Barriers to and facilitators of implementing the Lebanese Health economic evaluation guideline: an initial exploration.

Objective: To identify the major barriers to and facilitators of implementing the Lebanese Health Economic Evaluation Guideline (LEEG) according to Lebanese stakeholders, supported by their insights.‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬.

Methods: We conducted a survey asking 16 key stakeholders to rate LEEG's importance, its necessity for Lebanon, and its applicability in decision-making, and Likert scale questions to rate barriers and facilitators.

Universal health coverage in Lebanon: agenda setting using Kingdon's model and a proposed legal framework for revenue allocation.

Background: Health systems globally aim for Universal Health Coverage (UHC), however progress toward UHC remains challenging in many countries. Despite previous unsuccessful parliamentary attempts to secure national commitment to a UHC plan in Lebanon, a renewed and revised effort is currently being made by a dedicated parliamentary committee. This study has two main objectives: to examine the emergence of the UHC bill as a priority on the Lebanese policy agenda using John Kingdon's Framework; and (2) to conduct a policy analysis using Bardach and Patashnik's eight-step framework to identify the most suitable funding option for the proposed UHC program.

Exposure to political violence and health risk behaviors of Palestinian youth.

Background: Exposure to political violence, which pervades many parts of the Middle East and Northern African (MENA) region, is a key potential factor behind the rising rates of risky behaviors among youth, such as drug use, alcohol use, and sexual activity. Theory and empirical work on youth elsewhere suggests that individual characteristics, mental health, and youths' future orientation play a role in such behaviors. It is possible that political violence impacts behavior in part through its effects on these factors, in particular mental health.

Descriptive analysis of the national drug adverse events (AEs) database in Lebanon.

Background: Adverse Events (AE) including both Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) and Medication Errors (MEs) are worldwide health issues tackled by Pharmacovigilance (PV) systems. In Lebanon, ADRs and MEs are monitored by the Lebanese National Pharmacovigilance Program (LNPVP) implemented under the supervision of the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) to ensure the post-marketing surveillance of each authorised medication. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the prevalence of detected AEs within the Lebanese population in a descriptive analysis.

The Lebanese health economic evaluation guideline.

Background: Economic evaluation guidelines (EEGs) serve as a valuable tool to assist appraisers in making consistent and transparent recommendations, standardize EE studies, enhance their quality, and minimize methodological uncertainties. As other LMICs, Lebanon aims for UHC where EEG is a necessity. This paper aims to report on the Lebanese health EEG (LEEG) and its reference case, including the intermediate results leading to the final decisions.

Descriptive analysis of adverse events following immunization with oral cholera vaccine in Lebanon.

Background: A national Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) Euvichol-Plus® campaign was launched in Lebanon, in response to the first outbreak in three decades, recorded in October 2022. The OCV vaccination campaign was carried out between November 2022 and February 2023. This study aims to cover adverse events reports, received at the Lebanese National Pharmacovigilance Program's (LNPVP) passive surveillance system.

Serious adverse events following immunization with COVID-19 vaccines in Lebanon: a retrospective analysis of the National Pharmacovigilance Database.

Continuous surveillance and risk assessment of inactivated Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)) vaccines provide an understanding of their safety profiles, guide vaccination strategy and public health policy. This study aims to analyze the characteristics and prevalence of officially reported serious adverse events following immunization (AEFIs) with inactivated COVID-19 vaccines by System Organ Class (SOC), age, and sex.To achieve this aim, a retrospective observational study was conducted between February 14th, 2021, and June 30th, 2022.

Digital Skills, STEM Occupation, and Job Automation Risks Among the Older Workers in the United States.

Background And Objectives: Advancing automation technologies are replacing certain occupations such as those involving simple food preparation more than occupations such as those in STEM fields (e.g., engineering and health care).

Trust in pharmaceuticals and vaccine hesitancy: exploring factors influencing COVID-19 immunization among Lebanese children aged 1 to 11 years.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic is a serious threat to everyone's health. Numerous studies have demonstrated that vaccines are very effective in preventing COVID-19-related severe illness, hospitalization, and death. Children's vaccination exerts its protecting effect by preventing the spread of the virus.

Developing the Lebanese health economic evaluation guideline.

Objective: To report on the process of developing the Lebanese Economic Evaluation Guideline (LEEG), and to provide relevant material that could assist guideline developers in the future.

Methods: The development of the LEEG closely followed the process proposed by the World Health Organization, i.e.

Reliance on Social Networks and Health Professionals for Health Information in the U.S. Adult Population.

The subpopulation of adults depends on non-online health information sources including their social networks and health professionals, to the exclusion of online sources. In view of the digital divide and health information disparities, the roles of race/ethnicity and digital skills are yet to be explored. A nationally representative sample of 6,830 adults from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) was analyzed, using binary logistic regression.

A 1-year analysis of adverse events following COVID-19 vaccination in Lebanon: a retrospective study.

Background: Since the deployment of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines, skepticism about the safety, incidence, and severity of Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) was a concern. The study has two main objectives. First, to analyze AEFIs following COVID-19 vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Sputnik, and Sinopharm) during the vaccination campaign in Lebanon and correlate them with age and gender.

Humanistic and Economic Burden of Atopic Dermatitis for Adults and Adolescents in the Middle East and Africa Region.

Introduction: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic skin disease that poses a significant burden on both patients and the society. AD causes the highest loss in disability-adjusted life years compared with other skin diseases. This study aimed to estimate the economic and humanistic burden of AD in adults and adolescents in seven countries in the Middle East and Africa region (Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Algeria, South Africa, and United Arab Emirates).

