Cross-Cutting Topics
- Exploring the Adaptations of the Free Maternity Policy Implementation by Health Workers and County Officials in Kenya
To achieve the objectives of the free maternity policy in Kenya and overcome implementation challenges, health care workers and county officials—as policy implementers—covertly and unofficially developed local arrangements and adaptive strategies.
- Task-Shifting Immunization Activities to Community Health Workers: A Mixed-Method Cross-Sectional Study in Sahel Region, Burkina Faso
The authors describe a successful strategy of task-shifting child immunization activities to CHWs in insecure areas of Burkina Faso to improve vaccine coverage.
- Can a Smartphone Application Help Address Barriers to Reporting Substandard/Falsified Medical Products? A Pilot Study in Tanzania and Indonesia
A training workshop & smartphone app for health care professionals to report suspected substandard or falsified medical products was found to be effective and more convenient than existing reporting systems.
- Digitalizing Clinical Guidelines: Experiences in the Development of Clinical Decision Support Algorithms for Management of Childhood Illness in Resource-Constrained Settings
Clinical decision support systems can strengthen the quality of IMCI but can vary because of the need for interpretation when translating narrative guidelines into decision logic combined with considerations of context and design choices.
- Measuring National Immunization System Performance: A Systematic Assessment of Available Resources
This review of monitoring and evaluation resources identified multiple performance indicators that can inform country-specific approaches to evaluating immunization systems.
- Expanding the Role of Women in Vector Control: Case Studies From Madagascar, Rwanda, and Zambia
We present effective and replicable strategies to integrate women into vector control that provide paid employment opportunities and enhance economic empowerment while strengthening vector control operations.
- Taking Stock: An Adaptable Research and Partnership Model for Developing Puberty Education in 10 Countries
Puberty books, developed through participatory youth engagement and local partnerships, could provide a meaningful and culturally acceptable tool to inform youth of puberty content in areas where educational systems cannot do so.
- Strengthening Kampala’s Urban Referral System for Maternal and Newborn Care Through Establishment of an Emergency Call and Dispatch Center
An emergency call and ambulance dispatch center facilitated maternal and newborn transport, and a smartphone application helped deploy and track ambulances to improve coordination and efficiency in emergency case referral and transport.
- A Participatory Comic Book Workshop to Improve Youth-Friendly Post-Rape Care in a Humanitarian Context in Uganda: A Case Study
Participatory comic books offer a novel approach to strengthening health care providers’ understanding of refugee youth’s post-rape care needs and can be embedded in provider training in humanitarian contexts.
- The Role of Sudanese Doctors in the United Kingdom in Mitigating COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among Their Diaspora Communities
A COVID-19 vaccine awareness campaign conducted by Sudanese doctors helped to mitigate vaccine hesitancy among Sudanese diaspora groups in the United Kingdom.

