Inpatient care of small and sick newborns: A multi-country analysis of health system bottlenecks and potential solutions
Background: Preterm birth is the leading cause of child death worldwide. Small and sick newborns require timely, high-quality inpatient care to survive. This includes provision of warmth, feeding support, safe oxygen therapy and effective phototherapy with prevention and treatment of infections. Inpatient care for newborns requires dedicated ward space, staffed by health workers with specialist […]
Determinants to late antenatal clinic start among pregnant women: The case of Saint Elizabeth general hospital, Shisong, Cameroon
Introduction: to improve maternal health, barriers that limit access to quality maternal health services must be identified and addressed at all levels of the health system. The World Health Organisation (WHO) cites distance to health facility and inadequate health institutions as factors that prevent women from receiving or seeking care during pregnancy and childbirth. Specifically, […]
Prevalence of low birth weight and its associated factor at birth in Sub-Saharan Africa: A generalized linear mixed model
Background Low birth weight (LBW) is one of the major determinants of perinatal survival, infant morbidity, and mortality, as well as the risk of developmental disabilities and illnesses in future lives. Though studies were conducted to assess the magnitude and associated factors of low birth weight, most of the studies were at a single center […]
Commodification of care and its effects on maternal health in the Noun division (West Region – Cameroon)
Background: Since the mid-1980s, there has been a gradual ethical drift in the provision of maternal care in African health facilities in general, and in Cameroon in particular, despite government efforts. In fact, in Cameroon, an increasing number of caregivers are reportedly not providing compassionate care in maternity services. Consequently, many women, particularly the financially […]
HBV immunization and vaccine coverage among hospitalized children in Cameroon, Central African Republic and Senegal: A cross-sectional study
Background: Hepatitis B is a major health concern in Africa. The vaccine against hepatitis B virus (HBV) was introduced into the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) of Cameroon and Senegal in 2005, and of CAR (Central African Republic) in 2008. A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess HBV immunization coverage following the vaccine’s introduction into […]
Assessing implementation modalities of mhealth intervention on pregnant women in Dschang health district, West region of Cameroon
Introduction: every 90 seconds, a woman dies of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth, resulting in more than 340,000 maternal deaths a year. Antenatal care (ANC) and postnatal care (PNC) are significant determinants of maternal health and, particularly, safe motherhood. Antenatal care is an important predictor of safe delivery and provides health information and services […]
Decomposing the educational inequalities in the factors associated with severe acute malnutrition among under-five children in low- And middle-income countries
Background: Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC) have remained plagued with the burden of severe acute malnutrition (SAM). The decomposition of the educational inequalities in SAM across individual, household and neighbourhood characteristics in LMIC has not been explored. This study aims to decompose educational-related inequalities in the development of SAM among under-five children in LMIC and […]
Impact evaluation of the free maternal healthcare policy on the risk of neonatal and infant deaths in four sub-Saharan African countries: A quasi-experimental design with propensity score Kernel matching and difference in differences analysis
Objective Despite the huge financial investment in the free maternal healthcare policy (FMHCP) by the Governments of Ghana and Burkina Faso, no study has quantified the impact of FMHCP on the relative reduction in neonatal and infant mortality rates using a more rigorous matching procedure with the difference in differences (DID) analysis. This study used […]
Using photovoice methods as a community-based participatory research tool to advance uptake of clean cooking and improve health: The LPG adoption in Cameroon evaluation studies
Each year up to 2.6 million people die prematurely from household air pollution (HAP) due to cooking with polluting fuels such as wood and charcoal, particularly in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). The World Health Organisation recommends scaling the adoption of clean fuels to improve maternal and child health. Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) represents a […]
Do ownership of mosquito nets, dwelling characteristics and mothers’ socio-economic status influence malaria morbidity among children under the age of 5 in Cameroon?
Objectives: This study analyzed the effect of the number of mosquito nets that are owned by households, dwelling characteristics and maternal demographic characteristics on malaria infections. Material and Methods: The 2011 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data for children under 5 years of age were used. The children were subjected to haemoglobin test and rapid […]
