JMIR public health and surveillance
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JMIR Public Health Surveill · Mar 2020
EditorialThe Role of the Global Health Development/Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network and the Eastern Mediterranean Field Epidemiology Training Programs in Preparedness for COVID-19.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the current COVID-19 a public health emergency of international concern on January 30, 2020. Countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) have a high vulnerability and variable capacity to respond to outbreaks. Many of these countries addressed the need for increasing capacity in the areas of surveillance and rapid response to public health threats. ⋯ The FETPs are currently actively participating in surveillance and screening at the ports of entry, development of communication materials and guidelines, and sharing information to health professionals and the public. However, some countries remain ill-equipped, have poor diagnostic capacity, and are in need of further capacity development in response to public health threats. It is essential that GHD/EMPHNET and FETPs continue building the capacity to respond to COVID-19 and intensify support for preparedness and response to public health emergencies.
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JMIR Public Health Surveill · Jan 2020
Follow-Up Investigation on the Promotional Practices of Electric Scooter Companies: Content Analysis of Posts on Instagram and Twitter.
Electric scooters (e-scooters) have become a popular mode of transportation in both the United States and Europe. In the wake of this popularity, e-scooters have changed the commuting experience in many metropolitan areas. Although e-scooters offer an efficient and economical way to travel short distances in traffic-congested areas, recent studies have raised concerns over their safety. Bird and Tier Mobility are 2 popular e-scooter companies in the United States and Europe, respectively. Both companies maintain active social media accounts with hundreds of posts and tens of thousands of followers. Recent studies have shown that consumer behavior may be influenced by the content posted to popular social media platforms, such as Instagram and Twitter. ⋯ Findings show that modeling and promoting safety is rare on Bird's and Tier Mobility's official social media accounts, which may contribute to the normalization of unsafe riding practices. Social media platforms may offer a potential avenue for public health officials to intervene with rider safety campaigns for public education.
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JMIR Public Health Surveill · Jan 2020
Perceptions and Sentiments About Electronic Cigarettes on Social Media Platforms: Systematic Review.
Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have been widely promoted on the internet, and subsequently, social media has been used as an important informative platform by e-cigarette users. Beliefs and knowledge expressed on social media platforms have largely influenced e-cigarette uptake, the decision to switch from conventional smoking to e-cigarette smoking, and positive and negative connotations associated with e-cigarettes. Despite this, there is a gap in our knowledge of people's perceptions and sentiments on e-cigarettes as depicted on social media platforms. ⋯ Although perceptions among social media users were mixed, there were more positive sentiments expressed than negative ones. This study particularly adds to our understanding of current trends in the popularity of and attitude toward e-cigarettes among social media users. In addition, this study identified conflicting perceptions about e-cigarettes among social media users. This suggests that accurate and up-to-date information on the benefits and risks of e-cigarettes needs to be disseminated to current and potential e-cigarette users via social media platforms, which can serve as important educational channels. Future research can explore the efficacy of social media-based interventions that deliver appropriate information (eg, general facts, benefits, and risks) about e-cigarettes.
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JMIR Public Health Surveill · Oct 2019
A Collaborative Initiative to Strengthen Sustainable Public Health Capacity for Polio Eradication and Routine Immunization Activities in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
The many challenges in the Eastern Mediterranean region put the involved countries at risk of polio transmission and affect their ability to meet progress targets in eliminating vaccine-preventable diseases. The Global Health Development (GHD) and Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (EMPHNET) are working together on the project "Strengthening sustainable public health capacity in the Eastern Mediterranean region for polio eradication and routine immunization activities" with an overall goal of improving routine immunization, eradicating poliovirus, and controlling/eliminating or eradicating other vaccine-preventable diseases in the Eastern Mediterranean region. The aim of this manuscript is to describe the project and the achievements of GHD/EMPHNET over the last 3 years (2016-2018) to build effective surveillance and immunization systems in the Eastern Mediterranean region through the development of a sustainable and competent public health system to eradicate polio and control/eliminate vaccine-preventable diseases. ⋯ Project activities were designed to respond to countries' needs and assist them in building their institutional and workforce capacity to effectively plan, implement, and evaluate activities to eradicate polio and strengthen routine immunization activities. The project activities covered a set of areas including surveillance of acute flaccid paralysis and other vaccine-preventable diseases, family and community engagement, workforce capacity building, improvement of data quality, management and use of information systems, use of polio assets to control/eliminate other vaccine-preventable diseases, support of countries to develop national strategies, piloting of innovative initiatives, program evaluation and accountability, and immunization strengthening. The project adopts the Global Polio Eradication Initiative strategies for assisting countries to strengthen routine immunization services, maintain highly sensitive acute flaccid paralysis surveillance, and sustain polio eradication functions.
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JMIR Public Health Surveill · Aug 2019
Using a Call Center to Reduce Harm From Self-Administration of Reproductive Health Medicines in Bangladesh: Interrupted Time-Series.
Annually, there are approximately 25 million unsafe abortions, and this remains a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality. In settings where abortion is restricted, women are increasingly able to self-manage abortions by purchasing abortion medications such as misoprostol and mifepristone (RU-486) from pharmacies or other drug sellers. Better availability of these drugs has been shown to be associated with reductions in complications from unsafe abortions. In Bangladesh, abortion is restricted; however, menstrual regulation (MR) was introduced in the 1970s as an interim method of preventing pregnancy. Pharmacy provision of medications for MR is widespread, but customers purchasing these drugs from pharmacies often do not have access to quality information on dosage and potential complications. ⋯ The high call volume suggests that this call center intervention addressed an unmet demand for information about MR medications from both MR users and health care providers. Call center interventions may improve the quality of information available by providing information directly to MR users and drug sellers, and thus reducing the potential harm from self-management of MR medications.