Aging is the process of growing older at cellular, organ, or whole body level throughout the life span. Furthermore, the term “demographic transition” refers to a shift in fertility and mortality rates leading to changes in population growth rates, and age distribution. Thus, as people globally live longer, increasing levels of chronic illness as well as diminished wellbeing are nominated to become major global health challenges. Subsequently, the global population of elderly is projected to further increase and reach 1.4 billion by 2030 and 2.1 billion by 2050. Moreover, ageing has important implications on social security, the economy, the organization and delivery of health care, caregiver availability and constraints, society, and policies. Thus, it is pertinent to establish comprehensive elderly-friendly health care with further focus on preventive action to maintain a healthy ageing process.

Background and ObjectivesImported malaria poses a serious public health problem in Qatar because its population is “naïve” to such infection; where local transmission might lead to serious life-threatening infection and might even trigger epidemics.MethodsThis study is a retrospective review of the imported malaria cases in Qatar reported by the malaria surveillance program at the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), during the period between January 2008 and December 2015. All cases were imported and underwent parasitological confirmation through microscopy.ResultsA total of 4092 malaria cases were reported during 2008-2015 in Qatar. The demographic features of the imported cases show that the majority of cases were males (93%), non-Qatari(99.6%), and aged 15 to 44 years(82.1%). Moreover, P. vivax was found to be the main etiologic agent accounting for more than three-quarters (78.7%) of the imported cases. In addition, almost a third (33.1%) of the cases were reported during the months of July, August, and September.ConclusionsImported malaria in Qatar has witnessed an increase during the past 7 years, despite a long period of constant reduction; where the people most affected were adult male migrants from endemic countries. Many challenges need to be overcome to prevent the reintroduction of malaria into the country.

Despite being a neglected issue in adolescent health, interpersonal violence such as physical fighting constitutes a prominent cause of physical injuries in adolescents. We aimed to study the prevalence of physical fighting and its associated factors among Qatar's adolescent population. We analyzed secondary data from Qatar's Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) 2011 to determine the prevalence as well as the associated factors of being engaged in a physical fight in the last 12 months. It was found that almost half of the participants (49%) were involved in a physical fight; mostly males (60.5%) than females (37.6%). Being bullied, smoking, and having parental supervision were positively associated with physical fighting (OR = 3.97, 95% CI (3.68, 4.28); OR = 1.78, 95% CI (1.61, 1.97); OR = 1.14, 95% CI (1.05, 1.23), respectively). Further behavioral research on adolescent violence will inform the development of youth-targeted violence prevention programs.

Brucellosis is one of the most prevalent bacterial zoonoses and is considered an economically important infection that affects humans and livestock. The infection is usually transmitted to humans through direct contact with infected materials, such as the afterbirth, or indirectly through the ingestion of animal products. In addition, the consumption of raw milk represents a major source of the infection. In the Eastern Mediterranean region, the incidence of brucellosis ranges from one per 100,000 to 20 per 100,000; however, the actual figure is estimated at 20 to 25 times greater owing to the poor surveillance systems among countries in the region. For such reasons, this study is conducted to comprehensively evaluate the brucellosis surveillance system in Qatar, to identify potential strengths and limitations and, hence, inform decision-makers about future mitigation strategies. A retrospective record review was conducted at the surveillance unit in the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) to analyze all Brucella notification forms from January to November 2018 for the completeness of notification and timeliness of reporting. The principal investigators conducted data abstraction and analysis in November 2018. A total of 125 notification forms were analyzed. It was revealed that the internal completeness varied across the different data elements of the notification forms from 39% up to 100%. Also, the timeliness of the reporting ranged from one day for the T3 time point up to 16 days for the T1 time point. Ultimately, the strengthening of the national Brucellosis surveillance system in Qatar demands the implementation of several strategies, including the establishment of veterinary surveillance, enforcement of livestock importation protocols, as well as routine compulsory vaccinations, devising a clear and sensitive case definition of the disease, and public education especially among high-risk groups (shepherds, slaughterhouse workers, and laboratory workers). In addition, continuous education of healthcare workers on the proper reporting of the disease and the electronization of the notification process are important steps to improve the surveillance system in the country.

Background: Osteoporosis is a global health problem and its prevalence is rapidly increasing worldwide. Misunderstanding about osteoporosis and the lack of preventive action among women are still common, making primary prevention at an early age the preferable intervention. This study aims at assessing the knowledge of osteoporosis and preventive practices among women aged 20-44 years. Furthermore, the planning for osteoporosis prevention requires sufficient information about women`s health beliefs, knowledge, and preventive practices as well as the cultural and socioeconomic features.Methods: This is a cross-sectional study where participants were recruited using cluster sampling with proportionate allocation. The sample (N=766) consisted of eligible women, attending the primary health care centers in Qatar during 2010, and they were interviewed using the modified Osteoporosis Knowledge Assessment Tool (OKAT). The period of this study was between January 2010 and December 2011.Results: The overall knowledge score was 61.4%, with the risk factors knowledge component being the lowest at 50%. A statistically significant relation was noted between the overall knowledge score and age, the level of education, marital status, and positive family history of osteoporosis. About 79% of the participants reported being exposed to direct sun rays for > 30 minutes /week, while only 33.6% of them were engaging in proper weight bearing exercise. Finally, the food consumption score was low at 45.4%, especially when it came to fruits and vegetables (39.6%).Conclusions: The knowledge of osteoporosis risk factors, the practice of weight bearing exercise, and the consumption of calcium and vitamin D rich diet were low. Thus, it is necessary to integrate the different components of osteoporosis prevention into a comprehensive women health program.

Summary Mobile technology has emerged as a potentially useful application in the process of facilitating weight loss management. While several empirical studies have demonstrated the positive effects of mobile-based interventions, the extent of such effectiveness is still a topic of debate. Thus, the current systematic review involved searching electronic databases for studies on the use of mobile app-based interventions in the management of overweight and obesity among adults over 18 years of age in a primary and secondary care setting. The results of the review revealed that mobile apps are effective tools for weight loss management and sustaining such loss when compared to standard interventions. However, further research is needed to consider the sustained benefits and the applicability of mobile app-based interventions for large-scale population coverage.