Excess burden of antibiotic-resistant bloodstream infections: evidence from a multicentre retrospective cohort study in Chile, 2018-2022.

Background: Antibiotic-resistant bloodstream infections (ARB BSI) cause an enormous disease and economic burden. We assessed the impact of ARB BSI caused by high- and critical-priority pathogens in hospitalised Chilean patients compared to BSI caused by susceptible bacteria.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study from 2018 to 2022 in three Chilean hospitals and measured the association of ARB BSI with in-hospital mortality, length of hospitalisation (LOS), and intensive care unit (ICU) admission.

Impact of a virtual antenatal intervention for improved diet and iron intake in Kapilvastu district, Nepal - the VALID randomized controlled trial.

Introduction: Counseling, together with iron and folic acid supplements, can improve hemoglobin levels in pregnant women, but few interventions have tested a virtual method of delivering counseling. We hypothesized that a virtual counseling intervention delivered via a mobile device (mHealth) would prevent and treat anemia, compared with routine antenatal care (ANC).

Methods: Virtual antenatal intervention for improved diet and iron intake (VALID) was a non-blinded parallel group two-arm, individually randomized superiority trial (1:1 allocation).

Household economic burden of type-2 diabetes and hypertension comorbidity care in urban-poor Ghana: a mixed methods study.

Background: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) predispose households to exorbitant healthcare expenditures in health systems where there is no access to effective financial protection for healthcare. This study assessed the economic burden associated with the rising burden of type-2 diabetes (T2D) and hypertension comorbidity management, and its implications for healthcare seeking in urban Accra.

Methods: A convergent parallel mixed-methods study design was used.

Treatment of latent tuberculosis infection in migrants in primary care secondary care.

Background: Control of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is a priority in the World Health Organization strategy to eliminate TB. Many high-income, low TB incidence countries have prioritised LTBI screening and treatment in recent migrants. We tested whether a novel model of care, based entirely within primary care, was effective and safe compared to secondary care.

Designing an evidence-informed package of essential health services for Universal Health Coverage: lessons learnt and challenges to implementation in Liberia.

Liberia developed an evidence-informed package of health services for Universal Health Coverage (UHC) based on the Disease Control Priorities 3 evidence. This paper describes the policy decisions, methods and processes adopted for prioritisation, key features of the package and lessons learnt, with special emphasis on feasibility of implementation. Package design was led by the Ministry of Health.

A systematic review of barriers and facilitators to antenatal screening for HIV, syphilis or hepatitis B in Asia: Perspectives of pregnant women, their relatives and health care providers.

Background: Despite improvements, the prevalence of HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B remains high in Asia. These sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can be transmitted from infected mothers to their children. Antenatal screening and treatment are effective interventions to prevent mother-to-child transmission (MTCT), but coverage of antenatal screening remains low.

Development and Pilot Implementation of Neotree, a Digital Quality Improvement Tool Designed to Improve Newborn Care and Survival in 3 Hospitals in Malawi and Zimbabwe: Cost Analysis Study.

Background: Two-thirds of the 2.4 million newborn deaths that occurred in 2020 within the first 28 days of life might have been avoided by implementing existing low-cost evidence-based interventions for all sick and small newborns. An open-source digital quality improvement tool (Neotree) combining data capture with education and clinical decision support is a promising solution for this implementation gap.

Factors affecting antenatal screening for HIV in Nepal: results from Nepal Demographic and Health Surveys 2016 and 2022.

Objectives: Antenatal screening for HIV remains low in Nepal. Identifying factors associated with the uptake of antenatal screening is essential to increase uptake and prevent mother-to-child transmission (MTCT). This study investigated the effects of individual-level and district-level characteristics on the utilisation of antenatal screening for HIV in Nepal and how these effects changed between 2016 and 2022.

Lessons from the development process of the Afghanistan integrated package of essential health services.

In 2017, in the middle of the armed conflict with the Taliban, the Ministry of Public Health decided that the Afghan health system needed a well-defined priority package of health services taking into account the increasing burden of non-communicable diseases and injuries and benefiting from the latest evidence published by DCP3. This leads to a 2-year process involving data analysis, modelling and national consultations, which produce this Integrated Package of Essential health Services (IPEHS). The IPEHS was finalised just before the takeover by the Taliban and could not be implemented.

Contextual factors affecting the implementation of an anemia focused virtual counseling intervention for pregnant women in plains Nepal: a mixed methods process evaluation.

Background: Anemia is estimated to cause 115,000 maternal deaths each year. In Nepal, 46% of pregnant women have anemia. As part of an integrated anemia-prevention strategy, family engagement and counseling of pregnant women can increase compliance to iron folic acid tablets, but marginalized women often have lower access to these interventions.

Economic evaluation of participatory women's groups scaled up by the public health system to improve birth outcomes in Jharkhand, eastern India.

An estimated 2.4 million newborn infants died in 2020, 80% of them in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. To achieve the Sustainable Development Target for neonatal mortality reduction, countries with high mortality need to implement evidence-based, cost-effective interventions at scale.

Public health benefits of shifting from hospital-focused to ambulatory TB care in Eastern Europe: Optimising TB investments in Belarus, the Republic of Moldova, and Romania.

High rates of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) continue to threaten public health, especially in Eastern Europe. Costs for treating DR-TB are substantially higher than treating drug-susceptible TB, and higher yet if DR-TB services are delivered in hospital. The WHO recommends that multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB be treated using mainly ambulatory care, shown to have non-inferior health outcomes, however, there has been a delay to transition away from hospital-focused MDR-TB care in certain Eastern European countries.

