Lancet
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The risk of a woman dying as a result of pregnancy or childbirth during her lifetime is about one in six in the poorest parts of the world compared with about one in 30 000 in Northern Europe. Such a discrepancy poses a huge challenge to meeting the fifth Millennium Development Goal to reduce maternal mortality by 75% between 1990 and 2015. Some developed and transitional countries have managed to reduce their maternal mortality during the past 25 years. ⋯ Local variation can be important, with unsafe abortion carrying huge risk in some populations, and HIV/AIDS becoming a leading cause of death where HIV-related mortaliy rates are high. Inequalities in the risk of maternal death exist everywhere. Targeting of interventions to the most vulnerable--rural populations and poor people--is essential if substantial progress is to be achieved by 2015.
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Schistosomiasis or bilharzia is a tropical disease caused by worms of the genus Schistosoma. The transmission cycle requires contamination of surface water by excreta, specific freshwater snails as intermediate hosts, and human water contact. The main disease-causing species are S haematobium, S mansoni, and S japonicum. ⋯ Praziquantel is the drug treatment of choice. Vaccines are not yet available. Great advances have been made in the control of the disease through population-based chemotherapy but these required political commitment and strong health systems.
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Review Meta Analysis
Hyperfractionated or accelerated radiotherapy in head and neck cancer: a meta-analysis.
Several trials have studied the role of unconventional fractionated radiotherapy in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, but the effect of such treatment on survival is not clear. The aim of this meta-analysis was to assess whether this type of radiotherapy could improve survival. ⋯ Altered fractionated radiotherapy improves survival in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Comparison of the different types of altered radiotherapy suggests that hyperfractionation has the greatest benefit.