Non-adherence to antihypertensive medications in Lebanese adults hospitalized for hypertensive urgency and its cost.

Background: Drug non-adherence is assumed to play an important role in development of hypertensive urgency, which is a common health problem resulting in frequent emergency department admissions and thus increased healthcare spending wastage. The objective of this study is to assess the rate of non-adherence to antihypertensives and to evaluate influencing factors predicting this behavior in Lebanese hypertensive adults. In addition, this study aim to estimate the cost of hospitalization for hypertensive urgency covered by the Ministry of Public Health in patients' non-adherent to their antihypertensives.

Vaccination process evaluation at COVID-19 vaccination centers in Lebanon: a national study.

Background: Upon the authorization of COVID-19 vaccines worldwide, national and international standards were developed to help integrate mass COVID-19 immunization campaigns into the healthcare network. The primary objective is to evaluate the overall COVID-19 vaccination process through on-site visits to vaccination centers all over Lebanon to assess whether these are abiding by the national and international requirements for both Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca vaccines. The secondary objective is to explore whether the type of the facility, private versus governmental, and educational versus non-education, affects the vaccination process in these centers.

Implementation of a Pharmacovigilance System in a Resources-Limited Country in the Context of COVID-19: Lebanon's Success Story.

Implementation of Pharmacovigilance (PV) systems in resource-limited countries is a real challenge. The objective of this paper is to describe the implementation of an effective national PV system in Lebanon in the context of COVID-19, within a limited resources setting and with the absence of a guaranteed funding. In 2018, the PV center hosted at the Lebanese University, Faculty of Pharmacy under the supervision of the Quality Assurance of Pharmaceutical Products Program within the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health became an associate member of the World Health Organization (WHO) Program of International Drug Monitoring and recognized as Full member in 2021.

The development process of economic evaluation guidelines in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review.

Objectives: To review the development of economic evaluation guidelines (EEGs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), with the goal of assisting those developing EEGs in LMICs.

Methods: We conducted a systematic search in MEDLINE (Ovid), PubMed, EconLit, Embase (Ovid), the Cochrane Library, and the gray literature until March 2021. We extracted data on the methods used in the EEG development process, the responsible party engaged, and the development team's composition.

Economic evaluation guidelines in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review.

Objectives: To systematically identify the latest versions of official economic evaluation guidelines (EEGs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and explore similarities and differences in their content.

Methods: We conducted a systematic search in MEDLINE (Ovid), PubMed, EconLit, Embase (Ovid), the Cochrane Library, and the gray literature. Using a predefined checklist, we extracted the key features of economic evaluation and the general characteristics of EEGs.

Survey investigating the knowledge and awareness of payers and patient advocacy groups about the health technology assessment process in Lebanon.

The survey aims to assess the knowledge and awareness of Reimbursement Bodies (RBs) and Patient Advocacy Groups (PAGs) in Lebanon and the possible involvement of patients in the health technology assessment (HTA) process in the absence of a well-established HTA structure and to identify the actions to be taken at this level. Structured questionnaires were administered to eleven key participants from both RBs and PAGs. The survey utilized two different questionnaires, each composed of two open-ended questions and ten close-ended questions.

Impact of Ramadan Intermittent Fasting on the Heart Rate Variability and Cardiovascular Parameters of Patients with Controlled Hypertension.

Background: Conflicting results are reported on the effect of Ramadan fasting on the cardiovascular health of patients with hypertension, a highly prevalent cardiovascular disease risk factor. This research aimed to evaluate the impact of fasting on cardiac health and heart rate variability (as a measure of cardiac stress) of hypertensive patients.

Methods: Patients with controlled hypertension were followed in a prospective cohort during and after Ramadan.

Patients' knowledge and awareness about patient support programs: a cross-sectional study on Lebanese adults with chronic diseases.

Objective: Patient Support Programs (PSPs) have become a trend among pharmaceutical companies and a standard service offering to patients. The objective of the present study is to describe the status of PSPs in Lebanon and to assess the extent of knowledge and awareness among Lebanese patients about the PSPs.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between April and July 2017.

Factors Associated with Antihypertensive Medication Non-Adherence: A Cross-Sectional Study Among Lebanese Hypertensive Adults.

Background: Poor adherence to antihypertensives is associated with negative outcome of the disease as well as loss of health-care resources. Addressing the epidemic of poor adherence requires identifying factors associated with this behaviour. The aim of this study is to describe adherence to antihypertensive medication among Lebanese hypertensive patients and to evaluate the association between socio-economic, patient- and conditions-related factors and non-adherence.

Exposure to violence and its relationship to mental health among young people in Palestine.

Background: Exposure to violence is a significant risk factor for the development of psychopathology in young people. Research on the mental health consequences of violence exposure in youth has focused mostly on post-traumatic stress disorder, however, the association with depression and anxiety has also been established. As a result of the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict, young Palestinians are vulnerable to exposure to various types of violence.

Effect of Ramadan fasting on heart rate variability as a measure of cardiac stress in a Lebanese cohort.

Background: Intermittent fasting is an annual religious practice of Muslims worldwide, which affects the physiology of the body due to lifestyle alterations. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of Ramadan fasting on the HRV, an indirect measure of cardiac sympathetic stress.

Methods: This study included 80 healthy Lebanese females (aged 18-25 years old) monitored for 24 h when following normal routine; 38 and 42 females were enrolled before and during Ramadan, respectively.