Primary health care, community participation and community-financing: experiences of two middle hill villages in Nepal. (1/353)

Although community involvement in health related activities is generally acknowledged by international and national health planners to be the key to the successful organization of primary health care, comparatively little is known about its potential and limitations. Drawing on the experiences of two middle hill villages in Nepal, this paper reports on research undertaken to compare and contrast the scope and extent of community participation in the delivery of primary health care in a community run and financed health post and a state run and financed health post. Unlike many other health posts in Nepal these facilities do provide effective curative services, and neither of them suffer from chronic shortage of drugs. However, community-financing did not appear to widen the scope and the extent of participation. Villagers in both communities relied on the health post for the treatment of less than one-third of symptoms, and despite the planners' intentions, community involvement outside participation in benefits was found to be very limited.  (+info)

Durability of tobacco control activities in 11 north American communities: life after the Community Intervention Trial for Smoking Cessation (COMMIT). (2/353)

Durability of tobacco control activities in the 11 intervention sites of the Community Intervention Trial for Heavy Smokers (COMMIT) was examined. Although continuation of COMMIT activities was not a major goal, all communities made plans to continue some tobacco control activity. Information was gathered at focus groups of former COMMIT volunteers and staff who were assembled in each community and asked to describe tobacco control activities in their communities during the past 12-16 months-the period after the termination of COMMIT funding. It was found that a tobacco coalition, board or other structure was still operating in nine of the 11 communities and 10 had some level of paid staff dedicated to smoking control. There was also substantial activity in three of the four channels that COMMIT used as an intervention framework: worksites, public education and cessation resources. Many communities were currently engaged in considerable smoking control activity aimed at youth, an area that was intentionally de-emphasized by COMMIT. Implications for the durability of health promotion programs by communities are discussed.  (+info)

Ivermectin distribution using community volunteers in Kabarole district, Uganda. (3/353)

Ivermectin mass distribution for the control of onchocerciasis in Uganda began in 1991. This report describes a community based ivermectin distribution programme covering two foci in the Kabarole district which have an estimated 32,000 persons infected and another 110,000 at risk. Through nodule palpation in adult males, 143 villages were identified where nodule prevalence exceeded 20%. Skin snips were also taken from a sample of the population to measure changes in community microfilarial load (CMFL) with treatment. The delivery programme was integrated into the district health management structure, and used community volunteers supervised by medical assistants from adjacent health facilities for annual ivermectin distribution campaigns. After initial efforts by the community to support distributors in-kind proved inadequate, ivermectin distributors earned money retailing condoms as part of the social marketing component of district STD/AIDS programme. Reduction in the CMFL ranged from 40-62% twelve months after the second ivermectin treatment in three villages, and from 69-84% six months after the fourth round of treatment in two villages. After four years of treatment, 85% of eligible persons were receiving ivermectin from community volunteers in each treatment cycle. Drop out rates among volunteers did not exceed 20% over the four years reported here. The direct cost of treatment was US $0.29 per person. Among the reasons for low per-person treatment costs were the strong supervisory structure, the presence of health centres in the foci and a well developed and capable district Primary Health Care management team.  (+info)

Fas and Fas-mediated effects on a human salivary cell line in vitro: a model for immune-mediated exocrine damage in Sjogren's syndrome. (4/353)

Sjogren's syndrome (SS) is an autoimmune exocrinopathy characterized by mononuclear cell infiltration and loss of parenchymal tissue in salivary and lacrimal glands. The mechanisms for these histologic alterations are not known. Apoptotic cell death, induced by the ligation of Fas (APO-1/CD95) with Fas ligand (FasL/CD95L) may be an explanation for the tissue damage seen in SS. Fas and FasL were detected in minor salivary glands from SS patients and healthy individuals using immunohistochemical methods. There was increased expression of both Fas and FasL in the patients. The ability of the Fas-FasL pathway to influence epithelial cell growth and survival was demonstrated in vitro using a human submandibular cell line. The presence of Fas receptor was demonstrated on the cells. Anti-Fas antibody triggered cell death. Cells were also grown in the presence of gamma-interferon (IFN-gamma). IFN-gamma induced an upregulation of Fas receptor expression and pre-treatment of cells with IFN-gamma led to enhanced anti-Fas mediated cell death.  (+info)

Experiences and attitudes of residents and students influence voluntary service with homeless populations. (5/353)

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of two programs at the University of Pittsburgh, one that requires and one that encourages volunteer activity. In the program that requires primary care interns to spend 15 hours in a homeless clinic, we measured volunteer service after the requirement was fulfilled. In the program that encourages and provides the structure for first- and second-year medical students to volunteer, we assessed correlates of volunteering. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: When primary care interns were required to spend time at homeless clinics, all (13/13) volunteered to work at the same clinic in subsequent years. Categorical interns without this requirement were less likely to volunteer (24/51; chi2 = 12.7, p >. 001). Medical students who volunteered were more likely to be first-year students, have previously volunteered in a similar setting, have positive attitudes toward caring for indigent patients, and have fewer factors that discouraged them from volunteering (p <. 01 for all) than students who did not volunteer. CONCLUSIONS: Volunteering with underserved communities during medical school and residency is influenced by previous experiences and, among medical students, year in school. Medical schools and residency programs have the opportunity to promote volunteerism and social responsibility through mentoring and curricular initiatives.  (+info)

