Wheat is the world"s most widely cultivated cereal. By 2050, global demand for wheat is projected to increase by 60%. In the CWANA region which ICARDA is tasked to serve, wheat is the basic staple and food security crop, contributing over 60% of people"s daily calorific and protein needs. Due to the large proportion of subsistence farmers, wheat production also has a major impact on household food security. Despite this, the productivity of wheat in the region is very low (less than 2.5 t/ha) due largely to the major abiotic (drought, cold, heat, salinity) and biotic (stripe rust, leaf rust, stem rust and Hessian fly) stresses encountered. Most countries in the region are net importers of wheat for human consumption, with regional demand predicted to continue rising. Egypt alone currently imports 9 million tons annually. The situation is further complicated by food production shortfalls associated with climate change which can cause food crises, civil unrest and even migration. The wheat breeding program at ICARDA has developed high yielding and heat tolerant wheat genotypes which have been tested and released as cultivars by many countries in the CWANA region. Out-scaling and intensification of wheat cultivars combined with other improved crop management practices have been carried out by ICARDA in partnership with the national programs in Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen resulting with an average increase of wheat production by 28%. The result clearly indicates that development and utilization of climate smart wheat technologies including high yielding and stress tolerant cultivars; integrated crop management systems; establishment of conducive policies and infrastructures are crucial to increase productivity and ensure food and nutrition security.
Introduction: Evaluation of medication usage pattern is crucial for the better patient care, particularly for the geriatric who often have experience with multiple therapy and problems. This study was conducted to investigate the medication usage in elderly patients through a validated World Health Organization (WHO) indicators. Methods: A retrospective crossectional and non-interventional study was conducted in the geriatric outpatient departments in a teaching hospital (Islamabad, Pakistan). The patients aged ≥60 years visiting the geriatric medical outpatient and emergency department from September 2018 to April 2019 were selected through random systematic sampling technique. The collected information was evaluated according to the WHO recommendations. Results: A total of 3,792 drugs were prescribed (average drug per prescription= 5.2 (Range 4-8) in 720 elderly patients. Out of these, antimicrobials were prescribed in 76.4% (n=550), at least one injectable medication in 63.9% (n=460), generic prescribing in 30% (n=1141) and prescribing from National essential list/hospital formulary in 95.8% (n=3634) of the prescription. A statistically significant difference was observed between prescribing practices and WHO optimal values (P<0.001). The most frequently prescribed class of antimicrobials was cephalosporins (65.3%) and ceftriaxone (41%), ciprofloxacin (13.6%) and cefuroxime (10.7%) were the most commonly used antibiotics. Conclusion: The major problems identified in this study were polypharmacy, low generic prescribing, higher usage of antimicrobials and injectable. A special attention is required by the healthcare authorities for the better care of the geriatric patients.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.