The United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) involve society, economy, and environment, and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is an important path to implement the SDGs. Moreover, the BRI is a vision for economic development of countries along the route. Although many studies documented the effect of the BRI on environment and economic performance, few studies have discussed the effect of the BRI on social and economic benefits. Therefore, we introduce the public health expenditure to explore the relationship between the BRI and the public health and economic growth of countries along the route from the dual perspective of social development and economic growth. Based on a panel data from 171 countries from 2010 to 2018, the current research explores whether the BRI can boost public health and promote economic growth in the belt-road countries. As a result, we found that the BRI boosted the expenditure of public health and effectively spurred economic growth in the belt-road countries. Furthermore, the effect of the BRI on the economic growth in the countries along the route depends on the level of public health expenditure in each country; the positive effect of the BRI on economic growth is significant when the public health expenditure level is moderate instead of low or high. The findings provide theoretical and practical insights into the SDGs of the BRI.

Background: The potential association between hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and development of osteoporosis has drawn significant attention from clinicians and researchers in recent years due to the increasing prevalence of HBV infection. This study aims to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature to show whether HBV infection is associated with an increased risk of osteoporosis. Methods: Case-control, cohort, and cross-sectional studies that report the incidence of osteoporosis, osteoporotic fracture, osteopenia, and bone mineral density level in populations with HBV infection will be selected. Four databases from their inception to October 2019 will be searched. All data were assessed and extracted by 2 authors independently. The Newcastle-Ottawa scale and (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality checklist will be used to assess the quality of the selected studies. Stata 15.1 (Stata Corp, College Station, TX) will be used to conduct meta-analysis. Result: The results of this systemic review and meta-analysis will be submitted to a recognized journal for publication. Conclusion: This systemic review and meta-analysis will determine whether HBV infection is associated with an increased risk of osteoporosis. We hope this review can provide a reliable evidence. Registration: PROSPERO (registration number CRD42020140522).

Background: Acupoint injection has currently received increasing attention as a treatment for primary osteoporosis (POP), This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupoint injection as a clinical treatment for POP. Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of acupoint injection compared with conventional non-acupoint injection for POP were identified in searches of seven databases from their inception to March 2019. All data were assessed and extracted by two authors independently. The risk of bias assessment recommended by the Cochrane Collaboration was used to assess the quality of the selected studies. RevMan 5.3 was used to conduct meta-analysis for the efficacy and safety of acupoint injection. Results: Five trials with 337 patients (aged 45–86 years) with bone mineral density (BMD) ≤2 SD were included in our meta-analysis. The results showed that, compared with conventional intramuscular injection, acupoint injection significantly increased the BMD [mean difference (MD) =0.02; 95% CI, 0.01 to 0.03, P0.05). Individuals results showed that acupoint injection improved biochemical indicators, such as NBAP, IGF-I and reduced CTX and leptin levels. While the risk of bias was high in all five trials. Conclusions: This meta-analysis and systematic review suggests that acupoint injection improves BMD and some biochemical indicators in POP patients compared with the effects of conventional intramuscular injection. However, due to the high risk of bias in all the trials reviewed, the evidence remains inconclusive and future research will be required with improved methodological quality.