“It has never been more urgent for us to come together to end HIV and tuberculosis. We achieve the most when we work together, using all of our strengths, harnessing all of our collective potential to end HIV and tuberculosis for a healthier world as part of the Sustainable Development Goals.” ...Michel Sisibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS
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Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2018, 3, 72;
The study identified some key determinants of untimely and incomplete childhood vaccinations in the context of Bangladesh. The findings will contribute to the improvement of age-specific vaccination and support policy makers in taking the necessary control ...strategies with respect to delayed and early vaccination in Bangladesh.
https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed3030072
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Journal of the International AIDS Society, vol. 21 Issue no. 6 e 25142
Weaknesses in care programmes providing anti‐retroviral therapy (ART) persist and are often instigated by late HIV diagnosis and poor linkage to care. We investigated the potential for a home‐based counselling and testin...g (HBCT) campaign to be improved through the optimal timing and enhancement of testing rounds to generate greater health outcomes at minimum cost.
Countries implementing HBCT can reduce costs by optimally timing rounds and generate greater health outcomes through improving linkage, coverage, and retention. Tailoring HBCT campaigns to individual settings can enhance patient outcomes for minimal cost.
https://doi.org/10.1002/jia2.25142
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PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0203986 October 3, 2018
This study aimed to understand the patterns of HIV drug resistance in pregnant women in Mozambique. This might help in tailoring optimal regimens for prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV (pMTCT) and antenatal care.
Accessed Sept, 5 2018
Weekly epidemiological record, Relevé épidémiologique hebdomadaire : Vol.93 (2018) No.13
PLoS ONE 13(8): e0202499. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202499
This was a school-based cross-sectional study conducted in 2015 among 305 school children aged 7–16 years from two primary schools located in Ilemela and Magu Districts, north-western Tanzania. Single stool and urine samples w...ere collected from each participant and examined for the presence of Schistosoma mansoni eggs, parasite antigen, and parasite DNA using KK thick smears, POC-CCA tests, and real-time PCR, respectively.
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The Lancet Global Health, Vol. 6, No. 10 Published: August 29, 2018
The Malaria Operational Plans below are detailed 1-year implementation plans for PMI focus countries. Each plan reviews the current status of malaria control and prevention policies and interventions, identifies challenges and unmet needs to achieve PMI goals, and provides a description of planned P...MI-funded activities.
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In where under-five mortality is high and vitamin A deficiency is a public health problem, two high-dose supplements of vitamin A per year, spaced four to six months apart, can strengthen children’s immune systems and improve their chances of survival.
During much of early childhood – from... 6 months to 5years of age – two high doses of vitamin A every year can prevent blindness and hearing loss, boost children’s immunity against diseases like measles and diarrhoea and provide critical protection against death. Like all forms of malnutrition, vitamin A deficiency is a marker of inequality. In countries where diets are lacking in vitamin A and infections and deaths are prevalent, supplementation programmes give vulnerable children a better chance to survive, develop and thrive.
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Key findings of the 2018 edition
Original research article
Contraception 97 (2018) 439–444
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.contraception.2018.01.003
0010-7824/© 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc.
African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine
ISSN: (Online) 2071-2936, (Print) 2071-2928
Bull World Health Organ 2018;96:450–461 | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.17.206466
The aim of our study was to determine whether an intervention designed
to involve the male partners of pregnant women in Burkina Faso in facility-based maternity care influences care-seeking and healthy practi...ces after childbirth.
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This FY 2018 Malaria Operational Plan (MOP) presents a detailed implementation plan for Ethiopia, based on the strategies of PMI and the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP). It was developed in consultation with the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), NMCP, Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EP...HI), and regional health bureaus, and with the participation of national and international partners involved in malaria prevention and control in the country. The activities that PMI is proposing to support align with the National Malaria Strategic Plan (NMSP 2014-2020) and build on investments made by PMI and other partners to improve and expand malaria-related services, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (Global Fund) malaria grants. This document briefly reviews the current status of malaria control policies and interventions in Ethiopia, describes progress to date, identifies challenges and unmet needs to achieving the targets of the NMCP and PMI, and provides a description of activities that are planned with FY 2018 funding.
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Background: Cervical cancer accounts for 23% of cancer incidence and 22% of cancer mortality among women in Burkina Faso. These proportions are more than 2 and 5 times higher than those of developed countries, respectively. Before 2010, cervical cancer prevention (CECAP) services in Burkina Faso wer...e limited to temporary screening campaigns.
Program Description: Between September 2010 and August 2014, program implementers collaborated with the Ministry of Health and professional associations to implement a CECAP program focused on coupling visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) for screening with same-day cryotherapy treatment for eligible women in 14 facilities. Women with larger lesions or lesions suspect for cancer were referred for loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP). The program trained providers, raised awareness through demand generation activities, and strengthened monitoring capacity.
Methods: Data on program activities, service provision, and programmatic lessons were analyzed. Three data collection tools, an individual client form, a client registry, and a monthly summary sheet, were used to track 3 key CECAP service indicators: number of women screened using VIA, proportion of women who screened VIA positive, and proportion of women screening VIA positive who received same-day cryotherapy.
Results: Over 4 years, the program screened 13,999 women for cervical cancer using VIA; 8.9% screened positive; and 65.9% received cryotherapy in a single visit. The proportion receiving cryotherapy on the same day started at a high of 82% to 93% when services were provided free of charge, but dropped to 51% when a user fee of $10 was applied to cover the cost of supplies. After reducing the fee to $4 in November 2012, the proportion increased again to 78%. Implementation challenges included difficulties tracking referred patients, stock-outs of key supplies, difficulties with machine maintenance, and prohibitive user fees. Providers were trained to independently monitor services, identify gaps, and take corrective actions.
Conclusions: Following dissemination of the results that demonstrated the acceptability and feasibility of the CECAP program, the Burkina Faso Ministry of Health included CECAP services in its minimum service delivery package in 2016. Essential components for such programs include provider training on VIA, cryotherapy, and LEEP; provider and patient demand generation; local equipment maintenance; consistent supply stocks; referral system for LEEP; non-prohibitive fees; and a monitoring data collection system.
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