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The article presents the discussion on characterize themselves as educators, imparting life and developmental lessons. Topics include student affairs professionals had impactful experiences as undergraduate students, themselves, and they want to facilitate those same opportunities; and understanding their professional identities, and understanding what it means for student affairs professionals to be educators.

Colonialism, which involves the systemic domination of lands, markets, peoples, assets, cultures or political institutions to exploit, misappropriate and extract wealth and resources, affects health in many ways. In recent years, interest has grown in the decolonization of global health with a focus on correcting power imbalances between high-income and low-income countries and on challenging ideas and values of some wealthy countries that shape the practice of global health. We argue that decolonization of global health must also address the relationship between global health actors and contemporary forms of colonialism, in particular the current forms of corporate and financialized colonialism that operate through globalized systems of wealth extraction and profiteering. We present a three-part agenda for action that can be taken to decolonize global health. The first part relates to the power asymmetries that exist between global health actors from high-income and historically privileged countries and their counterparts in low-income and marginalized settings. The second part concerns the colonization of the structures and systems of global health governance itself. The third part addresses how colonialism occurs through the global health system. Addressing all forms of colonialism calls for a political and economic anticolonialism as well as social decolonization aimed at ensuring greater national, racial, cultural and knowledge diversity within the structures of global health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The health and ecological harms created and spread by firms active in many unhealthy commodity industries (UCIs) have received considerable attention from the public health community. However, less focus has been paid to analysing the distribution of wealth and income – important social and economic determinants of health – by these industries. This study aimed to examine long-term trends in wealth and income distribution by publicly listed corporations active in four UCIs: fossil fuels; tobacco; ultra-processed foods; and alcohol. Quantitative analysis of a range of data was conducted for firms listed on stock exchanges in the United States (US). Wealth and income distribution metrics were analysed at the industry level, including effective corporate tax rates and shareholder value ratios. The equity ownership structures and investor location of 20 of the largest firms were also explored. Since the 1980s, US-listed firms in the examined UCIs have distributed much less of their wealth and income to governments and much more to shareholders and investors mostly based in high-income countries. The study provides evidence that firms active in UCIs create a 'double burden of maldistribution': their externalised social and ecological harms disproportionately affect disadvantaged population groups and governments in low- and middle-income countries; whilst, simultaneously, they are increasingly transferring wealth and income to a group over-represented by a small and privileged elite. The identified distributive injustice warrants increased policy attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) the causal agent for COVID-19, is a communicable disease spread through close contact. It is known to disproportionately impact certain communities due to both biological susceptibility and inequitable exposure. In this study, we investigate the most important health, social, and environmental factors impacting the early phases (before July, 2020) of per capita COVID-19 transmission and per capita all-cause mortality in US counties. We aggregate county-level physical and mental health, environmental pollution, access to health care, demographic characteristics, vulnerable population scores, and other epidemiological data to create a large feature set to analyze per capita COVID-19 outcomes. Because of the high-dimensionality, multicollinearity, and unknown interactions of the data, we use ensemble machine learning and marginal prediction methods to identify the most salient factors associated with several COVID-19 outbreak measure. Our variable importance results show that measures of ethnicity, public transportation and preventable diseases are the strongest predictors for both per capita COVID-19 incidence and mortality. Specifically, the CDC measures for minority populations, CDC measures for limited English, and proportion of Black- and/or African-American individuals in a county were the most important features for per capita COVID-19 cases within a month after the pandemic started in a county and also at the latest date examined. For per capita all-cause mortality at day 100 and total to date, we find that public transportation use and proportion of Black- and/or African-American individuals in a county are the strongest predictors. The methods predict that, keeping all other factors fixed, a 10% increase in public transportation use, all other factors remaining fixed at the observed values, is associated with increases mortality at day 100 of 2012 individuals (95% CI [1972, 2356]) and likewise a 10% increase in the proportion of Black- and/or African-American individuals in a county is associated with increases total deaths at end of study of 2067 (95% CI [1189, 2654]). Using data until the end of study, the same metric suggests ethnicity has double the association as the next most important factors, which are location, disease prevalence, and transit factors. Our findings shed light on societal patterns that have been reported and experienced in the U.S. by using robust methods to understand the features most responsible for transmission and sectors of society most vulnerable to infection and mortality. In particular, our results provide evidence of the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on minority populations. Our results suggest that mitigation measures, including how vaccines are distributed, could have the greatest impact if they are given with priority to the highest risk communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Earlier reperfusion of large-vessel occlusion (LVO) stroke improves functional outcomes. We hypothesize that use of a stroke cart in the angiography suite, containing all commonly used procedural equipment in a mechanical thrombectomy, combined with parallel staff workflows, and use of conscious sedation when possible, improve mechanical thrombectomy time metrics. Methods We identified 47 consecutive LVO patients who underwent mechanical thrombectomy at our center, retrospectively and prospectively from implementation of these three workflow changes (19 pre- and 28 post-). For each patient, last known normal, NIHSS, angiography suite in-room time, type of anesthesia, groin puncture time, on-clot time, recanalization time, LVO location, number of passes, device(s) used, mTICI score, and outcome (mRS) were recorded. Between-group comparisons of time metrics and multivariate regression were performed. Results Stroke cart, parallel workflows, and primary use of conscious sedation decreased in-room time to groin puncture (−21.3 min, p < 0.0001), in-room to on-clot time (−24.1 min, p = 0.001), and in-room to reperfusion time (−29.5 min, p = 0.01). In a multivariate analysis, endotracheal intubation and general anesthesia were found to significantly increase in-room to on-clot time (p = 0.01), in-room to reperfusion time (p = 0.01), and groin puncture to on-clot time (p = 0.05). The number of patients achieving a good outcome (mRS 0−2), however, did not significantly differ between the two groups (9/18 (47%) vs 14/28 (50%), p = 0.60). Conclusions Use of a stroke cart, parallel workflows by neurointerventionalists, technologists, and nursing staff, and use of conscious sedation may be useful to other institutions in efforts to improve procedural times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on a serious threat to social wellbeing and human health posed by climate change. It is noted that physicians and health professionals play an important role in ensuring that climate change is properly understood by policy makers. The impact of human activity on unequivocal global warming is discussed.

