Index by author

The 5-year medical education and research strengthening initiative in Zimbabwe increased faculty retention and student enrollment, improved information technology infrastructure, provided mentoring for postgraduates and clinical training in specialty areas, instituted a competency-based curriculum reform process, and created new departments and centers to institutionalize health education and research implementation. A comprehensive review of the curriculum is still underway and uptake of technology-assisted teaching has been slower than expected.

Nearly half a million doses of DMPA-SC were administered over 2 years in Burkina Faso, Niger, Senegal, and Uganda, with 29% of doses provided to first-time family planning users and 44% (in 3 countries) to adolescent girls and young women under age 25. Switching from intramuscular DMPA (DMPA-IM) was not widespread and generally decreased over time. Community health workers provided a higher proportion of DMPA-SC than DMPA-IM injections. Stock-outs in 2 countries hindered product uptake, highlighting the need to strengthen logistics systems when introducing a new method.

Formidable challenges: uncertain political situation, cultural norms favoring high fertility, a thin patchwork of service delivery institutions, logistical issues in a vast country with weak infrastructure, and low capacity of the population to pay for contraceptive services. Encouraging progress: increasing government and donor support, openness to progressive service delivery policies, innovative programming including robust social marketing and initiatives with nursing schools and the military, strong collaboration among stakeholders, high unmet need suggesting strong latent demand for family planning, and an increasingly balanced method mix including long-acting methods.

Facilitating factors for the Chlorhexidine Working Group: (1) strong, transparent leadership by a neutral broker, promoting shared ownership among all members; (2) reliable internal and external communication; (3) well-defined terms of reference building on common interest around a simple, effective health intervention; (4) clear benefits of participation, including access to evidence and technical assistance; and (5) adequate resources to support the secretariat functions.

Under the NGO–government partnership, wasting among children under age 3 decreased by 28% in intervention areas and by only 5% in comparison areas. Success factors included persuading and engaging with communities including delivery of tailored information, close presence and supervision of field staff, and holistic management of other issues beyond acute malnutrition. This intensive approach may be challenging for the government to adapt effectively at large scale.

The 5-year medical education and research strengthening initiative in Zimbabwe increased faculty retention and student enrollment, improved information technology infrastructure, provided mentoring for postgraduates and clinical training in specialty areas, instituted a competency-based curriculum reform process, and created new departments and centers to institutionalize health education and research implementation. A comprehensive review of the curriculum is still underway and uptake of technology-assisted teaching has been slower than expected.

Facilitating factors for the Chlorhexidine Working Group: (1) strong, transparent leadership by a neutral broker, promoting shared ownership among all members; (2) reliable internal and external communication; (3) well-defined terms of reference building on common interest around a simple, effective health intervention; (4) clear benefits of participation, including access to evidence and technical assistance; and (5) adequate resources to support the secretariat functions.

The 5-year medical education and research strengthening initiative in Zimbabwe increased faculty retention and student enrollment, improved information technology infrastructure, provided mentoring for postgraduates and clinical training in specialty areas, instituted a competency-based curriculum reform process, and created new departments and centers to institutionalize health education and research implementation. A comprehensive review of the curriculum is still underway and uptake of technology-assisted teaching has been slower than expected.

Availability and use of the subcutaneous injectable increased rapidly during national scale-up in 2016. Substantial increases were found in rural areas, where unmet need for family planning is higher. Since the method is amenable to community-based distribution, a new pilot is testing provision by community health workers to further improve access.

Under the NGO–government partnership, wasting among children under age 3 decreased by 28% in intervention areas and by only 5% in comparison areas. Success factors included persuading and engaging with communities including delivery of tailored information, close presence and supervision of field staff, and holistic management of other issues beyond acute malnutrition. This intensive approach may be challenging for the government to adapt effectively at large scale.

Mexico's efforts at sexuality education have progressively evolved, from a biological focus in the socialist era in the 1930s, to adding a demographically concerned family planning component in the 1970s and including a wider reproductive health perspective in the 1990s, and finally shifting to a broader sociological context in the early 21st century. Opposition to sexuality education rose steadily in the time period considered, with a growing range of more organized and well-financed actors. Despite this opposition, alliances between academic, government, civil society, and NGO champions have helped ensure sustainability.

The 5-year medical education and research strengthening initiative in Zimbabwe increased faculty retention and student enrollment, improved information technology infrastructure, provided mentoring for postgraduates and clinical training in specialty areas, instituted a competency-based curriculum reform process, and created new departments and centers to institutionalize health education and research implementation. A comprehensive review of the curriculum is still underway and uptake of technology-assisted teaching has been slower than expected.

