https://www.who.int/immunization/diseases/pneumococcal/GBD_pneumococcus.pdf

Burden of disease caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae in children younger than 5 years: global estimates

Objective To quantify the risk of future cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and mortality after pre-eclampsia. Design Systematic review and meta-analysis. Data sources Embase and Medline without language restrictions, including papers published between 1960 and December 2006, and hand searching of reference lists of relevant articles and reviews for additional reports. Review methods Prospective and retrospective cohort studies were included, providing a dataset of 3 488 160 women, with 198 252 affected by pre-eclampsia (exposure group) and 29 495 episodes of cardiovascular disease and cancer (study outcomes). Results After pre-eclampsia women have an increased risk of vascular disease. The relative risks (95% confidence intervals) for hypertension were 3.70 (2.70 to 5.05) after 14.1 years weighted mean follow-up, for ischaemic heart disease 2.16 (1.86 to 2.52) after 11.7 years, for stroke 1.81 (1.45 to 2.27) after 10.4 years, and for venous thromboembolism 1.79 (1.37 to 2.33) after 4.7 years. No increase in risk of any cancer was found (0.96, 0.73 to 1.27), including breast cancer (1.04, 0.78 to 1.39) 17 years after pre-eclampsia. Overall mortality after pre-eclampsia was increased: 1.49 (1.05 to 2.14) after 14.5 years. Conclusions A history of pre-eclampsia should be considered when evaluating risk of cardiovascular disease in women. This association might reflect a common cause for pre-eclampsia and cardiovascular disease, or an effect of pre-eclampsia on disease development, or both. No association was found between pre-eclampsia and future cancer.

https://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/335/7627/974.full.pdf

Pre-eclampsia and risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer in later life: systematic review and meta-analysis

Title. Factors affecting the utilization of antenatal care in developing countries: systematic review of the literature.

Aim.  This paper is a report of a systematic review to identify and analyse the main factors affecting the utilization of antenatal care in developing countries.

Background.  Antenatal care is a key strategy for reducing maternal mortality, but millions of women in developing countries do not receive it.

Data sources.  A range of electronic databases was searched for studies conducted in developing countries and published between 1990 and 2006. English-language publications were searched using relevant keywords, and reference lists were hand-searched.

Review methods.  A systematic review was carried out and both quantitative and qualitative studies were included.

Results.  Twenty-eight papers were included in the review. Studies most commonly identified the following factors affecting antenatal care uptake: maternal education, husband’s education, marital status, availability, cost, household income, women’s employment, media exposure and having a history of obstetric complications. Cultural beliefs and ideas about pregnancy also had an influence on antenatal care use. Parity had a statistically significant negative effect on adequate attendance. Whilst women of higher parity tend to use antenatal care less, there is interaction with women’s age and religion. Only one study examined the effect of the quality of antenatal services on utilization. None identified an association between the utilization of such services and satisfaction with them.

Conclusion.  More qualitative research is required to explore the effect of women’s satisfaction, autonomy and gender role in the decision-making process. Adequate utilization of antenatal care cannot be achieved merely by establishing health centres; women’s overall (social, political and economic) status needs to be considered.

/pdf/factors-affecting-the-utilization-of-antenatal-care-in-vcy78qq0wv.pdf

Factors affecting the utilization of antenatal care in developing countries: systematic review of the literature

https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(06)68433-X.pdf

Vitamin C and vitamin E in pregnant women at risk for pre-eclampsia (VIP trial): randomised placebo-controlled trial.

Now, at the dawn of the third millennium, non-communicable diseases are sweeping the entire globe. There is an increasing trend in developing countries, where the demographic and socio-economic transition imposes more constraints on dealing with the double burden of infectious and non-infectious diseases in a poor environment, characterized by ill-health systems. It is predicted that, by 2020, non-communicable diseases will cause seven out of every ten deaths in developing countries. Among non-communicable diseases, special attention is devoted to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and chronic pulmonary disease. The burden of these conditions affects countries worldwide but with a growing trend in developing countries. Preventative strategies must take into account the growing trend of risk factors correlated to these diseases. In parallel, despite the success of vaccination programmes for polio and some childhood diseases, other diseases like AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and dengue are still out of control in many regions of the globe. This paper is a brief review of recent literature dealing with communicable and non-communicable diseases in developing countries. It gives a global view of the main diseases and their impact on populations living in low- and middle-income nations.

The double burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases in developing countries

Make every mother and child count.

/pdf/neurological-disorders-and-the-public-health-challenges-224zq80htd.pdf

Neurological disorders and the public health challenges

The 21 September 1922 total eclipse of the Sun offered the next opportunity to obtain the measurements of the deflection of starlight that could confirm Einstein's General Theory of Relativity and the results obtained during the 1919 eclipse. The Royal Observatory, Greenwich, mounted an expedition to Christmas Island, 350km off the coast of Java, whose work programme also included photographic photometry of southern stars. There they were joined in a spirit of 'friendly rivalry' by a Dutch-German group also planning similar deflection measurements. However, early on in the assembly of their telescope the British astronomers realised that the weather was going to cause trouble and that the meteorological records from the island were of limited value for astronomical purposes. 

Jonathan Spencer-Jones

Papers

Make every mother and child count.

Neurological disorders and the public health challenges

The 1922 solar eclipse at christmas island: "our disappointment it is impossible to describe"

The Mark of Slavery: Disability, Race, and Gender in Antebellum America by Jenifer L. Barclay (review)