Richard Coker
Biographic Data
| ID | 5893887 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Richard Coker |
| GIVEN NAMES | Richard |
| FAMILY NAME | Coker |
| SIGNATURE | COKER R |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of London |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 25 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 9 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 25 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2003 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Cardiovascular disease knowledge, risk perception, and lifestyle behaviors among university students in North-Central Nigeria
We identify a "knowledge-risk paradox" among Nigerian university students: greater knowledge is inversely correlated with lower personal risk perception (r=-0.187, p < 0.001), an association suggesting potent optimistic bias. This disconnect indicates that conventional knowledge-based health education is likely insufficient. Public health interventions must pivot towards strategies that include personalized risk assessment to combat complacency a…
Breast cancer in Thailand
Thailand has successfully implemented Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and embedded the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development into its Thailand 4.0 policy. Breast cancer is a growing challenge in Thailand, as it is globally. It serves as a perfect medium through which to interrogate UHC and demonstrate areas of the health system which require further strengthening if UHC is to be sustainable in the longer term. We conducted a situation analysis …
Sharing public health data and information across borders
BACKGROUND: The importance of data and information sharing for the prevention and control of infectious diseases has long been recognised. In recent years, public health emergencies such as avian influenza, drug-resistant malaria, and Ebola have brought renewed attention to the need for effective communication channels between health authorities, particularly in regional contexts where neighbouring countries share common health threats. However, …
Strong, vertical TB programme embedded in a developing primary healthcare system
Health Policy and Planning, doi: 10.1093/heapol/czx079. The authors would like to indicate that the address for the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health was incorrectly given in the original manuscript as ‘0808 Rivergate, 97 Robertson Quay, Singapore 238257, Singapore’. This has now been corrected online to ‘Tahir Foundation Building, 12 Science Drive 2, #10-01, Singapore 117549, Singapore’.
Policies and Livestock Systems Driving Brucellosis Re-emergence in Kazakhstan
Optimising routine surveillance systems for informing tuberculosis control policies in China
Are scientific research outputs aligned with national policy makers’ priorities? A case study of tuberculosis in Cambodia
With funding for tuberculosis (TB) research decreasing, and the high global disease burden persisting, there are calls for increased investment in TB research. However, justification of such investments is questionable, when translation of research outputs into policy and health care improvements remains a challenge for TB and other diseases. Using TB in Cambodia as a case study, we investigate how evidence needs of national policy makers are add…
A strong TB programme embedded in a developing primary healthcare system is a lose-lose situation
As exemplified by the situation in Cambodia, disease specific (vertical) health programmes are often favoured when the health system is fragile. The potential of such an approach to impede strengthening of primary healthcare services has been studied from a health systems perspective in terms of access and quality of care. In this bottom-up, qualitative study we investigate patient and community member experiences of health services when a strong…
Factors associated with uptake of influenza vaccine in people aged 50 to 64 years in Hong Kong
Factors related to free and convenient vaccination, the perception of the severity of symptoms when contracting influenza had a comparatively strong association with influenza vaccination uptake amongst 50-64 year olds, compared to other factors
Buy now, saved later? The critical impact of time-to-pandemic uncertainty on pandemic cost-effectiveness analyses
BACKGROUND: Investment in pandemic preparedness is a long-term gamble, with the return on investment coming at an unknown point in the future. Many countries have chosen to stockpile key resources, and the number of pandemic economic evaluations has risen sharply since 2009. We assess the importance of uncertainty in time-to-pandemic (and associated discounting) in pandemic economic evaluation, a factor frequently neglected in the literature to-d…
Distribution of selected healthcare resources for influenza pandemic response in Cambodia
There is considerable heterogeneity in healthcare resource distribution across Cambodia. Distribution mapping at the local level can inform policy decisions on where to stockpile resources in advance of and for reallocation in the event of a pandemic. These findings will be useful in determining future health resource investment, both for pandemic preparedness and for general health system strengthening, and provide a foundation for future analys…
Human influenza A H5N1 in Indonesia
