Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – The
World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 1.6 million people die from pneumococcal disease every year. The vast majority of its victims come from
developing countries.
In the study, “
Clinical Burden of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease in Selected Developing Countries,” published in
Value in Health Regional Issues, researchers from the United Nations University, International Institute for Global Health and the UKM Medical Centre, provide a detailed review of articles published on the clinical burden of invasive pneumococcal disease [IPD] in developing countries in East Asia, South Asia, Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.
While the incidence and case fatality rate (CFR) of IPD differed from country to country and region to region, the review confirmed that the clinical burden of IPD is high in developing countries. The disease burden was not significantly different among the countries which belong to upper middle income category.
Dr. Namaitijiang Maiamiti, MPH, PhD, postdoctoral fellow at the United Nations University-International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH), says: “In order to convince policy makers to take action to control IPD, they need strong research based evidence.”
Value in Health Regional Issues (ISSN 2212-1099) is a scientific journal that encourages and enhances the science of pharmacoeconomic/health economic and health outcomes research and its use in health care decisions. The journal is published up to three times a year with one issue focusing on the Asia region, one issue focusing on the Latin America region, and one issue focusing on the Central & Eastern Europe, Western Asia and Africa regions.
The International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) is a nonprofit, international, educational and scientific organization that strives to increase the efficiency, effectiveness, and fairness of health care resource use to improve health.