Implementation and outcomes of a comprehensive emergency care curriculum at a low-resource referral hospital in Liberia: A novel approach to application of the WHO Basic Emergency Care toolkit
Background Emergency care is vital in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) but many frontline healthcare workers in low-resource settings have no formal training in emergency care. To address this gap, the World Health Organization (WHO) developed Basic Emergency Care (BEC): Approach to the acutely ill and injured, a multi-day, open-source course for healthcare workers in […]
Behavior change after 20 months of a radio campaign addressing key lifesaving family behaviors for child survival: Midline results from a cluster randomized trial in rural Burkina Faso
Background: In Burkina Faso, a comprehensive 35-month radio campaign addressed key, multiple family behaviors for improving under-5 child survival and was evaluated using a repeated cross-sectional, cluster randomized design. The primary outcome of the trial was postneonatal under-5 child mortality. This paper reports on behavior change achieved at midline. Method: Fourteen community radio stations in […]
Characteristics, treatment outcomes and experiences of COVID-19 patients under home-based care in Kapelebyong district in Uganda: a mixed-methods study
Background: A rapid increase in community transmission of COVID-19 across the country overwhelmed Uganda’s health care system. In response, the Ministry of Health adopted the home-based care strategy for COVID-19 patients with mild-to-moderate disease. We determined the characteristics, treatment outcomes and experiences of COVID-19 patients under home-based care during the second wave in Kapelebyong district, […]
Prevalence and factors associated with the awareness of obstetric fistula among women of reproductive age in The Gambia: a multilevel fixed effects analysis
Background: An obstetric fistula is an inappropriate connection between the vagina, rectum, or bladder that results in faecal or urine incontinence. Young women from rural areas with poor socioeconomic situations and education are the majority of victims, which restricts their access to high-quality healthcare. Obstetric fistulas can have devastating effects on the physical health of […]
Independent and joint contribution of inappropriate complementary feeding and poor water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) practices to stunted child growth
The causes of undernutrition are often linked to inappropriate complementary feeding practices and poor households’ access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), but limited evidence exists on the combined effect of poor WASH and inappropriate complementary feeding practices on stunted child growth. We assessed the independent and joint contribution of inappropriate complementary feeding and poor […]
Determinants of stunting and severe stunting among Burundian children aged 6-23 months: Evidence from a national cross-sectional household survey, 2014
Background: Burundi is one of the poorest countries and is among the four countries with the highest prevalence of stunting (58%) among children aged less than 5 years. This situation undermines the economic growth of the country as undernutrition is strongly associated with less schooling and reduced economic productivity. Identifying the determinants of stunting and […]
Predictors of poor nutritional status among children aged 6-24 months in agricultural regions of Mali: A cross-sectional study
Background: The right nutrition during the first 2 years of life can positively impact a child’s ability to develop, grow, and learn. Malnutrition remains a public health problem in Mali and little is known about the factors affecting the nutritional status of children. This study aims to assess the magnitude and the predictors of undernutrition […]
Community perceptions of community health workers (CHWS) and their roles in management for HIV, tuberculosis and hypertension in Western Kenya
Given shortages of health care providers and a rise in the number of people living with both communicable and non-communicable diseases, Community Health Workers (CHWs) are increasingly incorporated into health care programs. We sought to explore community perceptions of CHWs including perceptions of their roles in chronic disease management as part of the Academic Model […]
‘They care rudely!’: Resourcing and relational health system factors that influence retention in care for people living with HIV in Zambia
Introduction Despite access to free antiretroviral therapy (ART), many HIV-positive Zambians disengage from HIV care. We sought to understand how Zambian health system ‘hardware’ (tangible components) and ‘software’ (work practices and behaviour) influenced decisions to disengage from care among ‘lost-to-follow-up’ patients traced by a larger study on their current health status. Methods We purposively selected […]
Participation in the “nutrition at the Centre” project through women’s group improved exclusive breastfeeding practices, as measured by the deuterium oxide dose-to-mother technique
Background: Evidence of interventions that are effective in improving exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) practices is needed to help countries revise their strategies. To assess whether mothers who had participated in the Nutrition at the Centre (N@C) project effectively demonstrated better EBF practices than did those who did not participate, we documented the processes of this nutritional […]
