Health Research Funding and Disease Burden Alignment
Nomura et al. compared disease-specific research spending with disease-linked disability-adjusted life year estimates in Japan. The authors allocated funding to 22 disease groups based on database text processing from 3 Japanese public competitive funding systems, representing 32 204 projects over 2 years. They found that tropical diseases, other infectious diseases, and cancers were well funded compared to their disability-adjusted life year percentage distributions. Cardiovascular diseases and musculoskeletal disorders were considered relatively underfunded. Although private and in-house public research funding sources were not included and half of the assessed funding was categorized as not disease specific, this study demonstrates a way to monitor expenditures with public health needs in mind.
Citation. Nomura S, Yoneoka D, Tanaka S, et al. Limited alignment of publicly competitive disease funding with disease burden in Japan. PLoS ONE. 2020;15(2):e0228542. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0228542
Everyday Life Praxis During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Pišot et al. studied how everyday life practices have changed because of the COVID-19 pandemic by surveying 4108 people, aged 15 to 82 years, from 9 European countries between April 15 and May 8. They report a 30-minute increase in sleeping time, 50% longer physical inactivity time, 65% longer screen time, 43% shorter walking time, and 24% shorter sports engagement time. Additionally, they report body mass gains of about 0.3 kilograms, explained by increased meal sizes, unhealthy eating, increased screen time, and decreased sports engagement time. However, they also report positive outcomes: people had more regular meals while consuming less alcohol and smoking less.
Citation. Pišot S, Milovanović I, Šimunič B, et al. Maintaining everyday life praxis in the time of COVID-19 pandemic measures (ELP-COVID-19 survey). Eur J Public Health. 2020; Epub ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckaa157
Relationship Between Air Temperature and SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in a Tropical Climate
Prata et al. studied the role of air temperature in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the 26 Brazilian state capitals and the federal capital, where temperature ranged from 16.8 degrees centigrade to 27.4 degrees centigrade. Using the daily number of confirmed cases from February 27 to April 1, they applied nonlinear regression techniques to uncover the relationship between annual average temperature compensation and confirmed cases. They found that for each degree centigrade increase in temperature, there was a 4.9% decrease in number of daily cumulative confirmed cases of COVID-19. There was no evidence that the number of confirmed cases decreased at air temperatures above 25.8 degrees centigrade.
Citation. Prata DN, Rodrigues W, Bermejo PH. Temperature significantly changes COVID-19 transmission in (sub)tropical cities of Brazil. Sci Total Environ. 2020;729:138862. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138862
Maintaining Sexual and Reproductive Health Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic
As Ethiopia’s health care system becomes increasingly burdened by COVID-19, the country is grappling with an unmet need for sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. Feyissa et al. warn that the pandemic has deprioritized other health issues and will cause significant SRH service reduction. It is possible that SRH resources and staff will need to be reallocated to meet more urgent needs, and fear of COVID-19 may prevent women from going to facilities. Additionally, travel restrictions in the country have created a situation in which many pregnant women will need to give birth at home. To prevent adverse maternal and reproductive health outcomes, Ethiopia must invest in strengthening the supply chain for SRH and promote low-contact SRH solutions such as telehealth.
Citation. Feyissa GT, Tolu LB, Ezeh A. Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on sexual and reproductive health and mitigation measures: the case of Ethiopia. Afr J Reprod Health. 2020; Epub ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.29063/ajrh2020/v24i2s.3