Health Topics
- Income Inequalities in Hepatitis B Vaccination and Willingness to Pay Among Women of Reproductive Age in Hanoi, Vietnam
Many countries use a fee-for-service model for hepatitis B vaccination, which amplifies health disparities across socioeconomic statuses and contributes to inequalities in HBV vaccination rates. We examined the role of household income on women’s willingness to pay and the amount they are willing to pay for HBV vaccination to identify a more optimized payment scheme and equitable access across all income groups.
- Trends in National-Level Governance and Implementation of the Philippines’ Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law from 2014 to 2020
National-level implementation of the Philippines’ Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law has been fragmented and programmatic and centered on family planning rather than multisectoral and holistic. Establishing a common narrative can secure the buy-in of different sectors and open policy solutions to address the structural determinants of reproductive health.
- Negative Incentives for Noninstitutional Births Are Associated With a Higher Rate of Facility-Based Births in the Eastern Visaya Region, Philippines
Penalties imposed for noninstitutional deliveries by local government policies could motivate pregnant women to deliver at birthing facilities; however, local governments should address barriers to accessing a birthing facility in underserved areas before prohibiting noninstitutional deliveries.
- Readiness to Provide Antenatal Corticosteroids for Threatened Preterm Birth in Public Health Facilities in Northern India
In settings with limited resources that lack standards to ensure the quality of childbirth and newborn care, the use of antenatal corticosteroids is potentially harmful. Safe, effective use of antenatal corticosteroids requires providing standardized evidence-based practices and supportive supervision, training staff, and a facility-level actionable health information system.
- Care Around Birth Approach: A Training, Mentoring, and Quality Improvement Model to Optimize Intrapartum and Immediate Postpartum Quality of Care in India
The Care Around Birth approach provides an integrated implementation framework to improve the quality, equity, and dignity of care during the intrapartum and immediate postpartum periods, thereby addressing key drivers of maternal and newborn mortality.
- A Mixed-Methods Process Evaluation: Integrating Depression Treatment Into HIV Care in Malawi
Effectively integrating depression treatment into HIV care in low-resource settings will require substantially investing in program supervision, building and maintaining the capacity of providers, integrating into existing electronic medical records systems, and ensuring the availability of psychotherapy counselors.
- Prioritizing Health-Sector Interventions for Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries in Low- and Lower-Middle Income Countries: National NCDI Poverty Commissions
Noncommunicable Disease and Injury (NCDI) Poverty Commissions in 16 low- and middle-income countries provided evidence-based recommendations on a local, expanded set of priority NCDIs and health-sector interventions needed in national initiatives to attain universal health coverage. These commissions provide a collective platform for policy, research, and advocacy efforts to improve coverage of cost-effective and equitable health-sector interventions for populations living in extreme poverty.
- Animal Source Food Social and Behavior Change Communication Intervention Among Girinka Livestock Transfer Beneficiaries in Rwanda: A Cluster Randomized Evaluation
A social and behavior change communication intervention designed to promote consumption of cow’s milk among families that received a cow from a government livestock transfer program increased mothers’ knowledge and awareness of milk consumption. Although intervention exposure was associated with increased frequency of children’s cow’s milk intake, it did not lead to increased consumption or dietary diversity.
- Qualitative Review of Organizational Responses to Rumors in the 2014–2016 Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak in Liberia and Sierra Leone
Rumors and misinformation were a challenge in the 2014–2016 Ebola Virus Disease response and continue to be so in the current COVID-19 pandemic. It is important to understand previous organizational approaches to identifying and addressing rumors to refine and improve these approaches.
- Using mHealth to Improve Timeliness and Quality of Maternal and Newborn Health in the Primary Health Care System in Ethiopia
The use of mobile health (mHealth) in Ethiopia’s primary health care system offers a potential solution to improve timeliness and quality for maternal and newborn health care services. It is user-friendly and fosters communication between health care workers and health extension workers to provide quality services across the pregnancy continuum of care.