BackgroundCataract surgery improves quality of life and reduces cognitive deterioration.Objective... more BackgroundCataract surgery improves quality of life and reduces cognitive deterioration.ObjectivesThis paper discusses the health implications of low vision, commonly related to cataracts, in older adults. A recent publication reported that cataract surgery reduces the risk of dementia by 30% over 10 years.MethodsWe searched Medline from inception to January 2023. We also conducted backward and forward citation searches of included studies and set up alerts to identify studies published after the search date. We performed discussion groups with multidisciplinary experts.ResultsThis article provides a broad description of the importance of vision for cognitive function. We discuss access to public‐funded cataract surgery in Australia and New Zealand and how this impacts population benefits.ConclusionsWe have evidence that cataract surgery can decrease the risk of dementia. This is an important topic that deserves recognition as part of an overall ageing response by policymakers and h...
Truth is “the first casualty of war”. Many refugees come from war zones, and there is little inde... more Truth is “the first casualty of war”. Many refugees come from war zones, and there is little independent and even less empirical research into the emerging refugee situation in Europe. The authors strongly feel that available data should be presented without bias so that readers may make their own judgment. First and foremost, the authors would like to applaud the countless volunteers including health professionals providing assistance to refugees across Europe and beyond. Many are going above and beyond the call of their professional duty to provide healthcare to refugees. The main purpose of this article is to describe the current refugee crisis. However, those providing this valuable assistance should be recognized.
ObjectiveTo investigate the impact of New Zealand's (NZ) first wave of COVID‐19, which includ... more ObjectiveTo investigate the impact of New Zealand's (NZ) first wave of COVID‐19, which included a nationwide lockdown, on the health and psychosocial well‐being of Māori, Pacific Peoples and NZ Europeans in aged residential care (ARC).MethodsinterRAI assessments of Māori, Pacific Peoples and NZ Europeans (aged 60 years and older) completed between 21/3/2020 and 8/6/2020 were compared with assessments of the same ethnicities during the same period in the previous year (21/3/2019 to 8/6/2019). Physical, cognitive, psychosocial and service utilisation indicators were included in the bivariate analyses.ResultsA total of 538 Māori, 276 Pacific Peoples and 11,322 NZ Europeans had an interRAI assessment during the first wave of COVID‐19, while there were 549 Māori, 248 Pacific Peoples and 12,367 NZ Europeans in the comparative period. Fewer Māori reported feeling lonely (7.8% vs. 4.5%, p = 0.021), but more NZ Europeans reported severe depressive symptoms (6.9% vs. 6.3%, p = 0.028) duri...
Introduction There is considerable variation in the structure and resources of New Zealand (NZ) r... more Introduction There is considerable variation in the structure and resources of New Zealand (NZ) rural hospitals; however, these have not been recently quantified and their effects on healthcare outcomes are poorly understood. Importantly, there is no standardised description of each rural hospital’s catchment boundary and the characteristics of the population living within this area. Aim To define and describe a catchment population for each of New Zealand’s rural hospitals. Methods An exploratory approach to developing catchments was employed. Geographic Information Systems were used to develop drive-time-based geographic catchments, and administrative health data (National Minimum Data Set and Primary Health Organisation Data Set) informed service utilisation-based catchments. Catchments were defined at both the Statistical Area 2 (SA2) and domicile levels, and linked to census-based population data, the Geographic Classification for Health, and the area-level New Zealand Index of...
Over the last five years, a new generation of trade agreement negotiations has emerged with the p... more Over the last five years, a new generation of trade agreement negotiations has emerged with the purported goal of increasing economic growth. The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) negotiations seek to further trade liberalization while establishing a new global governance framework for trade beyond existing World Trade Organization structures. These deals have the potential to (re)shape public health and health care globally with significant implications for efforts to address health inequities and the social determinants of health, which are both emerging priorities of the World Medical Association.
Japanese encephalitis (JE) and rabies are serious vaccine preventable diseases which are an impor... more Japanese encephalitis (JE) and rabies are serious vaccine preventable diseases which are an important consideration for travelers to Asia. Five Boston-area travel clinics collected demographic data, trip information, and interventions for travelers to Asia seen at pre-travel consultations from March 1, 2008, through July 31, 2010. We evaluated travelers for proportion vaccinated for JE and rabies, those traveling for >1 month, and whether travelers had adequate time to complete the JE series (clinic visit ≥28 days before departure) and rabies pre-exposure prophylaxis (clinic visit ≥21 days before departure). Among 15,440 travelers from five Boston Area Travel Medicine Network travel clinics, Asia was the most common destination region, visited by 5,582 (36%) of travelers. Among these travelers, 4,810 (86%) planned to travel to only one Asian subregion. Median trip duration was 17 days, with more than 20% traveling for >1 month. The most common destinations were South (41%), So...
Over the last five years, a new generation of “mega” multilateral trade agreement negotiations ha... more Over the last five years, a new generation of “mega” multilateral trade agreement negotiations has emerged. With a focus on regulatory harmonization and reductions in non-tariff trade barriers, the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership (TTIP) aim to further trade liberalization and boost economic growth. These agreements seek to establish a new global framework for trade governance and may have far-reaching implications for the health and health care landscape around the world. TPP and TTIP negotiations are unprecedented in their size, scope and lack of transparency. With forty countries representing 65 percent of the global GDP participating, the potential economic power of these agreements is significant. On a truly global scale, the TPP and TTIP could profoundly reshape health care and social services, access to medicines and intellectual property, communicable diseases, drug safety and research, prevention of noncommunicable disease...
