Urban-rural difference in satisfaction with primary healthcare services in Ghana
Background: Understanding regional variation in patient satisfaction about healthcare systems (PHCs) on the quality of services provided is instrumental to improving quality and developing a patient-centered healthcare system by making it more responsive especially to the cultural aspects of health demands of a population. Reaching to the innovative National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in Ghana, […]
The value of confirmatory testing in early infant HIV diagnosis programmes in South Africa: A cost-effectiveness analysis
Background: The specificity of nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) used for early infant diagnosis (EID) of HIV infection is
Community perceptions of malaria and vaccines in the South Coast and Busia regions of Kenya
Background: Malaria is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children younger than 5 years in Kenya. Within the context of planning for a vaccine to be used alongside existing malaria control methods, this study explores sociocultural and health communications issues among individuals who are responsible for or influence decisions on childhood vaccination at […]
Predictors of Women’s Satisfaction with Hospital-Based Intrapartum Care in Asmara Public Hospitals, Eritrea
Background. Exploring patient satisfaction contributes to provide quality maternity care, but there is paucity of epidemiologic data in Eritrea. Objectives. To determine the predictors of women’s satisfaction with intrapartum care in Asmara public maternity hospitals in Eritrea. Methods. A cross-sectional study among 771 mothers who gave birth in three public Hospitals. Chi-square tests were done […]
Association between water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and child undernutrition in Ethiopia: a hierarchical approach
Background: Undernutrition is a significant public health challenge and one of the leading causes of child mortality in a wide range of developing countries, including Ethiopia. Poor access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities commonly contributes to child growth failure. There is a paucity of information on the interrelationship between WASH and child undernutrition […]
Medicinal plants used among pregnant women in a tertiary teaching hospital in Jimma, Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study
Objective The aim of this study was to investigate and describe the use of medicinal plants during pregnancy among women admitted in the Maternity and Gynaecology wards at Jimma University Medical Centre (JUMC) in the southwest Ethiopia. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Maternity and Gynaecology wards at JUMC. Participants 1117 hospitalised pregnant women or postpartum women. […]
Dynamics of the infant gut microbiota in the first 18 months of life: the impact of maternal HIV infection and breastfeeding
Background: Access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) during pregnancy and breastfeeding for mothers with HIV has resulted in fewer children acquiring HIV peri- and postnatally, resulting in an increase in the number of children who are exposed to the virus but are not infected (HEU). HEU infants have an increased likelihood of childhood infections and adverse […]
Measuring progress from 1990 to 2017 and projecting attainment to 2030 of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals for 195 countries and territories: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017
Background: Efforts to establish the 2015 baseline and monitor early implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) highlight both great potential for and threats to improving health by 2030. To fully deliver on the SDG aim of “leaving no one behind”, it is increasingly important to examine the health-related SDGs beyond national-level estimates. As […]
Effect of single-dose anthelmintic treatment during pregnancy on an infant’s response to immunisation and on susceptibility to infectious diseases in infancy: A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
Helminth infections affect the human immune response. We investigated whether prenatal exposure to and treatment of maternal helminth infections affects development of an infant’s immune response to immunisations and unrelated infections. In this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, we enrolled 2507 women in the second or third trimester of pregnancy who were planning to deliver in […]
There are many fevers: Communities’ perception and management of Febrile illness and its relationship with human animal interactions in South-Western Uganda
Diagnosing the causative agent of febrile illness in resource-limited countries is a challenge in part due to lack of adequate diagnostic infrastructure to confirm cause of infection. Most febrile illnesses (>60%) are non-malarial, with a significant proportion being zoonotic and likely from animal origins. To better characterize the pathways for zoonotic disease transmission and control […]
