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Competing Interests: I declare no competing interests.

Background: Healthy diets promote optimal growth and development and prevent malnutrition in all its forms, including undernutrition, obesity, and diet-related noncommunicable diseases (NCDs)., Objective: This background paper for the International Expert Consultation on Sustainable Healthy Diets characterizes healthy diets and their implications for food system sustainability., Methods: Three complementary approaches to defining healthy diets are compared: World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines or recommendations developed between 1996 and 2019; 2017 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) risk factor study estimates of diet-related risk-outcome associations; and analyses associating indices of whole dietary patterns with health outcomes in population studies and clinical trials., Results: World Health Organization dietary recommendations are global reference points for preventing undernutrition and reducing NCD risks; they emphasize increasing intakes of fruits, vegetables (excepting starchy root vegetables), legumes, nuts, and whole grains; limiting energy intake from free sugars and total fats; consuming unsaturated rather than saturated or trans fats; and limiting salt intake. Global Burden of Disease findings align well with WHO recommendations but include some additional risk factors such as high consumption of processed meat; this approach quantifies contributions of diet-related risks to the NCD burden. Evidence on whole dietary patterns supports WHO and GBD findings and raises concerns about potential adverse health effects of foods with high levels of industrial processing., Conclusions: Implied shifts toward plant foods and away from animal foods (excepting fish and seafood), and for changes in food production systems have direct relevance to the sustainability agenda.

Summary: As a developing region, Latin America faces unique cancer control and prevention challenges, which are intensified when considering rare cancers, including sarcomas. Sarcomas are a group of malignancies that arise in the connective tissues of the body—such as muscle, fat, nerves, blood vessels, and bones—accounting for a diverse range of tumours that, although rare, require specialized attention. Sarcoma care and research in Latin America require a comprehensive approach that includes deeper epidemiologic knowledge, diagnostic capacity building, access to innovative treatments, increased patient advocacy, and strengthening of clinical research capacity. This article will review current challenges and opportunities for treating patients with sarcoma in Latin America and outline a pathway toward improvement for regional collaborative groups.

Introduction: Routine medical care in Germany, Austria and Switzerland is being increasingly impacted by the cultural and linguistic diversity of an ever more complex world. Both at home and as part of international student exchanges, medical students are confronted with different ways of thinking and acting in relation to health and disease. Despite an increasing number of courses on cultural competence and global health at German-speaking medical schools, systematic approaches are lacking on how to integrate this topic into medical curricula. Methodological approach: This paper is based on a structured consensus-building process by a multidisciplinary committee composed of faculty and students. In a first step, a qualitative online survey was carried out in order to establish an inventory of definitions and concepts. After the second step, in which a literature search was conducted and definitions of global health and transcultural and intercultural competence were clarified, recommendations were formulated regarding content, teaching and institutional infrastructure. Based on small-group work and large-group discussions, different perspectives and critical issues were compiled using multiple feedback loops that served to ensure quality. Results: An inventory on the national and international level showed that great heterogeneity exists in regard to definitions, teaching strategies, teaching formats and faculty qualification. Definitions and central aspects considered essential to medical education were thus established for the use of the terms "cultural competence" and "global health". Recommendations are given for implementation, ranging from practical realization to qualification of teaching staff and education research. Outlook: High-quality healthcare as a goal calls for the systematic internationalization of undergraduate medical education. In addition to offering specific courses on cultural competence and global health, synergies would be created through the integration of cultural competence and global health content into the curricula of already existing subject areas. The NKLM (the national competence-based catalogue of learning objectives for undergraduate medical education) would serve as a basis for this.

