Burden, risk factors, and comorbidities of behavioural and emotional problems in Kenyan children: a population-based study

Background Three-quarters of the burden of mental health problems occurs in low-and-middle-income countries, but few epidemiological studies of these problems in preschool children from sub-Saharan Africa have been published. Behavioural and emotional problems often start in early childhood, and this might be particularly important in Africa, where the incidence of perinatal and early risk factors […]

Overall, anti-malarial, and non-malarial effect of intermittent preventive treatment during pregnancy with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine on birthweight: a mediation analysis

Background: Trials of intermittent preventive treatment (IPTp) of malaria in pregnant women that compared dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine with the standard of care, sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, showed dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine was superior at preventing malaria infection, but not at improving birthweight. We aimed to assess whether sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine shows greater non-malarial benefits for birth outcomes than does dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine, and whether dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine shows greater […]

Knowledge of pre-conception health and planned pregnancy among married women in Jinka town, southern Ethiopia and factors influencing knowledge

Background Optimizing women’s health and knowledge of preconception healthcare before conceiving a pregnancy decreases the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. However, preconception health care is one of the missing pillars in the continuum of maternal and child health care in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to assess knowledge of pre-conception health, its relation to planned […]

Global, regional, and national disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) for 333 diseases and injuries and healthy life expectancy (HALE) for 195 countries and territories, 1990-2016: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016

Background: Measurement of changes in health across locations is useful to compare and contrast changing epidemiological patterns against health system performance and identify specific needs for resource allocation in research, policy development, and programme decision making. Using the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016, we drew from two widely used summary […]

Impact of community-based health insurance on health services utilisation among vulnerable households in Amhara region, Ethiopia

Background: Ethiopia piloted community-based health insurance in 2011, and as of 2019, the programme was operating in 770 districts nationwide, covering approximately 7 million households. Enrolment in participating districts reached 50%, holding promise to achieve the goal of Universal Health Coverage in the country. Despite the government’s efforts to expand community-based health insurance to all […]

Prepregnancy and early pregnancy calcium supplementation among women at high risk of pre-eclampsia: a multicentre, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial

Background: Reducing deaths from hypertensive disorders of pregnancy is a global priority. Low dietary calcium might account for the high prevalence of pre-eclampsia and eclampsia in low-income countries. Calcium supplementation in the second half of pregnancy is known to reduce the serious consequences of pre-eclampsia; however, the effect of calcium supplementation during placentation is not […]

COVID-19 vaccination acceptance among community members and health workers in Ebonyi state, Nigeria: Study protocol for a concurrent-independent mixed method analyses of intention to receive, timeliness of the intention to receive, uptake and hesitancy to COVID-19 vaccination and the determinants

Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has gravely affected the lives and economies of the global population including Nigeria. The attainment of herd immunity through mass COVID-19 vaccination is the foremost control strategy, however, the deployments of COVID-19 vaccinations are facing challenges of non-acceptance. Despite the efforts of the Nigerian government and COVAX facility in making COVID-19 […]

Factors associated with prelacteal feeding practices in Debre Berhan district, North Shoa, Central Ethiopia: A cross-sectional, community-based study

Background: Prelacteal feeding is one of the major harmful newborn feeding practices and is top on the list of global public health concerns. The practice deprives newborns of valuable nutrients and protection of colostrum and exposes them to preventable morbidity and mortality. Studying the prevalence and factors influencing the prelacteal feeding practice of mothers will […]

Under nutrition, maternal anemia and household food insecurity are risk factors of anemia among preschool aged children in Menz Gera Midir district, Eastern Amhara, Ethiopia: A community based cross-sectional study

Background: In Ethiopian, the prevalence of anemia among preschool aged children widely varied across regions. Since anemia adversely affects the cognitive and physical development of the children, it is important to determine its burden for implementing appropriate measurements. Therefore, this study was aimed at determining the anemia prevalence and associated factors among preschool aged children. […]

A human centred approach to digital technologies in health care delivery among mothers, children and adolescents

Background:: Healthcare outcomes in child, adolescent and maternal in Tanzania are poor, and mostly characterised by fragmentary service provision. In order to address this weakness, digital technologies are sought to be integrated in the milieu of health as they present vast opportunities especially in the ability to improve health information management and coordination. Prior to […]