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Background: The Kingdom of Bahrain has reported more than 696,000 cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and 1548 associated deaths as of December 26, 2022. Objectives: To better inform responses to future public health threats, this narrative review documents the challenges and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Methods: A PubMed search was conducted focusing on severe acute respiratory syndrome or COVID-19 in Bahrain. Additional relevant references were also included from the authors' personal reference collections. Results: The search indicated that Bahrain achieved well-established control of the pandemic through robust public health measures, including an early, comprehensive vaccination program. Bahrain was among the first countries to grant emergency authorization for COVID-19 vaccines; as of December 2022, nearly 73% of the eligible population has been fully vaccinated, and approximately 60% has been boosted. Low case rates in recent months highlight Bahrain's successful response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions: Early organization, robust and systematic protective measures, and a comprehensive vaccination program were key components of the Kingdom's response to the pandemic; traveler quarantines and attempts to combat misinformation were of little or no benefit. These lessons provide guidance for future preparedness to minimize the public health impacts of another pandemic. (Curr Ther Res Clin Exp. 2024; XX:XXX-XXX).
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The scale of migraine and its impact on the lives of patients in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries may be underestimated by healthcare professionals and the public and unmet needs in the provision of migraine medical care may exist. This article reports the key outcomes from a meeting of migraine specialists and their patients organised by the Emirates Neurology Society to learn more about the patient diagnosis and treatment journey and the extent to which migraine affects daily life. Patient stories indicate that the burden of migraine is underestimated, migraine is not generally recognised as a disease, delayed and incorrect diagnoses are common, and that achieving symptom control is often more a question of good luck rather than good management. Disease awareness campaigns are recommended to elevate societal understanding of migraine and reduce stigma toward patients affected by migraine. Recommendations for an improved healthcare system experience for patients affected by migraine include education initiatives targeting patients and physicians as well as initiatives to address gaps in the diagnosis and treatment of migraine.
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Widespread vaccination programs have been implemented in many countries to curtail the COVID-19 pandemic, with varying success and challenges. To better understand the successes and challenges of the global COVID-19 response in the face of emerging new variants and epidemiologic data, we discuss how Qatar engaged the healthcare sector, governmental bodies, and the populace to combat COVID-19, with a focus on the country's vaccination strategy. This narrative provides the history and timeline of the Qatar COVID-19 vaccination campaign; factors that helped the vaccination campaign and the transferable lessons learned are discussed. Details regarding how Qatar responded to challenges, such as vaccine hesitancy and mitigation of misinformation, are highlighted. Qatar was one of the first countries to procure the BNT162b2 (Comirnaty®; Pfizer-BioNTech, Pfizer Inc., New York, NY, USA) and mRNA-1273 (Spikevax®; Moderna, Cambridge, MA, USA) COVID-19 vaccines. A relatively high vaccination rate and low case mortality rate (0.14% as of 4 January 2023) was observed in Qatar compared with other countries (global case mortality rate, 1.02%). Learnings will be carried forward as a basis for addressing this evolving pandemic and any future national emergencies in Qatar.
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Background: Dubai Health Authority currently recommends sequential administration of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) followed by (â) 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV23) to prevent pneumococcal disease among adults at elevated risk of illness. Despite recommendations, disease burden and associated costs remain substantial. A new 20-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV20) recently received regulatory approval in the United Arab Emirates and has the potential to further reduce burden of pneumococcal disease. Objectives: To evaluate budget impact of use of novel PCV20 compared with current recommendations (ie, PCV13âPPV23) among expatriates in Dubai aged 50 to 99 years and those aged 19 to 49 years with risk factors. Methods: A deterministic model depicted 5-year risks and costs of invasive pneumococcal disease and all-cause nonbacteremic pneumonia. Each year of the modeling horizon, persons could be vaccinated with either PCV20 or PCV13âPPV23 or remain unvaccinated; persons vaccinated during the modeling horizon were not eligible for vaccination in subsequent years. Annual vaccine uptake was assumed to be 5% in base cases analyses; higher uptake was considered in scenario analyses. Costs were discounted at 3.5% annually and reported in US dollars. Results: In base case, use of PCV20 alone would prevent an additional 13 cases of invasive pneumococcal disease, 31 cases of inpatient all-cause nonbacteremic pneumonia, 139 cases of outpatient all-cause nonbacteremic pneumonia, and 5 disease-related deaths compared with PCV13âPPV23. Medical care costs would be reduced by $354,000, and total vaccination costs would decrease by $4.4 million. PCV20 would therefore yield net budgetary impact of -$4.8 million, resulting in savings of $2.47 per-person per-year over 5 years. In scenarios with higher vaccine uptake, PCV20 prevented more cases and deaths and yielded greater budget savings (vs PCV13âPPV23). Conclusions: PCV20 would reduce burden and economic costs of pneumococcal disease among expatriates in Dubai compared with PCV13âPPV23 and would therefore be budget saving for private health insurers who cover the majority of this population.