: David McCoy and colleagues critique the dominance of “lives saved” models of assessing the impact of health programs, using The Global Fund as a case study. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Memory for people and their relationships, along with memory for social language and social behaviors, constitutes a specific type of semantic memory termed social knowledge. This review focuses on how and where social knowledge is represented in the brain. We propose that portions of the anterior temporal lobe (ATL) play a critical role in representing and retrieving social knowledge. This includes memory about people, their names and biographies and more abstract forms of social memory such as memory for traits and social concepts. This hypothesis is based on the convergence of several lines of research including anatomical findings, lesion evidence from both humans and non-human primates and neuroimaging evidence. Moreover, the ATL is closely interconnected with cortical nuclei of the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex via the uncinate fasciculus. We propose that this pattern of connectivity underlies the function of the ATL in encoding and storing emotionally tagged knowledge that is used to guide orbitofrontal-based decision processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: People''s names have an embarrassing propensity to be forgotten. This problem is exacerbated by normal aging and by some kinds of dementia. As evidence from neuroimaging and neuropsychology suggest that portions of the anterior temporal lobes play a role in proper name retrieval, we hypothesized that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a technique that modulates neural transmission, to the anterior temporal lobes would alter the retrieval of proper names. Fifteen young adults received left anodal, right anodal, or sham stimulation of the anterior temporal lobes while naming pictures of famous individuals and landmarks. Right anterior temporal lobe stimulation significantly improved naming for people but not landmarks. These findings are consistent with the notion that the anterior temporal lobes are critically involved in the retrieval of people''s names. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article presents an overview of research which was conducted on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's grant-making program for public health. The researchers looked at 1,094 global health grants which were awarded by the fund between January, 1998, and December, 2007. They found that the total value of these grants was $895 billion, of which $5-82 billion (65%) was shared by only 20 organizations, and that a wide range of global health organizations, such as the World Health Organization and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, also received grants. Questions which were raised about the program as a result of the research are discussed.

The author suggests promoting a health agenda around peace. He notes that wars and violence in the Middle East and north Africa remind that good health is incompatible with war and conflict. He says militarism can undermine democracy, and militarisation is linked with inequitable access to health care and education in low-income countries. He asserts that health professionals can help prevent war by promoting factors that build peace such as democracy and gender equity.

