Factors influencing health facility delivery in predominantly rural communities across the three ecological zones in Ghana: A cross-sectional study

Background: Maternal and neonatal mortality indicators remain high in Ghana and other sub-Saharan African countries. Both maternal and neonatal health outcomes improve when skilled personnel provide delivery services within health facilities. Determinants of delivery location are crucial to promoting health facility deliveries, but little research has been done on this issue in Ghana. This study […]

Effect of enhanced reminders on postnatal clinic attendance in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: a cluster randomized controlled trial

Background: Failure to attend maternal health services is an intractable challenge for the health-care system in low- and middle-income countries. The use of technology for reminding patients about their appointments has been demonstrated to be an effective (future) tool toward increased health care services utilization in developing countries, such as Ethiopia. Objective: We aimed to […]

Birhan maternal and child health cohort: A study protocol

Introduction Reliable estimates on maternal and child morbidity and mortality are essential for health programmes and policies. Data are needed in populations, which have the highest burden of disease but also have the least evidence and research, to design and evaluate health interventions to prevent illnesses and deaths that occur worldwide each year. Methods and […]

Enhancing Nutrition and Antenatal Infection Treatment (ENAT) study: Protocol of a pragmatic clinical effectiveness study to improve birth outcomes in Ethiopia

Introduction The WHO Nutrition Target aims to reduce the global prevalence of low birth weight by 30% by the year 2025. The Enhancing Nutrition and Antenatal Infection Treatment (ENAT) study will test the impact of packages of pregnancy interventions to enhance maternal nutrition and infection management on birth outcomes in rural Ethiopia. Methods and analysis […]

Low utilization of insecticide-treated bed net among pregnant women in the middle belt of Ghana

Background. Malaria in pregnancy leads to low birth weight, premature birth, anaemia, and maternal and neonatalmortality. Use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) during pregnancy is one of the proven interventions to reduce themalaria burden. However, Ghana has not achieved its target for ITN use among pregnant women. Methods. A qualitative study was conducted in seven communities […]

Synthesizing qualitative and quantitative evidence on non-financial access barriers: Implications for assessment at the district level

Introduction: A key element of the global drive to universal health coverage is ensuring access to needed health services for everyone, and to pursue this goal in an equitable way. This requires concerted efforts to reduce disparities in access through understanding and acting on barriers facing communities with the lowest utilisation levels. Financial barriers dominate […]

Perceptions of health, health care and community-oriented health interventions in poor urban communities of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

In Democratic Republic of Congo access to health care is limited because of many geographical and financial barriers, while quality of care is often low. Global health donors assist the country with a number of community-oriented interventions such as free distribution of bednets, antihelminthic drugs, vitamin A supplementation and vaccination campaigns, but uptake of these […]

Task sharing of a psychological intervention for maternal depression in Khayelitsha, South Africa: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background: Maternal depression carries a major public health burden for mothers and their infants, yet there is a substantial treatment gap for this condition in low-resourced regions such as sub-Saharan Africa. To address this treatment gap, the strategy of “task sharing” has been proposed, involving the delivery of interventions by non-specialist health workers trained and […]

Independent and combined effects of improved water, sanitation, and hygiene, and improved complementary feeding, on child stunting and anaemia in rural Zimbabwe: a cluster-randomised trial

Background: Child stunting reduces survival and impairs neurodevelopment. We tested the independent and combined effects of improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), and improved infant and young child feeding (IYCF) on stunting and anaemia in in Zimbabwe. Methods: We did a cluster-randomised, community-based, 2 × 2 factorial trial in two rural districts in Zimbabwe. Clusters […]

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