Modelling the supply and need for health professionals for primary health care in Ghana: Implications for health professions education and employment planning
Background The health workforce (HWF) is critical in developing responsive health systems to address population health needs and respond to health emergencies, but defective planning have arguably resulted in underinvestment in health professions education and decent employment. Primary Health Care (PHC) has been the anchor of Ghana’s health system. As Ghana’s population increases and the […]
Attitudes and perceptions about breastfeeding among female and male informal workers in India and South Africa
Background: Worldwide, over 740 million women make their living in the informal economy and therefore lack formal employment benefits, such as maternity leave, that can improve infant feeding practices. Returning to work is one of the biggest challenges women face to maintaining breastfeeding. This study aimed to explore attitudes and perceptions towards breastfeeding in the […]
Association mapping by pooled sequencing identifies TOLL 11 as a protective factor against Plasmodium falciparum in Anopheles gambiae
Background: The genome-wide association study (GWAS) techniques that have been used for genetic mapping in other organisms have not been successfully applied to mosquitoes, which have genetic characteristics of high nucleotide diversity, low linkage disequilibrium, and complex population stratification that render population-based GWAS essentially unfeasible at realistic sample size and marker density. Methods: We designed […]
Short- and long-read metagenomics of urban and rural South African gut microbiomes reveal a transitional composition and undescribed taxa
Human gut microbiome research focuses on populations living in high-income countries and to a lesser extent, non-urban agriculturalist and hunter-gatherer societies. The scarcity of research between these extremes limits our understanding of how the gut microbiota relates to health and disease in the majority of the world’s population. Here, we evaluate gut microbiome composition in […]
A behavior change communication intervention, but not livelihood interventions, improves diet diversity and animal-source food consumption among Ghanaian women
Background: Women of reproductive age (WRA), especially in sub-Saharan Africa, are vulnerable to micro-nutrient deficiencies driven largely by poor quality diets. Intervening into food value chains, on which many households in low-and middle-income countries depend for their livelihood, may be a promising approach to improving diets in these contexts. Objective: In this pilot-scale randomized trial, […]
Does pre-COVID impulsive behaviour predict adherence to hygiene and social distancing measures in youths following the COVID-19 pandemic onset? Evidence from a South African longitudinal study.
Background: Engagement in protective behaviours relating to the COVID-19 pandemic has been proposed to be key to infection control. This is particularly the case for youths as key drivers of infections. A range of factors influencing adherence have been identified, including impulsivity and risk taking. We assessed the association between pre-COVID impulsivity levels and engagement […]
A cluster randomized clinical trial of a stepped care intervention for depression in primary care (STEPCARE)- study protocol
Background: Depression constitutes a significant public health burden and is associated is with high level of individual suffering. Insufficient human and material resources impede the provision of adequate care for persons with the condition in low- and middle-income countries. It is commonly recognized that, to bridge this treatment gap, it is essential to integrate the […]
Assessing the effect of marine reserves on household food security in Kenyan coral reef fishing communities
Measuring the success or failure of natural resource management is a key challenge to evaluate the impact of conservation for ecological, economic and social outcomes. Marine reserves are a popular tool for managing coastal ecosystems and resources yet surprisingly few studies have quantified the social-economic impacts of marine reserves on food security despite the critical […]
Improving child nutrition and development through community-based childcare centres in Malawi – The NEEP-IE study: Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial
Background: The Nutrition Embedded Evaluation Programme Impact Evaluation (NEEP-IE) study is a cluster randomised controlled trial designed to evaluate the impact of a childcare centre-based integrated nutritional and agricultural intervention on the diets, nutrition and development of young children in Malawi. The intervention includes activities to improve nutritious food production and training/behaviour-change communication to improve […]
Home gardening improves dietary diversity, a cluster-randomized controlled trial among Tanzanian women
Homestead food production (HFP) programmes improve the availability of vegetables by providing training in growing nutrient-dense crops. In rural Tanzania, most foods consumed are carbohydrate-rich staples with low micronutrient concentrations. This cluster-randomized controlled trial investigated whether women growing home gardens have higher dietary diversity, household food security or probability of consuming nutrient-rich food groups than […]