Delays in the delivery of appropriate care to human cases of avian influenza H5N1 in Indonesia appear related to delays in diagnosis rather than presentation to health care settings. Either cases are not suspected of being H5N1 cases until nearly one week after presenting for medical care, or viral testing and/or antiviral treatment is not available where patients are presenting for care. Health system delays have increased since 2007
Human H5N1 influenza infections in Cambodia 2005–2011
Cases of avian influenza in Cambodia were characterised by delays in hospitalisation, deficiencies in some aspects of treatment and a high fatality rate. The costs associated with medical care, particularly diagnostic testing and pharmaceutical therapy, were major contributors to the relatively high cost-of-illness
Framing risk in pandemic influenza policy and control
This article explores differing understandings of 'risk' in relation to pandemic influenza policy and control. After a preliminary overview of methodological and practical problems in risk analysis, ways in which risk was framed and managed in three historical cases were examined. The interdependence between scientific empiricism and political decision-making led to the mismanagement of the 1976 swine influenza scare in the USA. The 2004 H5N1 avi…
Development of a resource modelling tool to support decision makers in pandemic influenza preparedness
The AsiaFluCap Simulator is freely available software (http://www.cdprg.org) which can be used by policy makers, policy advisors, donors and other stakeholders involved in preparedness for providing evidence based and illustrative information on health care resource capacities during future pandemics. The tool can inform both preparedness plans and simulation exercises and can help increase the general understanding of dynamics in resource capaci…
Avian and pandemic human influenza policy in South-East Asia
The aim of this study was to analyse the contemporary policies regarding avian and human pandemic influenza control in three South-East Asia countries: Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. An analysis of poultry vaccination policy was used to explore the broader policy of influenza A H5N1 control in the region. The policy of antiviral stockpiling with oseltamivir, a scarce regional resource, was used to explore human pandemic influenza preparedness p…
Changes at Health Policy and Planning
Last year we commissioned a strategic review of Health Policy and Planning (HPP) to better position our journal in an increasingly complex publishing landscape and enhance its relevance and impact. As part of this review, we surveyed our readers, authors and editorial board. We also compared HPP against 13 competitors with respect to (1) performance indicators, (2) submission number and acceptance rate, (3) editorial structure, (4) governance str…
Pandemic influenza preparedness and health systems challenges in Asia
Health system context influences how the six countries have been preparing themselves for a pandemic. At the same time, investment in pandemic preparation in the six Asian countries has contributed to improvement in health system surveillance, laboratory capacity, monitoring and evaluation and public communications. A number of suggestions for improvement were presented to strengthen the pandemic preparation and mitigation as well as to overcome …
Pandemic influenza control in Europe and the constraints resulting from incoherent public health laws
These differences could create problems for European strategies if an evolving influenza pandemic results in more serious public health challenges or, indeed, if a novel disease other than influenza emerges with pandemic potential. There is insufficient understanding across Europe of the role and importance of law in pandemic planning. States need to build capacity in public health law to support disease prevention and control policies. Our resea…
Critical interactions between Global Fund-supported programmes and health systems
As part of a series of case studies on the interactions between programmes supported by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and health systems, we assessed the extent of integration of national HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria programmes with the general health system, the integration of the Global Fund-portfolios within the national disease programmes, and system-wide effects on the health system in Thailand. The study reli…
Integration of health systems and priority health interventions
This case study on Vietnam aims to generate empirical evidence on the relative merits of integration of two priority health interventions, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB), into six functions of the wider health system: stewardship and governance, service delivery, demand generation, monitoring and evaluation, planning, and financing. Selective documentary reviews and 25 qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted in early 2009 in Hanoi,…
Pandemic influenza preparedness in Latin America
The threat of a human pandemic of influenza has prompted the development of national influenza pandemic preparedness plans over the last 4 years. Analyses have been carried out to assess preparedness in Europe, Asia and Africa. We assessed plans to evaluate the national strategic pandemic influenza preparedness in the countries of Latin America. Published national pandemic influenza preparedness plans from Latin American countries were evaluated …
