Evaluating the effect of maternal mHealth text messages on uptake of maternal and child health care services in South Africa: a multicentre cohort intervention study
Background: There are high expectations that mobile health (mHealth) strategies will increase uptake of health care services, especially in resource strained settings. Our study aimed to evaluate effects of an mHealth intervention on uptake of maternal health services. Methods: This was an intervention cohort study conducted at six public antenatal and postnatal care clinics in […]
Multiple anthropometric and nutritional deficiencies in young children in Ethiopia: a multi-level analysis based on a nationally representative data
Background: In Ethiopia, child undernutrition and anemia are major public health concerns, resulting in increased childhood morbidity and mortality. Despite progress made to reduce the prevalence of malnutrition (especially stunting) from 50% in 2000 to 38% in 2016, little is known about the magnitude and risk factors for concurrent nutritional deficiencies in Ethiopia. Methods: Analysis […]
Improving access to emergency obstetric care in underserved rural Tanzania: a prospective cohort study
Background: One of the key strategies to reducing maternal mortality is provision of emergency obstetric care services. This paper describes the results of improving availability of, and access to emergency obstetric care services in underserved rural Tanzania using associate clinicians. Methods: A prospective cohort study of emergency obstetric care was implemented in seven health centres […]
Pregnancy outcomes and blood pressure visit-to-visit variability and level in three less-developed countries
In pregnancy in well-resourced settings, limited data suggest that higher blood pressure (BP) visit-to-visit variability may be associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. Included were pregnant women in 22 intervention clusters of the CLIP (Community- Level Interventions for Preeclampsia) cluster randomized trials, who had received at least 2 prenatal contacts from a community health worker, including […]
Factors associated with the access and continuum of vaccination services among children aged 12-23 months in the emerging regions of Ethiopia: Evidence from the 2016 Ethiopian demography and health survey
Background: Child vaccination is an instrument for saving millions of lives. Only one in twenty children has access to childhood vaccination in hard to reach areas in developing countries. Although studies have been done on childhood vaccination, factors associated with access and continuum were not considered in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the […]
Determinants of stunting among children aged 6 to 59 months in pastoral community, Afar region, North East Ethiopia: Unmatched case control study
Background: Stunting is defined as a child with a height for-age Z-score less than minus two standard deviations. Globally, 162 million less than 5 years were stunted. In Ethiopia, Nationally the prevalence of stunting among under five children was 38.4% and in Afar it is above the national average (41.1%). This study was aimed to […]
Assessment of quality of obstetric care in Zimbabwe using the standard primipara
Background: To improve maternity services in any country, there is need to monitor the quality of obstetric care. There is usually disparity of obstetric care and outcomes in most countries among women giving birth in different obstetric units. However, comparing the quality of obstetric care is difficult because of heterogeneous population characteristics and the difference […]
Timeliness of childhood vaccine uptake among children attending a tertiary health service facility-based immunisation clinic in Ghana
Background: Childhood immunisation is a cost-effective activity in health. Immunisation of children has contributed to reducing child morbidity and mortality. In the last two decades, global deaths from vaccine-preventable illnesses have decreased significantly as a result of immunisation. Similar trends have been observed in Ghana following the introduction of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation. The […]
Complete vaccination service utilization inequalities among children aged 12-23 months in Ethiopia: A multivariate decomposition analyses
Background: Although World Health Organization works to make vaccination service available to everyone everywhere by 2030, majority of the world’s children have been unvaccinated and unprotected from vaccine-preventable diseases. In fact, evidences on factors contributing to changes in vaccination coverage across residential areas, wealth categories and over time have not been adequate. Therefore, this study […]
Women’s views on abortion legislation in Yaounde city
Introduction: access to abortion is restrictive in Cameroon. The legislation authorizes the act in two cases: when the pregnancy results from a rape or when it puts the pregnant woman at serious risk for her health. Abortion outside this legal framework is considered illegal. This article identifies and analyses the opinions of women living in […]
