Impacts of flood disasters in Nigeria: A critical evaluation of health implications and management
Floods lead to tremendous losses of property, infrastructure, business and increased risk of diseases. Floods are also the most frequent natural disasters, affecting over 2.8 billion people in the world and causing over 200 000 deaths over the past three decades. The World Health Organization categorised the 2012 flood disaster in Nigeria as the worst […]
Factors influencing job preferences of health workers providing obstetric care: Results from discrete choice experiments in Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania
Background: Task shifting from established health professionals to mid-level providers (MLPs) (professionals who undergo shorter training in specific procedures) is one key strategy for reducing maternal and neonatal deaths. This has resulted in a growth in cadre types providing obstetric care in low and middle-income countries. Little is known about the relative importance of the […]
Determining the agreement between an automated respiratory rate counter and a reference standard for detecting symptoms of pneumonia in children: Protocol for a cross-sectional study in Ethiopia
Background: Acute respiratory infections (ARIs), primarily pneumonia, are the leading infectious cause of under-5 mortality worldwide. Manually counting respiratory rate (RR) for 60 seconds using an ARI timer is commonly practiced by community health workers to detect fast breathing, an important sign of pneumonia. However, correctly counting breaths manually and classifying the RR is challenging, […]
A quasi-experimental assessment of the effectiveness of the Community Health Strategy on health outcomes in Kenya
Background: Despite focused health policies and reform agenda, Kenya has challenges in improving households’ situation in poverty and ill health; interventions to address the Millennium Development Goals in maternal and child health, such as focused antenatal care and immunization of children, are yet to achieve success. Research has shown that addressing the demand side is […]
Adaptation of a gender-transformative sexual and reproductive health intervention for adolescent boys in South Africa and Lesotho using intervention mapping
Background: Rates of adolescent HIV and unintended pregnancy in southern Africa are amongst the highest in the world. Gender-transformative interventions that address underlying gender inequalities and engage both males and females have been emphasised by the World Health Organisation, amongst others, to target prevention. However, few such gender-transformative interventions have been rigorously developed or evaluated. […]
Standard Minimum Dietary Diversity Indicators for Women or Infants and Young Children Are Good Predictors of Adequate Micronutrient Intakes in 24-59-Month-Old Children and Their Nonpregnant Nonbreastfeeding Mothers in Rural Burkina Faso
Background: Simple proxy indicators are needed to assess and monitor micronutrient intake adequacy of vulnerable populations. Standard dichotomous indicators exist for nonpregnant women of reproductive age and 6-23-mo-old children in low-income countries, but not for 24-59-mo-old children or pregnant or breastfeeding women. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the performance of 2 standard food group […]
Study protocol for a pilot prospective, observational study investigating the condition suggestion and urgency advice accuracy of a symptom assessment app in sub-Saharan Africa: the AFYA- € Health’ Study
Introduction Due to a global shortage of healthcare workers, there is a lack of basic healthcare for 4 billion people worldwide, particularly affecting low-income and middle-income countries. The utilisation of AI-based healthcare tools such as symptom assessment applications (SAAs) has the potential to reduce the burden on healthcare systems. The purpose of the AFYA Study […]
Seroepidemiology of Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever among cattle in Cameroon: Implications from a One Health perspective
Background Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) is a tick-borne viral zoonotic disease distributed across several continents and recognized as an ongoing health threat. In humans, the infection can progress to a severe disease with high fatality, raising public health concerns due to the limited prophylactic and therapeutic options available. Animal species, clinically unaffected by the virus, […]
Integrated Child and Family Hub models for detecting and responding to family adversity: protocol for a mixed-methods evaluation in two sites
Introduction Integrated community healthcare Hubs may offer a € one stop shop’ for service users with complex health and social needs, and more efficiently use service resources. Various policy imperatives exist to implement Hub models of care, however, there is a dearth of research specifically evaluating Hubs targeted at families experiencing adversity. To contribute to […]
Impact of the Umoyo mother-infant pair model on HIV-positive mothers’ social support, perceived stigma and 12-month retention of their HIV-exposed infants in PMTCT care: Evidence from a cluster randomized controlled trial in Zambia
Background: Public health systems in resource-constrained settings have a critical role to play in the elimination of HIV transmission but are often financially constrained. This study is an evaluation of a mother-infant-pair model called “Umoyo,” which was designed to be low cost and scalable in a public health system. Facilities with the Umoyo model dedicate […]