Pandemic influenza preparedness in Africa is a profound challenge for an already distressed region
A new highly pathogenic strain of influenza virus, H5N1, has emerged causing severe outbreaks in poultry and high mortality rates when humans are infected. The threat of a new influenza pandemic has prompted countries to draft national strategic preparedness plans to prevent, contain and mitigate the next human influenza pandemic. To evaluate preparedness for an influenza pandemic in the African region we analysed African national preparedness pl…
Stigma and HIV infection in Russia
Few studies have examined the personal and social consequences of stigma associated with HIV infection in Russia, a country with one of the most rapidly advancing HIV epidemics globally. By May 2005, Samara Oblast, Russia had 24,022 notified seropositive individuals. Focus-group discussions with randomly sampled seropositive and seronegative individuals, matched by age, gender and education were selected from the general population and used to pr…
Body weight patterns in a country in transition
Objective: This paper reports the distribution and determinants of body mass index (BMI) and obesity in Tirana City (Albania). Design: Cross-sectional survey conducted in mid-2001. Setting: Tirana City. Subjects: One thousand one hundred and twenty adults aged 25 years and over (response rate 72.7%), selected using multi-stage cluster sampling. Results: Over three-quarters of male and female respondents had an excess body weight. The overall popu…
Integration of health systems and priority health interventions
This case study on Vietnam aims to generate empirical evidence on the relative merits of integration of two priority health interventions, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB), into six functions of the wider health system: stewardship and governance, service delivery, demand generation, monitoring and evaluation, planning, and financing. Selective documentary reviews and 25 qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted in early 2009 in Hanoi,…
Pandemic influenza preparedness in Africa is a profound challenge for an already distressed region
A new highly pathogenic strain of influenza virus, H5N1, has emerged causing severe outbreaks in poultry and high mortality rates when humans are infected. The threat of a new influenza pandemic has prompted countries to draft national strategic preparedness plans to prevent, contain and mitigate the next human influenza pandemic. To evaluate preparedness for an influenza pandemic in the African region we analysed African national preparedness pl…
Buy now, saved later? The critical impact of time-to-pandemic uncertainty on pandemic cost-effectiveness analyses
BACKGROUND: Investment in pandemic preparedness is a long-term gamble, with the return on investment coming at an unknown point in the future. Many countries have chosen to stockpile key resources, and the number of pandemic economic evaluations has risen sharply since 2009. We assess the importance of uncertainty in time-to-pandemic (and associated discounting) in pandemic economic evaluation, a factor frequently neglected in the literature to-d…
Avian and pandemic human influenza policy in South-East Asia
The aim of this study was to analyse the contemporary policies regarding avian and human pandemic influenza control in three South-East Asia countries: Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. An analysis of poultry vaccination policy was used to explore the broader policy of influenza A H5N1 control in the region. The policy of antiviral stockpiling with oseltamivir, a scarce regional resource, was used to explore human pandemic influenza preparedness p…
Critical interactions between Global Fund-supported programmes and health systems
As part of a series of case studies on the interactions between programmes supported by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and health systems, we assessed the extent of integration of national HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria programmes with the general health system, the integration of the Global Fund-portfolios within the national disease programmes, and system-wide effects on the health system in Thailand. The study reli…
Body weight patterns in a country in transition
Objective: This paper reports the distribution and determinants of body mass index (BMI) and obesity in Tirana City (Albania). Design: Cross-sectional survey conducted in mid-2001. Setting: Tirana City. Subjects: One thousand one hundred and twenty adults aged 25 years and over (response rate 72.7%), selected using multi-stage cluster sampling. Results: Over three-quarters of male and female respondents had an excess body weight. The overall popu…
Stigma and HIV infection in Russia
Few studies have examined the personal and social consequences of stigma associated with HIV infection in Russia, a country with one of the most rapidly advancing HIV epidemics globally. By May 2005, Samara Oblast, Russia had 24,022 notified seropositive individuals. Focus-group discussions with randomly sampled seropositive and seronegative individuals, matched by age, gender and education were selected from the general population and used to pr…
Pandemic influenza preparedness in Africa is a profound challenge for an already distressed region
