A look back at the strike by Mozambican doctors in 2013: what can we learn?

Background: The occurrence of strikes in the health sector has been an increasing concern around the world, given their negative impact on the provision of services and care to patients. The Mozambican doctors' strike in 2013 2013 is considered by many to be the largest of a kind in the country's history, and marked the changes which are still a matter of debate. The aim of this study is to understand the causes, strategies and perceived impact of this strike from the perspective of the main actors involved, taking a look back at everything that happened, including the backstage and tense moments during the negotiations.

COVID-19 Vaccination Acceptance and Hesitancy in Healthcare Workers and the General Population: A Systematic Review and Policy Recommendations.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic challenged the scientific community to find and develop a vaccine to fight the disease. However, problems with achieving high vaccine coverage have emerged, even among high-risk groups such as healthcare workers (HCWs).

Objective: The objective of this study is to examine factors that influence HCW's and the general population's adherence to COVID-19 vaccination and national policies to vaccinate HCWs and other target groups.

Community participatory mapping of malaria mosquito breeding sites in Mozambique.

Background: The community involvement and the people's knowledge allow detailed information about the distribution, location, and identification of mosquito breeding-sites. Information which is fundamental for their efficient management and elimination. Since participatory mapping has proven to be an effective tool to identify health determinants, the study aimed to apply the methodology to identify and map potential mosquito breeding-sites in Tambai, Nhamatanda, Mozambique.

Post-independence health research productivity in Portuguese-speaking African countries: A bibliometric analysis of 43 years of research and higher education in Mozambique.

Background: Africa has a high double burden of infectious and non-communicable diseases underscoring the critical need for robust scientific research. However, it is also associated with low scientific research productivity. Mozambique, which gained independence in 1975, serves as a poignant example.

Impacts of industrial actions, protests, strikes and lockouts by health and care workers during COVID-19 and other pandemic contexts: a systematic review.

Background: Public health emergencies of international concern (PHEICs) as the COVID-19 pandemic and others that have occurred since the early 2000s put enormous pressure on health and care systems. This is being a context for protests by health and care workers (HCWs) because of additional workload, working conditions and effects on mental and physical health. In this paper, we intended to analyze the demands of HCWs associated with industrial actions, protests, strikes and lockouts (IAPSLs) which occurred during COVID-19 pandemic and other PHEICs; to identify the impact of these grievances; and describe the relevant interventions to address these IAPSLs.

Strikes of physicians and other health care workers in sub-Saharan African countries: a systematic review.

Introduction: Strikes in the health sector have been of growing concern, given their disruptive nature, negatively impacting the provision of health care and jeopardizing the well-being of patients. This study aims to identify the main actors, the reasons behind industrial actions protests, strikes and lockouts (IAPSL) in sub-Saharan African countries and their impact on health care workers (specifically doctors) and health services, as well as to identify the main strategies adopted to reduce their impact on healthcare services.

Methods: Studies published between January 2000 and December 2021 and archived in MEDLINE, Google Scholar, Scopus, ProQuest, and Science Direct were included.

Prioritization criteria in policies and management of human resources for health: a proposal for a validated methodology.

Objective: To create and validate criteria for prioritizing problems related to policies and management of the health workforce.

Methods: This methodological study was divided into three stages. First, the criteria were elaborated by means of a systematized literature review.

Health Education Initiatives for People Who Have Experienced Prison: A Narrative Review.

Due to the selectiveness of criminal systems and the context of social vulnerability, there is a high prevalence of health problems among individuals with a history of incarceration. When there is an insufficient level of health care, prior clinical conditions can worsen, and health education can be a response to this problem. Health education is a process of building health knowledge that is intended to facilitate thematic appropriation by the population that enables people to access, understand, and use health-related information for health improvement.

Impacts for health and care workers of Covid-19 and other public health emergencies of international concern: living systematic review, meta-analysis and policy recommendations.

Background: Health and care workers (HCW) faced the double burden of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: as members of a society affected by a public health emergency and as HWC who experienced fear of becoming infected and of infecting others, stigma, violence, increased workloads, changes in scope of practice, among others. To understand the short and long-term impacts in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic and other public health emergencies of international concern (PHEICs) on HCW and relevant interventions to address them, we designed and conducted a living systematic review (LSR).

Methods: We reviewed literature retrieved from MEDLINE-PubMed, Embase, SCOPUS, LILACS, the World Health Organization COVID-19 database, the ClinicalTrials.