The article focuses on research which examined the pay structures of health workers in the public sector of sub-Saharan Africa, the adequacy of the pay structures, the management of public sector pay, and the fiscal and macroeconomic factors that effect pay policy in the public sector. Researchers found that pay structures vary across countries in complex ways and that health workers commonly use other sources of income to supplement their formal pay. They suggest that in order to optimize the distribution and mix of health workers policy interventions to address their pay and incomes are needed.

Two crises dominate the health sectors of sub-Saharan African countries: those of human resources and of HIV. Nevertheless, there is considerable variation in the extent to which these two phenomena affect sub-Saharan countries, with a few facing extreme levels of both: Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, the Central African Republic and Malawi. This paper reviews the continent-wide situation with respect to this double burden before considering the case of Malawi in more detail. In Malawi, there has been significant concurrent investment in both an Emergency Human Resource Programme and an antiretroviral therapy programme which was treating 60,000 people by the end of 2006. Both areas of synergy and conflict have arisen, as the two programmes have been implemented. These highlight important issues for programme planners and managers to address and emphasize that planning for the scale-up of antiretroviral therapy while simultaneously strengthening health systems and the human resource situation requires prioritization among compelling cases for support, and time (not just resources). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses some major trends and problems in medicine that should be taken into consideration when appointing the new head of the World Health Organization, following the death of the Director-General, Lee Jong-wook. The article points to global health challenges, including poverty and the global political economy, the development and rehabilitation of national health-care systems, protecting people from biological, nonbiological and pharmaceutical hazards, and addressing some of the problems that are barriers to a more effective World Health Organization.

We share Joshua Michaud and colleagues'[1] concern regarding military actors' violations of international humanitarian law, particularly attacks on civilians, health workers and health facilities. To talk of reversing the behaviour of military actors or restoring international humanitarian law is unrealistic.[1] Rather, international humanitarian law must be redefined and its enforcement redesigned to function in an era when armed conflict is no longer primarily interstate. 4 S Kalyvas, The logic of violence in civil war, 2006, Cambridge University Press CambridgeKalyvas S. The logic of violence in civil war. [Extracted from the article]

We describe a number of pitfalls that may occur with the push to rapidly expand access to antiretroviral therapy in sub-Saharan Africa. These include undesirable opportunity costs, the fragmentation of health systems, worsening health care inequities, and poor and unsustained treatment outcomes. On the other hand, AIDS "treatment activism" provides an opportunity to catalyze comprehensive health systems development and reduce health care inequities. However, these positive benefits will only happen if we explicitly set out to achieve them. We call for a greater commitment toward health activism that tackles the broader political and economic constraints to human and health systems development in Africa, as well as toward the resuscitation of inclusive and equitable public health systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

M-tropic HIV strains gain access to their host cell via interaction of the viral envelope protein gp120 with the CCR5 coreceptor and CD4 located on the host cell. Inhibition of this event has been shown to reduce viral fusion and entry into cells in vitro. In the present study we describe the development of a novel cell/cell fusion assay that both mimics the viral/cell fusion process and allows quantification of this event. The assay has been characterized both biochemically, using selective antibodies, and pharmacologically, using selective CCR5 antagonists, and has been shown to be selective for examining the interaction of viral gp120 with hCCR5/hCD4. In addition, compound pIC 50 data obtained from this cell/cell fusion assay correlates well (r 2 = 0.7274) with data obtained from an HIV-1 replication assay. Furthermore, this assay has the added ability to simultaneously determine compound toxicity, thus allowing rapid determination of active, non-toxic compounds. In conclusion, the cell/cell fusion assay developed has been demonstrated to be a suitable surrogate assay that can be used to assess the effects of compounds on gp120/CCR5/CD4 mediated viral fusion into host cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the implications of political elites in federal democratic countries. No multiethnic federal democracy has yet collapsed, but several find themselves under increasing strain from ethnic elites and movements demanding greater autonomy or outright independence. Despite such warnings and dangers, however, it is surely no exaggeration to say that today many scholars rush to endorse federalizing strategies for dealing with ethnic and other disintegrative forces. While a number of classic elite studies discuss politics in federal countries, they are not concerned with federalism per se. Except perhaps when elite recruitment is examined, studies of political elites in federal systems treat federalism as little more than a footnote. The many scholars of federalism, for their part, view its effectiveness as resulting from the right institutional configuration, rather than from how political elites function. The article seeks to narrow the analytical gap between federalism and political elites. The causal arrow in federal systems generally runs from elites to institutions. The study of federalism encompasses many phenomena, ranging from intergovernmental revenue transfers to managing ethnic conflicts. Comparative empirical studies of federalism and federations have also generally given short shrift to elites.

