Concurrent wasting and stunting among children 6-59 months: an analysis using district-level survey data in Mozambique.

Background: In the past it was believed that wasting and stunting were independent of each other. Recent work has shown that they can occur concurrently in a child and that increases considerably the risk of mortality. Concurrent wasting and stunting (WaSt) is currently defined as WHZ < -2 AND HAZ < -2.

Cost effectiveness of a palliative care program in a rural community hospital.

Palliative care benefits patients and their families because care is focused on improving the quality of life rather than aggressively treating life-limiting illnesses. Although it would seem logical that palliative care could reduce expenses and improve quality of life, there is a need to examine the cost effectiveness of palliative care before full-scale implementation. Key success factors for implementing the palliative care program included assessing the facility's desire to implement palliative care and a readiness for major change in medical and nursing practice.

Food-for-work programs in Indonesia had a limited effect on anemia.

Indonesia's economic crisis of late 1990s lowered consumption of micronutrient-rich foods, which increased the prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies, including anemia. As a postcrisis response, 5 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) implemented Food for Work (FFW) programs to protect food consumption levels and nutritional status by providing rice, sometimes combined with oil and/or pinto beans. An independent evaluation assessed the effect of the FFW programs on nutrition outcomes, particularly anemia.