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Biomedical subjects

B Liese

Publications and source records attributed to B Liese.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

Partnership and promise: evolution of the African river-blindness campaigns.

This article describes the evolution of the partnership, between various health and developmental agencies, that has sustained the campaign against river blindness in Africa. The international community was oblivious to the devastating public-health and socio-economic consequences of onchocerciasis until towards the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s. Then a 'Mission to West Africa', supported by the United Nations Development Programme, and a visit to the sub-region by the president of the World Bank culminated, in 1974, in the inauguration of the Onchocerciasis Control Programme in West Africa (OCP). OCP was a landmark event for the World Bank as it represented its first ever direct investment in a public-health initiative. The resounding success of the OCP is a testimony to the power of the partnership which, with the advent of the Mectizan Donation Programme, was emboldened to extend the scope of its activities to encompass the remaining endemic regions of Africa outside the OCP area. The progress that has been made in consolidating the partnership is discussed in this article. The prospects of adapting the various strategies of the African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control, to entrench an integrated approach that couples strong regional co-ordination with empowerment of local communities and thereby address many other health problems, are also explored.

Africa↗
PubMed2002

APOC's strategy of community-directed treatment with ivermectin (CDTI) and its potential for providing additional health services to the poorest populations. African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control.

Since its inauguration in 1995, the African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC) has made significant progress towards achieving its main objective: to establish sustainable community-directed treatment with ivermectin (CDTI) in onchocerciasis-endemic areas outside of the remit of the Onchocerciasis Control Programme in West Africa (OCP). In the year 2000, the programme, in partnership with governments, non-governmental organizations and the endemic communities themselves, succeeded in treating 20,298,138 individuals in 49,654 communities in 63 projects in 14 countries. Besides the distribution of ivermectin, the programme has strengthened primary healthcare (PHC) through capacity-building, mobilization of resources and empowerment of communities. The community-directed-treatment approach is a model that can be adopted in developing other community-based health programmes. The approach has also made it possible to bring to the poor some measure of intervention in some other healthcare programmes, such as those for malaria control, eye care, maternal and child health, nutrition and immunization. CDTI presents, at all stages of its implementation, a unique window of opportunity for promoting the functional integration of healthcare activities. For this to be done successfully and in a co-ordinated manner, adequate funding of CDTI within PHC is as important as an effective sensitization of the relevant policy-makers, healthworkers and communities on the value of integration (accompanied by appropriate training at all levels). Evaluation of the experiences in integration of health services, particularly at community level, is crucial to the success of the integration.

Africa↗
PubMed2000

Video display terminal workstation improvement program: I. Baseline associations between musculoskeletal discomfort and ergonomic features of workstations.

Associations between selected sites of musculoskeletal discomfort and ergonomic characteristics of the video display terminal (VDT) workstation were assessed in analyses controlling for demographic, psychosocial stress, and VDT use factors in 273 VDT users from a large administrative department. Significant associations with wrist/hand discomfort were seen for female gender; working 7+ hours at a VDT; low job satisfaction; poor keyboard position; use of new, adjustable furniture; and layout of the workstation. Significantly increased odds ratios for neck/shoulder discomfort were observed for 7+ hours at a VDT, less than complete job control, older age (40 to 49 years), and never/infrequent breaks. Lower back discomfort was related marginally to working 7+ hours at a VDT. These results demonstrate that some characteristics of VDT workstations, after accounting for psychosocial stress, can be correlated with musculoskeletal discomfort.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Video display terminal workstation improvement program: II. Ergonomic intervention and reduction of musculoskeletal discomfort.

The effects of an ergonomic intervention on musculoskeletal discomfort in 118 video display terminal (VDT) users were assessed 1 year after intervention. The intervention consisted of recommended changes to workstations, which were based on the evaluation of 15 ergonomic characteristics. Compliance with the intervention was at least 75% for most workstation characteristics. Reduction in discomfort was substantial and was highest for the wrist/hand (57%), lower back (43%), and neck/shoulder (41%) severity of discomfort outcomes. Neither compliance with intervention on individual workstation characteristics nor summary intervention scores were associated with reduction in discomfort. Our results demonstrate that although reduction of musculoskeletal discomfort may be observed in the context of an intervention study, it may be difficult to link these benefits to specific interventions.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Risk factors for psychological stress among international business travellers.

