Animal source food consumption in young children from four regions of ethiopia: Association with religion, livelihood, and participation in the productive safety net program
Introduction: Child undernutrition remains a challenge globally and in the geographically diverse country of Ethiopia. Improving dietary diversity and consumption of animal source foods are important for improving child nutrition and corresponding health outcomes. Objective: The objective of the study was to identify household and community factors associated with consumption of animal source foods among […]
Implementing performance-based financing in peripheral health centres in Mali: What can we learn from it?
Introduction: Numerous sub-Saharan African countries have experimented with performance-based financing (PBF) with the goal of improving health system performance. To date, few articles have examined the implementation of this type of complex intervention in Francophone West Africa. This qualitative research aims to understand the process of implementing a PBF pilot project in Mali’s Koulikoro region. […]
Spending on health and HIV/AIDS: domestic health spending and development assistance in 188 countries, 1995–2015
Background: Comparable estimates of health spending are crucial for the assessment of health systems and to optimally deploy health resources. The methods used to track health spending continue to evolve, but little is known about the distribution of spending across diseases. We developed improved estimates of health spending by source, including development assistance for health, […]
Promoting hygienic weaning food handling practices through a community-based programme: Intervention implementation and baseline characteristics for a cluster randomised controlled trial in rural Gambia
Objective Contamination of weaning food leads to diarrhoea in children under 5 years. Public health interventions to improve practices in low-income and middle-income countries are rare and often not evaluated using a randomised method. We describe an intervention implementation and provide baseline data for such a trial. Design Clustered randomised controlled trial. Setting Rural Gambia. […]
Assessing the impact of group antenatal care on gestational length in Rwanda: A cluster-randomized trial
Background Research on group antenatal care in low- and middle-income contexts suggests high acceptability and preliminary implementation success. Methods We studied the effect of group antenatal care on gestational age at birth among women in Rwanda, hypothesizing that participation would increase mean gestational length. For this unblinded cluster randomized trial, 36 health centers were pair-matched […]
Evaluating global health partnerships: A case study of a gavi HPV vaccine application process in Uganda
Background: Global health partnerships have grown rapidly in number and scope, yet there has been less emphasis on their evaluation. Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, is one such public-private partnership; in Gavi-eligible countries partnerships are dynamic networks of immunization actors who work together to support all stages and aspects of Gavi support. This paper describes a […]
Hibiscus sabdariffa meal improves iron status of childbearing age women and prevents stunting in their toddlers in Northern Ghana
Globally, iron deficiency (ID) is the most common form of nutritional deficiency, particularly in young children and childbearing age women. ID can lead to stunting and impaired cognitive development in children, as well as adverse maternal health and birth outcomes. In this study, the efficacy of an alternative food-to-food fortification utilizing indigenous iron-rich food sources […]
Samaki Salama – Promoting healthy child growth and sustainable fisheries in coastal Kenya: A study protocol
Background: One in five young children globally suffer the consequences of stunted growth and development and millions experience deficiencies in zinc, iron, iodine, vitamins A and B12, nutrients found bioavailable in fish foods. Small-scale fisheries have the potential to generate income and augment fish consumption while being environmentally sustainable if appropriately managed. However, those engaged […]
Evaluation of an unconditional cash transfer program targeting children’s first-1,000–days linear growth in rural Togo: A cluster-randomized controlled trial
Background In 2014, the government of Togo implemented a pilot unconditional cash transfer (UCT) program in rural villages that aimed at improving children’s nutrition, health, and protection. It combined monthly UCTs (approximately US$8.40 /month) with a package of community activities (including behavior change communication [BCC] sessions, home visits, and integrated community case management of childhood […]
Using experience to create evidence: a mixed methods process evaluation of the new free family planning policy in Burkina Faso
Background: In 2019, Burkina Faso was one of the first countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to introduce a free family planning (FP) policy. This process evaluation aims to identify obstacles and facilitators to its implementation, examine its coverage in the targeted population after six months, and investigate its influence on the perceived quality of FP services. […]
