Female breast cancer burden among adolescent and young adults in North Africa.

Introduction: This study examines the growing burden of breast cancer among adolescents and young adults (AYAs, ages 15-39) in North Africa from 1990 to 2021. Despite breast cancer primarily affecting postmenopausal women, its increasing incidence among AYAs presents unique clinical and biological challenges that remain under explored in North Africa.

Methods: Using Global Burden of Disease 2021 data, we analyzed temporal trends in AYA breast cancer incidence and mortality across North Africa compared to other global regions (seven GBD super regions and Central Africa, Eastern Africa, Northern Africa, Southern Africa, and Western Africa).

What determines the decline of wasting in the Philippines.

Background: In the past three decades, the prevalence of under-5 wasting in the Philippines has generally fluctuated between 6% and 8%. However, between 2013 and 2018, the decline in the wasting prevalence (-2.3 percentage points) in the Philippines was sharp and statistically significant.

National Cancer System Characteristics and Prostate Cancer Outcomes: An Analysis of Global Data.

Importance And Objective: Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among men globally and the number of cases is expected to double from 2020 to 2040. A greater understanding of health system factors that can be leveraged to improve prostate cancer control may guide health system planning in anticipation of the growing global burden of prostate cancer.

Design: This ecological cross-sectional study made use of the most recent available national health system metrics for countries with prostate cancer incidence and mortality estimates available from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

National Cancer System Characteristics and Global Pan-Cancer Outcomes.

Importance: Approximately 29.9 million cancer cases and 15.3 million deaths are anticipated by 2040 globally, necessitating cancer system strengthening.

Disparities in Stage at Presentation for Disaggregated Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Patients with Breast Cancer.

Introduction: Cancer is the leading cause of death among Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA&NHPI) populations, who are among the most diverse and rapidly growing racial/ethnic groups in the United States. Despite this population's diverse socioeconomic, cultural, and immigration backgrounds, little is known about the within-group disparities in breast cancer stages at diagnosis. This study aims to identify AA&NHPI subgroups at heightened risk for advanced breast cancer by analyzing detailed incidence rates and diagnostic stages across these diverse subgroups.

Determining an optimal case definition using mid-upper arm circumference with or without weight for age to identify childhood wasting in the Philippines.

In resource-limited areas, where accurate weight-for-height Z-scores are hard to obtain, Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) is a simple tool to identify wasted children. MUAC alone, however, may miss identification of many wasted children, leading to untimely intervention and potentially death. Our study aimed to identify the best-performing case definition to detect wasting by Weight-for-Height z-scores (WHZ) in Filipino children aged 6-59 months.

Breastfeeding and infant care as 'sexed' care work: reconsideration of the three Rs to enable women's rights, economic empowerment, nutrition and health.

Women's lifelong health and nutrition status is intricately related to their reproductive history, including the number and spacing of their pregnancies and births, and for how long and how intensively they breastfeed their children. In turn, women's reproductive biology is closely linked to their social roles and situation, including regarding economic disadvantage and disproportionate unpaid work. , as well as and women's care and domestic work (known as the 'Three Rs'), is an established framework for addressing women's inequitable unpaid care work.

Cocreation in Health Workforce Planning to Shape the Future of the Health Care System in the Philippines.

Background: The Philippines passed landmark legislation in 2019 on universal health coverage, including reforms in the development of its health workforce, an essential building block of responsive health care systems.

Health Workforce Planning Cocreation Process: We based our planning process on a model of cocreation defined as sharing power and decision making to solve problems collaboratively and build consensus around action. Through cocreation with policy makers, researchers, and other stakeholders, we performed projection studies on 10 selected health professions and estimated the need for primary care at national and subnational levels, which was the most extensive health workforce projection carried out by the Philippine Department of Health to date.

Assessment of the quality of inpatient meals and nutrition and dietetics service processes in select Philippine public hospitals.

Aims: The nutrition and dietetics service in Philippine public hospitals was implemented by the Department of Health in 2016 to standardise the daily allowance and nutritional content of inpatient meals. Five years later, it is timely for the Department of Health to assess the quality of inpatient meals and mandated nutrition processes in areas such as staffing, food service, and outcomes monitoring.

Methods: A mixed-method sequential explanatory design was employed using (1) quantitative assessment through a facility survey (n = 193 hospitals) and (2) qualitative exploration of quantitative results through 6 focus group discussions (n = 36 hospitals).

Measuring the capacity to combat illicit tobacco trade in 160 countries.

