Academic accountability to local communities and society through Programme Science: a case study from the HPV self-sampling programme HOPE in Peru.

Introduction: Health challenges in the 21st century underscore the need for adaptable and innovative approaches in public health. Academic institutions can and should contribute much more effectively to generate and translate scientific knowledge that will result in better programmes to improve societal health. Academic accountability to local communities and society requires universities to actively engage with local communities, understanding the context, their needs, and leveraging their knowledge and local experience.

Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics associated with maternal and congenital syphilis - A prospective study in Peru.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to explore the factors and outcomes associated with gestational syphilis in Peru.

Methods: Women from the miscarriage, vaginal delivery, and C-section wards from a large maternity hospital in Lima with or without syphilis diagnosis were enrolled and their pregnancy outcomes compared. Maternal syphilis status using maternal blood and child serostatus using cord blood were determined by rapid plasma reagin (RPR) and rapid syphilis tests.

Diarrheal disease and associations with water access and sanitation in Indigenous Shawi children along the Armanayacu River basin in Peru.

Introduction: Diarrheal disease, particularly in children under 5 years old, remains a global health challenge due to its high prevalence and chronic health consequences. Public health interventions that reduce diarrheal disease risk include improving access to water, sanitation, and hygiene. Although Peru achieved the 2015 Millennium Development Goal (MDG) indicators for water access, less progress was achieved on sanitation.

SARS-CoV-2 self-testing in Peru: a cross-sectional survey of values and attitudes of the general population.

Objectives: To assess the values of and attitudes towards the use of rapid SARS-CoV-2 antigen-detection tests for self-testing in a rural and an urban area in Peru.

Design: Cross-sectional, street-based population survey.

Setting: A series of over 400 randomly selected street points in Valle del Mantaro and in Lima.

Rapid SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Detection Self-Tests to Increase COVID-19 Case Detection in Peru: Qualitative Study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic heavily impacted many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), such as Peru, overwhelming their health systems. Rapid antigen detection self-tests for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, have been proposed as a portable, safe, affordable, and easy-to-perform approach to improve early detection and surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in resource-constrained populations where there are gaps in access to health care.

Objective: This study aims to explore decision makers' values and attitudes around SARS-CoV-2 self-testing.

Randomized Controlled Trial of Home Telemonitoring of Blood Pressure with an Adapted Tensiometer with SMS Capability.

Despite being a public health problem, less than a third of hypertensive patients manage to control blood pressure (BP). In this paper, we conducted a two-arm randomized controlled trial to investigate the efficacy of an SMS-based home BP telemonitoring system compared to usual care in patients with uncontrolled hypertension from a primary care center. This study was conducted between April and August 2018.

Cost analysis of chronic pain due to musculoskeletal disorders in Chile.

The magnitude of the cost of chronic pain has been a matter of concern in many countries worldwide. The high prevalence, the cost it implies for the health system, productivity, and absenteeism need to be addressed urgently. Studies have begun describing this problem in Chile, but there is still a debt in highlighting its importance and urgency on contributing to chronic pain financial coverage.

Does food biodiversity protect against malnutrition and favour the resilience to climate change-related events in Amazon Indigenous communities? A protocol for a mixed methods study.

: Undernutrition is projected to be a major consequence of climate change. Biodiversity could enhance climate change resilience by improving nutritional outcomes and providing healthy food resources during and/or after climate-related events. For Indigenous populations who currently base their diet on local biodiversity, rapid climate changes may affect their ability to produce, access or gather food and consequently impact their nutritional status.

The effect of weather and climate on dengue outbreak risk in Peru, 2000-2018: A time-series analysis.

Background: Dengue fever is the most common arboviral disease in humans, with an estimated 50-100 million annual infections worldwide. Dengue fever cases have increased substantially in the past four decades, driven largely by anthropogenic factors including climate change. More than half the population of Peru is at risk of dengue infection and due to its geography, Peru is also particularly sensitive to the effects of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

The ARMADILLO text message intervention to improve the sexual and reproductive health knowledge of adolescents in Peru: Results of a randomized controlled trial.

