Latest Articles
- Re-Evaluating the Possible Increased Risk of HIV Acquisition With Progestin-Only Injectables Versus Maternal Mortality and Life Expectancy in Africa: A Decision Analysis
Our model suggests that removing progestin-only injectables in Africa would have a net negative effect on maternal health, life expectancy, and mortality under a variety of scenarios.
- More Than Bar Codes: Integrating Global Standards-Based Bar Code Technology Into National Health Information Systems in Ethiopia and Pakistan to Increase End-to-End Supply Chain Visibility
Bar codes can help track and trace health products in the supply chain. But to do so efficiently, they should be based on global standards rather than a proprietary system, and the captured data should be integrated into national health information systems to achieve end-to-end data visibility.
- Jordan's 2002 to 2012 Fertility Stall and Parallel USAID Investments in Family Planning: Lessons From an Assessment to Guide Future Programming
Jordan's limited method mix, which has shifted toward less effective methods such as withdrawal and condoms, is a likely contributor to the plateau, coupled with social and cultural norms that discourage contraceptive use, such as preference for large family size and pressure to have a child immediately after marriage. Greater investment in social and behavior change and advocacy for stronger programming efforts are warranted.
- What Factors Contribute to Postabortion Contraceptive Uptake By Young Women? A Program Evaluation in 10 Countries in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa
Across the 10 countries, 77% of 921,918 women left with a contraceptive method after receiving abortion care. While contraceptive uptake was high among all age groups, adolescents ages 15–19 were less likely to choose a method than women 25 years or older.
- Improving Contraceptive Access, Use, and Method Mix by Task Sharing Implanon Insertion to Frontline Health Workers: The Experience of the Integrated Family Health Program in Ethiopia
Between 2009 and 2015, 1.2 million women received Implanon implants from trained Health Extension Workers. Of the approximately 7,000 implant service visits made during the first 6 months, 25% were among women who had never used contraception before.
- High Background Congenital Microcephaly in Rural Guatemala: Implications for Neonatal Congenital Zika Virus Infection Screening
A variety of microcephaly case definitions detect high background prevalence in rural Guatemala, which complicates congenital Zika screening efforts. In addition, gestational age is needed for most screening tools but is usually unknown in low-resource settings. Fenton growth curves, originally designed for use in preterm infants, offer a standardized approach to adjust for unknown gestational age and may improve screening efforts.
- Harmonizing Methods for Estimating the Impact of Contraceptive Use on Unintended Pregnancy, Abortion, and Maternal Health
Five models estimate the impact of family planning on health outcomes, but the estimates previously have diverged because the models used different assumptions, inputs, and algorithms. After a collective harmonization process, the models now produce more similar estimates although they retain some minimal differences. These models assist in planning, resource allocation, and evaluation.
- Food Security and Nutrition Outcomes of Farmer Field Schools in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
A farmer field school program in food-insecure areas had positive impacts on household food security but not child nutritional status. Similar agricultural interventions may benefit food security, but the more difficult-to-achieve improvements in child nutrition status may require more focused and integrated programming approaches.
- An NGO-Implemented Community–Clinic Health Worker Approach to Providing Long-Term Care for Hypertension in a Remote Region of Southern India
Paid community health workers screened for hypertension in the community, referred cases to the clinic for diagnosis and initial treatment by a physician, and then monitored patients who had well-controlled blood pressure including dispensing maintenance medications prescribed by the physician. Blood pressure control was successful in the majority of such patients.
- Equal Opportunity, Equal Work: Increasing Women's Participation in the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative Africa Indoor Residual Spraying Project
Promotion of gender policies led to increased hiring of women in supervisory roles in a large indoor residual spraying (IRS) program with no meaningful differences in IRS output between men and women spray operators.