The World Federation of Chiropractic supports the involvement of chiropractors in public health initiatives, particularly as it relates to musculoskeletal health. Three topics within public health have been identified that call for a renewed professional focus. These include healthy ageing; opioid misuse; and women's, children's, and adolescents' health. The World Federation of Chiropractic aims to enable chiropractors to proactively participate in health promotion and prevention activities in these areas, through information dissemination and coordinated partnerships. Importantly, this work will align the chiropractic profession with the priorities of the World Health Organization. Successful engagement will support the role of chiropractors as valued partners within the broader healthcare system and contribute to the health and wellbeing of the communities they serve., Competing Interests: All authors are volunteer members of the World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC) Public Health Committee at the time of press. CC serves as committee chair; MM is liaison to the WFC Council; RB is Secretary-General to the WFC.Not applicable.RB is a paid consultant to the World Federation of Chiropractic, serving as Secretary General. All other authors declare no competing interests.Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Background: Many of the 70,000 graduating US medical students [per year] have reported participating in a global health activity at some stage of medical school. This case study design provided a method for understanding the student's experience that included student's learning about culture, health disparities, exposure and reaction to a range of diseases actually encountered. The broad diversity of themes among students indicated that the GCE provided a flexible, personalized experience. We need to understand the student's experience in order to help design appropriate curricular experiences [and valid student assessment]., Objective: Our research aim was to analyze medical student reflection papers to understand how they viewed their Global Clinical Experience (GCE)., Methods: A qualitative case study design was used to analyze student reflection papers. All 28 students who participated in a GCE from 2008-2010 and in 2014-2015 and submitted a reflection paper on completion of the GCE were eligible to participate in the study. One student did not submit a reflection paper and was not included in the study., Findings: All 27 papers were coded by paragraph for reflection and for themes. System of Care/Range of Care was mentioned most often, Aids to Adjustment Process was mentioned least. The theme, "Diseases," referred to any mention of a disease in the reflection papers, and 44 diseases were mentioned in the papers. The analysis for depth of reflection yielded the following data: Observation, 81/248 paragraphs; Observation and Interpretation, 130/248 paragraphs; and Observation, Interpretation, and Suggestions for change, 36/248 paragraphs; 9 reflection papers contained 27 separate accounts of a transformational experience., Conclusions: This study provided a method for understanding the student's experience that included student's learning about culture, health disparities, and exposure and reaction to a range of diseases actually encountered. The broad diversity of themes among students indicated that the GCE provided a flexible, personalized experience. How we might design a curriculum to facilitate transformational learning experiences needs further research., (Copyright © 2017 Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

not available.

Objective: To demonstrate how family medicine has been recognized and integrated into primary health care systems in contrasting contexts around the world and to provide an overview of how family physicians are trained and certified., Composition of the Committee: Since 2012, the College of Family Physicians of Canada has hosted the Besrour Conferences to reflect on its role in advancing the discipline of family medicine globally. The Besrour Papers Working Group, which was struck at the 2013 conference, was tasked with developing a series of papers to highlight the key issues, lessons learned, and outcomes emerging from the various activities of the Besrour collaboration. The working group comprised members of various academic departments of family medicine in Canada and abroad who attended the conferences., Methods: An initial search was conducted in PubMed using a family medicine hedge of MeSH terms, text words, and family medicine journals, combined with text words and terms representing low- and middle-income countries and the concept of family medicine training programs. A second search was completed using only family medicine terms in the CAB Direct and World Bank databases. Subsequent PubMed searches were conducted to identify articles about specific conditions or services based on suggestions from the authors of the articles selected from the second search. Additional articles were identified through reference lists of key articles and through Google searches. We then attempted to verify and augment the information through colleagues and partners., Report: The scope of family medicine and the nature of family medicine training vary considerably worldwide. Challenges include limited capacity, incomplete understanding of roles, and variability of standards and recognition. Opportunities for advancement might include technology, collaboration, changes in pedagogy, flexible training methods, and system-wide support., (Copyright© the College of Family Physicians of Canada.)

Objective: To find a common global definition of family medicine ., Composition of the Committee: Since 2012, the College of Family Physicians of Canada has hosted the Besrour Conferences to reflect on its role in advancing the discipline of family medicine globally. The Besrour Papers Working Group, which was struck at the 2013 conference, was tasked with developing a series of papers to highlight the key issues, lessons learned, and outcomes emerging from the various activities of the Besrour collaboration. The working group comprised members of various academic departments of family medicine in Canada and abroad who attended the conferences., Methods: Searching both definition of family medicine and history of family medicine yields a variety of defining features. Visiting family medicine training programs worldwide highlights this discrepancy., Report: It is not an easy task to define family medicine -one of its key attributes is its adaptability to a local context, but this makes aggregation of data challenging. There is a lack of clarity regarding whether family medicine is the same discipline globally and what the core features are that define it. Unifying components of the definition have always included comprehensive care at all life stages and the management of the common illnesses of a particular community. The emerging global emphasis on competency and social accountability demonstrates commitment to the principle that family doctors provide health care for all in the context of the community. Although the competencies are not universal, the fact that family physicians fill in primary care "gaps" and tailor learning strategies to community priorities is a unifying distinction. We argue for a focus on the core competencies that bind us as a discipline., Conclusion: Family medicine can be practised in various forms. The unifying elements are the socially accountable responsiveness to local need, the adaptation of existing health infrastructure, and the ongoing development of the skills required to succeed in that role-always grounded in relationships of care. In this way, family medicine will continue to evolve to suit the health needs of communities and health systems., (Copyright© the College of Family Physicians of Canada.)

