Open Access Public Health and Health Administration Review

Navigating the Precipice: Global Healthcare Challenges and the Path Toward Sustainable Quality Care in 2026

Ghulam Muhammad Kundi — 2026-04-05

As we navigate the second quarter of 2026, the global healthcare landscape stands at a critical juncture. The promise of the "digital decade" has met the harsh reality of demographic shifts, economic volatility, and a strained global workforce. While the tools at our disposal—ranging from generative AI (GenAI) to precision genomics—are more advanced than ever, the structural integrity of health systems in both developed and developing nations is being tested to its limits. This editorial examines the divergent yet overlapping challenges facing these regions and proposes a rigorous framework for administrative reform to ensure quality care remains a fundamental human right. The challenges of 2026 provide a unique opportunity for a global reset. The divide between developed and developing nations is narrowing; both are realizing that the current trajectory is unsustainable. Quality care in this decade will be defined by how well we support our workforce, how securely we guard our data, and how equitably we distribute the fruits of medical innovation.

Knowledge and Attitude Practices Regarding Eye Donation among University Students of Lahore: A Cross-Sectional Institution-Based Study

Kashaf Sajid — 2026-04-05

This is a cross-sectional study that evaluated the awareness, knowledge, and attitudes towards eye donation among 1,200 health faculty students in Lahore, Pakistan. A self-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect data related to demographic data, academic background, and questions that assessed knowledge and perceptions on eye donation. The responses were interpreted using descriptive statistical analysis. According to the results, 68% of respondents were aware of eye donation, with 29.5% and 26.8% of participants having friends or family and social media as the main sources of information, respectively. But there were only 37.7% of respondents who were willing to donate their eyes after death. The majority of students revealed poor knowledge in the technical side of the eye donor practice, about 54.45% of the students portrayed positive views, whereas 45.6% portrayed negative views. These results demonstrate the existence of a significant disconnection between positive perception and sufficient knowledge among health faculty students. It was found that despite the awareness, the lack of technical knowledge is a potential problem that may impede the advocacy of eye donation. Limitations are due to the cross-sectional nature and the use of self-reported responses that can impact the generalizability. The results highlight the importance of specific educational interventions, curriculum consolidation, and sensitization in the health institutions to improve the knowledge and promote the practice of eye donation. Future studies need to be conducted with bigger and multi-institutional samples to assess the impact of educational interventions on enhancing awareness and intentions to donate their corneas.

The Quantitative Text Analysis of China's Elderly Care Policy Texts Based on the PMC Model

Zhang Qingson — 2026-04-10

Against the backdrop of accelerating population aging in China, the scientific optimization of elderly care policies has become a core issue in national governance. Existing studies mostly focus on qualitative interpretation of such policies, lacking systematic quantitative evaluation of their internal structure and overall quality. To fill this gap, this paper constructs an evaluation index system with 9 first level and 40 second-level variables based on the Policy Modeling Consistency (PMC) index model and conducts a quantitative empirical analysis on 15 representative national and local elderly care policies in China through binary scoring, PMC index calculation and three-dimensional surface chart visualization. The results show that the average PMC index of the sample policies is 0.6462, indicating an overall moderate level. The sample policies perform well in policy function, tools and content, while policy guarantee, time validity and administrative level are the key shortcomings. On this basis, this paper puts forward targeted optimization paths for China's elderly care policy system, providing quantitative empirical support for the improvement of elderly care service policies and a methodological reference for quantitative policy text analysis.

Host-Pathogen Interactions in Immunocompromised States: A Comparative Study of Veterinary and HIV/AIDS Microbiology

Muhammad Yameen — 2026-04-30

The purpose of this study is to compare the host–pathogen interactions in immunocompromised conditions, particularly human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and veterinary lentiviral infections, such as feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). We adopted the Damage-Response Framework as the main paradigm to investigate immune vulnerabilities, evasion strategies of pathogens, clinical disease manifestation, and treatment approaches across species. Our review highlights a “mucosal catastrophe” with selective depletion of cluster of differentiation 4-positive T helper 17 and T helper 22 cells in gut-associated lymphoid tissue, resulting in gut barrier disruption, translocation of bacteria, and systemic chronic inflammation. Pathogens have sophisticated evasion strategies, including latent reservoir establishment, antigenic drift, restriction factor evasion, and immune checkpoint subversion. Zoonotic opportunistic pathogens (Cryptosporidium species, Toxoplasma gondii, Mycobacterium avium, Rhodococcus equi) are a serious concern for vulnerable human populations. The study is limited by the veterinary literature for non-lentiviral diseases and variable designs, which preclude quantitative meta-analysis. We conclude that veterinary models have been directly translated into human therapies, such as tenofovir and the feline immunodeficiency virus vaccine. Implications include integrated One Health surveillance networks, translational therapeutic studies, and the breakdown of academic silos between human and veterinary medicine to improve global public health and outcomes for immunocompromised hosts.

Assessing the Impact of Air Pollution and Cardiopulmonary Diseases through General Public Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice

Muhammad Aneeb — 2026-05-02

Lahore, Pakistan, is one of the most polluted cities in the world, with annual PM2.5 levels almost 20 times the WHO-recommended limit. To our knowledge, no peer-reviewed knowledge, attitude, and practice study on air pollution and cardiopulmonary health has been done in Pakistan. This descriptive cross-sectional study set out to explore: knowledge of indoor and outdoor pollution sources; awareness of the cardio-pulmonary health impacts of air pollution; attitudes towards reducing exposure to air pollution; self-protective measures; and demographic factors associated with knowledge, attitude, and practices. Using convenience sampling, 604 people (16-60 years) were enrolled. A culturally adapted, validated, self-report questionnaire was applied; Statistical Package for the Social Sciences v27.0 was used for the chi-square test and Kruskal-Wallis’s test (p < 0.05). The mean age was 28.57 ± 10.35 years; 53.8% were female. The majority of people (77%) had good knowledge, and 92.5% had favorable attitudes towards reducing pollution. But only 59.4% of frequent cooks had adequate safety practices, and just 29.1% identified cooking as a considerable source of indoor pollution. Knowledge was significantly associated with gender (χ² = 27.01, p < 0.001), education (χ² = 125.42, p < 0.001), and occupation (χ² = 41.62, p < 0.001). Only education was a significant predictor of adequate practice (χ² = 9.41, p = 0.024). There was a significant knowledge-attitude-practice gap. Specific campaigns, environmental health promotion, and policy change are crucial. Longitudinal and multi-city studies are needed to build an equitable environmental health policy.