Paper 1: Demand-driven rapid reviews for health policy and systems decision-making: lessons from Lebanon, Ethiopia, and South Africa on researchers and policymakers' experiences.

Background: Rapid reviews have emerged as an approach to provide contextualized evidence in a timely and efficient manner. Three rapid review centers were established in Ethiopia, Lebanon, and South Africa through the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, World Health Organization, to stimulate demand, engage policymakers, and produce rapid reviews to support health policy and systems decision-making. This study aimed to assess the experiences of researchers and policymakers engaged in producing and using rapid reviews for health systems strengthening and decisions towards universal health coverage (UHC).

Effectiveness of conditional cash transfers for uptake and retention in HIV prevention of mother-to-child transmission services in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review protocol.

Objective: This systematic review will identify and synthesize evidence on the effectiveness of conditional cash transfers for the uptake and retention in prevention of mother-to-child transmission services in pregnant and/or breastfeeding women with HIV infection in low- and middle-income countries.

Introduction: Regardless of the effectiveness of prevention of mother-to-child transmission services, uptake and retention in such services remains poor in low- and middle-income countries. This review intends to evaluate the effectiveness of conditional cash transfers in improving uptake and retention in such services for pregnant and/or breastfeeding women with HIV infection.

Progress in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) coverage and potential contribution to the decline in diarrhea and stunting in Ethiopia.

Inadequate safe water supply and poor sanitation and hygiene continue to be important risk factors for diarrhoea and stunting globally. We used data from the four rounds of the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey and applied the new World Health Organization (WHO)/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) service standards to assess progress in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) coverage between 2000 and 2016. We also performed an age-disaggregated pooled linear probability regression analysis followed by a decomposition analysis to determine whether changes in WASH practices have contributed to the changing prevalence of diarrhoea and stunting in children under 5 years of age.

Socio-cultural Beliefs and Practices Influencing Institutional Delivery Service Utilization in Three Communities of Ethiopia: A Qualitative Study.

Background: The influence of socio-cultural factors on institutional birth is not sufficiently documented in Ethiopia. Thus, this study explores socio-cultural beliefs and practices during childbirth and its influences on the utilization of institutional delivery services.

Methods: A qualitative study was conducted in three regions of Ethiopia through eight focus group discussions (with women) and thirty in-depth interviews with key informants which included health workers, community volunteers, and leaders.

Human resource capacity to effectively implement malaria elimination: a policy brief for Ethiopia.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate malaria elimination in Ethiopia. Ethiopia has planned to eliminate malaria by 2015 in areas of unstable malaria transmission and in the entire country by 2020. However, there is a shortage and maldistribution of the health workforce in general and malaria experts in particular.

Susceptibility of Anopheles gambiae s.l. to DDT, malathion, permethrin and deltamethrin in Ethiopia.

Objective: To assess the susceptibility/resistance level of Anopheles gambiae s.l. to DDT, malathion, permethrin and deltamethrin in different parts of Ethiopia.

Biting behavior and Plasmodium infection rates of Anopheles arabiensis from Sille, Ethiopia.

The man-biting behavior and Plasmodium infection rates of anopheline mosquitoes were investigated in Sille, a hyperendemic malarious area in southern Ethiopia. Seven Anopheles species were identified from all night landing collections, conducted from 18:00 to 06:00h between October 2001 and August 2002. The predominant species was Anopheles arabiensis (55.

Field trials on the repellent activity of four plant products against mainly Mansonia population in western Ethiopia.

The repellent activity of essential oils of lemon eucalyptus (Eucalyptus maculata citrodion), rue (Ruta chalepensis), oleoresin of pyrethrum (Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium) and neem (Azadiracta indica) have been field tested as 40%, 50% and 75% solutions in coconut oil against populations of mosquitoes consisting mainly of Mansonia in Gambella, western Ethiopia. A latin square design was used to randomize the test subjects for possible individual differences for mosquito attraction. Repellency was evaluated as the percentage protection.