Cargando…

The contribution of Cyprus to non-communicable diseases and biomedical research from 2002 to 2013: implications for evidence-based health policy

BACKGROUND: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading causes of disease burden and mortality at the European level and in Cyprus. This research was conducted to map the research activities of Cypriot institutions in five NCDs, namely oncology, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, mental health...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Pallari, Elena, Lewison, Grant, Pallari, Chryso Th., Samoutis, George, Begum, Mursheda, Sullivan, Richard
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BioMed Central 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6098664/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30119676
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12961-018-0355-4
_version_ 1783348525416841216
author Pallari, Elena
Lewison, Grant
Pallari, Chryso Th.
Samoutis, George
Begum, Mursheda
Sullivan, Richard
author_facet Pallari, Elena
Lewison, Grant
Pallari, Chryso Th.
Samoutis, George
Begum, Mursheda
Sullivan, Richard
author_sort Pallari, Elena
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading causes of disease burden and mortality at the European level and in Cyprus. This research was conducted to map the research activities of Cypriot institutions in five NCDs, namely oncology, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, mental health and respiratory conditions. METHODS: For the period 2002–2013, research in Cyprus was assessed on its biomedical outputs and compared to the rest of Europe relative to their GDP. The research output in the five NCDs was obtained and contrasted to their respective disease burdens. The results from each of the five NCDs showed the amount of cross-country collaboration with other researchers from other European countries and from the rest of the world, and the research level of the papers on a clinical to basic scale. For each NCD field the research application was assessed, whereas for oncology the research type was also assessed. Information was collected on the development of clinical guidelines, on Cypriot newspapers reporting on medical and policy documents and advisory committees’ output as well as research and funding organisations available in Cyprus, for potential evaluation of impact in health policy on the five NCDs. RESULTS: Cypriot biomedical research output appeared appropriate in volume compared with its wealth and the expected value from a regression line for other European countries. However, it was focused particularly on the molecular mechanisms of transmittable or hereditary diseases, rather than on the five NCDs. Cyprus performs well in palliative care, which receives funding from several local charities and other non-profit organisations. Cyprus has the highest relative burden from diabetes in Europe, but the subject is largely neglected by researchers. Similarly, it suffers more from mental disorders than most of the rest of Europe, but the amount of research is relatively small. Respiratory conditions research is under-funded and under-researched too. CONCLUSIONS: The biomedical research portfolio in Cyprus is adequate in volume, but not well fitted to its pattern of disease. The means whereby research can be used to improve healthcare in the country are also unsatisfactory, although the Ministry of Health is now developing a comprehensive plan which will include the development of clinical guidelines and proposals for the evaluation of how healthcare is delivered on the island. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12961-018-0355-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-6098664
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2018
publisher BioMed Central
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-60986642018-08-23 The contribution of Cyprus to non-communicable diseases and biomedical research from 2002 to 2013: implications for evidence-based health policy Pallari, Elena Lewison, Grant Pallari, Chryso Th. Samoutis, George Begum, Mursheda Sullivan, Richard Health Res Policy Syst Research BACKGROUND: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading causes of disease burden and mortality at the European level and in Cyprus. This research was conducted to map the research activities of Cypriot institutions in five NCDs, namely oncology, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, mental health and respiratory conditions. METHODS: For the period 2002–2013, research in Cyprus was assessed on its biomedical outputs and compared to the rest of Europe relative to their GDP. The research output in the five NCDs was obtained and contrasted to their respective disease burdens. The results from each of the five NCDs showed the amount of cross-country collaboration with other researchers from other European countries and from the rest of the world, and the research level of the papers on a clinical to basic scale. For each NCD field the research application was assessed, whereas for oncology the research type was also assessed. Information was collected on the development of clinical guidelines, on Cypriot newspapers reporting on medical and policy documents and advisory committees’ output as well as research and funding organisations available in Cyprus, for potential evaluation of impact in health policy on the five NCDs. RESULTS: Cypriot biomedical research output appeared appropriate in volume compared with its wealth and the expected value from a regression line for other European countries. However, it was focused particularly on the molecular mechanisms of transmittable or hereditary diseases, rather than on the five NCDs. Cyprus performs well in palliative care, which receives funding from several local charities and other non-profit organisations. Cyprus has the highest relative burden from diabetes in Europe, but the subject is largely neglected by researchers. Similarly, it suffers more from mental disorders than most of the rest of Europe, but the amount of research is relatively small. Respiratory conditions research is under-funded and under-researched too. CONCLUSIONS: The biomedical research portfolio in Cyprus is adequate in volume, but not well fitted to its pattern of disease. The means whereby research can be used to improve healthcare in the country are also unsatisfactory, although the Ministry of Health is now developing a comprehensive plan which will include the development of clinical guidelines and proposals for the evaluation of how healthcare is delivered on the island. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12961-018-0355-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. BioMed Central 2018-08-17 /pmc/articles/PMC6098664/ /pubmed/30119676 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12961-018-0355-4 Text en © The Author(s). 2018 Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
spellingShingle Research
Pallari, Elena
Lewison, Grant
Pallari, Chryso Th.
