Community-level effect of the reproductive health vouchers program on out-of-pocket spending on family planning and safe motherhood services in Kenya
Background: Although vouchers can protect individuals in low-income countries from financial catastrophe and impoverishment arising from out-of-pocket expenditures on healthcare, their effectiveness in achieving this goal depends on whether both service and transport costs are subsidized as well as other factors such as service availability in a given locality and community perceptions about the quality […]
Maternal Exposure to Acephate Caused Nephrotoxicity in Adult Offspring Rats Mediated by Excessive Autophagy Activation, Oxidative Stress Induction, and Altered Epithelial Sodium Channel and Na+/K+-ATPase Gene Expression
This study examined how maternal exposure to acephate—an organophosphate-based insecticide—affected the renal development in rat offspring during adulthood. Virgin female Wistar rats were randomly allocated to three groups: group 1 (control) received sterile water; groups 2 and 3 were intragastrically exposed to low (14 mg/kg) and high (28 mg/kg) doses of acephate from day 6 […]
Detection of foci of residual malaria transmission through reactive case detection in Ethiopia
Background: Sub-microscopic and asymptomatic infections could be bottlenecks to malaria elimination efforts in Ethiopia. This study determined the prevalence of malaria, and individual and household-level factors associated with Plasmodium infections obtained following detection of index cases in health facilities in Jimma Zone. Methods: Index malaria cases were passively detected and tracked in health facilities from […]
Socioeconomic, urban‐rural and sex‐based inequality in infant mortality rate: evidence from 2013 Yemen demographic and health survey
Background: The occurrence of Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) varied globally with most of the cases coming from developing countries including Yemen. The disparity in IMR in Yemen however, has not been well dealt and therefore we examined the IMR inequality based on the most reliable methodology in order to generate evidence-based information for some program […]
Association of socioeconomic and behavioral factors with adult mortality: Analysis of data from verbal autopsy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Background: Changes in socioeconomic status, lifestyle and behavioral factors among the urban population in Ethiopia is resulting in a shift in the causes of mortality.We used verbal autopsy data from 2006 to 2009 to measure the association of socioeconomic and behavioral factors with causes of mortality in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods. A total of 49,309 […]
Why do women not use skilled birth attendance service? An explorative qualitative study in north West Ethiopia
Background: Having a birth attendant with midwifery skills during childbirth is an effective intervention to reduce maternal and early neonatal morbidity and mortality. Nevertheless, many women in Ethiopia still deliver a baby at home. The current study aimed at exploring and describing reasons why women do not use skilled delivery care in North West Ethiopia. […]
Personal and environmental factors associated with the utilisation of maternity waiting homes in rural Zambia
Background: Although the association between the presence of maternity waiting homes (MWHs) and the personal and environmental factors that affect the use of MWHs has been explained in qualitative terms, it has never been tested in quantitative terms. The aim of this study was to test the association between the presence of MWHs and personal […]
Village health workers as health diplomats: negotiating health and study participation in a malaria elimination trial in The Gambia
Background: Although many success stories exist of Village Health Workers (VHWs) improving primary health care, critiques remain about the medicalisation of their roles in disease-specific interventions. VHWs are placed at the bottom of the health system hierarchy as cheap and low-skilled volunteers, irrespective of their highly valued social and political status within communities. In this […]
Infant feeding practices at routine PMTCT sites, South Africa: Results of a prospective observational study amongst HIV exposed and unexposed infants – birth to 9 months
Background: We sought to investigate infant feeding practices amongst HIV-positive and -negative mothers (0-9 months postpartum) and describe the association between infant feeding practices and HIV-free survival.Methods: Infant feeding data from a prospective observational cohort study conducted at three (of 18) purposively-selected routine South African PMTCT sites, 2002-2003, were analysed. Infant feeding data (previous 4 […]
Child dietary diversity and food (in)security as a potential correlate of child anthropometric indices in the context of urban food system in the cases of north-central Ethiopia
Objective: To investigate the relation of child dietary diversity and household food insecurity along with other socio-demographic with child anthropometric indices in north-central Ethiopia, an area with a high level of food insecurity and inadequate diet quality. Design: A community-based cross-sectional study was used. Settings: The study was conducted in Dessie and Combolcha towns of […]
