Publications by authors named "Asahngwa Constantine"

Background: The presence of air in the peritoneal cavity (pneumoperitoneum) is often secondary to perforated viscus. Emergent operative intervention is typically warranted in non-cancer patients. Cancer patients present a unique challenge as they have an increased risk of pneumoperitoneum due to local tumour invasion, radiation therapy, and frequent endoscopic procedures.

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Introduction: There has been significant progress in maternal health outcomes in the sub-Saharan African region since the early 1990s, in part due to digital and mobile health interventions. However, critical gaps and disparities remain. Mobile phones in particular have potential to reach underserved, hard-to-reach populations with underdeveloped infrastructure.

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Introduction: Pneumoperitoneum - free air within the peritoneal cavity - is often the result of bowel perforation, though other causes include residual postprocedural or postoperative air and barotrauma. In non-cancer patients, operative intervention is often required. Cancer patients, on the other hand, present a unique set of challenges as they usually have elevated risk of pneumoperitoneum from local radiation therapy, frequent endoscopic procedures, and tumor invasion.

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Introduction: Surgical care is a significant component of the overall health expenditure in low- and middle-income countries. In Cameroon, out-of-pocket payments for surgical service are very high with many patients declining potentially curative surgical procedures. Less than 2% of the population is enrolled in a health insurance scheme leading to a propensity for catastrophic health expenses when accessing care.

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Introduction: Equitable access to quality surgical care and low-cost healthcare services for all segments of the population remains a big problem in many African health systems. In Cameroon, it is very common to find medically discharged patients who have received surgical treatment and are unable to pay the resulting bills. These patients can be held in detention in hospitals until payments are complete.

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Background: Management of acute, post-operative, and chronic pain requires access to and availability of opioids. While often oversupplied in high-income countries, significant shortages exist in low- and middle-income countries. We conducted a scoping review on availability and usage of opioids in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

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Introduction: The treatment of acute, peri-operative, and chronic pain by healthcare practitioners and health systems requires appropriate access to and availability of essential opioid medications. While opioids are often oversupplied and overprescribed in high-income countries, there are significant inequities as many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) experience severe shortages. In fact, while the richest 10% in the world reside in countries receiving almost 90% of all available opioids, 50% of the poorest in the world reside in countries receiving just 1% of all available opioids.

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Performance-based financing (PBF)-a supply-side strategy that incentivizes health providers based on predefined quality and quantity criteria-introduced an innovative approach to reaching the poor by means of using PBF equity instruments. These PBF equity instruments include paying providers more to reach out to poor women, selecting services used by the poor, subsidizing user fees to reduce out-of-pocket expenses, and adding complementary demand-side intervention. Before the implementation of the PBF equity instrument in Cameroon, there were few initiatives/schemes to enable the poor to access maternal health services.

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The demand for rapid reviews has exploded in recent years. A rapid review is an approach to evidence synthesis that provides timely information to decision-makers (eg, health care planners, providers, policymakers, patients) by simplifying the evidence synthesis process. A rapid review is particularly appealing for urgent decisions.

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Introduction: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of health promotion in empowering and sustaining communities, as well as the need to build resilient health systems and work collectively with other sectors to protect and promote health. The WHO has mainstreamed health promotion in the Global health agenda. However, the definition and practices of health promotion in Africa are not well understood and documented, with often, an interchangeable use of the concept of health promotion and health prevention.

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