Prevalence and determinants of intimate partner violence against mothers of children under-five years in Central Malawi
Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is a global human rights violation and a public health problem. The phenomenon is linked to adverse health effects for women and children. Mothers of young children in Malawi can be particularly at risk because of gender-based power imbalances. The objectives of this study were to examine the […]
Severe stunting and its associated factors among children aged 6–59 months in Ethiopia; multilevel ordinal logistic regression model
Background: In Ethiopia, stunting is the most common form of undernutriton. Identifying the determinants of severe stunting among children is crucial for public health interventions to improve child health. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the determinants of severe stunting among under-five children in Ethiopia. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study design was employed. A two […]
Pills and prayers: a comparative qualitative study of community conceptualisations of pre-eclampsia and pluralistic care in Ethiopia, Haiti and Zimbabwe
Background: Pre-eclampsia is a leading cause of preventable maternal and perinatal deaths globally. While health inequities remain stark, removing financial or structural barriers to care does not necessarily improve uptake of life-saving treatment. Building on existing literature elaborating the sociocultural contexts that shape behaviours around pregnancy and childbirth can identify nuanced influences relating to pre-eclampsia […]
Prenatal supplementation with multiple micronutrient supplements or medium-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements has limited effects on child growth up to 24 months in rural Niger: A secondary analysis of a cluster randomized trial
Background: Prenatal multiple micronutrient supplementation (MMS) and lipid-based nutrient supplementation (LNS) can improve birth outcomes relative to iron-folic acid supplementation (IFA); however, effects on child postnatal growth remain unclear. Objectives: The aim was to compare the effect of prenatal MMS, medium-quantity LNS (MQ-LNS), and IFA on child growth up to 2 y of age. Methods: […]
Does anthropometric status at 6 months predict the over-dispersion of malaria infections in children aged 6-18 months? A prospective cohort study
Background: In malaria-endemic settings, a small proportion of children suffer repeated malaria infections, contributing to most of the malaria cases, yet underlying factors are not fully understood. This study was aimed to determine whether undernutrition predicts this over-dispersion of malaria infections in children aged 6-18 months in settings of high malaria and undernutrition prevalence. Methods: […]
Multiple micronutrient supplementation in Tanzanian infants born to HIV-infected mothers: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial
Background: Multiple micronutrients (vitamin B complex and vitamins C and E) were effective at reducing infectious disease morbidity, HIV disease progression, and poor pregnancy outcomes in HIV-infected women. Objective: The objective was to evaluate whether direct supplementation of these micronutrients to HIV-exposed infants reduces mortality and morbidity. Design: Infants born to HIV-infected women from Dar […]
Measuring health system resilience in a highly fragile nation during protracted conflict: South Sudan 2011-15
Health systems resilience (HSR) is defined as the ability of a health system to continue providing normal services in response to a crisis, making it a critical concept for analysis of health systems in fragile and conflict-affected settings (FCAS). However, no consensus for this definition exists and even less about how to measure HSR. We […]
Monitoring childbirth care in primary health facilities: A validity study in Gombe State, northeastern Nigeria
Background Improving the quality of facility-based births is a critical strategy for reducing the high burden of maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity across all settings. Accurate data on childbirth care is essential for monitoring progress. In northeastern Nigeria, we assessed the validity of childbirth care indicators in a rural primary health care context, as […]
Effects of a community health worker delivered intervention on maternal depressive symptoms in rural Tanzania
Maternal depression affects one in four women in sub-Saharan Africa, yet evidence on effective and scalable interventions is limited. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of a community health worker (CHW) delivered home visit responsive stimulation, health and nutrition intervention, and conditional cash transfers (CCTs) for antenatal care and child growth monitoring attendance on […]
Impact of results-based financing on effective obstetric care coverage: Evidence from a quasi-experimental study in Malawi
Background: Results-based financing (RBF) describes health system approaches addressing both service quality and use. Effective coverage is a metric measuring progress towards universal health coverage (UHC). Although considered a means towards achieving UHC in settings with weak health financing modalities, the impact of RBF on effective coverage has not been explicitly studied. Methods: Malawi introduced […]
