Psychological wellbeing in a resource-limited work environment: Examining levels and determinants among health workers in rural Malawi
Background: A competent, responsive, and productive health workforce is central to a well-performing health system capable of providing universal access to high-quality care. Ensuring health workers’ psychological wellbeing is critical to sustaining their availability and productivity. This is particularly true in heavily constrained health systems in low- and lower-middle-income countries. Research on the issue, however, […]
Child health inequities in developing countries: Differences across urban and rural areas
Objectives: To document and compare the magnitude of inequities in child malnutrition across urban and rural areas, and to investigate the extent to which within-urban disparities in child malnutrition are accounted for by the characteristics of communities, households and individuals. Methods: The most recent data sets available from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) of […]
Inequities in childhood anaemia at provincial borders in Mozambique: Cross-sectional study results from multilevel Bayesian analysis of 2018 National Malaria Indicator Survey
Objectives This study aims to identify the child-level, maternal-level, household-level and community-level determinants of anaemia among children aged 6-59 months, and determine the inequities of anaemia prevalence across communities in Mozambique. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Mozambique. Participants This study used data of a weighted population of 3946 children, 6-59 months, delivered by women between 15 […]
Estimating abortion incidence and unintended pregnancy among adolescents in Zimbabwe, 2016: A cross-sectional study
Objective To estimate age-specific abortion incidence and unintended pregnancy in Zimbabwe, and to examine differences among adolescents by marital status and residence. Design We used a variant of the Abortion Incidence Complications Methodology, an indirect estimation approach, to estimate age-specific abortion incidence. We used three surveys: the Health Facility Survey, a census of 227 facilities […]
Costs and economies of scale in the accelerated program for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Zimbabwe
Background Despite a growing body of literature on HIV service costs in sub-Saharan Africa, only a few studies have estimated the facility-level cost of prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) services, and even fewer provide insights into the variation of PMTCT costs across facilities. In this study, we present the first empirical costs estimation of the […]
‘We always find things to learn from.’ Lessons from the implementation of the global maternal sepsis study on research capacity: a qualitative study
BACKGROUND: Research capacity strengthening could be an indirect outcome of implementing a research project. The objective of this study was to explore the ability of the global maternal sepsis study (GLOSS), implemented in 52 countries, to develop and strengthen sexual and reproductive health research capacity of local participants in low- and middle- income participating countries. […]
Influences on willingness to use vaginal or oral HIV PrEP during pregnancy and breastfeeding in Africa: the multisite MAMMA study
Introduction: Women in sub-Saharan Africa spend a substantial portion of their reproductive lives pregnant and/or breastfeeding (P/BF), yet they have limited options to prevent HIV during these maternal stages. In preparation for phase 3b prevention trials in P/BF women, we explored attitudes about using a vaginal ring or oral pills for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), perceptions […]
The multi-country promote HIV antiretroviral treatment observational cohort in sub-Saharan Africa: Objectives, design, and baseline findings
Background The PROMOTE study aims to measure long-term antiretroviral treatment (ART) safety and adherence; compare HIV disease progression; assess subsequent adverse pregnancy outcomes; evaluate effect of ART exposure on growth and development in HIV-exposed uninfected children; and assess long-term survival of mothers and children. This report primarily describes cohort characteristics at baseline to better understand […]
Abortion in Zimbabwe: A national study of the incidence of induced abortion, unintended pregnancy and post-abortion care in 2016
Background: Zimbabwe has the highest contraceptive prevalence rate in sub-Saharan Africa, but also one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world. Little is known, however, about the incidence of abortion and post-abortion care (PAC) in Zimbabwe. Access to legal abortion is rare, and limited to circumstances of rape, incest, fetal impairment, or to […]
Drivers of under-five stunting trend in 14 low-and middle-income countries since the turn of the millennium: A multilevel pooled analysis of 50 demographic and health surveys
Background: Understanding the drivers contributing to the decreasing trend in stunting is paramount to meeting the World Health Assembly’s global target of 40% stunting reduction by 2025. Methods: We pooled data from 50 Demographic and Health Surveys since 2000 in 14 countries to examine the relationships between the stunting trend and potential factors at distal, […]