Background: Illicit trade of tobacco negatively affects countries' tobacco control efforts. It leads to lower tobacco prices and makes tobacco products more accessible to vulnerable populations. In this study, we constructed an illicit tobacco trade index, which measures the structural and institutional capabilities of 160 countries in addressing illicit tobacco trade.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Hospital Admissions for Twelve High-Burden Diseases and Five Common Procedures in the Philippines: A National Health Insurance Database Study 2019-2020.

Background: The Philippines has the highest cumulative COVID-19 cases and deaths in the Western-Pacific. To explore the broader health impacts of the pandemic, we assessed the magnitude and duration of changes in hospital admissions for 12 high-burden diseases and the utilization of five common procedures by lockdown stringency, hospital level, and equity in patient access.

Methods: Our analysis used Philippine social health insurance data filed by 1,295 hospitals in 2019 and 2020.

What explains the large disparity in child stunting in the Philippines? A decomposition analysis.

Objective: About one-third of under-five Filipino children are stunted, with significant socio-economic inequality. This study aims to quantify factors that explain the large gap in stunting between poor and non-poor Filipino children.

Design: Using the 2015 Philippine National Nutrition Survey, we conducted a linear probability model to examine the determinants of child stunting and then an Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition to explain the factors contributing to the gap in stunting between poor and non-poor children.

Trends in National-Level Governance and Implementation of the Philippines' Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law from 2014 to 2020.

In 2012, the Philippines passed the Responsible Parenthood and Family Planning Law, a landmark legislation billed as a multisectoral and rights-based approach to further sustainable human development. This article is part of the first comprehensive evaluation of the implementation of the law by national-level actors. This evaluation is intended to assess the progress of implementers in the conduct of mandates, roles, and responsibilities described in the law and its implementing guidelines.

Optimizing health facility location for universal health care: A case study from the Philippines.

Site selection of health facilities is critical in ensuring universal access to basic healthcare services. However, in many low and middle-income countries (LMICs) like the Philippines, site selection is traditionally based on political and pragmatic considerations. Moreover, literature that demonstrates the application of facility location models in the Philippine healthcare setting remains scarce, and their usage in actual facility planning is even more limited.

National multisectoral governance challenges of implementing the Philippines' Reproductive Health Law.

In recognition of the role of reproductive health in individual and national development, the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health (RPRH) Law of 2012 was passed in the Philippines after 30 years of opposition and debate. Seven years later, this article examined the cohesiveness of national multi-sectoral governance among state and non-state actors and identified challenges in coordination as part of the first comprehensive evaluation of the landmark policy. Using a qualitative intrinsic case study design and guided by the World Health Organization's systems checklist for governing health equity as our theoretical perspective, we conducted 20 semi-structured interviews with national implementers from health agencies (n = 11), non-health agencies (n = 6) and non-state actors (n = 3) that included civil society organizations (CSOs).

The financing need for expanding paid maternity leave to support breastfeeding in the informal sector in the Philippines.

In low- and middle-income countries, almost three-fourths of women in the labour force lack maternity protection. In the Philippines, current laws do not guarantee paid maternity leave to workers in the informal economy. A non-contributory maternity cash transfer to informal sector workers could be used to promote social equity and economic productivity and could provide health benefits by helping mothers meet their breastfeeding goals.

Epidemiological profile and transmission dynamics of COVID-19 in the Philippines.

The Philippines confirmed local transmission of COVID-19 on 7 March 2020. We described the characteristics and epidemiological time-to-event distributions for laboratory-confirmed cases in the Philippines recorded up to 29 April 2020 and followed until 22 May 2020. The median age of 8212 cases was 46 years (IQR 32-61), with 46.

Previous and active tuberculosis increases risk of death and prolongs recovery in patients with COVID-19.

Background: There is a growing literature on the association of SARS-CoV-2 and other chronic conditions, such as noncommunicable diseases. However, little is known about the impact of coinfection with tuberculosis. We aimed to compare the risk of death and recovery, as well as time-to-death and time-to-recovery, in COVID-19 patients with and without tuberculosis.

Evidence of horizontal and vertical interactions in health care spending in the Philippines.

This article examines whether within a decentralized system of health care spending, local government units in developing countries have any incentive to compete with one another. The existence of spatial competition, whether horizontal or vertical, is tested in the case of Philippines using local government health expenditures data. Results indicate that health spending is characterized by a strong positive interaction between municipalities, consistent with the existence of a horizontal fiscal interaction.

Association between pregnancy intention and optimal breastfeeding practices in the Philippines: a cross-sectional study.

Background: The effect of pregnancy intention on post-natal practices like breastfeeding is still poorly understood in the Philippines. In this light, this study aims to determine the association between pregnancy intention and optimal breastfeeding practices in the Philippines.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study design using the 2003 Philippine National Demographic and Health Survey.