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Aims To evaluate whether the addition of hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) to intravenous furosemide is a safe and effective strategy for improving diuretic response in acute heart failure (AHF). Methods and results A prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, including patients with AHF randomized to receive HCTZ or placebo in addition to an intravenous furosemide regimen. The coprimary endpoints were changes in body weight and patient-reported dyspnoea 72 h after randomization. Secondary outcomes included metrics of diuretic response and mortality/rehospitalizations at 30 and 90 days. Safety outcomes (changes in renal function and/or electrolytes) were also assessed. Two hundred and thirty patients (48% women, 83 years) were randomized. Patients assigned to HCTZ were more likely to lose weight at 72 h than those assigned to placebo [−2.3 vs. −1.5 kg; adjusted estimated difference (notionally 95% confidence interval) −1.14 (−1.84 to −0.42); P = 0.002], but there were no significant differences in patient-reported dyspnoea (area under the curve for visual analogue scale: 960 vs. 720; P = 0.497). These results were similar 96 h after randomization. Patients allocated to HCTZ showed greater 24 h diuresis (1775 vs. 1400 mL; P = 0.05) and weight loss for each 40 mg of furosemide (at 72 and at 96 h) (P < 0.001). Patients assigned to HCTZ more frequently presented impaired renal function (increase in creatinine >26.5 μmoL/L or decrease in eGFR >50%; 46.5 vs. 17.2%; P < 0.001), but hypokalaemia and hypokalaemia were similar between groups. There were no differences in mortality or rehospitalizations. Conclusion The addition of HCTZ to loop diuretic therapy improved diuretic response in patients with AHF.

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Opioid analgesics are simultaneously indispensable medicines for the treatment of moderate to severe pain and are harmful when abused. The challenge for governments is to balance the obligation to prevent diversion, trafficking, and abuse of opioids with the equally important obligation to ensure their availability and accessibility for the relief of pain and suffering. Over the last 30 years, significant progress has been made toward improving access to opioids as measured by increasing global medical opioid consumption. However, this progress is marked by ongoing large disparities among countries, with most increases in medical opioid consumption attributed to high-income countries, not low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The International Pain Policy Fellowship (IPPF) was developed by the Pain & Policy Studies Group, with the central goal of developing national leaders from LMICs and empowering them to improve availability and accessibility of opioids for the treatment of pain. To date, two classes of fellows have been selected, representing 17 fellows from 15 countries. Progress achieved by the leadership of three fellows from Sierra Leone, Colombia, and Serbia is highlighted in this paper. The fellows from each country were successful at initiating collaboration with relevant governmental bodies, national authorities, and professional societies, which resulted in a new supply of oral opioids in Sierra Leone and Serbia, and improvements in the distribution of already available opioids in Colombia. All fellows were instrumental in facilitating evaluation of national policy. The IPPF program empowers fellows with the necessary knowledge, skills, and guidance to improve the availability and accessibility of opioids for the treatment of pain.

Latin America consumes less than 2.7% of the morphine in the world, as reported by the governments to the International Narcotics Control Board. Methods to improve access to opioids for the treatment of pain have been developed by the Pain & Policy Studies Group (PPSG), a World Health Organization Collaborating Center at the University of Wisconsin. This article describes the preparation and implementation of an action plan in Colombia as a part of an international fellowship program on opioid policy developed by the PPSG and funded by the Open Society Institute. The action plan for Colombia included three steps: 1) a survey of regulators and health care providers to identify the current situation and their perceptions of opioid availability in the regions of the country; 2) a workshop with representatives of the Ministry of Health, the national and state competent authorities, pain and palliative care physicians, and international leaders; and 3) implementation workshops at the local level throughout the country. For the survey, response rates of 47% and 96% were registered among physicians and competent authorities, respectively. The survey identified significant regional differences in perceived opioid availability between physicians and regulators. Focus group discussions during the workshop identified several reasons leading to limited availability of opioids in the country, including deficiencies in the procurement process, insufficient human resources, excessive bureaucratic tasks, insufficient number of pharmacies authorized to dispense controlled medications in the country, lack of training in the health care professions, and overly restrictive laws and regulations governing opioid availability. The third step of the action plan has not been implemented. Additional and continuous monitoring needs to be implemented to measure the progress of this project.