15th Panhellenic Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease (P.I.C.A.D.)

15th Panhellenic Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease (P.I.C.A.D.) 
& 7th Mediterranean Conference on Neurodegenerative Diseases (Me.Co.N.D.)

24–28 February 2027 | KEDEA – Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki, Greece

The Countdown Begins!

From 24 to 28 February 2027, Thessaloniki will host the 15th Panhellenic Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease (P.I.C.A.D.) and the 7th Mediterranean Conference on Neurodegenerative Diseases (Me.Co.N.D.), at the KE.D.E.A. (Aristotle University Research Dissemination Center) – Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH).

This important scientific meeting will bring together healthcare professionals, researchers, academics, and experts in the field of Alzheimer’s disease and neurodegenerative disorders, providing an opportunity to:

• present the latest scientific findings and emerging data;
• exchange knowledge, experience, and best practices;
• discuss current developments and challenges in the field; and
• foster new scientific collaborations and professional networks.

The Conference is jointly organised by the Panhellenic Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases, the 1st Propedeutic Department of Internal Medicine of AHEPA University Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and the Panhellenic Federation of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders.

The Conference will be held in a hybrid format, offering participants the opportunity to attend either in person or online.

Secure Your Participation

We invite you to register and join us in Thessaloniki for this important scientific event.
REGISTER NOW

Would You Like to Present Your Work?
Submit your abstract and contribute to the scientific programme of the Conference. This is an excellent opportunity to present your research, share your findings with the scientific community, and engage with colleagues from Greece and the wider Mediterranean region.

SUBMIT YOUR ABSTRACT

Save the Important Dates
Please plan ahead and make sure to complete your registration and, if you wish to present your work, your abstract submission within the relevant deadlines.

Timely compliance with the Conference schedule is essential for the effective organisation of the event and will contribute to the smooth preparation of both speakers and participants.

IMPORTANT DATES
For registration deadlines, abstract submission, programme updates, and all other Conference information:

For detailed information, please visit the OFFICIAL CONFERENCE WEBSITE

We look forward to welcoming you to Thessaloniki, 24–28 February 2027, and to an engaging and productive scientific meeting.

The Organising Committee


n.b. I enjoyed taking part in 2025 virtually. Blog post to follow re. 'Propedeutic' above. PJ

Book Announcement | The Examined Illness: A Philosopher's Confrontation with Deadly Disease

The Examined Illness

Intellect is pleased to share that The Examined Illness: A Philosopher's Confrontation with Deadly Disease, by Darrel Moellendorf, is out in paperback and hardback.

A visceral personal memoir of being seriously unwell – and the consolations of philosophy during sickness. Being a patient is part of being alive. Disease and serious illness often strike randomly, and when they do, we quickly become subject to the impersonal forces of biochemistry and pharmacology. We rarely think about sickness beforehand and are often totally unprepared for it when it happens. Suddenly, there we are, subject to a standard treatment protocol. Darrel Moellendorf learned this by experience during a month confined to a solitary and sterile hospital room where he received a life-saving stem cell transplant. His room was somebody’s workspace, his schedule was somebody’s work routine, his immune system was systematically crushed, and his prognosis was out of his hands. There was no assurance that it would all work out.

Having spent thirty years teaching philosophy to college students, He was facing the biggest test of all—perhaps the final exam. These are his reflections before, during, and after his cancer treatment, written in real time. He writes, “My brain was sometimes addled by the chemotherapy that sapped my energy and destroyed my immune system, but I wrote out of the conviction that living well includes living well with disease, and eventually living well facing death.” This memoir expresses the conviction that the virtues of patience, courage, trust, and hope serve us well. A measure of good humor also can’t hurt.

Part of the Global Health Humanities series.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introductory Note

Part I: Diagnosis
1. First Thoughts and Second Opinions
2. Healthcare for All Pt. 1
3. Patients and Patience
4. Father to Son and Back
5. Give It Up for Lent!

