Foreign workers in the Middle East during COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic is having an unprecedented and consequential impact on global economies, businesses, and workforces. Foreign nationals account for the majority of the population in the Middle East. Throughout this article, the authors address the negative ramifications the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the migrant workforce in the Middle East. This pandemic has intensified various socio-economic and public health crises such as unemployment, income cuts, depletion of savings, repatriation difficulties, inadequate living conditions, and associated burden on healthcare facilities by the COVID-19 infection.

Revision Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion and Revision Cervical Arthroplasty Are Associated with Similar Outcomes: Real-World Analysis from a National Quality Registry.

AIM: To utilize a national surgical quality registry to compare 30-day quality outcomes between repeat anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) and cervical disc arthroplasty (CDA). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The National Surgical Quality Improvement Project (NSQIP) Participant User Files (PUF) for the years 2005-2018 were queried for patients undergoing repeat ACDF and CDA using current procedural terminology (CPT) and International Classification of Disease (ICD)-9th version codes. We compared demographic and baseline clinical characteristics, operative characteristics, 30-day readmissions, reoperations, and complications between the two groups. We also performed multivariable analyses to assess the impact of the type of repeat procedure on outcomes of interest. RESULTS: A total of 3,957 patients were identified, of which 182 underwent revision/removal of arthroplasty, while 3,775 underwent revision or removal of fusion. Up to 4.6% of patients (n=179) in the repeat ACDF group had a complication, compared to 0.5% (n=1) in the CDA group. The 30-day readmission rate was found to be similar between the two groups (repeat-ACDF, 3.8% (n=145), vs. repeat-CDA, 2.2% (n=4); p=0.23). Similarly, 30-day reoperation rate was also not found to be different between the two groups (repeat-ACDF, 3.9% (n=149) vs. repeat-CDA, 2.7% (n=5); p=0.39). On multivariable analysis, removal or revision ACDF was found to be only significantly associated with an increased risk of 30-day complications (OR, 8.00; 95% CI, 1.07-59.79; p=0.04). CONCLUSION: Repeat ACDF or repeat CDA can be performed safely and are associated with optimal 30-day outcomes, comparable to those of index procedures. However, patients undergoing revision ACDF may be slightly more likely to have complications than those undergoing revision CDA.

Yemen's triple emergency: Food crisis amid a civil war and COVID-19 pandemic.

Yemen has been termed as the world's worst humanitarian crisis by the United Nations. About 20.1 million (more than 50% of population) Yemenis are facing hunger and 10 million are severely food insecure according to reports by the World Food Programme. With the spread of COVID-19, the situation in Yemen has worsened and humanitarian aid from other countries has become the basis of life for hundreds of thousands of Yemenis after the threat of famine. Yemen is practically one of the poorest countries in the world. It has structural vulnerabilities that have developed over a protracted period of conflict and poor governance and more than 50% live in starving, they suffer for getting one meal a day. To prevent a total collapse of Yemen's food crises, the government and the international community should act now more decisively.