The prevalence and incidence of medical conditions in healthy pharmaceutical company employees who volunteer to participate in medical research. (6/353)

AIMS: Although clinical research in healthy volunteers is commonly performed there have been few studies of the value of the medical screening of subjects. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and incidence of medical conditions found during the medical screening of 'healthy' subjects employed in a pharmaceutical company who volunteered to participate in medical research. METHODS: This was a retrospective study of the medical notes of all the subjects who volunteered for membership of the Zeneca Clinical Pharmacology Unit's healthy volunteer panel over a 4 year period from 1990 to 1994. The prevalence of medical conditions found at presentation was determined. The incidence of medical conditions during the 4 year observation period was also ascertained. Medical screening included a full medical history and examination, clinical chemistry, haematology and urinalysis screens, pulmonary function tests, ECGs, 24 h ambulatory cardiac monitoring and a request for information from the volunteer's General Practitioner. RESULTS: Prevalence-1293 subjects volunteered to join the panel of which 156 subjects (12%) were not accepted at presentation including 141 (10. 9%) for medical reasons. The most medical common reasons were; previously diagnosed medical conditions (3.3%), cardiovascular abnormalities (1.9%), abnormal liver function tests (1.9%), anaemia (1.2%), hyperlipidaemia (1.1%), excess alcohol intake (0.6%) and thyroid disease (0.5%). Incidence-36 of the 1137 volunteers (0.8% per year) accepted onto the panel subsequently developed medical conditions of which the most common were; anaemia (0.29% per year), cardiovascular abnormalities (0.13% per year) and vasovagal syncope (0.13% per year). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the importance of medical screening before healthy volunteers participate in clinical research.  (+info)

Inherited susceptibility to bleomycin-induced chromatid breaks in cultured peripheral blood lymphocytes. (7/353)

BACKGROUND: Susceptibility to bleomycin-induced chromatid breaks in cultured peripheral blood lymphocytes may reflect the way a person deals with carcinogenic challenges. This susceptibility (also referred to as mutagen sensitivity) has been found to be increased in patients with environmentally related cancers, including cancers of the head and neck, lung, and colon, and, in combination with carcinogenic exposure, this susceptibility can greatly influence cancer risk. The purpose of this study was to assess the heritability of mutagen sensitivity. METHODS: Heritability was determined by use of a maximum likelihood method that employed the FISHER package of pedigree analysis. Bleomycin-induced breaks per cell values for 135 healthy volunteers without cancer were determined. These individuals were from 53 different pedigrees and included 25 monozygotic twin pairs (n = 50), 14 pairs of dizygotes (twin pairs and siblings, n = 28), and 14 families selected on the basis of a first-degree relative who was successfully treated for head and neck cancer and who had no sign of recurrence for at least 1 year. All data were analyzed simultaneously, and different models of familial resemblance were fitted to the data. All P values are two-sided. RESULTS: Our results showed no evidence for the influence of a shared family environment on bleomycin-induced chromatid breaks. Genetic influences, however, were statistically significant (P =. 036) and accounted for 75% of the total variance. CONCLUSIONS: The high heritability estimate of the susceptibility to bleomycin-induced chromatid breaks indicates a clear genetic basis. The findings of this study support the notion that a common genetic susceptibility to DNA damage--and thereby a susceptibility to cancer--may exist in the general population.  (+info)

Cocaine stimulates the human cardiovascular system via a central mechanism of action. (8/353)

BACKGROUND: Cocaine is thought to stimulate the cardiovascular system by blocking peripheral norepinephrine reuptake. This study was designed to test the novel hypotheses that cocaine also stimulates the human cardiovascular system by (1) increasing central sympathetic outflow, or (2) decreasing parasympathetic control of heart rate. METHODS AND RESULTS: In 14 healthy cocaine-naive humans, we measured blood pressure, heart rate, and skin sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) with intraneural microelectrodes before, during, and for 90 minutes after intranasal cocaine (2 mg/kg, n=7) or lidocaine (2 mg/kg, n=7). Intranasal cocaine caused an initial but transient 3. 3-fold increase in skin SNA during the period of intranasal administration followed by a sustained 2.4-fold increase lasting for up to 90 minutes after cocaine. Unlike cocaine, intranasal lidocaine caused only a small transient increase in skin SNA due to local nasal irritation. The cocaine-induced increase in SNA was accompanied by decreased skin blood flow, increased skin vascular resistance, and increased heart rate. In 11 additional subjects, we showed that the cocaine-induced increase in heart rate was eliminated by beta-adrenergic receptor blockade (propranolol) but unaffected by muscarinic receptor blockade (atropine), indicating sympathetic mediation. CONCLUSIONS: These studies provide direct microneurographic evidence in humans that intranasal cocaine stimulates central sympathetic outflow. This central sympathetic activation appears to be targeted not only to the cutaneous circulation promoting peripheral vasoconstriction but also to the heart promoting tachycardia.  (+info)