Part II: Inside
6. Day 7: The Countdown Begins
7. Day 6: Carpe Diem
8. Day 5: Vegetarianism Is Not an Option
9. Day 4: Sweatin’ and Shakin’
10. Day 3: Making Decisions When You Can’t Think
11. Day 2: Nausea and Fatigue
12. Day 1: Courage
13. Day 0: Communion
14. Day +1: Confinement
15. Day +2: Waiting and Anxiety
16. Day +3: Relaxed
17. Day +4: Toiling and Spinning
18. Day +5: Healthcare for All Pt. 2
19. Day +6: Patience and Hope?
20. Day +7: A Letter Arrives
21. Day +8: Anaemia
22. Day +9: Why I Write
23. Day +10: Why I Dyed My Hair Blue
24. Day +11: Shorn
25. Day +12: Tired, Itchy, and Hiccupping
26. Day +13: Waiting
27. Day +14: Signs of Progress
28. Day +15: Turn Me Lose, Set Me Free
29. Day +16: Fresh Air
30. Day +17: Postponement

Part III: Recovery
31. Home Sweet Home
32. Home Update
33. The Social Determinants of My Survival
34. Letting the Days Go By
35. A Thread of Good Fortune
36. Magical Thinking
37. Hope Kept Me Eating
38. Sunshine, Suffering, Rebirth, and Freedom
39. Food Aversions
40. Inching Towards Normalcy
41. Human Fatigue and Canine Anxiety
42. Healthcare for All Pt. 3
43. Still Wearing My Helmet
44. Same as It Ever Was
45. Who Is That Masked Man?
46. Inspiration in the Oncology/Haematology Waiting Room
47. With a Little Help from My Friends
48. Springtime on My Face
49. Feeling the Love … and the Likes
50. Disease, Bodily Alienation, and Transhumanism
51. Dem Fingernails
52. Traversing the Rim of the Valley of the Shadow of Death
53. The Examined Illness

Epilogue: Living with Mortality
References

Please visit our website for more information:

www.intellectbooks.com/the-examined-illness

--

My source: Georgia Glasspole

Marketing Executive (she/her)

Intellect  | 0117 9589910 | georgia AT intellectbooks.com

Choose to Treat appeal, 7–14 July 2026

Donate here between 7–14 July and your donation will be doubled! 

'Water is scarce in Mauritania and people have little choice but to bathe, wash clothes, care for their animals, and cool off in the same pools. But the water that brings relief also carries schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease that silently damages the kidneys, stunts growth, impairs learning, and steals futures.

Through our collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Amadou (pictured*) received treatment, and he recovered. But many children in Mauritania still require it. Without continued access to treatment, Amadou and thousands like him remain at risk every time they enter the water.

When people cannot avoid exposure, access to safe, effective treatment is their best protection. A single donation can help protect children like Amadou and support their health at a critical stage in their childhood.' ... 'Choose to Treat appeal'

 

Previous related posts: 'neglected tropical diseases' : 'SDGs'

South Sudan Medical Journal Vol 19 No 2 May 2026

 

Dear Reader,

The May 2026 issue is online here; we thank all the copyeditors and reviewers who helped prepare these papers. SSMJ is indexed by African Journals Online (AJOL) – go here to see who reads us.


 

Editorial 

• Ebola: The Bundibugyo virus is back Edward Eremugo Kenyi
  
  

RESEARCH ARTICLES

• Risk factors in glaucoma: Insights from a prospective case–control study, Belagavi, India Asawari Kabure, Bhushan Kulkarni, Shilpa Kodkany, Murigendra Hiremath
• OV16 antibody seropositivity reveals persistent onchocerciasis transmission and cross-border risk in Magwi County, South Sudan: a population-based survey Ezbon WApary, Yak Yak, Benson Ojara, Wilson Ladu, David Oguttu, Ian Hennessee, Pita Jane, Johan Willems, Thok Chol, Kamulete Horasio, Okot William, Amanya Jacob
• Prevalence of urinary schistosomiasis in communities along the River Niger Basin areas, North-Central Nigeria Nyamngee Amase, Ikpe Raphael Terlumun, Kayode Yusuf Abel, Sulaiman Mariam Kehinde, Akanbi II Aliu Ajibola
• Developing a communicable and infectious diseases research agenda in South Sudan: A multi-stakeholder prioritisation approach Amanya Jacob, Ezbon WApary, Dhieu Daniel, Atemthi Dau, Matur T. Tieng, John Rumunu, Cicilia Konga, Bol Atem, Betty Eyobo, Robert Napoleon, Joseph Panyuon, Kenneth L Sube, Kon Alier, Joseph Lako, John Suraj, Abuelguasim M. Hassan, Mapuor Areu, Lazarus Atem, Aja Kuol, Pizzi Wilson, Achcer Adup Mou
• Determinants of disaster preparedness among public health facilities in Juba City, South Sudan Dumba Samuel Kenyi, Muthoni Mwangi Eunice, Musa Olouch
• Evaluating the role of the health information system infrastructure in enhancing data quality in Central Equatoria State, South Sudan Matur T. Tieng, Karani Magutah, Joseph Muchiri
• Impact of developmental stimulation education on maternal knowledge and caregiving practices in stunting: a longitudinal study Ning Iswati, Azizan Omar, Sukhbeer Kaur Darsin Singh, Putra Agina Widyaswara Suwaryo 
• Holding the line: lived experiences of mental health, moral injury, and organizational support among public-health professionals in the Rohingya Camp, Bangladesh — phenomenological study Md. Ruhul Amin

