Background Regularly updated data on stroke and its pathological types, including data on their incidence, prevalence, mortality, disability, risk factors, and epidemiological trends, are important for evidence-based stroke care planning and resource allocation. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) aims to provide a standardised and comprehensive measurement of these metrics at global, regional, and national levels. MethodsWe applied GBD 2019 analytical tools to calculate stroke incidence, prevalence, mortality, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and the population attributable fraction (PAF) of DALYs (with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals [UIs]) associated with 19 risk factors, for 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019. These estimates were provided for ischaemic stroke, intracerebral haemorrhage, subarachnoid haemorrhage, and all strokes combined, and stratified by sex, age group, and World Bank country income level. FindingsIn 2019, there were 12•2 million (95% UI 11•0-13•6) incident cases of stroke, 101 million (93•2-111) prevalent cases of stroke, 143 million (133-153) DALYs due to stroke, and 6•55 million (6•00-7•02) deaths from stroke. Globally, stroke remained the second-leading cause of death (11•6% [10•8-12•2] of total deaths) and the third-leading cause of death and disability combined (5•7% [5•1-6•2] of total DALYs) in 2019. From 1990 to 2019, the absolute number of incident strokes increased by 70•0% (67•0-73•0), prevalent strokes increased by 85•0% (83•0-88•0), deaths from stroke increased by 43•0% (31•0-55•0), and DALYs due to stroke increased by 32•0% (22•0-42•0). During the same period, age-standardised rates of stroke incidence decreased by 17•0% (15•0-18•0), mortality decreased by 36•0% (31•0-42•0), prevalence decreased by 6•0% (5•0-7•0), and DALYs decreased by 36•0% (31•0-42•0). However, among people younger than 70 years, prevalence rates increased by 22•0% (21•0-24•0) and incidence rates increased by 15•0% (12•0-18•0). In 2019, the age-standardised stroke-related mortality rate was 3•6 (3•5-3•8) times higher in the World Bank low-income group than in the World Bank high-income group, and the age-standardised stroke-related DALY rate was 3•7 (3•5-3•9) times higher in the low-income group than the high-income group. Ischaemic stroke constituted 62•4% of all incident strokes in 2019 (7•63 million [6•57-8•96]), while intracerebral haemorrhage constituted 27•9% (3•41 million [2•97-3•91]) and subarachnoid haemorrhage constituted 9•7% (1•18 million [1•01-1•39]). In 2019, the five leading risk factors for stroke were high systolic blood pressure (contributing to 79•6 million [67•7-90•8] DALYs or 55•5% [48•2-62•0] of total stroke DALYs), high bodymass index (34•9 million [22•3-48•6] DALYs or 24•3% [15•7-33•2]), high fasting plasma glucose (28•9 million [19•8-41•5] DALYs or 20•2% [13•8-29•1]), ambient particulate matter pollution (28•7 million [23•4-33•4] DALYs or 20•1% [16•6-23•0]), and smoking (25•3 million [22•6-28•2] DALYs or 17•6% [16•4-19•0]...

Summary Background Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 has targeted elimination of preventable child mortality, reduction of neonatal death to less than 12 per 1000 livebirths, and reduction of death of children younger than 5 years to less than 25 per 1000 livebirths, for each country by 2030. To understand current rates, recent trends, and potential trajectories of child mortality for the next decade, we present the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 findings for all-cause mortality and cause-specific mortality in children younger than 5 years of age, with multiple scenarios for child mortality in 2030 that include the consideration of potential effects of COVID-19, and a novel framework for quantifying optimal child survival. Methods We completed all-cause mortality and cause-specific mortality analyses from 204 countries and territories for detailed age groups separately, with aggregated mortality probabilities per 1000 livebirths computed for neonatal mortality rate (NMR) and under-5 mortality rate (U5MR). Scenarios for 2030 represent different potential trajectories, notably including potential effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the potential impact of improvements preferentially targeting neonatal survival. Optimal child survival metrics were developed by age, sex, and cause of death across all GBD location-years. The first metric is a global optimum and is based on the lowest observed mortality, and the second is a survival potential frontier that is based on stochastic frontier analysis of observed mortality and Healthcare Access and Quality Index. Findings Global U5MR decreased from 71·2 deaths per 1000 livebirths (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 68·3–74·0) in 2000 to 37·1 (33·2–41·7) in 2019 while global NMR correspondingly declined more slowly from 28·0 deaths per 1000 live births (26·8–29·5) in 2000 to 17·9 (16·3–19·8) in 2019. In 2019, 136 (67%) of 204 countries had a U5MR at or below the SDG 3.2 threshold and 133 (65%) had an NMR at or below the SDG 3.2 threshold, and the reference scenario suggests that by 2030, 154 (75%) of all countries could meet the U5MR targets, and 139 (68%) could meet the NMR targets. Deaths of children younger than 5 years totalled 9·65 million (95% UI 9·05–10·30) in 2000 and 5·05 million (4·27–6·02) in 2019, with the neonatal fraction of these deaths increasing from 39% (3·76 million [95% UI 3·53–4·02]) in 2000 to 48% (2·42 million; 2·06–2·86) in 2019. NMR and U5MR were generally higher in males than in females, although there was no statistically significant difference at the global level. Neonatal disorders remained the leading cause of death in children younger than 5 years in 2019, followed by lower respiratory infections, diarrhoeal diseases, congenital birth defects, and malaria. The global optimum analysis suggests NMR could be reduced to as low as 0·80 (95% UI 0·71–0·86) deaths per 1000 livebirths and U5MR to 1·44 (95% UI 1·27–1·58) deaths per 1...

