Prevalence of renal insufficiency and factors associated among selected cancer patients on chemotherapy at Ocean Road Cancer Institute in Tanzania: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Cancer is among the leading cause of death worldwide. Chemotherapy is commonly used in cancer management and among the challenges in managing cancer patients is renal insufficiency (RI), which can be due to cancer or anticancer treatment and can be potentiated by different factors. Data regarding the prevalence of RI and associated factors in Tanzania is scanty.

Correction: Sexual violence against migrants and asylum seekers. The experience of the MSF clinic on Lesvos Island, Greece.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Southern Ethiopian skilled birth attendant variations and maternal mortality: A multilevel study of a population-based cross-sectional household survey.

Studies examining skilled birth attendants (SBA) use and its correlation with maternal mortality at lower administrative levels are scarce. This study assessed the coverage and variations of SBA, the physical accessibility of health facilities for SBA, and the association of SBA with maternal mortality. A cross-sectional study using a population-based household survey was conducted in six Sidama National Regional State, southern Ethiopia districts, from July 2019 to May 2020.

Reduction in maternal mortality ratio varies by district in Sidama National Regional State, southern Ethiopia: Estimates by cross-sectional studies using the sisterhood method and a household survey of pregnancy and birth outcomes.

Background: Few studies assess the magnitude, variations, and reduction of maternal mortality at a lower administrative level. This study was conducted to estimate the life time risk (LTR) of maternal death and the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) and assess the reduction in MMR.

Methods: This is a population-based cross-sectional study conducted in six districts of Sidama National Regional State, southern Ethiopia, from July 2019 to May 2020.

Prevalence and incidence of symptomatic pulmonary tuberculosis based on repeated population screening in a district in Ethiopia: a prospective cohort study.

Objective: In Ethiopia, one-third of the estimated tuberculosis cases are not detected or reported. Incidence estimates are inaccurate and rarely measured directly. Assessing the 'real' incidence under programme conditions is useful to understand the situation.

Prevention of bronchial fistulas after pneumonectomies for selected cavitary drug resistant lung tuberculosis.

Background: The World Health Organization guidelines for management drug resistant tuberculosis include surgery as an additional method in selected cases. Pneumonectomies have higher risk of morbidity such as bronchial fistulas which may be prevented by bronchial stump covering. We compare two methods of bronchial stump reinforcement.

Variation in maternal mortality in Sidama National Regional State, southern Ethiopia: A population based cross sectional household survey.

Introduction: Maternal mortality studies conducted at national level do not provide information needed for planning and monitoring health programs at lower administrative levels. The aim of this study was to measure maternal mortality, identify risk factors and district level variations in Sidama National Regional State, southern Ethiopia.

Methods: A cross sectional population-based survey was carried in households where women reported pregnancy and birth outcomes in the past five years.

Birth weight was associated with maternal exposure to intimate partner violence during pregnancy in southern Ethiopia: A prospective cohort study.

Introduction: Birth weight is defined as the first weight of the newborn, ideally measured soon after birth. A recent Ethiopian survey estimated that 48% of births took place in health facilities. Data for women exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) may be lacking in official statistics because these women may prefer to deliver at home, where data from non-institutional births, including reporting of birth weights, are not routinely recorded.

Does distance to healthcare facility affect care-seeking for TB-related symptoms in Tanzania?

In high TB burden countries, delayed diagnosis remains a big challenge in TB control. The objective of this study is to assess the role of distance between residence and healthcare facility (HCF) on care-seeking among individuals with symptoms associated with pulmonary TB in Tanzania. In this cross-sectional study, using data from a national TB survey, coordinates of 300 (residential) sites within 62 clusters were obtained through Google searches and average distances to HCF were calculated per cluster.

Geographic accessibility to childhood tuberculosis care in Pakistan.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) in children is difficult to detect and often needs specialists to diagnose; the health system is supposed to refer to higher level of health care when diagnosis is not settled in a sick child. In Pakistan, the primary health care level can usually not diagnose childhood TB and will refer to a paediatricians working at a secondary or tertiary care hospital. We aimed to determine the health services access to child TB services in Pakistan.

Health Workers' Knowledge and Attitude Towards Intimate Partner Violence: A Descriptive Study in Sidama Region, Southern Ethiopia.

Background: It is important that health workers understand intimate partner violence (IPV) and its link with ill health. Increasing their awareness will help them play a stronger role in identifying survivors and providing appropriate health care. We assessed the knowledge and attitude of health workers towards IPV survivors taking into account their professional roles.

How many of persistent coughers have pulmonary tuberculosis? Population-based cohort study in Ethiopia.

Objective: Many individuals with persistent cough and smear microscopy-negative sputum test for tuberculosis (TB) remain at risk of developing the disease. This study estimates the incidence of pulmonary TB (PTB) among initially smear-negative persistent coughers and its risk factors.

Design: A prospective population-based follow-up study.