CASE REPORTS 

• Endoscopic endonasal repair of post-traumatic sphenoid sinus cerebrospinal fluid leak with encephalocele Justin Rubena, Khalid Coco, Francis Swaka, Othwonh Twong 
• A rare pathological feature of portal vein thrombosis complicated by portal hypertension and haematemesis Hamidine Illa, Ganiou Tidjani Kabirou, Amadou Magagi Mahamane Ibrahim, Maman Brah Moustapha, Soumaila Abdou, Habou Garba Abdoul Malik, Adamou Harissou

REVIEW ARTICLE

• Interpersonal and community-level factors influencing intimate partner violence in South Sudan: a literature review Nyinypiu Tong Chol Adong 

SHORT COMMUNICATIONS

• Letter to the Editor J. Clarke McIntosh
• Letter to the Editor Eluzai A. Hakim
• News from the Gordon Memorial College Trust Fund Eluzai A. Hakim

BACKCOVER: CDC Poster: Flu or Ebola? 

Thanks to everyone who supports SSMJ. Tell your colleagues they can join our mailing list here.

The SSMJ team
Email: southsudanmedicaljournal AT gmail.com
Website: http://www.southsudanmedicaljournal.com
Follow us on X: @SSMedJournal and our Facebook Group,

'Health - Illness': Status - presence - absence - Being

A pre-charity shop revisit: 

'So long as we are healthy, we do not notice that we are healthy. Health is one of those phenomena that we do not perceive as anything special because they are a part of everyday life. We discover them by their absence. Only illness enables us to see health as health. That I am healthy, and in what way I am healthy, is something I experience when, and to the extent that, I am or was not healthy, or when I perceive (but this it is difficult to do) that, and to what extent, someone else is or was not healthy. Being healthy is not the only 'being' that escapes our gaze precisely by being, and that appears to us by its absence. One could say the same of being as such.' p.257.

von Weizsäcker, Carl Friedrich (1971 [1980 trans.]). Einheit der Natur [The Unity of Nature] New York: Farrar Straus Giroux.

If we are to demonstrate ('prove') that Hodges' model can be applied, is relevant in:

• illness, disease, trauma (physical and mental);
• health and well-being; 
• human development, ageing, pregnancy;
• social care; 
• preventive medicine, health promotion, health education;
• life sciences, bioengineering; 
• public (community and mental) health;
• self care;
• spiritual health;
• and global - planetary (political) health ...

Then these observations by Friedrich, allied with definitions of health, as per the WHO's Constitution:

'Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.'
https://www.who.int/about/governance/constitution

The oft cited (when I was a student nurse) definition of nursing by Virginia Henderson:

“Assisting the individual, sick or well, in the performance of those activities contributing to health or its recovery (or to peaceful death) that an individual would perform unaided if he had the necessary strength, will or knowledge”.
https://libguides.twu.edu/c.php?g=270174&p=1803121

We need to 'see' beyond these sources, to take in the global situation. But, being situated this is something Hodges' model is ideally equipped to achieve.

Thoughts re. 2026 Lancaster Philosophy of Psychiatry Work in Progress Workshop

After posting on the 19th February about the 2026 Lancaster Philosophy of Psychiatry Work in Progress Workshop last Thursday, 1100 through to 1530 on Friday - was well worth attending. I am also grateful for the opportunity to present Hodges' model, share current challenges and questions. Running through the programme what helped here:

While seemingly open in title the first presentation with Hane Maung, was (as with all) specific, but related to aspects of psychiatry and philosophy applicable here; classification, what is a 'disease'?, concepts, Millikan also appears in a reference: https://philpapers.org/go.pl?aid=MAUTDO-6.

