A toolkit for planning and implementing acute febrile illness (AFI) surveillance.

Acute febrile illness (AFI) is a broad clinical syndrome with a wide range of potential infectious etiologies. The lack of accessible, standardized approaches to conducting AFI etiologic investigations has contributed to significant global gaps in data on the epidemiology of AFI. Based on lessons learned from years of supporting AFI sentinel surveillance worldwide, the U.

Widowhood and cognition among older women in India: New insights on widowhood duration and mediators.

Background: Widowhood, a marital status that disproportionately affects older women, has been associated with poorer health compared to married individuals. However, relatively little is known about the association between widowhood in later-life and cognitive health in low- and middle-income countries.

Methods: To address this research gap, we used data from the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (2017-19) to investigate the widowhood disparity in cognitive health among mid-aged and older women in India, including how this relationship varies by the duration of widowhood.

Association of Health Insurance Literacy with Health Care Utilization: a Systematic Review.

Background: Given increasing numbers of people experiencing transitions in health insurance due to declines in employer-sponsored insurance and changes in health policy, the understanding and application of health insurance terms and concepts (health insurance literacy) may be important for navigating use of health care. The study objective was to systematically review evidence on the relationship between health insurance literacy and health care utilization.

Methods: Medline, SCOPUS, Web of Science, CINAHL, PsychInfo, Cochrane Library, and reference lists of published literature were searched in August 2019.

Hypertension and Cognitive Health Among Older Adults in India.

Objectives: To assess the prevalence of diagnosed and undiagnosed hypertension and their relationship to cognitive function in older adults in India.

Design: Longitudinal Aging Study in India-Diagnostic Assessment of Dementia (LASI-DAD), an in-depth national study of late-life cognition and dementia.

Setting: Geriatric hospitals and respondents' homes across 14 states in India.

Expanding choice and access in contraception: an assessment of intrauterine contraception policies in low and middle-income countries.

Background: Globally 214 million women of reproductive age in developing regions have unmet needs in modern contraceptives. Intrauterine contraception (IUC) is highly effective, has few medical contraindications, low discontinuation, and is a low cost modern contraceptive method. However, there is relatively low use of IUDs in LMICs.

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to family planning and gender equity among husbands of adolescent girls in Niger.

Despite having the highest fertility rate in the world, research on Niger men and family planning (FP) is limited. We collected survey data collected in the Dosso region of Niger in 2016 from 1136 men who are the husbands of adolescent girls. We report descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariable logistic regression on three dichotomous outcomes: (a) knowledge of modern contraceptives, (b) beliefs that only husbands should make FP decisions, and (c) current FP use.

The Health and Retirement Study Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol Project: Study Design and Methods.

Introduction: The Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) Project is a substudy within the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), an ongoing nationally representative panel study of about 20,000 adults aged 51 or older in the United States. The HCAP is part of an international research collaboration funded by the National Institute on Aging to better measure and identify cognitive impairment and dementia in representative population-based samples of older adults, in the context of ongoing longitudinal studies of aging in high-, middle-, and low-income countries around the world.

Methods: The HCAP cognitive test battery was designed to measure a range of key cognitive domains affected by cognitive aging (including attention, memory, executive function, language, and visuospatial function) and to allow harmonization and comparisons to other studies in the United States and around the world.

The logistics of voucher management: the underreported component in family planning voucher discussions.

Background: The purpose of health care vouchers or coupons is to receive a health service in exchange which is fully or partially subsidized, such as any treatment offered for communicable disease; for immunization; antenatal care-/postnatal care-related maternal health services; a family planning (FP) service; or to get a health commodity like a medicine. Vouchers are targeted for a group of people who can benefit the most such as on the basis of poverty ranking, marginalized or living in rural areas. According to the World Health Organization, voucher schemes in the area of sexual and reproductive health are considered of high value if they are implemented to address the issues of contraceptive commodity or service unavailability or to address the barriers to access such services through contracting out health services, for example, through social franchising (SF).

Assessment of Family Planning Service Availability and Readiness in 10 African Countries.

Background: Access to family planning services and appropriate contraceptive methods is crucial for ensuring good health outcomes for women and adolescent girls. The World Health Organization worked with the U.S.

Contraception supply chain challenges: a review of evidence from low- and middle-income countries.

Purpose: To identify and assess factors determining the functioning of supply chain systems for modern contraception in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and to identify challenges contributing to contraception stockouts that may lead to unmet need.

Materials And Methods: Scientific databases and grey literature were searched including Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE), PubMed, MEDLINE, POPLINE, CINAHL, Academic Search Complete, Science Direct, Web of Science, Cochrane Central, Google Scholar, WHO databases and websites of key international organisations.

Results: Studies indicated that supply chain system inefficiencies significantly affect availability of modern FP and contraception commodities in LMICs, especially in rural public facilities where distribution barriers may be acute.