BackgroundCataract surgery improves quality of life and reduces cognitive deterioration.Objective... more BackgroundCataract surgery improves quality of life and reduces cognitive deterioration.ObjectivesThis paper discusses the health implications of low vision, commonly related to cataracts, in older adults. A recent publication reported that cataract surgery reduces the risk of dementia by 30% over 10 years.MethodsWe searched Medline from inception to January 2023. We also conducted backward and forward citation searches of included studies and set up alerts to identify studies published after the search date. We performed discussion groups with multidisciplinary experts.ResultsThis article provides a broad description of the importance of vision for cognitive function. We discuss access to public‐funded cataract surgery in Australia and New Zealand and how this impacts population benefits.ConclusionsWe have evidence that cataract surgery can decrease the risk of dementia. This is an important topic that deserves recognition as part of an overall ageing response by policymakers and h...
Truth is “the first casualty of war”. Many refugees come from war zones, and there is little inde... more Truth is “the first casualty of war”. Many refugees come from war zones, and there is little independent and even less empirical research into the emerging refugee situation in Europe. The authors strongly feel that available data should be presented without bias so that readers may make their own judgment. First and foremost, the authors would like to applaud the countless volunteers including health professionals providing assistance to refugees across Europe and beyond. Many are going above and beyond the call of their professional duty to provide healthcare to refugees. The main purpose of this article is to describe the current refugee crisis. However, those providing this valuable assistance should be recognized.
ObjectiveTo investigate the impact of New Zealand's (NZ) first wave of COVID‐19, which includ... more ObjectiveTo investigate the impact of New Zealand's (NZ) first wave of COVID‐19, which included a nationwide lockdown, on the health and psychosocial well‐being of Māori, Pacific Peoples and NZ Europeans in aged residential care (ARC).MethodsinterRAI assessments of Māori, Pacific Peoples and NZ Europeans (aged 60 years and older) completed between 21/3/2020 and 8/6/2020 were compared with assessments of the same ethnicities during the same period in the previous year (21/3/2019 to 8/6/2019). Physical, cognitive, psychosocial and service utilisation indicators were included in the bivariate analyses.ResultsA total of 538 Māori, 276 Pacific Peoples and 11,322 NZ Europeans had an interRAI assessment during the first wave of COVID‐19, while there were 549 Māori, 248 Pacific Peoples and 12,367 NZ Europeans in the comparative period. Fewer Māori reported feeling lonely (7.8% vs. 4.5%, p = 0.021), but more NZ Europeans reported severe depressive symptoms (6.9% vs. 6.3%, p = 0.028) duri...
Introduction There is considerable variation in the structure and resources of New Zealand (NZ) r... more Introduction There is considerable variation in the structure and resources of New Zealand (NZ) rural hospitals; however, these have not been recently quantified and their effects on healthcare outcomes are poorly understood. Importantly, there is no standardised description of each rural hospital’s catchment boundary and the characteristics of the population living within this area. Aim To define and describe a catchment population for each of New Zealand’s rural hospitals. Methods An exploratory approach to developing catchments was employed. Geographic Information Systems were used to develop drive-time-based geographic catchments, and administrative health data (National Minimum Data Set and Primary Health Organisation Data Set) informed service utilisation-based catchments. Catchments were defined at both the Statistical Area 2 (SA2) and domicile levels, and linked to census-based population data, the Geographic Classification for Health, and the area-level New Zealand Index of...
Over the last five years, a new generation of trade agreement negotiations has emerged with the p... more Over the last five years, a new generation of trade agreement negotiations has emerged with the purported goal of increasing economic growth. The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) negotiations seek to further trade liberalization while establishing a new global governance framework for trade beyond existing World Trade Organization structures. These deals have the potential to (re)shape public health and health care globally with significant implications for efforts to address health inequities and the social determinants of health, which are both emerging priorities of the World Medical Association.
Japanese encephalitis (JE) and rabies are serious vaccine preventable diseases which are an impor... more Japanese encephalitis (JE) and rabies are serious vaccine preventable diseases which are an important consideration for travelers to Asia. Five Boston-area travel clinics collected demographic data, trip information, and interventions for travelers to Asia seen at pre-travel consultations from March 1, 2008, through July 31, 2010. We evaluated travelers for proportion vaccinated for JE and rabies, those traveling for >1 month, and whether travelers had adequate time to complete the JE series (clinic visit ≥28 days before departure) and rabies pre-exposure prophylaxis (clinic visit ≥21 days before departure). Among 15,440 travelers from five Boston Area Travel Medicine Network travel clinics, Asia was the most common destination region, visited by 5,582 (36%) of travelers. Among these travelers, 4,810 (86%) planned to travel to only one Asian subregion. Median trip duration was 17 days, with more than 20% traveling for >1 month. The most common destinations were South (41%), So...
Over the last five years, a new generation of “mega” multilateral trade agreement negotiations ha... more Over the last five years, a new generation of “mega” multilateral trade agreement negotiations has emerged. With a focus on regulatory harmonization and reductions in non-tariff trade barriers, the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership (TTIP) aim to further trade liberalization and boost economic growth. These agreements seek to establish a new global framework for trade governance and may have far-reaching implications for the health and health care landscape around the world. TPP and TTIP negotiations are unprecedented in their size, scope and lack of transparency. With forty countries representing 65 percent of the global GDP participating, the potential economic power of these agreements is significant. On a truly global scale, the TPP and TTIP could profoundly reshape health care and social services, access to medicines and intellectual property, communicable diseases, drug safety and research, prevention of noncommunicable disease...
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