As 2nd speaker, there were several questions after my presentation. Fourteen slides went to time: 20 minutes with 10 for Q&A. I'm not the best judge, but I believe I answered them. As my 'subject' is always the same in Hodges' model, I do make an effort to try (at least) to say something new. Listening, I soon realised this is an established Lancaster-grounded group, and welcoming too. If there is ever another opportunity, something new would definitely have to follow.

I can see scope for this in Matthew Williams's - The failure of the harm-minimisation argument for BID Surgery and the necessity of therapeutic justification. 'BIDS' is 'Body integrity dysphoria surgery' a challenging and ethics-bound situation, that while still rare, has made the news for (as ever) the wrong reasons. The relations to be considered cross all the domains and dimensions of health, care and more.

It is possible to become complacent regards our conceptual currency. Without taking care, we grow to take them for granted. I'm grateful to Clive Duddy for a refresh were autonomy is concerned.

'Difference' is a recurring trope in healthcare, informatics and other fields. George Turner's 'difference denied' and subsequent discussions was extra insightful therefore, addressing ongoing (legacy?) issues for service users, carers, patient and public involvement and engagement (PIE).

Presenting, 'Different ways of medical knowing in Walzer's different spheres of justice?', Dieneke Hubbeling drew my attention to Walzer's book: Spheres Of Justice: A Defense Of Pluralism And Equality. In addition capacity and capacities (to achieve an outcome), plus difference (again), especially when it comes to knowledge and knowing. I remember thinking about rather than putting the person at the centre of Hodges' model, place 'equality' and reflect upon that.

I note that we overlap with a journal too, and another topic - overtreatment - that was something of an elephant in the room (perhaps?): a further theme to follow - https://openaccess.sgul.ac.uk/id/eprint/113806/1/jep.13632.pdf

Ali Walker's Forget Fictionalism: Psychiatric Disorders are Quasi-Real,with a topological - cartographic themed slide perked me up later afternoon. The subject of Borderline Personality Disorder also reminded me of the extent of change in adult community mental health services, in practice through 1985-1995 and that encountered in 2019. Much to digest here. A 3 minute video of Ali's thesis BPD Disorder - Trauma is available from last year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tMSyt71hvs

I will review/add more details here, or a new post.

Person-centredness, Holistic approach, Prevention c/o Hippocrates

“It is more important to know what sort of person 
has a disease than to know 
what sort of disease a person has.” Hippocrates

 

Individual

|

      INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

HUMANISTIC  --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      

 SOCIOLOGY  :    POLITICAL 

|

Group

To say that Hippocrates was ahead of his time is a gross understatement. Hippocrates recognised the importance of person-centredness and prevention, and contributed to the emergence of several medical specialties. (Kostakopoulos, et al., 2024).

'Holistic Approach One of the most significant innovations of the founding father of clinical medicine was the holistic approach for the diagnosis and treatment of disease. This approach is based on the assumption that the human body is a sum of many parts that function in harmony and that if one part is ill, the balance will be affected and the whole person will suffer. Hippocrates considered that patients consisted of body, mind, and spirit and this is also the modern physicians' approach when treating a disease [2].'

Health and social care are still playing catch-up. The vitriolic 'debate' on X over psychiatry - anti-psychiatry and DSM-X. The total inability now to shift to preventive healthcare due to the perverse, entrenched economic incentives, which facilitate increasing inequity, inequality. Whichever Government does switch to preventive medicine, perhaps other governments had better take note?  I think Hippocrates would have approved - wholeheartedly - of Hodges' model.

'Prevention of Disease Another important aspect of Hippocrates' works that is widely applied in 21st-century medicine is the prevention of disease. The phrase “Κάλλιον το προλαμβάνειν του θεραπεύειν,” which means that it is better to prevent than to treat a disease, was the cornerstone of his teachings and is based on the observation that healthy Mediterranean diet and daily moderate physical activity can prevent disease. The ancient Greeks believed that all maladies started from the gut and that walking was the best available medicine [2].'

