Adaptation of Essential Care for Every Baby educational program to improve infant outcomes in the context of Zika.

Background: The outbreak and ongoing transmission of Zika virus provided an opportunity to strengthen essential newborn care and early childhood development systems through collaboration with the US Agency for International Development Applying Science to Strengthen and Improve Systems (USAID ASSIST). The objective was to create a system of sustainable training dissemination which improves newborn care-related quality indicators in the context of Zika.

Methods: From 2018-19, USAID ASSIST supported a series of technical assistance visits by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in four Caribbean countries to strengthen the clinical capacity in care of children potentially affected by Zika through dissemination of Essential Care for Every Baby (ECEB), teaching QI methodology, coaching visits, and development of clinical care guidelines.

Telementoring initiative for newborn care providers in Kenya, Pakistan and Tanzania.

Objectives: To support governments' efforts at neonatal mortality reduction, UNICEF and the American Academy of Pediatrics launched a telementoring project in Kenya, Pakistan and Tanzania.

Methods: In Fall 2019, an individualised 12-session telementoring curriculum was created for East Africa and Pakistan after site visits that included care assessment, patient data review and discussion with faculty and staff. After the programme, participants, administrators and UNICEF staff were surveyed and participated in focus group discussions.

Global immunization systems strengthening through pediatric societies: the promise of private-public partnerships in Indonesia.

Vaccines are one of the most successful health interventions in history. Yet, vaccine-preventable diseases still claim the lives of 2.5 million individuals globally every year.

Prioritizing and Funding the Uganda Nutrition Action Plan.

Background: In 2010, Uganda began developing its first multisectoral nutrition plan, the Uganda Nutrition Action Plan (UNAP), to reduce malnutrition. While the UNAP signals high-level commitment to addressing nutrition, knowledge gaps remain about how to successfully implement such a plan.

Objective: We tracked the UNAP's influence on the process of priority setting and funding for nutrition from 2013 to 2015.