Most read article(s)
- Contraception in the Era of COVID-19
As global health systems and communities prepare to meet an unprecedented threat causing increased demands for the care of people with COVID-19, health care providers should strive to ensure continuity of reproductive health care to women and girls in the face of facility service disruption.
- Will the Higher-Income Country Blueprint for COVID-19 Work in Low- and Lower Middle-Income Countries?
Strategies to radically suppress incidence of COVID-19, as used in higher-income countries, may be unrealistic and counterproductive in most low- and lower middle-income countries. Instead, strategies should be tailored to the setting, balancing expected benefits, potential harms, and feasibility.
- Doing Things Differently: What It Would Take to Ensure Continued Access to Contraception During COVID-19
COVID-19 may fundamentally change women’s contraceptive use, meaning that the future we have been planning and procuring for, may not match these changes. In these unprecedented times, we must rethink how we link product and program in the short-term to ensure women’s changing needs are met.
- Coping With COVID-19: Learning From Past Pandemics to Avoid Pitfalls and Panic
It is imperative to concur on the main transmission routes of COVID-19 to explain risk and determine the most effective means to reduce illness and mortality. We must avoid generating irrational fear and maintain a broader perspective in the pandemic response, including assessing the possibility for substantial unintended consequences.
- Improving Hospital Oxygen Systems for COVID-19 in Low-Resource Settings: Lessons From the Field
Hospitals in low- and middle-income countries urgently need to improve their oxygen systems for COVID-19 and other health emergencies. We share practical tips to improve pulse oximetry and oxygen use, support biomedical engineers to optimize existing oxygen supplies, and expand existing oxygen systems with robust equipment and smart design.
- Implementation and Scale-Up of the Standard Days Method of Family Planning: A Landscape Analysis
Pilot introductions of the Standard Days Method (SDM) of family planning demonstrated its potential to meet unmet contraceptive needs in key populations, strengthen male involvement, and increase overall contraceptive uptake. Few countries had implemented national scale-up due to barriers, such as competing resource priorities and uneven stakeholder engagement. Demand-side user barriers, including insufficient fertility awareness knowledge, were also constraints. Policy makers should determine the SDM's added value to the contraceptive method mix and identify potential barriers to its implementation.
- Opportunities and Challenges of Delivering Postabortion Care and Postpartum Family Planning During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Devoting scarce health resources to meet the family planning needs of pregnant, postabortion, and postpartum women during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is an investment against higher health systems burdens during subsequent waves of the pandemic and a means to save lives and improve livelihoods.
- A Qualitative Assessment of Provider and Client Experiences With 3- and 6-Month Dispensing Intervals of Antiretroviral Therapy in Malawi
Clients with HIV on antiretroviral therapy (ART) perceived the 6-month ART dispensing interval as highly acceptable due to reduced transport costs and increased time for income-generating activities. Providers reported benefits in reduced clinic workload and improved ability to see clients who need more support. Before implementing this dispensing interval on a large scale, countries should conduct further research on how to encourage client health-seeking behaviors for health problems, ensure women have access to family planning services outside of ART clinic visits, and encourage providers to use best practices for counseling messages.
- 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.
- Institutionalization of Projects Into Districts in Low- and Middle-Income Countries Needs Stewardship, Autonomy, and Resources
Important attributes for project institutionalization include strong stewardship and champions, affordability, demand for the intervention and perceived benefit, minimal complexity, and optimal intervention design and period of support.