Kostakopoulos NA, Bellos TC, Katsimperis S, Tzelves L. Hippocrates of Kos (460-377 BC): The Founder and Pioneer of Clinical Medicine. Cureus. 2024 Oct 1;16(10):e70602. doi: 10.7759/cureus.70602. PMID: 39483540; PMCID: PMC11526839.

Gabbard, G. The Person with the Diagnosis. Psychiatric News. 49;6. 19 March 2014. 
https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2014.3b19.

Brigić, A., Hasanović, M., Pajević, I., Aljukić, N., Hamidović, J., & Jakovljević, M. (2021). Principles of Hippocratic Medicine from the Perspective of Modern Medicine. Psychiatria Danubina, 33(Suppl 4), 1210–1217. 

See also: 'medicine' : 'person' : 'diagnosis' : 'prevention'

c/o HIFA - Publications re. primary health care & community health

Dear [HIFA] friends and colleagues with an interest in primary health care and community health:

Since my last communication with you more than 6 months ago, the entire field of global health has continued to be upended by our US government, with unconscionable effects on millions of people around the world, on advancements in global health research and its ethical foundations, and on the careers of thousands and thousands of people working around the world in the field of global health. As I said before, and I repeat now the obvious, it will take decades to build back what has been destroyed and to regain respect from the rest of the world for the United States and the values that most of us hold dear.

William Foege, eminent global health leader and former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote this biting editorial <https://www.statnews.com/2025/08/18/rfk-jr-public-health-threats-william-foege-smallpox/> in which he said, among other things, 

"We will live through this drought of values, principles and facts and again apply our talents to improving global health and happiness. Do not back down.”

Atul Gwande, now one of the foremost champions of primary health care and community health of our time (even though he is, like me, an erstwhile surgeon!) and former Director of the USAID Bureau of Global Health during the Biden administration, gave an eloquent presentation of his perspective on the aftermath of the destruction of USAID on 28 April 2025 at the Harvard School of Public Health.

You can watch this here:
<https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=Atul+Gwande+presentation+at+Harvard+School+of+Public+Health+April+28%2c+2025&mid=26DA144398CF1F613D0A26DA144398CF1F613D0A&FORM=VIRE>.

Here are a few items of possible interest:

The Fourth International Symposium on CHWs will be held virtually next week.

I was most fortunate to be able to attend the second International Conference on Primary Health Care was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from October 6-10. It was a glorious event, with 750 attendees, mostly from Africa but with strong representation from UNICEF, WHO, Africa CDC, and other international organizations. 

The conference was sponsored by the International Institute for Primary Health Care – Ethiopia. <https://iphce.org/> Directors of PHC from 45 different African countries were present along with at least 50 community health workers from across Africa. There was palpable enthusiasm for the growing momentum for PHC across Africa.

Abhay and Rani Bang are world-renowned champions of community-based primary health care through their work with SEARCH <https://www.searchforhealth.ngo/> (Society for Education, Action, and Research) in Gadchiroli, India, with tribal people. Their seminal publications on the effectiveness of community-based primary health care and community health workers as well as their contributions to India’s national program for reducing neonatal mortality through home-based neonatal care, among others, have gained for them global recognition. Attached is an English translation of an article about their life’s work that was published in April Der Spiegel in the leading German magazine, Der Spiegel.

Nicholas Kristof has continued to share with the world some of the heart wrenching effects of the collapse of the United States Agency for International Development. The New York Times opinion columnist wrote <https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/opinion/trump-usaid-cuts.html> on 20 September 2025 on the human dimension of the shutdown of USAID, citing estimates that 690,000 will die in 2025 and 829,00 will die in 2026 as a result of cutbacks in USAID funding, and 3.1 million children will die during Trump’s second term from these cuts (a PDF is attached if the link doesn’t work for you [mod: HIFA does not carry attachments]).

Two recent publications on novel approaches to reducing child mortality have gained widespread attention.

One study <https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w34152/w34152.pdf> in Kenya provided a one-time transfer of $1,000 to poor families and observed a decline of nearly half in under-5 mortality as well as in infant mortality. Another study reported that wrapping

A recently reported study <https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12462887/> from Uganda found that giving mothers fabric treated with permethrin, a long-acting insecticide to protect against mosquito-born illnesses, as a baby wrap dramatically reduced malaria infections in the infants carried in them. There were 66 percent fewer cases among those children compared with babies in the untreated wraps. By the end of the six-month study, only 16 percent of children in the treated wrap group had been sick with malaria, compared with 34 percent in the untreated wrap group, many of whom had multiple malaria episodes.