Background: The lockdown strategy adopted to contain the spread of current pandemic of coronavirus disease has affected all sectors of life globally. Nepal also instructed all the educational institutions to shut down, medical colleges being no exception. One month into the lockdown all the medical colleges in Nepal started online classes to keep pace with the academic calendar. This preliminary survey analyses the students’ perspective on newly introduced online medical education system. Methods: This cross-sectional survey used an online questionnaire typed in Google forms. The link to the survey was then emailed to the student representative of each semester of Lumbini Medical College, Palpa, Nepal, who were then instructed to forward it to their classmates. The questionnaire consisted of demographic variables and perspective of medical undergraduates towards online classes and also a space to comment or opine their perspective on current medical education. Results: A total of 226 students responded the survey. Almost one-third of the students (n=173, 76.5%) admitted of never having attended the online classes. Most of the students used smartphones to attend online classes; broadband internet service being the source of internet in 65.5%. Two-third of the students rated online classes to be poorer than the traditional classroom teaching and 77.8% of the students preferred traditional classroom teaching in future. Conclusions: Medical students did not find online classes as effective as the traditional classroom teachings; it could be made more interactive and productive by introducing interactive and brainstorming sessions complementing the conventional face?to?face education. Keywords: COVID-19; medical education, Nepal; online education; virtual education

igital medical education is in its infancy in the geographically challenging and mountainous country of Nepal. To limit the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, educational institutions in Nepal have remained closed for more than a month and medical colleges are no exception. Recently, however, Kathmandu University has instructed its affiliated institutions to run online classes for students so that there would be no lag in the academic calendar. Ten medical

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Background Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remains a public health priority in Latin America. While the burden of HIV is historically concentrated in urban areas and high-risk groups, subnational estimates that cover multiple countries and years are missing. This paucity is partially due to incomplete vital registration (VR) systems and statistical challenges related to estimating mortality rates in areas with low numbers of HIV deaths. In this analysis, we address this gap and provide novel estimates of the HIV mortality rate and the number of HIV deaths by age group, sex, and municipality in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Mexico. Methods We performed an ecological study using VR data ranging from 2000 to 2017, dependent on individual country data availability. We modeled HIV mortality using a Bayesian spatially explicit mixed-effects regression model that incorporates prior information on VR completeness. We calibrated our results to the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Results All countries displayed over a 40-fold difference in HIV mortality between municipalities with the highest and lowest age-standardized HIV mortality rate in the last year of study for men, and over a 20-fold difference for women. Despite decreases in national HIV mortality in all countries—apart from Ecuador—across the period of study, we found broad variation in relative changes in HIV mortality at the municipality level and increasing relative inequality over time in all countries. In all six countries included in this analysis, 50% or more HIV deaths were concentrated in fewer than 10% of municipalities in the latest year of study. In addition, national age patterns reflected shifts in mortality to older age groups—the median age group among decedents ranged from 30 to 45 years of age at the municipality level in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico in 2017. Conclusions Our subnational estimates of HIV mortality revealed significant spatial variation and diverging local trends in HIV mortality over time and by age. This analysis provides a framework for incorporating data and uncertainty from incomplete VR systems and can help guide more geographically precise public health intervention to support HIV-related care and reduce HIV-related deaths.

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