Prevalence and factors related to anaemia in children aged 6-59 months attending a quaternary health facility in Maputo, Mozambique.

Globally, anaemia prevails as a public health issue, being also a concern in Mozambique, where about two-thirds of children 6-59 months of age are affected by this condition. We carried out this study to estimate anaemia prevalence and evaluate structural determinants and haematological parameters association among children aged 6-59 months attending pediatric inpatient and outpatient services in a Quaternary Health Facility in Maputo City Province, Mozambique. We collected data from 637 inpatients or outpatients who attended pediatric consultations at the Maputo Central Hospital.

Implementation of policy and management interventions to improve health and care workforce capacity to address the COVID-19 pandemic response: a systematic review.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted pre-existing weaknesses in health and care systems and services and shortages of health and care workers (HCWs). As a result, policymakers needed to adopt measures to improve the health and care workforce (HCWF) capacity. This review aims to identify countries' range of policies and management interventions implemented to improve HCWs' capacity to address the COVID-19 pandemic response, synthesize their evidence on effectiveness, and identify gaps in the evidence.

Policies and Management Interventions to Enhance Health and Care Workforce Capacity for Addressing the COVID-19 Pandemic: Protocol for a Living Systematic Review.

Background: Countries and health systems have had to make challenging resource allocation and capacity-building decisions to promote proper patient care and ensure health and care workers' safety and well-being, so that they can effectively address the present COVID-19 pandemic as well as upcoming public health problems and natural catastrophes. As innovations are already in place and updated evidence is published daily, more information is required to inform the development and implementation of policies and interventions to improve health and care workforce capacity to address the COVID-19 pandemic response.

Objective: The objective of this protocol review is to identify countries' range of experiences with policies and management interventions that can improve health and care workers' capacity to address the COVID-19 pandemic response and synthesize evidence on the effectiveness of the interventions.

Is workplace violence against health care workers in Mozambique gender related?

This report revisits data used to describe the typology and the perceived impact of violence against health care workers (VHCW) at the health services of the City of Lichinga in Mozambique, based on an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study, carried out from March to May 2019. In this report we attempt to understand if our reanalysis of VHCW in Niassa can explain it as an example of gender-based violence. Our findings-particularly that women more than men reported not knowing if the health services had any policies or procedures to deal with VHCW, felt that they were not encouraged to report acts of VHCW and were more frequently threatened/violented by different sex aggressors-although not conclusive, support the need to consider gender as a dimension when conducting research on VHCW.

Recreation and Alcohol Consumption in Sub-Saharan Africa: Addressing Gender and Age Differences in Urban Areas-Praia, Cabo Verde.

Background: Reducing alcohol consumption and improving urban planning in African cities are public health priorities. The aim of this study was to explore gender and age differences in recreational activity participation and its link with self-reported alcohol consumption in three urban areas of Praia.

Methods: A questionnaire was applied to a probabilistic sample of 1912 adults, with a median age of 35.

Anemia in Pregnant Women and Children Aged 6 to 59 Months Living in Mozambique and Portugal: An Overview of Systematic Reviews.

Introduction: Globally, anemia is still a public health issue faced by people in low and high-income countries. This study gives an overview of published scientific articles related to the prevalence, nutritional indicators, and social determinants of anemia in pregnant women and children aged 6 to 59 months living in Mozambique and Portugal.

Methods: We performed a review of scientific literature in April 2021, searching for published indexed articles in the last 15 years (2003-2018) in electronic databases.

Tuberculosis and Migrant Pathways in an Urban Setting: A Mixed-Method Case Study on a Treatment Centre in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, Portugal.

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease associated with poverty. In the European Union TB tends to concentrate in urban settings. In Lisbon, previous studies revealed, the presence of migrant populations from a high endemic country, is one of the risk factors contributing to TB.

The circuits of healthcare: Understanding healthcare seeking behaviour-A qualitative study with tuberculosis patients in Lisbon, Portugal.

Background: Understanding health delivery service from a patient´s perspective, including factors influencing healthcare seeking behaviour, is crucial when treating diseases, particularly infectious ones, like tuberculosis. This study aims to trace and contextualise the trajectories patients pursued towards diagnosis and treatment, while discussing key factors associated with treatment delays. Tuberculosis patients' pathways may serve as indicator of the difficulties the more vulnerable sections of society experience in obtaining adequate care.

Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Portuguese-Speaking Countries: A Structural Equations Modeling Approach.

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy (VH) has caused concerns due to the possible fluctuations that may occur directly impacting the control of the pandemic. In this study, we aimed to estimate the prevalence and factors associated with COVID-19 VH in Portuguese-speaking countries. We developed a web survey (N:6,843) using an online, structured, and validated questionnaire.

Mixed methods study protocol to explore acculturation, lifestyles and health of immigrants from the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries in two Iberian contexts: how to face uncertainties amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: Studies which focus on the process of acculturation in the lifestyles, nutritional status and health of immigrants from the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) in the Iberian Peninsula are still scarce. This study aims to explore the influence of the acculturation process and dietary acculturation on the lifestyle and nutritional and health status of CPLP immigrants in Portugal and Spain, focusing on two Iberian contexts: Lisbon Metropolitan Area and the Basque Country.

Methods And Analysis: A mixed methods sequential explanatory design, combining cross-sectional studies and semistructured interviews.

The Unlikely Saviour: Portugal's National Health System and the Initial Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic?

What is the impact of COVID-19 on Portugal's (SNS), the country's national health service? The story, still unfolding, has all the elements of a recipe for disaster: one of the most elderly populations in the world; a weakened SNS, the result of a litany of policies and interventions by the 'Troika' (the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund); a health care delivery system focused on non-communicable diseases and long-term care; the growing public distrust in public services, compared to private, hotel-like health care facilities. We are aware that these are still the early days of the epidemic, yet it is safe to say that algorithmic scenarios of doom and gloom have so far been averted. In the past six months of the pandemic, the level of trust of the Portuguese population in the SNS and its health personnel has significantly improved, while the government has started to provide additional funding and to work for the expansion of the public system.

Self-efficacy of health professionals in hand hygiene practice: is it possible to measure?

Objective: To identify in the literature the tools used to measure self-efficacy of health professionals in hand hygiene.

Methods: Integrative literature review carried out by consulting the databases PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Europe PubMed Central, and Science Direct using the descriptors Self Efficacy, Hand Hygiene, and Health Personnel.

Results: Six articles, all of which with observational design, were selected.

High Mobility and STIs/HIV among Women Informal Cross Border Traders in Southern Mozambique: Exploring Knowledge, Risk Perception, and Sexual Behaviors.

High circular mobility creates vulnerability and elevates risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). We aim to explore knowledge, perceptions of risk, and sexual behaviors in relation to STIs/HIV, in Mozambican women involved in an informal cross border trade (ICBT) and residing in South Mozambique. A cross-sectional quantitative study, in 200 women cross border traders (WICBT), affiliated to the Association, using a structured, face-to-face questionnaire, was conducted.

"Get us partnerships!" - a qualitative study of Angolan and Mozambican health academics' experiences with North/South partnerships.

Background: Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 17 focuses on North/South partnerships for sustainable development. Literature on research partnerships and capacity -building often neglects how these processes are carried out in practice, their social impacts and participants' subjective experiences. Recognizing the increasingly global dimensions of Higher Education Institutions, the University Development and Innovation - Africa project (UDI-A) was designed to train lecturers and administrative staff of Angolan and Mozambican Universities through collaborations with European institutions, aiming at strengthening African academic and social landscapes through knowledge translation and dissemination.

What happens when we modify mosquitoes for disease prevention? A systematic review.

The release of modified mosquitoes to suppress/replace vectors constitutes a promising tool for vector control and disease prevention. Evidence regarding these innovative modification techniques is scarce and disperse. This work conducted a systematic review, gathering and analysing research articles from PubMed and Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde databases whose results report efficacy and non-target effects of using modified insects for disease prevention, until 2016.

Towards post-colonial capacity-building methodologies - some remarks on the experiences of health researchers from Mozambique and Angola.

This paper analyzes capacity building in practice, addressing the expectations, imaginaries and experiences of health researchers from Mozambique and Angola. The empirical data stems from the Erasmus+ funded project "University Development and Innovation - Africa (UDI-A)", a consortium established between European and African institutions to promote the mobility and empowerment of African academics, the establishment of North/South research partnerships and the strengthening of African institutions. Through qualitative research methods - semi-structured interviews and a focus group with African participants, and participant observation - this article analyzes the experiences of African academics working in the health field, their perceptions of capacity building and aspirations during their stay in Portugal in 2018.