Leveraging Global Fund's investments to expand innovative public-private provider engagement in TB.

Background: TB remains a significant global health threat, claiming 1.3 million lives annually. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted progress in the global TB response.

Urban-rural and sex differentials in tuberculosis mortality in Bangladesh: results from a population-based survey.

Objective: To assess tuberculosis mortality in Bangladesh through a population-based survey using a Verbal Autopsy tool.

Methods: Nationwide mortality survey employing the WHO-recommended Verbal Autopsy (VA) tool, and using InsilicoVA, a data-driven method, to assign the cause of death. Using a three-stage cluster sampling method, 3997 VA interviews were conducted in both urban and rural areas of Bangladesh.

Periodical antibiotic treatment for the control of gonococcal and chlamydial infections among sex workers in Benin and Ghana: a cluster-randomized placebo-controlled trial.

Background: In resource-poor settings, control of Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) and Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) among female sex workers (FSWs) is difficult. We sought to determine whether periodical antibiotic treatment (PAT) might be effective in controlling these infections among West African FSWs. Secondary objectives were to determine the impact of PAT on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) incidence among FSWs and on NG/CT prevalence among their clients.

Virological Characterization of Dual HIV-1/HIV-2 Seropositivity and Infections in Southern Ghana.

Summary Background: Dual HIV-1/HIV-2 seropositivity (dual seropositivity) is common in West African countries including Ghana. The diagnosis of dual HIV-1/HIV-2 infections is however complicated as HIV-2 DNA is more often not detected in dual seropositive individuals.

Objectives: To detect the presence of HIV-1 and HIV-2 pro-viral DNA in dual seropositives and to determine the correlation between HIV-2 antibody titers and presence of HIV-2 DNA.

Mycoplasma genitalium: an organism commonly associated with cervicitis among west African sex workers.

Objectives: To identify the contribution of Mycoplasma genitalium to the aetiology of cervicitis in sub-Saharan Africa and its relative importance in the overall burden of sexually transmitted infections among female sex workers (FSW).

Methods: The study population consisted of FSW recruited in Ghana and Benin during the initial visit of a randomised controlled trial. A questionnaire was administered, a pelvic examination carried out, and cervical samples obtained for detection of M genitalium, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis, and Trichomonas vaginalis.