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Background: Breastfeeding is important for the health and development of the child, and for maternal health, in all country contexts. However, global sales of breast-milk substitutes (BMS), including infant, follow-up and toddler formulas, have 'boomed' in recent decades. This raises the importance of international food standards established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex) on the safety, composition and labelling of BMS. Such standards appear to be strongly contested by governments, industry and civil society groups, yet few studies have investigated the politics of Codex standard-setting processes. The aim of this paper is to understand who participates in decision-making, and how actors frame and contest proposals to revise the Codex Standard on Follow-up Formula (FUF). Methods: We adopted a case study design involving two steps. First, we enumerated government, industry, civil society, and international organization stakeholders participating in standard-setting processes of the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU). Second, we conducted a framing analysis of stakeholder inputs during the FUF standard revision in CCNFSDU meetings. Publicly available online meeting reports (2015-2019) were retrieved, analyzed using a theoretical framework, and organized thematically. Results: High-income country (HIC) delegates greatly outnumbered those from other country income categories. Industry representation was higher compared with other observer categories. Member state delegations included more industry representation than civil society representation, and were occasionally the only member state delegates. Industry stakeholders framed arguments in terms of trade implications, science, and flexible standards. Civil society groups used public health, science, and pro-breastfeeding frames. Conclusion: Codex BMS standard-setting procedures are dominated by HICs and industry groups. Limited representation of civil society, and of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), suggest actions are needed to substantially increase support for their involvement at Codex. Such representation may help to counteract power asymmetries and commercial influences on food standards for infants and young children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of this research was to synthetise the existing evidence on the impact of epidemic-related lockdown measures on women and children's health in low- and lower-middle-income countries (LLMICs). Methods: A mixed-methods systematic review was conducted of qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods evidence. Between 1st and 10th of November 2021, seven scientific databases were searched. The inclusion criteria were that the paper provided evidence on the impact of lockdown and related measures, focused on LLMICs, addressed impacts on women and child's health, addressed epidemics from 2000-2020, was peer-reviewed, provided original evidence, and was published in English. The Joanne Briggs Institute's critical appraisal tools were used to assess the quality of the studies, and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines for reporting. The evidence from the papers was grouped by type of lockdown measure and categories of impact, using a narrative databased convergent synthesis design. Results: The review process identified 46 papers meeting the inclusion criteria from 17 countries that focussed on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Ebola epidemics. The evidence on the decrease of utilisation of health services showed plummeting immunisation rates and faltering use of maternal and perinatal services, which was linked to a growth of premature deaths. Impacts on the mental health of children and women were convincingly established, with lockdowns associated with surges in depression, anxiety and low life satisfaction. Vulnerability may be compounded by lockdowns, as livelihoods were disrupted, and poverty levels increased. Conclusion: Limitations included that searches were conducted in late-2020 as new research was being published, and that some evidence not published in English may have been excluded. Epidemic-related lockdown measures carry consequences for the health of women and children in lower-income settings. Governments will need to weigh the tradeoffs of introducing such measures and consider policies to mitigate their impacts on the most vulnerable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every year, WHO produces the World health report: the 2005 report concentrated on maternal, neonatal and child health. But what is the value of these reports? Are they ritualistic publications designed to promote WHO, or are they worthy of proper discussion and debate? One would think that given the current crises in global health, the annual report of the UN's primary agency for health would be important. However, unless there is evidence that these reports are taken seriously, discussed and debated, and shown to have an effect, a conclusion might be drawn that they are largely insignificant. And that would consign WHO to a level of insignificance that it does not warrant. In this discussion of the 2005 report, I aim to provoke a response from both WHO and the international health community to demonstrate that the annual World health reports are meaningful. Furthermore, I suggest here that WHO shows its commitment to the recommendations of the 2005 report by monitoring how well recommendations have been taken forward.

This is the first comprehensive study of expenditures on lobbying of the US federal government linked to discussions seeking to shape US policy toward, funding of, and participation in the World Health Organization (WHO). We link corporate lobbying expenditures and coinciding public statements to legislative proposals and other actions to restrict funding to, censure, and undermine confidence in the WHO. We uncover evidence of an intensifying and coordinated effort within a newly organized alliance across producers of commercial milk formulas, other ultra-processed foods, alcoholic beverages, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, chemicals, plastics, and electronic gaming. Lobbying by the coalition occurs simultaneously with tobacco interests. Targets include WHO global health initiatives to address non-communicable diseases and access to medicines, as well as WHO protocols limiting private sector participation to mitigate conflicts of interest in health policy-making processes. The coalition characterizes its activities in terms of ‘advocacy for WHO reform’ or similar. In 2021, it argued such reforms are necessary for future pandemic response, indicating use of the Covid-19 crisis as leverage. Overall, these findings indicate corporate lobbying not only targets specific WHO processes that conflict with commercial interests, but also works to cast doubt on the integrity and narrow the operational capacities of the global health governance system itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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.

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]

The human airway cell line Calu-3 with a serous phenotype was examined to determine the mechanics by which cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) activates the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator chloride channel (CFTR Cl-) secretion. The findings confirmed the cAMP stimulation of CFTR channels localized in the apical plasma membrane. However, the recruitment of CFTR from an intracellular source prior to crossing the plasma membrane was ruled out. This implies the involvement of CFTR-mediated Cl- secretion in human airway epithelial serous cells in cystic fibrosis.

Mouse inner medullarity collecting duct cells (mIMCD-K2) were analyzed to determine the effects of hyperosmolality on electrogenic Na2+ adsorption (IsupNasubSC) and electrogenic Cl secretion (IsupClsubSC). Acute and chronic hyperosmolality in mIMCD-K2 cell lines reduced basal IsupNasubSc and IsupClsubSC due to elevations in NaCl and urea. Furthermore, the renal transport of urea, water, Na2+ and Cl- across IMCD were dependent on the osmolality of the interstitial fluid.

Expression of guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP)-gated channels and alpha-messenger rat epithelial Na+ channel (alpha-mENaC) in nephrotic cells were analyzed by the localization of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA). Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction hybridization indicated the role of cGMP and alpha-mENaC in mediating the Na+ absorption of nephron segments. The mRNA that promotes cGMP-gated cation channel and alpha-mENaC is coexpressed at the medullary thick ascending limb, distal convoluted tubule, cortical collecting duct, outer and inner medullary collecting duct.