Background Snakebite is a public health problem in many low- and middle-income countries in leading to estimated 138,000 deaths and leaving four lakh people with permanent disabilities. Most of the snakebite burden is from South Asia. The WHO strategy on snakebite (2019) suggests ‘safe and effective treatment of snakebite’, as one of the key pillars to reduce snakebite burden globally.   In 2020, our research group conducted an overview of systematic reviews and identified the need for more clinical trials to inform clinical practice around snakebite management. The overview also found that the use of varied outcomes and their non-standardised measurement and reporting is an important gap which limits the ability of researchers, healthcare providers, decision makers, and patients to undertake meaningful comparisons and understand benefits or harms of different treatments. The current project aims to fill this gap by developing a ‘core outcome set’ (COS), for research on snakebite managem

Background Fijians experience alarming trend in deaths from heart disease before the age of 70. According to the World Health Organization data from 2017, Fiji ranked 39 out of 183 countries in the world in fatalities from heart disease. Fiji conducted the WHO STEPS survey for surveillance of major NCD risk factors in 2002 and 2011 and found significant increases in risk factors contributing to CVD: high blood pressure, high fasting blood glucose and obesity. Pacific Forum Leaders declaring the situation a “human, social and economic crisis”. The WHO PEN program is a set of low-cost tools to prevent the risk of chronic disease (e.g. lifestyle counselling, monitoring and control of blood pressure and blood glucose, and treatment). Aims In 2012, the Western Pacific WHO commenced implementation of PEN protocols 1 and 2 for prevention of CVD and diabetes. The overall aim is to provide evidence on 1) implementation fidelity, (2) processes of adoption of the PEN program by healthcare pr

Background: Professor Otavio Berwanger and collaborators from ICTU-Global (Imperial College London’s Academic Research Organisation) are co-founding members of the Cognitum Consortium. Other world class Academic Research Organisations (AROs) complete the founding membership: Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein (Brazil), the University of Cape Town (South Africa), the Centre for Chronic Disease Control (India), and RemediumOne (Sri Lanka). Aim: The Consortium aims to build better healthcare outcomes for our communities globally by bringing together global leaders in scientific and clinical excellence to design and deliver clinical trials and studies, while fostering and nurturing international partnerships. Approach: The Consortium approach is guided by the following values: Expertise: to lead by academic and scientific excellence, augmented by industry-level best practices and efficiency Truly Global: to bring together partners with subject matter expertise to complement each othe

BackgroundOptimal crash protection requires the most appropriate restraint for a child’s size. For children <7 years, Australian law dictates the restraint type to be used. For children ≥7 years, parents can choose the restraint that best suits their child, for example using a seat belt alone, or a booster seat. However, there is confusion about when their children can safely use seat belts. This stems from the fact that optimal protection from a seat belt requires a good match between child size and geometry of both the seat belt and the vehicle seat. Yet there is a wide variation across different cars. This coupled with intrinsic variations in child size makes it difficult to provide advice using age or height. The result is that many children >7 years inappropriately use seat belts, increasing risk of injury in a crash.  Using a user-centred approach we have increased comprehension of child restraint by almost 30%. These findings indicate user involvement in developing communication too

Background Snakebite is a neglected tropical disease that affects an estimated 5 million people yearly. Previous research has focused on the acute effects of snakebite; however, snakebite survivors can experience long-term health impacts.   A scoping review conducted by our research group found that there are only 11 primary studies examining the mental health impact of snakebite globally, with depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) being the most common mental health conditions.   Despite India being one of the highest burden countries for snakebite, there have been no previous studies looking at the mental health manifestations of snakebite. Understanding snakebite survivors’ experiences with depression and PTSD can guide the development of comprehensive healthcare services to address these concerns.   Aim  The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of depression and PTSD amongst snakebite survivors in Sundarbans, India. 

BackgroundRoad traffic injuries are the 12th most common cause of death globally in 5- to 29-year-olds. Approximately 1.19 million people die and over 50 million are injured in road traffic crashes yearly. In Nepal, with the construction of roads and the increased number of vehicles in the recent decade, the number of road traffic crashes and injuries is also rising. Road traffic injuries are one of the most preventable causes of death, injury, and disability.A ‘Safe Systems’ approach, as will be adopted by the SafeTrip Nepal project, in which all agencies work together to create an environment that keeps road users safe, can significantly reduce rates of road traffic injuries.AimThe aim of this research is to reduce road deaths and injuries by bringing together stakeholders to achieve shared understanding of the system dynamics, and to agree actions.The objectives build on stakeholder priorities and community engagement, and are:To understand current policy and stakeholder involvement leading to a policy

BackgroundIn South Africa, the impact of alcohol use on trauma patients and the associated injury risks are often overlooked. The absence of routine measurements exacerbates the challenges faced by hospital trauma departments, necessitating practical, cost-effective, and accurate alcohol diagnostic tools for testing, surveillance, and clinical management. To address this gap, the Alcohol Diagnostic Validation for Injury-Related Trauma (AVIRT) study was initiated in 2023 with funding from the South African Medical Research Council.AimDetermine the type of information that will be useful for stakeholders in the trauma care and injury prevention sectors; to validate the efficacy of a selection of alcohol diagnostic tools; and to explore their feasibility for wider provincial or national implementation as a routine source of information on the alcohol-relatedness of injuries.Research MethodologyThe AVIRT study employs a comprehensive approach across three distinct work packages. Initially, Focus Group Discussions