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated sources of self reported psychological stress among international business travellers at the World Bank, following up on a previous study showing that travellers submitted more insurance claims for psychological disorders. Hypotheses were that work, personal, family, and health concerns, as well as time zone travel, contribute to travel stress. METHODS: A travel survey was developed from focus groups and consisted of questions about these potential sources of travel stress. Surveys were sent to a random sample of staff, stratified by number of travel missions, age range, and sex. Canonical correlation analyses estimated the association between key survey items on sources of stress and two measures of travel stress. RESULTS: 498 staff completed the survey. More than a third reported high to very high travel stress. Correlations between predictors and travel stress showed that social and emotional concerns (such as impact of travel on family and sense of isolation) contributed the most to such stress, followed by health concerns, and workload upon return from travel. Surprisingly, time zone travel did not contribute to the self reported stress of these travellers. There were few modifiers of stress, although respondents suggested that a day of rest after travel and reduced workloads would help. CONCLUSIONS: The current study confirms clinical impressions about several correlates of travel stress. Similar research with travellers in other organisations could help to determine whether the findings from this study are valid and what measures can be taken to reduce the psychological health risks to travellers.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1998

Training in cognitive, supportive-expressive, and drug counseling therapies for cocaine dependence.

This study assessed the effects of training on the performance of 65 therapists in delivering manual-guided therapies to 202 cocaine-dependent patients. Changes in ratings of therapists' adherence and competence was assessed in 3 treatment modalities: supportive-expressive dynamic therapy (SE), cognitive therapy (CT), and individual drug counseling. Effects of manual-guided training on the therapeutic alliance were also assessed. Training effects were examined through a hierarchical linear modeling approach that examined changes both within cases and across training cases. A large effect across cases was detected for training in CT. Supportive-expressive therapists and individual drug counselors demonstrated statistically significant learning trends over sessions but not over training cases. Training in SE and CT did not have a negative impact on the therapeutic alliance, although alliance scores for trainees in drug counseling initially decreased but then rebounded to initial levels.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Medical insurance claims associated with international business travel.

OBJECTIVES: Preliminary investigations of whether 10,884 staff and consultants of the World Bank experience disease due to work related travel. Medical insurance claims filed by 4738 travellers during 1993 were compared with claims of non-travellers. METHODS: Specific diagnoses obtained from claims were analysed overall (one or more v no missions) and by frequency of international mission (1, 2-3, or > or = 4). Standardised rate of claims ratios (SSRs) for each diagnostic category were obtained by dividing the age adjusted rate of claims for travellers by the age adjusted rate of claims for non-travellers, and were calculated for men and women travellers separately. RESULTS: Overall, rates of insurance claims were 80% higher for men and 18% higher for women travellers than their non-travelling counterparts. Several associations with frequency of travel were found. SRRs for infectious disease were 1.28, 1.54, and 1.97 among men who had completed one, two or three, and four or more missions, and 1.16, 1.28, and 1.61, respectively, among women. The greatest excess related to travel was found for psychological disorders. For men SRRs were 2.11, 3.13, and 3.06 and for women, SRRs were 1.47, 1.96, and 2.59. CONCLUSIONS: International business travel may pose health risks beyond exposure to infectious diseases. Because travellers file medical claims at a greater rate than non-travellers, and for many categories of disease, the rate of claims increases with frequency of travel. The reasons for higher rates of claims among travellers are not well understood. Additional research on psychosocial factors, health practices, time zones crossed, and temporal relation between travel and onset of disease is planned.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

The Organization of schistosomiasis control programmes.

A major constraint to the control of communicable diseases in developing countries is the lack of adequate institutionalization of public health activities. The usual political perception is that the public will benefit more from economic and social development than from public health interventions. Planners and politicians generally hold that investment in rural electrification, roads and education will bring more long-term benefit than equivalent investments in public health. Sadly therefore, public health interventions have usually been designed and implemented as short-term, high-return activities in an atmosphere of unrealistic optimism. This criticism can be applied to most tropical diseases, but the potential of new weapons against many of the most widespread parasitic diseases places some urgency on an analysis of the most effective way to implement these interventions. In an attempt to identify and begin to resolve some of these issues, The World Bank, WHO and McConnell Clark Foundation sponsored a workshop on the Organization and Management of Schistosomiasis and other Tropical Disease Control Programmes. The meeting addressed general issues of the organization of public health services, but focused on schistosomiasis where the development of effective, single oral dose chemotherapy (using oxamniquine or praziquantel) is seen as a realistic intervention for large-scale control throughout the 74 endemic countries. In this article, Bernhard Liese reviews the institutional questions, drawing examples from the often cited control programmes in Brazil, Ghana, Egypt, Morocco, Sudan and the Philippines.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1982

Additional factor XII (Hageman factor) deficiency in hemophilia A and in von Willebrand syndrome.

Factor XII plasma levels were investigated with several methods in patients with hemophilia A and B and von Willebrand syndrome. There seem to be some families with hemophilia A or von Willebrand syndrome, who have an additional, congenital, partial lack of factor XII (Hageman factor). The mode of inheritance is independent of the other coagulation disorder. Frequently, the first indication of an additional factor XII deficiency is the disproportionate prolongation of the activated partial thromboplastin time (PTT) as regards the factor VIII level. The average factor XII level in patients with hemophilia A and von Willebrand syndrome is significantly lower than in normal subjects or patients with hemophilia B. It cannot be excluded that the frequently low levels of factor XII in patients with severe hemophilia are acquired and probably due to liver cell damage.

Adolescent↗