A new highly pathogenic strain of influenza virus, H5N1, has emerged causing severe outbreaks in poultry and high mortality rates when humans are infected. The threat of a new influenza pandemic has prompted countries to draft national strategic preparedness plans to prevent, contain and mitigate the next human influenza pandemic. To evaluate preparedness for an influenza pandemic in the African region we analysed African national preparedness pl…
Pandemic influenza preparedness in Latin America
The threat of a human pandemic of influenza has prompted the development of national influenza pandemic preparedness plans over the last 4 years. Analyses have been carried out to assess preparedness in Europe, Asia and Africa. We assessed plans to evaluate the national strategic pandemic influenza preparedness in the countries of Latin America. Published national pandemic influenza preparedness plans from Latin American countries were evaluated …
Pandemic influenza preparedness and health systems challenges in Asia
Health system context influences how the six countries have been preparing themselves for a pandemic. At the same time, investment in pandemic preparation in the six Asian countries has contributed to improvement in health system surveillance, laboratory capacity, monitoring and evaluation and public communications. A number of suggestions for improvement were presented to strengthen the pandemic preparation and mitigation as well as to overcome …
Pandemic influenza control in Europe and the constraints resulting from incoherent public health laws
These differences could create problems for European strategies if an evolving influenza pandemic results in more serious public health challenges or, indeed, if a novel disease other than influenza emerges with pandemic potential. There is insufficient understanding across Europe of the role and importance of law in pandemic planning. States need to build capacity in public health law to support disease prevention and control policies. Our resea…
Critical interactions between Global Fund-supported programmes and health systems
As part of a series of case studies on the interactions between programmes supported by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and health systems, we assessed the extent of integration of national HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria programmes with the general health system, the integration of the Global Fund-portfolios within the national disease programmes, and system-wide effects on the health system in Thailand. The study reli…
Integration of health systems and priority health interventions
This case study on Vietnam aims to generate empirical evidence on the relative merits of integration of two priority health interventions, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB), into six functions of the wider health system: stewardship and governance, service delivery, demand generation, monitoring and evaluation, planning, and financing. Selective documentary reviews and 25 qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted in early 2009 in Hanoi,…
Framing risk in pandemic influenza policy and control
This article explores differing understandings of 'risk' in relation to pandemic influenza policy and control. After a preliminary overview of methodological and practical problems in risk analysis, ways in which risk was framed and managed in three historical cases were examined. The interdependence between scientific empiricism and political decision-making led to the mismanagement of the 1976 swine influenza scare in the USA. The 2004 H5N1 avi…
Development of a resource modelling tool to support decision makers in pandemic influenza preparedness
The AsiaFluCap Simulator is freely available software (http://www.cdprg.org) which can be used by policy makers, policy advisors, donors and other stakeholders involved in preparedness for providing evidence based and illustrative information on health care resource capacities during future pandemics. The tool can inform both preparedness plans and simulation exercises and can help increase the general understanding of dynamics in resource capaci…
Avian and pandemic human influenza policy in South-East Asia
The aim of this study was to analyse the contemporary policies regarding avian and human pandemic influenza control in three South-East Asia countries: Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. An analysis of poultry vaccination policy was used to explore the broader policy of influenza A H5N1 control in the region. The policy of antiviral stockpiling with oseltamivir, a scarce regional resource, was used to explore human pandemic influenza preparedness p…
Changes at Health Policy and Planning
Last year we commissioned a strategic review of Health Policy and Planning (HPP) to better position our journal in an increasingly complex publishing landscape and enhance its relevance and impact. As part of this review, we surveyed our readers, authors and editorial board. We also compared HPP against 13 competitors with respect to (1) performance indicators, (2) submission number and acceptance rate, (3) editorial structure, (4) governance str…
Distribution of selected healthcare resources for influenza pandemic response in Cambodia
There is considerable heterogeneity in healthcare resource distribution across Cambodia. Distribution mapping at the local level can inform policy decisions on where to stockpile resources in advance of and for reallocation in the event of a pandemic. These findings will be useful in determining future health resource investment, both for pandemic preparedness and for general health system strengthening, and provide a foundation for future analys…