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Background: Pharmacist-administered vaccination is currently implemented in many countries worldwide. It has contributed to increased vaccine access and vaccine uptake. This observational cross-sectional study assessed community pharmacists' willingness, and readiness to administer vaccines to the public in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and relate it to national and international policies on vaccination. Methods: This research was an online survey of 24-questions that was made available to community pharmacists via social media and WhatsApp. The survey was open for six weeks (from April to June 2022). Descriptive and inferential analysis was performed. Results: The questionnaire was completed by 374 of 575 (65%) respondents. More than half (64.2%) of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed that pharmacists should be able to vaccinate and 68.4% responded that they were willing to administer vaccines if local regulations allowed them to vaccinate. Most (81.8%) expressed willingness to complete training required to be able to administer vaccines in their pharmacies. Logistic regression showed that pharmacists defined as having high readiness were significantly more willing to undergo all essential training to start a vaccination service in their pharmacies than were pharmacists with poor readiness (OR 2.647; 95% CI: 1.518-4.615; p=0.001). High readiness was also significantly associated with agreement on safety of pharmacy-based vaccination (p=0.027). Conclusions: The majority of community pharmacists surveyed showed readiness to commence pharmacy-based vaccination services. Those with high readiness characteristics are amenable to receiving essential training and consider that vaccination in the community pharmacy setting would be safe.
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Farmacias , Farmacéuticos , Vacunación , Humanos , Estudios Transversales , Emiratos Árabes Unidos , Farmacéuticos/psicología , Masculino , Femenino , Adulto , Encuestas y Cuestionarios , Vacunación/psicología , Vacunación/estadística & datos numéricos , Persona de Mediana Edad , Actitud del Personal de Salud , Servicios Comunitarios de Farmacia , Conocimientos, Actitudes y Práctica en SaludRESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease that impacts 3.3-3.6% of population globally with significant health and societal impact. The current study assessed the disease burden, treatment patterns, and healthcare resource utilisation (HCRU) and costs in patients with OA and subgroups of hip and/or knee OA, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). METHODOLOGY: This retrospective longitudinal case-control study collected OA-related data from January 1, 2014 to May 31, 2020 from the Dubai Real-World Claims Database (DRWD). Adults aged at least 18 years old with OA diagnosis and at least two claims and continuous enrolment during the study period were included in the study. The patients with OA were 1:1 matched with individuals without OA. The patients with OA were divided into four cohorts on the basis of an a priori algorithm: OA of the hip and/or knee (cohort 1) and (difficult-to-treat) subsets of patients with moderate-to-severe OA of the hip and/or knee (cohort 2), inadequate response or inability to tolerate at least three pain-related medications (cohort 3), and contraindications to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (cohort 4). RESULTS: Disease burden of OA in Dubai and HCRU and treatment costs in patients with OA were evaluated from January 1, 2014 to May 31, 2021. Patients were compared with matched controls in 1:1 ratio. The overall cohort comprised 11,651 patients with a median age of 48 years and predominantly male population (61.6%). HCRU was calculated for each cohort and it was highest (United States dollar [USD] 11,354.39) in cohort 4 (patients with contraindication to NSAIDS); in cohort 3 (inability to respond to at least three pain-related medications), USD 495.30 and USD 765.14 were spent on medication and procedures, respectively. Highest cost burden was seen in cohort 4, USD 3120.49 on consumables and USD 228.18 on services. CONCLUSION: Osteoarthritis imposes a substantial healthcare and economic burden in the UAE. The study findings elucidate the unmet need among patients with difficult-to-treat OA and inform development of new therapeutics to alleviate their burden.
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BACKGROUND: Non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) reduce the risk of stroke in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) and have better safety profile than vitamin K antagonists (VKAs). However, there is a dearth of quality, real-world, patient data on the use of these drugs to guide healthcare policies in United Arab Emirates (UAE). AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The aim is to address the knowledge gap in demographic and clinical profiles of NVAF patients on NOACs (apixaban, rivaroxaban, and dabigatran) and warfarin in UAE. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective cohort analysis utilized the Dubai Real-World Claims Database to extract anonymized longitudinal data on NVAF patients with at least one NOAC or warfarin claim between January 2015 and March 2019. Data examined included comorbidities, healthcare resource utilization (HCRU), treatment adherence, and clinical events. RESULTS: From 11,086 NVAF patients in the database, 940 patients on oral anticoagulant treatment were selected with mean age of 58.6 ± 14.7 years and 73.7% men. At baseline, the mean CHA2DS2-VASc risk score was 2.4, and the mean Deyo-Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) score was 1.6. Most patients (71%) started oral anticoagulation treatment on a standard index dose. High medication possession ratio (MPR) and proportion of days covered (PDC) were observed in 86.8% and 43.1% of the overall cohort. The mean number of HCRU claims and cost during the 180-day follow-up period was 18.5 and 9,747 USD, respectively. Warfarin users accounted for both the highest number of claims and cost, whereas apixaban accounted for the lowest figures. Time to first major bleeding was shorter for warfarin users compared with patients on NOACs. Longer times to first stroke/systemic embolism (SE) were observed for rivaroxaban and warfarin. CONCLUSION: This study provides important comparative insights about comorbidities, adherence, HCRU, and outcome events among NOAC and warfarin users from real-world clinical practice settings.