Strengthening primary health care at district-level in Malawi – Determining the coverage, costs and benefits of community-directed interventions
Background: Community-Directed Interventions (CDI) is a participatory approach for delivery of essential healthcare services at community level. It is based on the values and principles of Primary Health Care (PHC). The CDI approach has been used to improve the delivery of services in areas that have previously applied Community-Directed Treatment with ivermectin (CDTi). Limited knowledge […]
Pregnant women and health workers’ perspectives on perinatal mental health and intimate partner violence in rural Ethiopia: a qualitative interview study
Background: Mental health conditions are common during the perinatal period and associated with maternal, foetal, and neonatal morbidity and mortality. There is an established bidirectional relationship between mental health conditions and intimate partner violence (IPV), including during and after pregnancy. Mean lifetime prevalence of physical, sexual or emotional IPV exposure among women in rural Ethiopia […]
Decline in CD4 T lymphocytes with monotherapy bridging strategy for non-adherent adolescents living with HIV infection: Results of the IMPAACT P1094 randomized trial
Introduction: Management of persistently non-adherent youth living with HIV (YLHIV) with virologic failure (VF) on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) remains challenging. One strategy has been using 3TC/FTC monotherapy (3TC/FTC), which in the presence of the M184V resistance mutation, does not suppress viral replication nor select for additional drug resistance mutations, and reduces viral fitness with […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
The characteristics of compassionate care during childbirth according to midwives: A qualitative descriptive inquiry
Background: Although compassion is considered to be of prime importance in nursing and midwifery, there is no clear understanding of what compassionate care in childbirth entails, and how midwives perceive compassionate care is largely unknown. This study accordingly seeks to describe the characteristics, of compassionate care during childbirth as perceived by midwives. Methods: A qualitative […]
I haven’t heard much about other methods’: Quality of care and person-centredness in a programme to promote the postpartum intrauterine device in Tanzania
Background Programmes promoting the postpartum intrauterine device (PPIUD) have proliferated throughout South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa in recent years, with proponents touting this long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) method’s high efficacy and potential to meet contraceptive unmet need. While critiques of LARC-first programming abound in the Global North, there have been few studies of the impact […]
The use of formative research to inform the design of a seasonal malaria chemoprevention intervention in northern Nigeria
Background: Experience of seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) is growing in the Sahel sub-region of Africa, though there remains insufficient evidence to recommend a standard deployment strategy. In 2012, a project was initiated in Katsina state, northern Nigeria, to design an appropriate and effective community-based delivery approach for SMC, in consultation with local stakeholders. Formative research […]
Impact of the Momentum pilot project on male involvement in maternal health and newborn care in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo: a quasi-experimental study
Background: The World Health Organization recommends that programs that seek to improve maternal and newborn health outcomes actively involve men during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum. However, there is little evidence on what strategies work to increase male knowledge of and involvement in antenatal and postnatal care. This study assessed the impact of the Momentum project […]