Mothers at risk of postpartum depression in Sri Lanka: A population-based study using a validated screening tool.

Background: Postpartum depression is an important public health concern. The prevalence of postpartum depression is estimated to be 18% worldwide. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of mothers at risk of postpartum depression in Sri Lanka and to investigate its associated risk factors.

Raising the Age of Purchase and Use of Tobacco Product in Bangladesh: Benefits and Challenges in Protecting Youth from the Tobacco Epidemic.

Background: Tobacco use among young and adolescents is the biggest threat to public health globally. In Bangladesh, every one in 14 youth (13-15 years) uses tobacco in some form. While this problem is growing in the country, we estimate the underage initiation of tobacco use and present evidence that policy measures like increasing the age of purchase and use from the current 18 years to 21 years in the country backed with current tobacco control efforts and adopting vendor licensing will significantly reduce future tobacco burden.

Association between cholera treatment outcome and nutritional status in children aged 2-4 years in Nigeria.

Setting: Cholera can aggravate or precipitate malnutrition, and children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) have a higher incidence and longer duration of diarrhoea.

Objective: To describe 1) characteristics of and treatment outcomes in children aged 2-4 years with cholera, 2) the case fatality rate (CFR) in all children treated, and 3) the associations between nutritional status, hydration status, treatment administered and hospital outcomes.

Design: An observational cohort study of children admitted to one cholera treatment centre in Maiduguri, Nigeria, with a focus on children aged 2-4 years.

Diagnosis of childhood tuberculosis in Pakistan: Are national guidelines used by private healthcare providers?

Background: The National Tuberculosis Control Program (NTP) in Pakistan developed, with the Pakistan Paediatric Association, a pediatric scoring chart to aid diagnosis of childhood tuberculosis (TB). Our study compared the diagnostic practice of private healthcare providers in Pakistan with the NTP guidelines.

Methods: A cross-sectional study comparing diagnosis of TB in children <15 years by Non-NTP private providers with the NTP's pediatric scoring chart.

Schistosomiasis in Norwegian students after travel to Africa.

Background: Schistosomiasis is a tropical infectious disease in which early diagnosis and treatment can prevent serious illness. This study examined the incidence and diagnosis of schistosomiasis in Norwegian exchange students who had been exposed to freshwater in Africa.

Material And Method: Students (n = 318) from Bergen and Oslo who had travelled to Africa as part of an exchange programme in the period 2003-18, were contacted and included in the study if they had been exposed to freshwater during their stay.

Extending contact screening within a 50-m radius of an index tuberculosis patient using Xpert MTB/RIF in urban Pakistan: Did it impact treatment outcomes?

Background: Pakistan implemented initiatives to detect tuberculosis (TB) patients through extended contact screening (ECS); it improved case detection but treatment outcomes need assessment.

Objectives: To compare treatment outcomes of pulmonary TB (PTB) patients detected by ECS with those detected by routine passive case finding (PCF).

Methods: A cohort study using secondary program data conducted in Lahore, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi districts and Islamabad in 2013-15.

How do private practitioners in Pakistan manage children suspected having tuberculosis? A cross sectional study.

Background: In Pakistan, private providers provide a large portion of health care, including for tuberculosis (TB). All TB patients are supposed to be reported to the National Tuberculosis Program (NTP), which provides drugs free of charge in addition to monitoring, supervision, and support. However, diagnosis of TB in children is difficult.

Caesarean section rates analysed using Robson's 10-Group Classification System: a cross-sectional study at a tertiary hospital in Ethiopia.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the caesarean section (CS) rates using Robson's 10-Group Classification System among women who gave birth at Hawassa University Referral Hospital in southern Ethiopia.

Design: Cross-sectional study design to determine CS rate using Robson's 10-Group Classification System.

Setting: Hawassa University Referral Hospital in south Ethiopia.

Sexual violence against migrants and asylum seekers. The experience of the MSF clinic on Lesvos Island, Greece.

Objectives: Sexual violence can have a destructive impact on the lives of people. It is more common in unstable conditions such as during displacement or migration of people. On the Greek island of Lesvos, Médecins Sans Frontières provided medical care to survivors of sexual violence among the population of asylum seekers.

An alumni study of a Master's in international health.

Objectives: The objective of the study was to clarify the reasons why students who graduated from a Master's programme in international health were joining the programme. Another objective was to document how the Master's degree had influenced the careers of the graduates.

Study Design: An online survey of students who graduated from a Master's programme in international health, including oral science, between 2010 and 2015.

Measuring and addressing the childhood tuberculosis reporting gaps in Pakistan: The first ever national inventory study among children.

Introduction: Tuberculosis in children may be difficult to diagnose and is often not reported to routine surveillance systems. Understanding and addressing the tuberculosis (TB) case detection and reporting gaps strengthens national routine TB surveillance systems.

Objective: The present study aimed to measure the percentage of childhood TB cases that are diagnosed but not reported to the national surveillance system in Pakistan.