Lancet
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Use of beclomethasone dipropionate as rescue treatment for children with mild persistent asthma (TREXA): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
Daily inhaled corticosteroids are an effective treatment for mild persistent asthma, but some children have exacerbations even with good day-to-day control, and many discontinue treatment after becoming asymptomatic. We assessed the effectiveness of an inhaled corticosteroid (beclomethasone dipropionate) used as rescue treatment. ⋯ National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
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India's health financing system is a cause of and an exacerbating factor in the challenges of health inequity, inadequate availability and reach, unequal access, and poor-quality and costly health-care services. Low per person spending on health and insufficient public expenditure result in one of the highest proportions of private out-of-pocket expenses in the world. Citizens receive low value for money in the public and the private sectors. ⋯ Enhanced public spending can be used to introduce universal medical insurance that can help to substantially reduce the burden of private out-of-pocket expenditures on health. Increased public spending can also contribute to quality assurance in the public and private sectors through effective regulation and oversight. In addition to an increase in public expenditures on health, the Government of India will, however, need to introduce specific methods to contain costs, improve the efficiency of spending, increase accountability, and monitor the effect of expenditures on health.
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Southeast Asia faces an epidemic of chronic non-communicable diseases, now responsible for 60% of deaths in the region. The problem stems from environmental factors that promote tobacco use, unhealthy diet, and inadequate physical activity. Disadvantaged populations are the hardest hit, with death rates inversely proportional to a country's gross national income. ⋯ All branches of government and all sectors of society have to get involved in establishing environments that are conducive to healthy living. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is in a unique position to make a united stand against chronic non-communicable diseases in the region. Inaction will affect millions of lives-often, the lives of those who have the least.