Now available for purchase on Amazon.com are several important publications related to community-based primary health care and community workers.

Feel free to share this email and these resources with anyone else or with any relevant listserve you may have access to.

You are receiving this email because of your interest in primary health care and community health.

If you know of anyone that you think would like to be included in the listserv, just send me the person’s name and email address.

Warm regards, Henry

Henry B. Perry, MD, PhD, MPH Senior Associate, Health Systems Program Department of International Health Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Baltimore, MD, USA 21205 Hperry2 AT jhu.edu

HIFA profile: Henry Perry is a Senior Scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA. Professional interests: Community health and primary health care. hperry2 AT jhu.edu

Paper: The spatiotemporal distribution of human pathogens in ancient Eurasia

 Abstract

Infectious diseases have had devastating effects on human populations throughout history, but important questions about their origins and past dynamics remain1. To create an archaeogenetic-based spatiotemporal map of human pathogens, we screened shotgun-sequencing data from 1,313 ancient humans covering 37,000 years of Eurasian history. We demonstrate the widespread presence of ancient bacterial, viral and parasite DNA, identifying 5,486 individual hits against 492 species from 136 genera. Among those hits, 3,384 involve known human pathogens2, many of which had not previously been identified in ancient human remains. Grouping the ancient microbial species according to their likely reservoir and type of transmission, we find that most groups are identified throughout the entire sampling period. Zoonotic pathogens are only detected from around 6,500 years ago, peaking roughly 5,000 years ago, coinciding with the widespread domestication of livestock3. Our findings provide direct evidence that this lifestyle change resulted in an increased infectious disease burden. They also indicate that the spread of these pathogens increased substantially during subsequent millennia, coinciding with the pastoralist migrations from the Eurasian Steppe4,5.

Sikora, M., Canteri, E., Fernandez-Guerra, A. et al. The spatiotemporal distribution of human pathogens in ancient Eurasia. Nature 643, 1011–1019 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09192-8

My source: Carl Zimmer. What has ailed us over time, The New York Times International Edition, July 30th 2025. p.12.

Maguire et al. - 'A systematic scoping review of the noma evidence landscape: current knowledge and gaps'

Abstract

Background Noma (cancrum oris) is a severe gangrenous disease of the mouth and oro-facial structures. Noma often affects young children living in extreme poverty, malnutrition and poor sanitation. Gaps remain in understanding its aetiology, pathogenesis, prevention and treatment.

Methods and findings We systematically searched databases for all primary research studies (clinical trials, cohort studies, case–control, cross-sectional, other observational studies, case studies/series) reporting noma patients of any age up to 7 December 2022. The 366 publications (published between 1839 and 2022) included in our scoping review describe 15 082 patients. Although 53 cohort and 29 cross-sectional studies were identified, enrolling 13 489 patients, interventional research remains extremely limited, with only six studies identified (101 patients, range: 7–26) and only one in the past decade, highlighting a critical gap in treatment evaluation. A total of 380 different treatment modalities were described, which underscores lack of a standardised practice. Disease aetiology remains unclear, with 117 microorganisms reported across 113 studies, yet none more consistently linked to noma development. Since 2000, 91.2% of cases have been reported in Sub-Saharan Africa, though occurrences outside the ‘noma belt’ and into Asia and the Americas suggest a broader risk. The 212 potential risk factors identified in 269 (73.5%) publications reflect substantial heterogeneity, complicating efforts to determine definitive causative factors. Additionally, the inconsistent definition and reporting of noma staging significantly hinder comparability across studies, with wide adoption of the WHO staging classification needed.

Conclusion This comprehensive review of the literature underscores the urgent need for robust, policy-driven research to address the vast knowledge gaps in the physiopathology of noma and the limited evidence currently available to guide therapeutic and preventive policies. Collective action and increased research investment are crucial, especially now that noma is officially recognised as a neglected tropical disease by the WHO.

