Atrial Fibrillation: Improving care pathways to meet the rising burden across the Asia-Pacific region

Atrial fibrillation (AFib) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia (heart rhythm disorder) among adults. The condition can be diagnosed during routine cardiac screening because of new onset symptoms or as an incidental finding in asymptomatic individuals.
 

Connecting the Dots: Embedding Progress on Rare Disease into Healthcare

Recent years has seen progress in the diagnosis and care of rare diseases, but health systems have more to do to integrate rare disease care into mainstream care. The good news is that doing so does not involve the wholesale re-invention of existing institutions, structures and processes, so much as adjusting them. 

Equity remains distant: America's mishandling of monkeypox

The monkeypox pandemic highlights how the US has yet to learn from its past mishandling of epidemics. In late 2021, Economist Impact published “Achieving health equity: a roadmap to eliminating disparities”, a report centred on reducing disparities in the US and UK using three disease areas—covid-19, mental health and STIs—to illustrate the cross-cutting nature of these issues. Unfortunately, many of the strategies laid out in that report have not been implemented.

The journey towards health improvement in Argentina: A roadmap for precision medicine

Precision medicine can contribute to many areas of medicine, and is frequently used in oncology, neurology, pneumology and rheumatology. In precision medicine, patient care is tailored to the individual’s genes, environment and lifestyle. This method can identify the most effective treatment for each person. Precision medicine can increase the value of care for patients and payers since identifying and using the most effective treatment for each case can reduce healthcare expenditures.

The challenge of migraine in South Africa: Complex, misunderstood— and surmountable

The challenge of migraine in South Africa: Complex, misunderstood— and surmountable is an Economist Impact report, supported by Eli Lilly. This report aims to assess the impact of migraine in the social, economic and health-system context of South Africa.

Tackling Japan’s dual crisis: How policies, culture and values can help stabilise the fertility rate and enable economic development

Japan already has the world’s oldest population, with a dependency ratio (the share of individuals over the age of 65 relative to the size of the working age population) of nearly 50% compared to a world average of 14%. A further fall in the number of births means the number of working adults supporting the ageing population will shrink, and the economy will face further challenges.
 

Fixing fragility in medicine supply chains: five key recommendations

The coronavirus pandemic highlighted a number of weaknesses in health systems. One that has received relatively little attention is the regular and ongoing shortages of essential medicines. Like many of the structural weaknesses revealed by covid-19 it was just that: revealed, rather than caused by the pandemic. The disruption of supply chains was due in part to simultaneous demand for medicines, but the structural and economic drivers of these shortages existed long before covid-19 emerged.

Easing the disease burden in ageing Asia: implementing integrated healthcare and promoting self-care

Easing the disease burden in ageing Asia: implementing integrated healthcare and promoting self-care is an Economist Impact report, sponsored by Johnson & Johnson Pte. Ltd. This report aims to examine integrated care in five countries across Asia and explore the integral role of self-care in promoting integrated care within these health systems.
 

Tobacco’s effects beyond health

The 2022 theme for World No Tobacco Day is tobacco’s threat to our environment. Tobacco use causes 8 million deaths worldwide each year and recent research has highlighted its environmental impacts, and how it might be an obstacle to achieving multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Cell and Gene Therapies: Health system progress in moving from cutting edge to common practice

Cell and gene therapies (CGTs) change our individual biological blueprints. They might rewrite an individual’s DNA so that it no longer codes for a tragic, early demise, or remove faults which certain cancers exploit to avoid immune systems. However, CGTs are not easy to deploy. They require highly complex interventions by multi-disciplinary teams who rely on complicated supply chains and work in specialised facilities. Nor do they work on every patient.

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