peru. Material and methods. Case-control study amongst soldiers placed in Ampama post and El Milagro base. HBsAg and potential family, personal, hygiene and sanitation and specific risk factors for the area were evaluated. Results. A total of 123 male military personnel, 41 in each group (cases, control group 1 and control group 2) were included in the study. 73.2% of cases had confirmed HBV acute infection (IgM anti-HBc positive) and delta antibody was positive in 1/37 (2.7%) of the cases. None of the traditional risk factors showed a significant association with hepatitis B. Some risk factors with borderline association were contact with someone sick due to hepatitis B (OR 2.3, 95%IC 0.9 - 5.7) and bat bites (OR 1.6, 95%CI 0.6 - 4.4). Conclusions. The outbreak described was due to HBV and classical risk factors did not show an association with hepatitis B in this study. Military personnel are a risk group to develop HBV infection and HBV continues to be an important problem in these areas.