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has infected more than 3.0 million people worldwide and killed more than 200,000 as of April 27, 2020. In this White Paper, we address the cardiovascular co-morbidities of COVID-19 infection; the diagnosis and treatment of standard cardiovascular conditions during the pandemic; and the diagnosis and treatment of the cardiovascular consequences of COVID-19 infection. In addition, we will also address various issues related to the safety of healthcare workers and the ethical issues related to patient care in this pandemic.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has infected more than 3.0 million people worldwide and killed more than 200,000 as of April 27, 2020. In this White Paper, we address the cardiovascular co-morbidities of COVID-19 infection; the diagnosis and treatment of standard cardiovascular conditions during the pandemic; and the diagnosis and treatment of the cardiovascular consequences of COVID-19 infection. In addition, we will also address various issues related to the safety of healthcare workers and the ethical issues related to patient care in this pandemic.

Objective: To provide an overview of the main methodologic challenges to finding definitive evidence of the positive effects of family medicine and family medicine training on a global scale., Composition of the Committee: In 2012, 2013, and 2014, the College of Family Physicians of Canada hosted the Besrour Conferences to reflect on its role in advancing the discipline of family medicine globally. The Besrour Papers Working Group, which was struck at the 2013 conference, was tasked with developing a series of papers to highlight the key issues, lessons learned, and outcomes emerging from the various activities of the Besrour collaboration. The working group comprised members of various academic departments of family medicine in Canada and abroad who attended the conferences., Methods: We performed a scoping review to determine the methodologic obstacles to understanding the positive effects of family medicine globally., Report: The main obstacle to evaluating family medicine globally is that one of its core dimensions and assets is its local adaptability. Family medicine takes on very different roles in different health systems, making aggregation of data difficult. In many countries family medicine competes with other disciplines rather than performing a gatekeeping role. Further, most research that has been conducted thus far comes from industrialized contexts, and patient continuity and its benefits might not be achievable in the short term in developing countries when clinical demands are great. We must find frameworks to permit strengthening the evidentiary basis of the discipline across different contexts without sacrificing its beneficial adaptability., Conclusion: We believe that developing family medicine and its attributes is one of the keys to achieving global health. These attributes—including its comprehensiveness, adaptability, and attention to both local and patient needs—are key to advancing global health priorities, but make common evaluative frameworks for the discipline a challenge. The spread of family medicine over the past decades is indirect evidence of its utility, but we need to generate more evidence. We present some of the initial challenges to a broader and more rigorous evaluative framework.

Growth charts are essential for evaluating children's health including their nutrition; however, the evaluation of child growth trajectories and consequently the decision to intervene are highly dependent on the growth charts used. The aim of this discussion paper of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition Committee on Nutrition is to provide information on the background and rationale of the World Health Organization (WHO) 2006 child growth standards and WHO 2007 growth reference charts, describe their development, outline their main innovative aspects, discuss potential limitations, and make recommendations. WHO 2006 child growth standards (0-5 years) are based on prospectively collected data describing the growth of healthy infants who were breast-fed according to WHO recommendations, showing a pattern of linear growth, which is remarkably consistent between different countries and ethnic groups. WHO 2007 growth reference charts (5-19 years) are based mainly on a re-analysis of National Centre for Health Statistics data from 1977, without information on feeding. European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition Committee on Nutrition recommends that WHO child growth standards should be used to monitor growth in all children in the age range 0 to 2 years in Europe, whether breast- or formula-fed, and that they should be considered to be used in the age range 2 to 5 years. Implementation of the WHO child growth standards should be preceded by evaluation of the implication of their use on national healthcare policies. Health professionals should be guided on their use and interpretation and an adequate communication strategy should be available locally to ensure that parents receive clear and consistent advice. The decision on whether to implement the WHO growth references (5-19 years) should be made by national bodies because the growth pattern during the 5- to 19-year period differs between populations.

