Health literacy in Pakistan: Exploring new ways of addressing an old challenge.

Pakistan continues to struggle with low health literacy that often results in late presentation of disease, poor adherence to treatment and meagre understanding of wellness and disease prevention. In a country burdened by diseases of the developing and the developed world, with poor healthcare infrastructure and low literacy levels improving healthcare literacy could have major influence on health and wellness of our masses. Utilising our rapidly expanding mobile technology and media for dissemination of health information is a viable solution. Public service announcements for media and health information apps for mobile technology can be developed by the government, health sector and media partnership. A systematic, multi-level targeted approach to health literacy would allow health seekers the opportunity to understand and comprehend disease prevention, symptomatology and treatment.

The case for family medicine in Pakistan.

The specialty of Family Medicine enjoys a special position in the medical practice of the West, serving as one of the key primary care specialties. Family physicians act as providers of first contact catering to the medical needs of the entire family in all aspects of preventive, curative and rehabilitative stages of illness and to health maintenance. The growth of this specialty, however, has lagged behind in Pakistan for various reasons. Having both a high burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases in Pakistan; family physicians should form the frontline force in dealing with these health issues. Several success stories of Family Medicine forming the base of medical services have been noted, validating its presence and propagation. The World Health Organisation also supported this in its 2008 report that discusses primary care for all. Growth of family practice needs to be encouraged at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels to ensure adequate training and provision of quality of medical care to our society. The need of the hour is that both medical institutions and the government develop policies to strengthen Family Medicine and incentivise family practice in rural and urban settings to cater to the needs of society at large.

Polypharmacy in elderly: a cautious trail to tread.

Polypharmacy has now increasingly come into focus as the recipient of healthcare in old age worldwide. In elderly it is associated with frequent adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and drug-drug interactions resulting in significant morbidity. Geriatrics is still an emerging specialty in South Asia, especially in Pakistan, where multiple reasons for polypharmacy exist. An extensive literature review of articles using key words like 'polypharmacy,' 'elderly' was conducted. The recently updated Beers Criteria of classification of inappropriate drugs in the elderly was reviewed in detail. Articles of relevance to polypharmacy and evaluation of guidelines for appropriate interventions to minimise inappropriate drug prescribing were also reviewed. Commonly prescribed drugs like psychotropic, cardiovascular, nonsteroidal anti-inflamanatory drugs (NSAIDs) and oral hypoglycaemics can cause significant adverse events when prescribed to the elderly. Primary care physicians may use evidence based non-pharmacological interventions which may be appropriate to use in selected cases. Drugs can affect quality of life and morbidity in the elderly. A basic understanding of ageing physiology and pharmacology along with a step-wise approach to prescribing in the elderly maybe helpful in minimising iatrogenic complications of commonly used drugs in this age group.

Effectiveness of home-based rehabilitation program in minimizing disability and secondary falls after a hip fracture: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: Hip fractures are a major health problem globally and are associated with increased morbidity, mortality, and substantial economic costs. Successful operative treatment of hip fracture patients is necessary for the optimization of post-op mobility and functional recovery of the patient. Rehabilitation after surgical stabilization of a hip fracture is crucial in order to restore pre-fracture function and to avoid long-term institutionalization. In particular ongoing exercise which targets balance can prevent up to 40% of falls. Therefore, we have designed a post-discharge home-based physical rehabilitation intervention program to minimize disability and falls in this high-risk elderly population. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The study will be an open label, simple randomized controlled trial at a single hospital. The two arms will be equally allocated on a 1:1 ratio into intervention and control groups. The control arm will receive the usual standard postoperative rehabilitation. The intervention group will receive an extended home-based rehabilitation program twice a week continued for 3 months (12 weeks) after discharge. The Primary outcome of the study is occurrence of falls. Falls will be measured at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months by research-assistant follow-up telephone calls for both the groups. Mobility-related disability will be measured with a self-reported test at every routine follow-up for up to two years using a performance-based short battery tool. Negative binomial regression model will be used to compare number of falls in both the groups by computing incidence ratio rates. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Approval for the conduction of this study has been taken from the Ethical Review Committee (ERC) of the institution. Evidences which will be obtained from this study will facilitate to propose changes in existing guidelines and policies for treating fall and hip fracture patients.Trial registrationThis trial is registered on clinicaltrials.gov ID: NCT04108793.

Workforce issues of general practice in a developing country: Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: Pakistan is a developing country that has a double burden of communicable and non-communicable disease. Healthcare reform is required to combat these prevailing healthcare issues with the 'family medicine approach' to primary care. Developing a workforce of trained general practitioners (GPs) to implement this approach is essential but challenging, yet there are success stories not only from developed countries but also from a few developing countries. OBJECTIVE: General practice is a specialty that has been recognised only recently in Pakistan. This article reviews the challenges of developing a workforce of trained GPs for primary care and proposes solutions to address the gap. DISCUSSION: Involving all stakeholders and organisations related to the specialty of general practice, integrating the subject of family medicine at an undergraduate level and encouraging postgraduate training and capacity-building through on-the-job training of GPs working in rural and urban primary care are all essential to develop a workforce of trained GPs in Pakistan. At the same time, standardisation and accreditation of primary care sites for training and research through public-private partnership are recommended.

A living WHO guideline on drugs to prevent COVID-19

Clinical question What is the role of drugs in preventing covid-19? Why does this matter?There is widespread interest in whether drug interventions can be used for the prevention of covid-19, but there is uncertainty about which drugs, if any, are effective. The first version of this living guideline focuses on the evidence for hydroxychloroquine. Subsequent updates will cover other drugs being investigated for their role in the prevention of covid-19. The guideline development panel made a strong recommendation against the use of hydroxychloroquine for individuals who do not have covid-19 (high certainty). How this guideline was created This living guideline is from the World Health Organization (WHO) and provides up to date covid-19 guidance to inform policy and practice worldwide. Magic Evidence Ecosystem Foundation (MAGIC) provided methodological support. A living systematic review with network analysis informed the recommendations. An international guideline development panel of content experts, clinicians, patients, an ethicist and methodologists produced recommendations following standards for trustworthy guideline development using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. Understanding the new recommendation The linked systematic review and network meta-analysis (6 trials and 6059 participants) found that hydroxychloroquine had a small or no effect on mortality and admission to hospital (high certainty evidence). There was a small or no effect on laboratory confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection (moderate certainty evidence) but probably increased adverse events leading to discontinuation (moderate certainty evidence). The panel judged that almost all people would not consider this drug worthwhile. In addition, the panel decided that contextual factors such as resources, feasibility, acceptability, and equity for countries and healthcare systems were unlikely to alter the recommendation. The panel considers that this drug is no longer a research priority and that resources should rather be oriented to evaluate other more promising drugs to prevent covid-19. Updates This is a living guideline. New recommendations will be published in this article and signposted by update notices to this guideline.

A living WHO guideline on drugs for COVID-19

What is the role of drug interventions in the treatment of patients with covid-19? The latest version of this WHO living guidance focuses on remdesivir, following the 15 October 2020 preprint publication of results from the WHO SOLIDARITY trial. It contains a weak or conditional recommendation against the use of remdesivir in hospitalised patients with covid-19 The first version on this living guidance focused on corticosteroids. The strong recommendation for systemic corticosteroids in patients with severe and critical covid-19, and a weak or conditional recommendation against systemic corticosteroids in patients with non-severe covid-19 are unchanged.