Lessons learned from COVID-19 modelling efforts for policy decision-making in lower- and middle-income countries.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic had devastating health and socioeconomic effects, partly due to policy decisions to mitigate them. Little evidence exists of approaches that guided decisions in settings with limited pre-pandemic modelling capacity. We thus sought to identify knowledge translation mechanisms, enabling factors and structures needed to effectively translate modelled evidence into policy decisions.

Women's autonomy and maternal health decision making in Kenya: implications for service delivery reform - a qualitative study.

Background: Maternal and neonatal outcomes in, Kakamega County is characterized by a maternal mortality rate of 316 per 100,000 live births and a neonatal mortality rate of 19 per 1,000 live births. In 2018, approximately 70,000 births occurred in the county, with 35% at home, 28% in primary care facilities, and 37% in hospitals. A maternal and child health service delivery redesign (SDR) that aims to reorganize maternal and newborn health services is being implemented in Kakamega County in Kenya to improve the progress of these indicators.

The effectiveness of combined approaches towards improving utilisation of adolescent sexual and reproductive health services in Kenya: a quasi-experimental evaluation.

Adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) services are key to improving the health of adolescents. This study aimed to establish the effectiveness of an intervention that combined activities in health facilities and communities in Kenya to increase utilisation of ASRH services. A quasi-experimental evaluation design was used to assess the effectiveness of the intervention.

Not just surveys and indicators: narratives capture what really matters for health system strengthening.

Health system strengthening remains elusive and challenging. Health systems in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa are frequently characterised as weak, with inadequate management and accountability mechanisms, and poor human and financial resources. Putting patients and staff at the heart of health systems is an essential step towards strengthening them.

Exploring potential risk pathways with high risk groups for urban Rift Valley fever virus introduction, transmission, and persistence in two urban centers of Kenya.

Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is a zoonotic arbovirus that has profound impact on domestic ruminants and can also be transmitted to humans via infected animal secretions. Urban areas in endemic regions across Africa have susceptible animal and human hosts, dense vector distributions, and source livestock (often from high risk locations to meet the demand for animal protein). Yet, there has never been a documented urban outbreak of RVF.