Latest Articles
- Routine Family Planning Data in the Low- and Middle-Income Country Context: A Synthesis of Findings From 17 Small Research Grants
A review of 5 years of small grant-funded research highlighted overarching barriers to and opportunities for using family planning data in routine health information systems in low- and middle-income countries. We report on factors affecting data quality, analysis, and use, and suggest strategies to improve routine family planning data.
- Effectiveness of mHealth Interventions for Improving Contraceptive Use in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review
Do mHealth interventions help reduce unmet contraceptive needs in low- and middle-income countries by attempting to increase the uptake of modern contraceptive methods? Which mHealth features and behavior change communication components were used in these mHealth interventions? This review aimed to answer these questions and assess the impact of these interventions on contraceptive uptake outcomes.
- Counseling Is a Relationship Not Just a Skill: Re-conceptualizing Health Behavior Change Communication by India’s Accredited Social Health Activists
The capacity for India’s community health workers—accredited social health activists (ASHAs)—to promote healthy behaviors must be understood within the health system and community context. Their ability to influence health behaviors depends on the strength of their relationships with families and support they receive from the health system.
- Top 10 Resources in Global Surgery
This resource list could serve to orient those interested in global surgery and could be supplemented with resources advocating for global surgery from clinical, population health, or policy perspectives.
- The Critical Role and Evaluation of Community Mobilizers in Polio Eradication in Remote Settings in Africa and Asia
Critical community health worker criteria are important for all community programs, including those focused on a single disease. Areas of importance include community engagement, local adaptation, and linkage with the health system—critical areas for current and future epidemics.
- Mask Reuse in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Creating an Inexpensive and Scalable Ultraviolet System for Filtering Facepiece Respirator Decontamination
We outline a simple, low-cost design—both scalable and adaptable worldwide—to decontaminate filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) using ultraviolet bulbs and supplies found in most hardware stores. The setup will help health care workers safely reuse FFRs in light of the shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Are We Using the Right Approach to Change Newborn Care Practices in the Community? Qualitative Evidence From Ethiopia and Northern Nigeria
In Ethiopia, high community-level exposure to consistent messages and the perceptions of community health workers and relationships with them drove newborn care behavior change. In Nigeria, exposure to messages was limited, community health workers were less trusted, and behavior change was reported less frequently.
- Where Do Caregivers Take Their Sick Children for Care? An Analysis of Care Seeking and Equity in 24 USAID Priority Countries
Understanding whether and where parents take sick children for care is critical to improve child health and survival. Stakeholders should use this information to ensure that resources are programmed effectively and that sectors complement one another to increase equitable access to high quality integrated management approaches for sick child care.
- A Qualitative Exploration of Community Ownership of a Maternity Waiting Home Model in Rural Zambia
Community-based maternal child health programs should foster a sense of community ownership to promote sustainability. In rural Zambia, health interventions should be accessible to target communities and clear roles should be established among stakeholders for effective governance.
- What Makes a National Pharmaceutical Track and Trace System Succeed? Lessons From Turkey
Successful implementation of a pharmaceutical track and trace system depended on the political determination to eliminate reimbursement fraud, as well as establishing a pharmaceutical market dominated by a single payer, making reimbursement contingent on verified dispensing and prescription, and being flexible in adapting the system according to stakeholders’ needs.