Brittany J Maguire, Rujan Shrestha, Prabin Dahal, Roland Ngu, Lionel Nizigama, Sumayyah Rashan, Poojan Shrestha, Elinor Harriss, Paul Newton, Yuka Makino, Benoit Varenne, Philippe J Guerin - Systematic scoping review of the noma evidence landscape: current knowledge and gaps: BMJ Global Health 2025;10:e018023 https://gh.bmj.com/content/10/7/e018023

Individual

|

      INTERPERSONAL    :     SCIENCES               

HUMANISTIC  --------------------------------------  MECHANISTIC      

 SOCIOLOGY  :    POLITICAL 

|

Group

PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT mental & emotional complications WITHDRAWAL LOST EDUCATION & LIFE CHANCES DEPRESSION PSYCHO-	malnutrition and poor sanitation PHYSICAL IMPACT LIMITED EVIDENCE - DISEASE KNOWLEDGE GAPS - AETIOLOGY  knowledge gaps in the physiopathology of noma
-SOCIAL MANAGEMENT SOCIAL IMPACT - LIFE CHANCES STIGMA SOCIAL EXCLUSION	extreme poverty, infrastructure NEED FOR POLICY-DRIVEN RESEARCH THERAPEUTIC - PREVENTIVE POLICIES RECOGNITION

Previously: 'neglected' : 'noma'

My source: https://x.com/benoit_varenne/status/1950955812915982487

'Health and Wellbeing Boards' - hiding the obvious

Does the language we use really matter? A public NHS document includes the following:

'PHARMACY

2.1

Background

Health and Wellbeing Boards (HWBs) in England hold statutory responsibility to publish and keep up to date a statement of the needs for pharmaceutical services of the population in its area, referred to as a pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA). PNAs are used by the NHS to make decisions on which NHS funded services need to be provided by local community pharmacies.'

I'm not asking, or demanding, change to this but the words we employ do matter. One of them above matters greatly. The question of responsibility and its attribution. In the response to mental illness,  responsibility has always been played out on the public stage. Even when society's response was to leave 'care' to religious and charitable agencies. Then the state stepped in with the first legislation. The state assumed responsibility as per the previous post. Not only where the keys thrown away, but many people admitted there, did not need be. The 'reason for referral' was more accurately described as a social ill. In this way, individuals were incarcerated and forgotten.

It is in the gift of Hodges' model, care of its vertical axis [INDIVIDUAL - GROUP], to be able to negotiate the contextual switch from personal to group and population. There is a marked contrast from self-medication, a nurse doing a medicines round - to the design, testing and research effort of production of a specific drug or intervention. The focus then is obviously at the population scale. The pharmocological business, is not just a business. It is a pharmaco-industrial complex, e.g.

Grouse L. Cost-effective medicine vs. the medical-industrial complex. J Thorac Dis. 2014 Sep;6(9):E203-6. doi: 10.3978/j.issn.2072-1439.2014.09.01. PMID: 25276402; PMCID: PMC4178073.

When we think of dependence it is often framed at the individual level. But how can we expect to change health services, health systems to see them as they truly are: Illness and Infirmity Boards masquerading as Health and Wellbeing Boards?

individual

|

INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

|

group

	drugs manufactoring testing
	Sybil Shainwald (April 27, 1928 – April 9, 2025)

Sybil Shainwald 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sybil_Shainwald

Harnessing the Power of Artificial Intelligence to Improve Outcomes for Patients with for Long-Term Health Conditions

 Dear Colleagues and Friends,

We are organising a Special Session: Harnessing the Power of Artificial Intelligence to Improve Outcomes for Patients with for Long-Term Health Conditions

(https://aiih.cc/lthc/) in the International Conference on AI in Healthcare (AIiH), 8-10 September 2025, Jesus College, University of Cambridge.

We would like to accept both full length papers (12 pages plus references) and short abstracts (up to 5 pages including references) for special sessions. Submission guideline can be found here, including paper templates in both Word and LaTeX: https://aiih.cc/paper-submission/

The accepted full papers and abstracts will be published in the Springer LNCS volumes.

Full Paper submission deadline:            Friday 11 April 2025

Abstract submission deadline:               Monday 30 June 2024

We are looking forward to meeting you.

Best wishes

Shang-Ming Zhou

Professor in e-Health | Faculty of Health | University of Plymouth | PL4 8AA | UK.