Determines whether adenosine 5'-triphosphate and related nucleotides regulate sodium chloride transport across mouse inner medullary collecting duct cell line epithelial monolayers. Function of nucleotides in the extracellular fluid as autocrine and paracrine hormones; Pharmacological identification of purinoreceptors.

Provides information on a study which analyzed nucleotides' regulation of sodium chloride transport across mouse inner medullary collecting duct cell line epithelial monolayers. Function of nucleotides in the extracellular fluid; Classes of purinoceptors; Methodology of the study; Results and discussion on the study.

Examines the nephron and cell-specific expression of the epithelial sodium-selective channel (ENaC) and guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP)-inhibitable cation channel in mouse kidney cell lines and/or dissected nephron segments. Amiloride-sensitive electrogenic sodium absorption; Western blot analysis of renal cGMP-gated cation channel protein.

Determines whether adenosine and adenosine A1 receptors regulate electrogenic Cl- secretion in mIMCD-K2 cells. Cell culture; Measurement of short-circuit current; Permeable supports; Cell model depicting autocrine negative-feedback loop.

Characterizes the responses of exercise-trained and untrained borderline hypertensive rats (BHR) to stress by documenting the heart rate, blood pressure, plasma catecholamine, insulin, glucose and lactic acid responses. Difference in sympathoadrenal and endocrine responses to hemorrhage in swim-trained (T) and control (UT) BHR.

Presents a study regarding identification and function of A1 adenosine receptors in normal and cystic fibrosis human airway epithelial cells. Performance of RT-PCR on poly(A)+ RNA isolated from normal and CF airway epithelial cells; Use of Northern blot analysis to determine presence of poly(A)+ RNA transcripts encoding the A1 receptor.

Studies cell-specific expression of amiloride-sensitive, Na+-conducting ion channels in the kidney. Fixation, paraffin embedding and tissue sectioning; Detection of amplified cDNA; sequencing of cDNA clones; In situ RT-PCR hybridization of cGMP-gated cation channel mRNA; Western blot analysis of renal cGMP-gated cation channel protein.

In addition to being a strong psychological stressor in itself, medical illness is associated with risk factors that predispose patients to develop coexisting depression. Patients with conditions such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurologic disorders are particularly prone to depression because these illnesses are severe, chronic, and often fatal. Because an antidepressant may exacerbate an underlying illness, leading to more serious side effects, agents with a poor tolerability profile or that act at multiple receptor sites should be avoided. In many cases, this precludes the use of tricyclic antidepressants and monoamine oxidase inhibitors, and favors the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and other new antidepressants because they have fewer anticholinergic, cardiac, or cognitive adverse effects. Depressed medically ill patients clearly benefit from antidepressant therapy. Because mental health influences prognosis and treatment outcome, primary care physicians should maintain a high index of suspicion for depression in patients with significant medical illness and aggressively treat the condition when indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nuclear receptors (NRs) are important biological targets of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Identifying chemicals that can act as EDCs and modulate the function of NRs is difficult because of the time and cost of in vitro and in vivo screening to determine the potential hazards of the 100 000s of chemicals that humans are exposed to. Hence, there is a need for computational approaches to prioritize chemicals for biological testing. Machine learning (ML) techniques are alternative methods that can quickly screen millions of chemicals and identify those that may be an EDC. Computational models of chemical binding to multiple NRs have begun to emerge. Recently, a Nuclear Receptor Activity (NuRA) dataset, describing experimentally derived small-molecule activity against various NRs has been created. We have used the NuRA dataset to develop an ensemble of ML-based models to predict the agonism, antagonism, binding and effector binding of small molecules to nine different human NRs. We defined the applicability domain of the ML models as a measure of Tanimoto similarity to the molecules in the training set, which enhanced the performance of the developed classifiers. We further developed a user-friendly web server named 'NR-ToxPred' to predict the binding of chemicals to the nine NRs using the best-performing models for each receptor. This web server is freely accessible at http://nr-toxpred.cchem.berkeley.edu. Users can upload individual chemicals using Simplified Molecular-Input Line-Entry System, CAS numbers or sketch the molecule in the provided space to predict the compound's activity against the different NRs and predict the binding mode for each. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors opine on the proposals rendered by the Taskforce on Innovative International Financing for Health Systems chaired by Great Britain's former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and World Bank President Robert Zoellick. The authors summarize taskforce recommendations in the areas of financing needed, innovative funding sources, and health work development assistance. The authors recommend added actions that are needed in the international health community.

