Explaining household socio-economic related child health inequalities using multiple methods in three diverse settings in South Africa
Background: Despite free healthcare to pregnant women and children under the age of six, access to healthcare has failed to secure better child health outcomes amongst all children of the country. There is growing evidence of socioeconomic gradient on child health outcomes. Methods. The objectives of this study were to measure inequalities in child mortality, […]
Pediatric HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa: Emerging issues and way forward
Background: Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest burden of pediatric HIV in the world. Global target has been set for eradication of pediatric HIV by 2015 but there are still so many complex issues facing HIV infected and affected children in the sub-continent. Objective: To review the current and emerging challenges facing pediatric HIV care in […]
Health outcomes and cost impact of the new WHO 2013 Guidelines on prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Zambia
Background: Countries are currently progressing towards the elimination of new paediatric HIV infections by 2015. WHO published new consolidated guidelines in June 2013, which now recommend either ‘Antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) for women living with HIV during pregnancy and breastfeeding (Option B)’ or ‘Lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART) for all pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV […]
Adding content to contacts: Measurement of high quality contacts for maternal and newborn health in Ethiopia, North East Nigeria, and Uttar Pradesh, India
Families in high mortality settings need regular contact with high quality services, but existing population-based measurements of contacts do not reflect quality. To address this, in 2012, we designed linked household and frontline worker surveys for Gombe State, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Uttar Pradesh, India. Using reported frequency and content of contacts, we present a method […]
Group B streptococcus vaccination in pregnant women with or without HIV in Africa: A non-randomised phase 2, open-label, multicentre trial
Background: Neonates born to women infected with HIV are at increased risk for invasive group B streptococcus (GBS) disease. We aimed to compare safety and immunogenicity of trivalent glycoconjugate GBS vaccine in pregnant women with and without HIV in Malawi and South Africa. Methods: In our non-randomised phase 2, open-label, multicentre study, we recruited pregnant […]
The Impact of an mHealth Voice Message Service (mMitra) on Infant Care Knowledge, and Practices Among Low-Income Women in India: Findings from a Pseudo-Randomized Controlled Trial
Objectives mHealth interventions for MNCH have been shown to improve uptake of antenatal and neonatal services in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, little systematic analysis is available about their impact on infant health outcomes, such as reducing low birth weight or malnutrition among children under the age of five. The objective of this study […]
Associations of fat mass and fat-free mass accretion in infancy with body composition and cardiometabolic risk markers at 5 years: The Ethiopian iABC birth cohort study
Background: Accelerated growth in early childhood is an established risk factor for later obesity and cardiometabolic disease, but the relative importance of fat mass (FM) and fat-free mass (FFM) accretion is not well understood. We aimed to study how FM and FFM at birth and their accretion during infancy were associated with body composition and […]
Prenatal hepatitis B screening and associated factors in a high prevalence district of Lira, northern Uganda: A community based cross sectional study
Background: Chronic hepatitis B Virus (HBV) infection affects 80-100 million people in sub-Saharan Africa and accounts for an estimated 650,000 deaths annually. The prevalence of active hepatitis B virus infection among women aged 15-64 in mid-Northern Uganda is about 5%. Lira district is among the high prevalence areas where government embarked on mass HBV screening […]
Assessing effectiveness of a community based health insurance in rural Burkina Faso
Background: Financial barriers are a recognized major bottleneck of access and use of health services. The aim of this study was to assess effectiveness of a community based health insurance (CBHI) scheme on utilization of health services as well as on mortality and morbidity. Methods. Data were collected from April to December 2007 from the […]
The Amagugu intervention: A qualitative investigation into maternal experiences and perspectives of a maternal HIV disclosure support intervention in rural South Africa
The World Health Organization recommends disclosure of parental HIV to children aged 6-12 years. The maternal HIV-disclosure intervention (Amagugu), a lay counsellor-led, home-based intervention with six sessions, was implemented. The intervention included provision of disclosure tools, training and support for mothers, a family session and health promotion clinic visit for mothers and children. Amagugu demonstrated […]