OBJECTIVE: To assess family medicines role in developing strong, coordinated, community-based, integrated health care systems in low-resource settings globally. COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE: A subgroup of the Besrour Centre of the College of Family Physicians of Canada developed connections with selected international colleagues with expertise in international family medicine practice, health systems and capacity building, and teaching to map family medicine globally and give a birds eye view of family medicine internationally. METHODS: Following a background literature review, the authors collectively reflected on their substantial international experience to attempt to describe best practices for various contexts. REPORT: With the failure of vertical, disease-oriented models to provide sustained improvements in health outcomes, the need to develop integrated primary care involving the most appropriate health professionals for differing contexts is becoming apparent worldwide. Health system planning is required to develop policies on health professional training to achieve this. Advocating and offering appropriate incentives for, and coordination of, local opportunities within the health system also becomes paramount. The adaptability and generalist nature of family medicine allows it to respond to the unique needs of a given population. Family physicians with adequate financial and physical resources can function most effectively as members of interdisciplinary teams, thus providing valuable, comprehensive health services in any area of the world.

This article presents global cancer statistics by world region for the year 2022 based on updated estimates from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). There were close to 20 million new cases of cancer in the year 2022 (including nonmelanoma skin cancers [NMSCs]) alongside 9.7 million deaths from cancer (including NMSC). The estimates suggest that approximately one in five men or women develop cancer in a lifetime, whereas around one in nine men and one in 12 women die from it. Lung cancer was the most frequently diagnosed cancer in 2022, responsible for almost 2.5 million new cases, or one in eight cancers worldwide (12.4% of all cancers globally), followed by cancers of the female breast (11.6%), colorectum (9.6%), prostate (7.3%), and stomach (4.9%). Lung cancer was also the leading cause of cancer death, with an estimated 1.8 million deaths (18.7%), followed by colorectal (9.3%), liver (7.8%), female breast (6.9%), and stomach (6.8%) cancers. Breast cancer and lung cancer were the most frequent cancers in women and men, respectively (both cases and deaths). Incidence rates (including NMSC) varied from four-fold to five-fold across world regions, from over 500 in Australia/New Zealand (507.9 per 100,000) to under 100 in Western Africa (97.1 per 100,000) among men, and from over 400 in Australia/New Zealand (410.5 per 100,000) to close to 100 in South-Central Asia (103.3 per 100,000) among women. The authors examine the geographic variability across 20 world regions for the 10 leading cancer types, discussing recent trends, the underlying determinants, and the prospects for global cancer prevention and control. With demographics-based predictions indicating that the number of new cases of cancer will reach 35 million by 2050, investments in prevention, including the targeting of key risk factors for cancer (including smoking, overweight and obesity, and infection), could avert millions of future cancer diagnoses and save many lives worldwide, bringing huge economic as well as societal dividends to countries over the forthcoming decades., (© 2024 The Authors. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Cancer Society.)

This is the first question one should consider before submitting a paper to an international journal. The answer is simple: If researchers or practitioners from another country can learn something from your paper that can influence a practice or a research they are involved in, then your paper is relevant for an international audience. There are many elements that can influence in this cross-border transferability. One could think that having a big “n”, or performing complex statistical calculations, or using complicated study designs makes the paper more attractive to colleagues from other countries. These elements can help, but they are not sufficient. On the other hand, one could think that a study performed in a small hospital in a given country will never be of interest for these foreign colleagues. That is not necessarily correct. Let’s burst some myths.

This is the first question one should consider before submitting a paper to an international journal. The answer is simple: If researchers or practitioners from another country can learn something from your paper that can influence a practice or a research they are involved in, then your paper is relevant for an international audience. There are many elements that can influence in this cross-border transferability. One could think that having a big "n", or performing complex statistical calculations, or using complicated study designs makes the paper more attractive to colleagues from other countries. These elements can help, but they are not sufficient. On the other hand, one could think that a study performed in a small hospital in a given country will never be of interest for these foreign colleagues. That is not necessarily correct. Let's burst some myths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we describe an ultra-low-cost origami-based approach for large-scale manufacturing of microscopes, specifically demonstrating brightfield, darkfield, and fluorescence microscopes. Merging principles of optical design with origami enables high-volume fabrication of microscopes from 2D media. Flexure mechanisms created via folding enable a flat compact design. Structural loops in folded paper provide kinematic constraints as a means for passive self-alignment. This light, rugged instrument can survive harsh field conditions while providing a diversity of imaging capabilities, thus serving wide-ranging applications for cost-effective, portable microscopes in science and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]