The article discusses partnerships in medical research between wealthy countries and poor countries in Africa. The authors note the poor economies of African countries have hindered research that that partnerships between wealth countries and African research facilities are symbiotic, providing resources to poor countries and disease information to wealthy countries. The authors suggest wealthy countries receive a greater amount of partnership funds and comments that biomedical research receives more attention than public health research. They recommend policy-makers participate more in research and note that universities in poor countries may have to balance research with educational goals.

In this editorial the author expresses concern of the World Bank's strategy in improving health in poor countries. He feels the Bank's claim to expertise and credibility in the field of health systems is troubling. It is his opinion that some of the Bank's inspired reforms already show signs of underpinning the current problems. he disagrees with the Bank's promotion of proprivate market-oriented policies and its view that health care can be reduced to a set of tradeable commodities and services raise important concerns.

The article provides information on the Global Health Watch (GHW), an initiative which consists of both product and process. It is one manifestation of the realization among some health professionals that a transnational movement progressive health professionals that can help to promote universal rights to health and healthcare. The fundamental feature of the GHW is to provide an evidence-based assessment of the actual policies and actions of key institutions. As a product, it is an alternative world health report produced every 2 years. As a process, its platform is to promote links between nongovernmental organizations within the health sector and its services.

The article reflects on the book "Global Health Watch 2005-2006: An Alternative World Health Report," . It states that the publication looks at disparities and interrelationship between poor, powerless, and unhealthy, and the wealthy, powerful, and healthy. It reports the significance of a multisectoral approach to health regarding climate change, food security, and conflict and the arms trade.

Robust stakeholder engagement in health research requires broad communicative integration, not only of patients but also other stakeholders such as health system leaders, clinicians, and researchers. As patients' personal narratives tend to focus on their own health care experiences, it can be challenging to incorporate these perspectives at the health system level, where discussions often address technical issues such as strategies for aggregating and interpreting population-level data. The PaTH Health System Leaders Demonstration Project provides a case study to explore the potential usefulness of deliberative techniques for facilitating heterogeneous stakeholder engagement in what some sociologists of science call 'hybid forums.' Close textual analysis of the event transcript yields insight on how social learning motivates group opinion shifts in deliberative processes. Reconstruction of the event's narrative arc marks a path of 'dynamic updating' that manifests in group opinion change. Analysis of episodes where participants perform 'deliberative openness' lends qualitative nuance to previously reported process measure outcomes reflecting high participant satisfaction. Such inquiry helps address a gap in literature on stakeholder engagement in comparative effectiveness health research, sheds light on the understudied genre of 'empowered deliberation', and illustrates design principles and practices useful for upstream integration of stakeholder engagement in the research process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A review of the article "The Rohingya people of Myanmar: health, human rights, and identity" by authors including Mahmood S, Wroe E, and Fuller A, which appeared in the periodical "The Lancet" on December 1, 2016, is presented.

A letter to the editor is presented which discusses a health-impact assessment of the possible medical impact of the war on terrorism in Iraq published by public charity Medact, focusing on the lessons that can be learned frm the war on peace building strategies.