[Responding to the sexual and reproductive health needs of Venezuelan migrant women in LimaResposta às necessidades de saúde sexual e reprodutiva de migrantes venezuelanas em Lima].

Objectives: To present and analyze the Peruvian health system's response to the sexual and reproductive health needs of Venezuelan women living in the city of Lima, Peru, and to identify some of the reasons underlying this response.

Methods: Information was collected through semi-structured, in-depth telephone interviews with 30 Venezuelan women, 10 healthcare workers, and two Ministry of Health officials.

Results: Based on the experiences of Venezuelan women who sought care through these services during 2019-2020 and the perspectives of healthcare personnel and health authorities, we present an analysis of the public health services' capacity and limitations in meeting the sexual and reproductive health needs of this population.

Stakeholder perceptions on scaling-up community-led interventions for prevention and control of non-communicable diseases in Bangladesh: a qualitative study.

Background: Engaging communities is an important component of multisectoral action to address the growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in low- and middle-income countries. We conducted research with non-communicable disease stakeholders in Bangladesh to understand how a community-led intervention which was shown to reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes in rural Bangladesh could be scaled-up.

Methods: We purposively sampled any actor who could have an interest in the intervention, or that could affect or be affected by the intervention.

Changes in non-communicable diseases, diet and exercise in a rural Bangladesh setting before and after the first wave of COVID-19.

Prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is high in rural Bangladesh. Given the complex multi-directional relationships between NCDs, COVID-19 infections and control measures, exploring pandemic impacts in this context is important. We conducted two cross-sectional surveys of adults ≥30-years in rural Faridpur district, Bangladesh, in February to March 2020 (survey 1, pre-COVID-19), and January to March 2021 (survey 2, post-lockdown).

Technical efficiency of national HIV/AIDS spending in 78 countries between 2010 and 2018: A data envelopment analysis.

HIV/AIDS remains a leading global cause of disease burden, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In 2020, more than 80% of all people living with HIV (PLHIV) lived in LMICs. While progress has been made in extending coverage of HIV/AIDS services, only 66% of all PLHIV were virally suppressed at the end of 2020.

Economic evaluation of a conditional cash transfer to retain women in the continuum of care during pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period in Kenya.

There is limited evidence on the cost and cost-effectiveness of cash transfer programmes to improve maternal and child health in Kenya and other sub-Saharan African countries. This article presents the economic evaluation results of the Afya trial, assessing the costs, cost-effectiveness and equity impact of a demand-side financing intervention that promotes utilisation of maternal health services in rural Kenya. The cost of implementing the Afya intervention was estimated from a provider perspective.

Community participatory learning and action cycle groups to reduce type 2 diabetes in Bangladesh (D:Clare): an updated study protocol for a parallel arm cluster randomised controlled trial.

The "Diabetes: Community-led Awareness, Response and Evaluation" (D:Clare) trial aims to scale up and replicate an evidence-based participatory learning and action cycle intervention in Bangladesh, to inform policy on population-level T2DM prevention and control.The trial was originally designed as a stepped-wedge cluster randomised controlled trial, with the interventions running from March 2020 to September 2022. Twelve clusters were randomly allocated (1:1) to implement the intervention at months 1 or 12 in two steps, and evaluated through three cross-sectional surveys at months 1, 12 and 24.

Intermediate hyperglycaemia, diabetes and blood pressure in rural Bangladesh: five-year post-randomisation follow-up of the DMagic cluster-randomised controlled trial.

Background: The DMagic trial showed that participatory learning and action (PLA) community mobilisation delivered through facilitated community groups, and mHealth voice messaging interventions improved diabetes knowledge in Bangladesh and the PLA intervention reduced diabetes occurrence. We assess intervention effects three years after intervention activities stopped.

Methods: Five years post-randomisation, we conducted a cross-sectional survey among a random sample of adults aged ≥30-years living in the 96 DMagic villages, and a cohort of individuals identified with intermediate hyperglycaemia at the start of the DMagic trial in 2016.

Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial of a virtual antenatal intervention for improved diet and iron intake in Kapilvastu district, Nepal: VALID.

Introduction: Despite evidence that iron and folic acid (IFA) supplements can improve anaemia in pregnant women, uptake in Nepal is suboptimal. We hypothesised that providing virtual counselling twice in mid-pregnancy, would increase compliance to IFA tablets during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with antenatal care (ANC alone.

Methods And Analysis: This non-blinded individually randomised controlled trial in the plains of Nepal has two study arms: (1) control: routine ANC; and (2) 'Virtual' antenatal counselling plus routine ANC.

School-based group interpersonal therapy for adolescents with depression in rural Nepal: a mixed methods study exploring feasibility, acceptability, and cost.

Background: Adolescents with depression need access to culturally relevant psychological treatment. In many low- and middle-income countries treatments are only accessible to a minority. We adapted group interpersonal therapy (IPT) for adolescents to be delivered through schools in Nepal.

Implementation of the Afya conditional cash transfer intervention to retain women in the continuum of care: a mixed-methods process evaluation.

Objectives: We report the results of a mixed-methods process evaluation that aimed to provide insight on the Afya conditional cash transfer (CCT) intervention fidelity and acceptability.

Intervention, Setting And Participants: The Afya CCT intervention aimed to retain women in the continuum of maternal healthcare including antenatal care (ANC), delivery at facility and postnatal care (PNC) in Siaya County, Kenya. The cash transfers were delivered using an electronic card reader system at health facilities.