Background: The ARMADILLO Study determined whether adolescents able to access SRH information on-demand via SMS were better able to reject contraception-related myths and misconceptions as compared with adolescents receiving pushed SMS or no intervention.

Trial Design: This trial was an unblinded, three-arm, parallel-group, individual RCT with a 1:1:1 allocation. Trial registration: ISRCTN85156148.

The Annual costs of treating genital warts in the Public Healthcare Sector in Peru.

Objectives: To estimate the cost of six different techniques used to treat Genital Warts and the annual average cost of treating a typical GW patient in Peru. To estimate the annual economic burden diagnosing and treating GW in the Peruvian public healthcare system.

Methods: We developed a prevalence-based, cost-of-illness study from the provider's perspective, the healthcare facilities under the purview of Peruvian Ministry of Health.

Evaluating learning of medical students through recorded lectures in clinical courses.

One solution offered by technology is learning through recorded lectures (RLs). The main objective of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of online RLs in learning of clinical courses at a School of Medicine. The study comprised four phases: (i) pre-post uncontrolled study to evaluate knowledge gain with RLs, (ii) non-randomised crossover study to compare learning with RL before or after a face-to-face lecture (FL), (iii) focus groups to evaluate perceptions from students about RLs and, (iv) randomised controlled trial to verify whether the addition of questions every 10 min and a summary webpage to an RL improve knowledge.

Characterization of HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Impairment in Middle-Aged and Older Persons With HIV in Lima, Peru.

With widespread use of antiretroviral medications, people living with HIV (PWH) are living longer worldwide, increasing their risk of developing neurocognitive impairment (NCI). The proportion of Peruvians over age 60 is expected to increase to 25% of the population by 2050, including PWH. Therefore, the problem of aging and NCI, especially in the setting of HIV infection, is uniquely pressing.

Nuya kankantawa (we are feeling healthy): Understandings of health and wellbeing among Shawi of the Peruvian Amazon.

Promoting and supporting Indigenous health includes ensuring health services reflect local concepts of health. There is, therefore, a need to better understand context-specific Indigenous understandings of health in order to design culturally appropriate health services. To this end, this study characterized two Shawi communities' understandings of what it means to be healthy.

Prevalence, burden of disease, and lost in health state utilities attributable to chronic musculoskeletal disorders and pain in Chile.

Background: Musculoskeletal disorders are a leading cause of disability adjusted life years (DALY) in the world. We aim to describe the prevalence and to compare the DALYs and loss of health state utilities (LHSU) attributable to common musculoskeletal disorders in Chile.

Methods: We used data from the Chilean National Health Survey carried out in 2016-2017.

Randomized clinical trial to compare the efficacy of ivermectin versus placebo to negativize nasopharyngeal PCR in patients with early COVID-19 in Peru (SAINT-Peru): a structured summary of a study protocol for randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: The primary objective is to determine the effect of a daily dose of ivermectin administered in three consecutive days to non-severe COVID-19 patients with no more than 96 hours of symptoms, on the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA by PCR from nasopharyngeal swabs at day seven post-treatment initiation. The secondary objectives are: 1. To assess the efficacy of ivermectin to reduce the SARS-CoV-2 viral load in the nasopharyngeal swab on days 4, 7, 14 and 21 post-treatment initiation 2.

Meteorological factors and childhood diarrhea in Peru, 2005-2015: a time series analysis of historic associations, with implications for climate change.

Background: Global temperatures are projected to rise by ≥2 °C by the end of the century, with expected impacts on infectious disease incidence. Establishing the historic relationship between temperature and childhood diarrhea is important to inform future vulnerability under projected climate change scenarios.

Methods: We compiled a national dataset from Peruvian government data sources, including weekly diarrhea surveillance records, annual administered doses of rotavirus vaccination, annual piped water access estimates, and daily temperature estimates.