Balloon remodeling microcatheters are essential in assisting endovascular coiling of brain aneurysms, but the performance and pressure requirements of different balloon types when used in aneurysmal defects are currently unknown. We used Tinkercad (Autodesk, Montreal, Quebec) to create model vessels with aneurysmal defects and 3-dimensionally printed these designs with polylactic acid using the Ultimaker2 (Ultimaker, Geldermalsen, Netherlands). We constructed a pressurized box capable of reaching physiologic pressures that housed our vessels and then tested compliant remodeling balloons under fluoroscopy from 3 manufacturers: Hyperglide (Medtronic, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA), Transform (Stryker Neurovascular, Fremont, California, USA), and Scepter C (Microvention, Tustin, California, USA). Each balloon was inflated to a nominal and supranominal point at each defect, and at each inflation the maximum diameter of the balloon and internal balloon pressure were recorded. The Phillips Intellivue (Phillips, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) monitor was adapted for internal balloon pressure monitoring. A multivariate linear regression analysis was performed to model balloon compliance (balloon diameter divided by pressure). Multivariate regression modeling demonstrated the Scepter balloon had significantly greater compliance compared with both the Hyperglide and Transform balloons (P < 0.001). In addition, we found that Scepter balloons had higher compliance in larger defects compared with the other types of balloons and performance differences based on vessel size. Scepter balloons require less pressure compared with their counterparts to adequately deform through model defects, specifically in larger aneurysm necks in smaller vessel diameters. This result could inform operators of optimal balloon type and size when trying to minimize balloon pressure in fragile brain aneurysms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented which discusses the proposed amendment to the Prisons Act by the Israeli parliament and the compliance of the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) to the said legislation.

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article concerning the International Health Partnership (IHP+) health assistance initiative in the September 2007 issue.

Argues that despite the money devoted to health research most of it does not benefit the health of poor people living in developing countries. Concern over the ever growing gap in health care between poor and industrialized nations; Belief that only 10% of worldwide health research funds are allocated to the problems responsible for 90% of the world's burden of disease; Obstacles to be overcome to change this statistic; Suggestions for changes that would address the issues; The difficulties ahead in addressing the imbalance of medical care.

Focuses on the production need for a global health report in a civil society. Discussion on failures of health development policy; Effect of social and economic problems on health and health services; Significance of Global Health Watch in health care.

Discusses the access to antiretroviral drug treatment in Africa. Demand of treatment for patients with HIV and AIDS in Africa; Challenges in meeting these demands; What should and should not be done in approaches to providing treatment.

The article discusses research conducted by Eric Friedman and Lawrence Gostin on the immediate causes of the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.

The author discusses a report to be published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) regarding the impacts of global warming. The report outlines the future threats of further global warning that include increased scarcity of food and fresh water, extreme water events and rise in sea level. It suggests for health professionals to push their own organisations to divest from fossil fuel industries and change the minds and behavior of others in positions of influence.

David McCoy and colleagues critique the dominance of "lives saved" models of assessing the impact of health programs, using The Global Fund as a case study. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this Series paper, we examine how mother and baby attributes at the individual level interact with breastfeeding determinants at other levels, how these interactions drive breastfeeding outcomes, and what policies and interventions are necessary to achieve optimal breastfeeding. About one in three neonates in low-income and middle-income countries receive prelacteal feeds, and only one in two neonates are put to the breast within the first hour of life. Prelacteal feeds are strongly associated with delayed initiation of breastfeeding. Self-reported insufficient milk continues to be one of the most common reasons for introducing commercial milk formula (CMF) and stopping breastfeeding. Parents and health professionals frequently misinterpret typical, unsettled baby behaviours as signs of milk insufficiency or inadequacy. In our market-driven world and in violation of the WHO International Code for Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes, the CMF industry exploits concerns of parents about these behaviours with unfounded product claims and advertising messages. A synthesis of reviews between 2016 and 2021 and country-based case studies indicate that breastfeeding practices at a population level can be improved rapidly through multilevel and multicomponent interventions across the socioecological model and settings. Breastfeeding is not the sole responsibility of women and requires collective societal approaches that take gender inequities into consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite proven benefits, less than half of infants and young children globally are breastfed in accordance with the recommendations of WHO. In comparison, commercial milk formula (CMF) sales have increased to about US$55 billion annually, with more infants and young children receiving formula products than ever. This Series paper describes the CMF marketing playbook and its influence on families, health professionals, science, and policy processes, drawing on national survey data, company reports, case studies, methodical scoping reviews, and two multicountry research studies. We report how CMF sales are driven by multifaceted, well resourced marketing strategies that portray CMF products, with little or no supporting evidence, as solutions to common infant health and developmental challenges in ways that systematically undermine breastfeeding. Digital platforms substantially extend the reach and influence of marketing while circumventing the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes. Creating an enabling policy environment for breastfeeding that is free from commercial influence requires greater political commitment, financial investment, CMF industry transparency, and sustained advocacy. A framework convention on the commercial marketing of food products for infants and children is needed to end CMF marketing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]