Adequate antenatal care and ethnicity affect preterm birth in pregnant women living in the tropical rainforest of Suriname.

Background: Adequate antenatal care (ANC) services are key for early identification of pregnancy related risk factors and maintaining women's health during pregnancy. This study aimed to assess the influence of ANC provided by the Medical Mission Primary Health Care Suriname (MMPHCS) and of ethnicity on adverse birth outcomes in Tribal and Indigenous women living in Suriname's remote tropical rainforest interior.

Method: From April 2017 to December 2018 eligible Tribal and Indigenous women with a singleton pregnancy that received ANC from MMPHCS were included in the study.

Knowledge and awareness of health effects related to the use of mercury in artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Suriname.

Background: The use of mercury in artisanal and small-scale gold mining has negative effects on human health and the environment. In Suriname, the current gold rush resulted in estimated mercury emissions up to 63t per year. To reduce the use of mercury and the subsequent health impact to gold miners and local inhabitants, knowledge and awareness in the community should be increased.

Anemia in young children living in the Surinamese interior: the influence of age, nutritional status and ethnicity.

Purpose: This study investigates the prevalence of anemia in young children living in the interior of Suriname and the influence of the associated factors age, nutritional status and ethnicity.

Results: In this cross-sectional observational study, 606 children aged 1-5 years from three different regions of Suriname's interior were included, and hemoglobin levels and anthropometric measurements were collected. Logistic regression models were computed to examine independent associations between anemic and nonanemic groups and to measure the influence of age, nutritional status and ethnicity.