Namibia recorded its first COVID-19 case on 14 March 2020, with cumulative cases reaching 15,773 and 118 deaths by 10 December 2020. Namibia has done relatively well to contain the outbreak.
However, positivity rates have shown a consistent increase above 5 percent in quarter 4 of 2020, necessitati...ng renewed attention to surveillance and outbreak control in 2021.
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Achieving Quality Health Care in Bangladesh:
2014 Bangladesh Health Facility Survey (BHFS)
Only 10 per cent of households have electricity. Less than one half (46 per cent) of the households use basic sanitation facilities. Three in every four of the household population had basic drinking water services. More than one third of under-5 Malawian children (boys 39 per cent than girls 32 per... cent) suffer from stunting with related health issues that can include cognitive impairment.
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BMJ Open Quality 2017;6:e000145. doi:10.1136/
bmjoq-2017-000145Although there are many evidence-based practices that reduce the risk of maternal and neonatal mortality around the time of birth, there remains a gap between what is known and the care received. This knowdo gap is a source of preventab...le maternal and perinatal deaths and is the focus of improvement efforts in many countries. Following an increase in perinatal and maternal deaths, Gobabis District Hospital initiated a quality improvement (QI) initiative to increase adherence to these WHO Safe Childbirth Checklist (SCC)-targeted essential birth practices.
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Access to safe and voluntary family planning is an inalienable human right that
cannot be denied. In 2022, UNFPA continued to work with Government and partners
to make this a reality in Namibia by providing strategic support to the national family
planning programme and ensuring universal access ...to quality services for all.
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Malaria and HIV, two of the world’s most deadly diseases, are widespread, but their distribution overlaps greatly in sub-Saharan Africa. Consequently, malaria and HIV coinfection (MHC) is common in the region. In this paper, pertinent publications on the prevalence, impact, and treatment strategie...s of MHC obtained by searching major electronic databases (PubMed, PubMed Central, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, and Scopus) were reviewed, and it was found that the prevalence of MHC in SSA was 0.7%–47.5% overall. Prevalence was 0.7%–47.5% in nonpregnant adults, 1.2%–27.8% in children, and 0.94%–37% in pregnant women. MHC was associated with an increased frequency of clinical parasitemia and severe malaria, increased parasite and viral load, and impaired immunity to malaria in nonpregnant adults, children, and pregnant women, increased in placental malaria and related outcomes in pregnant women, and impaired antimalarial drug efficacy in nonpregnant adults and pregnant women. Although a few cases of adverse events have been reported in coinfected patients receiving antimalarial and antiretroviral drugs concurrently, available data are very limited and have not prompted major revision in treatment guidelines for both diseases. Artemisinin-based combination therapy and cotrimoxazole are currently the recommended drugs for treatment and prevention of malaria in HIV-infected children and adults. However, concurrent administration of cotrimoxazole and sulfadoxine–pyrimethamine in HIV-infected pregnant women is not recommended, because of high risk of sulfonamide toxicity. Further research is needed to enhance our understanding of the impact of malaria on HIV, drug–drug interactions in patients receiving antimalarials and antiretroviral drugs concomitantly, and the development of newer, safer, and more cost-effective drugs and vaccines to prevent malaria in HIV-infected pregnant women.
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Lesotho’s Social and Behaviour Change Communication Strategy is a strategic response to the high levels of HIV and TB prevalence in the country that are exacerbated by the persistence of structural and sio-economic difficulties, such as poverty, unemployment, gender inequality and more. This strat...egy aims to address these issues.
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20 YEARS OF STRATEGIC HIV AND PUBLIC HEALTH DATA . beThe completion of the 6th South African National HIV Prevalence, Incidence and Behaviour Survey (SABSSM) report, coincides with the celebration of 30 years of democracy in South Africa; and marks 20 years of conducting nationally representative ho...usehold-based surveys by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), its collaborators and donors. Since its inception in 2002, the SABSSM series has emerged as one of the HSRC’s leading scientific contributions to the country’s HIV and AIDS response (1), providing essential data to monitor the HIV epidemic, the impact of the HIV program in South Africa, and to inform strategies for epidemic control in the National Strategic Plan for HIV, TB and STIs (NSP), now in its fifth edition. Using scientific evidence from SABSSM and other key sources, the NSP guides the country’s response, under the leadership of the South African AIDS Council (SANAC) and the National Department of Health (NDoH), with focus on equitable access to biomedical interventions, addressing the structural and social behavioural drivers of the epidemic, and targeting populations disproportionately affected by HIV; such as, black Africans, key populations and adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) aged 15–24 years (2).
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