Samoutis, George
Begum, Mursheda
Sullivan, Richard
The contribution of Cyprus to non-communicable diseases and biomedical research from 2002 to 2013: implications for evidence-based health policy
title The contribution of Cyprus to non-communicable diseases and biomedical research from 2002 to 2013: implications for evidence-based health policy
title_full The contribution of Cyprus to non-communicable diseases and biomedical research from 2002 to 2013: implications for evidence-based health policy
title_fullStr The contribution of Cyprus to non-communicable diseases and biomedical research from 2002 to 2013: implications for evidence-based health policy
title_full_unstemmed The contribution of Cyprus to non-communicable diseases and biomedical research from 2002 to 2013: implications for evidence-based health policy
title_short The contribution of Cyprus to non-communicable diseases and biomedical research from 2002 to 2013: implications for evidence-based health policy
title_sort contribution of cyprus to non-communicable diseases and biomedical research from 2002 to 2013: implications for evidence-based health policy
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6098664/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30119676
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12961-018-0355-4
work_keys_str_mv AT pallarielena thecontributionofcyprustononcommunicablediseasesandbiomedicalresearchfrom2002to2013implicationsforevidencebasedhealthpolicy
AT lewisongrant thecontributionofcyprustononcommunicablediseasesandbiomedicalresearchfrom2002to2013implicationsforevidencebasedhealthpolicy
AT pallarichrysoth thecontributionofcyprustononcommunicablediseasesandbiomedicalresearchfrom2002to2013implicationsforevidencebasedhealthpolicy
AT samoutisgeorge thecontributionofcyprustononcommunicablediseasesandbiomedicalresearchfrom2002to2013implicationsforevidencebasedhealthpolicy
AT begummursheda thecontributionofcyprustononcommunicablediseasesandbiomedicalresearchfrom2002to2013implicationsforevidencebasedhealthpolicy
AT sullivanrichard thecontributionofcyprustononcommunicablediseasesandbiomedicalresearchfrom2002to2013implicationsforevidencebasedhealthpolicy
AT pallarielena contributionofcyprustononcommunicablediseasesandbiomedicalresearchfrom2002to2013implicationsforevidencebasedhealthpolicy
AT lewisongrant contributionofcyprustononcommunicablediseasesandbiomedicalresearchfrom2002to2013implicationsforevidencebasedhealthpolicy
AT pallarichrysoth contributionofcyprustononcommunicablediseasesandbiomedicalresearchfrom2002to2013implicationsforevidencebasedhealthpolicy
AT samoutisgeorge contributionofcyprustononcommunicablediseasesandbiomedicalresearchfrom2002to2013implicationsforevidencebasedhealthpolicy
AT begummursheda contributionofcyprustononcommunicablediseasesandbiomedicalresearchfrom2002to2013implicationsforevidencebasedhealthpolicy
AT sullivanrichard contributionofcyprustononcommunicablediseasesandbiomedicalresearchfrom2002to2013implicationsforevidencebasedhealthpolicy