Email :  shangming.zhou AT plymouth.ac.uk; smzhou AT ieee.org

https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/staff/shang-ming-zhou

https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/research/centre-for-health-technology

HC@AIxIA: AI&Health Seminar - FEBRUARY 13 3:30 CET ... the model of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia and Post-prematurity Respiratory Disease

The context around artificial intelligence in medicine:

the model of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia and Post-prematurity Respiratory Disease

Dear Madam/Sir,

This is to officially announce the SECOND seminar of the "AI & Health: Seminars 2025" series as hosted by HC@AIxIA, i.e., the "Artificial Intelligence for Healthcare" working group of the Italian Association for Artificial Intelligence.

  *** Save the date: 13 FEBRUARY 2025. 3:30 CET ***

We hope you will attend and participate in the discussion on the relevant topics that will be presented and by our speakers.
Feel free to share this with those potentially interested.

Link for participating: https://bit.ly/hc-2025-02 (PLEASE CHECK the site https://aixia.it/en/gruppi/hc/ for any changes or updates) - Please find some details below, and a poster attached (link). 

Anna Lavizzari, MD, MSc, Attending Physician - S.C. di Neonatologia e Terapia Intensiva Neonatale, Fondazione IRCCS Cà Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milano, Italy

Title: The context around artificial intelligence in medicine: the model of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia and Post-prematurity Respiratory Disease

Abstract: Preterm infant survival has dramatically increased in the last decades, including those infants born at very low gestational age/at the limit of viability. However, the rate of Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) has increased. BPD is one of the most worrisome complications of prematurity and the most common chronic respiratory disorder of early childhood. Infants with BPD present respiratory sequelae in early childhood, including wheezing, recurrent respiratory infections, re-hospitalization, need for home- oxygen and inhaled therapy. During adolescence, they still present with airway obstruction symptoms, exercise fatigue, and an early decline in lung function toward Chronic Obstructive Respiratory disease has been described in early adulthood. The BPD pathogenesis is complex and multifactorial. It includes 1) the premature arrest of lung development, 2) the antenatal exposure to infection/inflammation, growth restriction and smocking; 3) post-natal exposure to invasive/non-invasive respiratory support and supplemental oxygen, post-natal infections/inflammation and poor nutrition; 4) genetic predisposition. The formal diagnosis of BPD is assessed at 36 weeks post-menstrual age, and it is currently based on the degree of respiratory support required at that time point. However, the window for intervention (preventive strategies and pharmacological interventions) occurs in the first days of life. Diagnostic tools for early identification of infants at risk are currently lacking, due to both the vulnerability of this population and the lack of suitable lung function testing. Artificial intelligence has the potential for early identification and stratification of the population at risk, offering the opportunity for targeted therapy and more accurate prognostic prediction.

Short Bio: Anna Lavizzari is a consultant neonatologist at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Fondazione IRCCS Cà Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico – Milan, Italy. Her clinical research has focused on lung recruitment strategies at birth, neonatal non-invasive respiratory support, Forced Oscillation Technique for assessing respiratory mechanics, individualized surfactant therapy, respiratory support optimization and lung function follow-up of former preterm infants. She did a research fellowship at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Melbourne (2013-2014) with Dr D Tingay and Dr P Dargaville. She has participated in experimental research on the long-term respiratory complications in former preterm lambs (Dr J Pillow, University of Western Australia, and Dr K Albertine, University of Utah). She served as secretary (2019-2021) and chair (2022-2024) of the Pediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care group of the European Respiratory Society. She is a member of the Pulmonology Board of the Italian Society of Neonatology (SIN) and a member of the Pulmonology section of the European Society for Paediatric Research (ESPR).

Flyer: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-S7_FHkpFtm1mdBZK9fZpY9WBiFJ3htm&usp=drive_fs

Link to participate: https://bit.ly/hc-2025-02
(PLEASE CHECK the site https://aixia.it/en/gruppi/hc/ for any changes or updates)

====

== Are you interested in Joining the group? ==
Please head to https://aixia.it/en/gruppi/hc/ fo find out how. Do not hesitate to contact us at hc-aixia@googlegroups.com for any information or clarification.

Thank you for your interest in the AI & Health seminar series and the HC@AIxIA working group, and see you soon!

Sincerely,
Francesco Calimeri, Mauro Dragoni, Fabio Stella
(coordinators of the HC@AIxIA working group)