Program Impact Pathway Analysis Reveals Implementation Challenges that Limited the Incentive Value of Conditional Cash Transfers Aimed at Improving Maternal and Child Health Care Use in Mali
Background: The program “Santé Nutritionnelle à Assise Communautaire à Kayes” (SNACK) in Mali aimed to improve child linear growth through a set of interventions targeted to mothers and children during pregnancy and up to the child’s second birthday. Distributions of cash to mothers and/or lipid-based nutrient supplement to children 6-23 mo of age were added […]
Using a mHealth tutorial application to change knowledge and attitude of frontline health workers to Ebola virus disease in Nigeria: A before-and-after study
Background: The Ebola epidemic exposed the weak state of health systems in West Africa and their devastating effect on frontline health workers and the health of populations. Fortunately, recent reviews of mobile technology demonstrate that mHealth innovations can help alleviate some health system constraints such as balancing multiple priorities, lack of appropriate tools to provide […]
School attendance and sexual and reproductive health outcomes among adolescent girls in Kenya: a cross-sectional analysis
Background: Given the high burden of adverse sexual and reproductive health outcomes (SRH) and low levels of school attendance among adolescent girls in Kenya, this study sought to elucidate the association between school attendance and SRH outcomes among adolescent girls in Homa Bay and Narok counties. Methods: This study uses baseline quantitative data from the […]
Minimum acceptable diet and associated factors among children aged 6–23 months in Ethiopia
Introduction: The health and growth of children less than two years of age can be affected by the poor quality of complementary foods and poor feeding practices even with optimal breastfeeding. In Ethiopia, empirical evidence on the minimum acceptable diet and its associated factors is limited. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess the level […]
Influence of travel time and distance to the hospital of care on stillbirths: A retrospective facility-based cross-sectional study in Lagos, Nigeria
Introduction Access to emergency obstetric care can lead to a 45%-75% reduction in stillbirths. However, before a pregnant woman can access this care, she needs to travel to a health facility. Our objective in this study was to assess the influence of distance and travel time to the actual hospital of care on stillbirth. Methods […]
Acceptability and perceived facilitators and barriers to the usability of biometric registration among infants and children in Manhiça district, Mozambique: A qualitative study
In low-and middle-income countries, many infants and children remain unregistered in both civil registration and healthcare records, limiting their access to essential rights-based services, including healthcare. A novel biometric registration prototype, applying a non-touch platform using smart phones and tablets to capture physical characteristics of infants and children for electronic registration, was tested in rural […]
Advancing the population needs-based health workforce planning methodology: A simulation tool for country application
Although the conceptual underpinnings of needs-based health workforce planning have developed over the last two decades, lingering gaps in empirical models and lack of open access tools have partly constrained its uptake in health workforce planning processes in countries. This paper presents an advanced empirical framework for the need-based approach to health workforce planning with […]
Defining High-risk Emergency Chief Complaints: Data-driven Triage for Low- and Middle-income Countries
Objectives: Emergency medicine in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is hindered by lack of research into patient outcomes. Chief complaints (CCs) are fundamental to emergency care but have only recently been uniquely codified for an LMIC setting in Uganda. It is not known whether CCs independently predict emergency unit patient outcomes. Methods: Patient data collected […]
The Etiology of Pneumonia in Zambian Children: Findings From the Pneumonia Etiology Research for Child Health (PERCH) Study
BACKGROUND: Childhood pneumonia in developing countries is the foremost cause of morbidity and death. Fresh information on etiology is needed, considering the changing epidemiology of pneumonia in the setting of greater availability of effective vaccines, changing antibiotic use and improved access to care. We report here the Zambia site results of the Pneumonia Etiology Research […]
Prevalence and associated factors of Tunga penetrans infestation among 5-14-year-olds in rural Ethiopia
Background Tunga penetrans, also known as sand flea, causes Tungiasis in humans and animals. Despite its notoriety as an entomological problem, however, the ectoparasite receives little consideration from public health professionals. It is against this background that this article aims to assess the prevalence of and factors associated with Tunga penetrans infestation among 5-14-year-olds in […]