Human influenza A H5N1 in Indonesia
Delays in the delivery of appropriate care to human cases of avian influenza H5N1 in Indonesia appear related to delays in diagnosis rather than presentation to health care settings. Either cases are not suspected of being H5N1 cases until nearly one week after presenting for medical care, or viral testing and/or antiviral treatment is not available where patients are presenting for care. Health system delays have increased since 2007
Human H5N1 influenza infections in Cambodia 2005–2011
Cases of avian influenza in Cambodia were characterised by delays in hospitalisation, deficiencies in some aspects of treatment and a high fatality rate. The costs associated with medical care, particularly diagnostic testing and pharmaceutical therapy, were major contributors to the relatively high cost-of-illness
Factors associated with uptake of influenza vaccine in people aged 50 to 64 years in Hong Kong
Factors related to free and convenient vaccination, the perception of the severity of symptoms when contracting influenza had a comparatively strong association with influenza vaccination uptake amongst 50-64 year olds, compared to other factors
Buy now, saved later? The critical impact of time-to-pandemic uncertainty on pandemic cost-effectiveness analyses
BACKGROUND: Investment in pandemic preparedness is a long-term gamble, with the return on investment coming at an unknown point in the future. Many countries have chosen to stockpile key resources, and the number of pandemic economic evaluations has risen sharply since 2009. We assess the importance of uncertainty in time-to-pandemic (and associated discounting) in pandemic economic evaluation, a factor frequently neglected in the literature to-d…
Policies and Livestock Systems Driving Brucellosis Re-emergence in Kazakhstan
Optimising routine surveillance systems for informing tuberculosis control policies in China
Are scientific research outputs aligned with national policy makers’ priorities? A case study of tuberculosis in Cambodia
With funding for tuberculosis (TB) research decreasing, and the high global disease burden persisting, there are calls for increased investment in TB research. However, justification of such investments is questionable, when translation of research outputs into policy and health care improvements remains a challenge for TB and other diseases. Using TB in Cambodia as a case study, we investigate how evidence needs of national policy makers are add…
A strong TB programme embedded in a developing primary healthcare system is a lose-lose situation
As exemplified by the situation in Cambodia, disease specific (vertical) health programmes are often favoured when the health system is fragile. The potential of such an approach to impede strengthening of primary healthcare services has been studied from a health systems perspective in terms of access and quality of care. In this bottom-up, qualitative study we investigate patient and community member experiences of health services when a strong…
Sharing public health data and information across borders
BACKGROUND: The importance of data and information sharing for the prevention and control of infectious diseases has long been recognised. In recent years, public health emergencies such as avian influenza, drug-resistant malaria, and Ebola have brought renewed attention to the need for effective communication channels between health authorities, particularly in regional contexts where neighbouring countries share common health threats. However, …
Strong, vertical TB programme embedded in a developing primary healthcare system
Health Policy and Planning, doi: 10.1093/heapol/czx079. The authors would like to indicate that the address for the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health was incorrectly given in the original manuscript as ‘0808 Rivergate, 97 Robertson Quay, Singapore 238257, Singapore’. This has now been corrected online to ‘Tahir Foundation Building, 12 Science Drive 2, #10-01, Singapore 117549, Singapore’.
Breast cancer in Thailand
Thailand has successfully implemented Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and embedded the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development into its Thailand 4.0 policy. Breast cancer is a growing challenge in Thailand, as it is globally. It serves as a perfect medium through which to interrogate UHC and demonstrate areas of the health system which require further strengthening if UHC is to be sustainable in the longer term. We conducted a situation analysis …
Cardiovascular disease knowledge, risk perception, and lifestyle behaviors among university students in North-Central Nigeria
We identify a "knowledge-risk paradox" among Nigerian university students: greater knowledge is inversely correlated with lower personal risk perception (r=-0.187, p < 0.001), an association suggesting potent optimistic bias. This disconnect indicates that conventional knowledge-based health education is likely insufficient. Public health interventions must pivot towards strategies that include personalized risk assessment to combat complacency a…
Medicine (22 works) · Public health (16 works) · Business (15 works) · Economic growth (13 works) · Environmental health (13 works) · Health care (11 works) · Nursing (11 works) · Political science (11 works) · Economics (10 works) · Pandemic (10 works)