Global health cannot be improved without addressing the plight of the survivors and victims of brutal armed conflicts, especially minorities and marginalized people.

Estimates of the modern contraceptive prevalence rate (mCPR), a population-level indicator, that are derived directly from family planning service statistics lack sufficient accuracy to serve as stand-alone substitutes for survey-based estimates. However, data on contraceptive commodities distributed to clients, family planning service visits, and current users tend to track trends in mCPR fairly accurately and, when combined with survey data in new tools, can be used to approximate the annual mCPR in the absence of annual surveys.

The 5-year medical education and research strengthening initiative in Zimbabwe increased faculty retention and student enrollment, improved information technology infrastructure, provided mentoring for postgraduates and clinical training in specialty areas, instituted a competency-based curriculum reform process, and created new departments and centers to institutionalize health education and research implementation. A comprehensive review of the curriculum is still underway and uptake of technology-assisted teaching has been slower than expected.

Formidable challenges: uncertain political situation, cultural norms favoring high fertility, a thin patchwork of service delivery institutions, logistical issues in a vast country with weak infrastructure, and low capacity of the population to pay for contraceptive services. Encouraging progress: increasing government and donor support, openness to progressive service delivery policies, innovative programming including robust social marketing and initiatives with nursing schools and the military, strong collaboration among stakeholders, high unmet need suggesting strong latent demand for family planning, and an increasingly balanced method mix including long-acting methods.

The 5-year medical education and research strengthening initiative in Zimbabwe increased faculty retention and student enrollment, improved information technology infrastructure, provided mentoring for postgraduates and clinical training in specialty areas, instituted a competency-based curriculum reform process, and created new departments and centers to institutionalize health education and research implementation. A comprehensive review of the curriculum is still underway and uptake of technology-assisted teaching has been slower than expected.

Formidable challenges: uncertain political situation, cultural norms favoring high fertility, a thin patchwork of service delivery institutions, logistical issues in a vast country with weak infrastructure, and low capacity of the population to pay for contraceptive services. Encouraging progress: increasing government and donor support, openness to progressive service delivery policies, innovative programming including robust social marketing and initiatives with nursing schools and the military, strong collaboration among stakeholders, high unmet need suggesting strong latent demand for family planning, and an increasingly balanced method mix including long-acting methods.

Under the NGO–government partnership, wasting among children under age 3 decreased by 28% in intervention areas and by only 5% in comparison areas. Success factors included persuading and engaging with communities including delivery of tailored information, close presence and supervision of field staff, and holistic management of other issues beyond acute malnutrition. This intensive approach may be challenging for the government to adapt effectively at large scale.

After 8 months of behavior change communication activities, largely using group and interpersonal communication, refusal of indoor residual spraying to prevent visceral leishmaniasis was significantly lower among households in intervention villages (8%) than control villages (25%). Knowledge and attitudes were also better among the households in the intervention villages than control villages.

Under the NGO–government partnership, wasting among children under age 3 decreased by 28% in intervention areas and by only 5% in comparison areas. Success factors included persuading and engaging with communities including delivery of tailored information, close presence and supervision of field staff, and holistic management of other issues beyond acute malnutrition. This intensive approach may be challenging for the government to adapt effectively at large scale.

Acting in a difficult environment, constructive efforts to improve medical education in Zimbabwe included revised curricula, investing in faculty and improved teaching skills, competency-based learning, and modern technology. But an ideal approach to health systems strengthening would put more emphasis on primary care and prevention, equity, and the many other vital health cadres besides physicians.

After 8 months of behavior change communication activities, largely using group and interpersonal communication, refusal of indoor residual spraying to prevent visceral leishmaniasis was significantly lower among households in intervention villages (8%) than control villages (25%). Knowledge and attitudes were also better among the households in the intervention villages than control villages.

Estimates of the modern contraceptive prevalence rate (mCPR), a population-level indicator, that are derived directly from family planning service statistics lack sufficient accuracy to serve as stand-alone substitutes for survey-based estimates. However, data on contraceptive commodities distributed to clients, family planning service visits, and current users tend to track trends in mCPR fairly accurately and, when combined with survey data in new tools, can be used to approximate the annual mCPR in the absence of annual surveys.

Estimates of the modern contraceptive prevalence rate (mCPR), a population-level indicator, that are derived directly from family planning service statistics lack sufficient accuracy to serve as stand-alone substitutes for survey-based estimates. However, data on contraceptive commodities distributed to clients, family planning service visits, and current users tend to track trends in mCPR fairly accurately and, when combined with survey data in new tools, can be used to approximate the annual mCPR in the absence of annual surveys.