Value is Gendered: The Need for Sex and Gender Considerations in Health Economic Evaluations.

Economic evaluations play a crucial role in health resource allocation by assessing the costs and effects of various interventions. However, existing methodologies often overlook significant differences related to sex and gender, leading to a 'blind spot' in understanding patient heterogeneity. This paper highlights how biological and social factors influence costs and health outcomes differently for women, emphasising the need for a more explicit consideration of these differences in economic evaluations to ensure efficient and equitable resource allocation.

Mental health is just an Addendum: Assessing stakeholder's perceptions on COVID-19 and mental health services provision in Malawi.

Introduction: The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a pandemic in March 2020. COVID-19 has since caused a significant increase in mental health problems at national and global levels. This study assessed the views of key mental health stakeholders regarding the state of mental health service provision in Malawi and the pandemic's impact on the sector.

The mental health toll among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Malawi.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the mental health of healthcare workers worldwide, with frontline personnel experiencing heightened rates of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress. This mixed-methods study aimed to assess the mental health toll of COVID-19 on healthcare workers in Malawi. A cross-sectional survey utilising the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and Primary Care PTSD Screen for DSM-5 (PC-PTSD-5) was conducted among 109 frontline healthcare workers.

Female Genital Mutilation and Sexual Risk Behaviors of Adolescent Girls and Young Women Aged 15-24 Years: Evidence From Sierra Leone.

Purpose: Considering the high levels of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Sierra Leone with over 83% of girls and young women aged 15-24 years having undergone the practice, the study explores the potential influence of FGM on sexual behaviors of adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in Sierra Leone.

Methods: Cross-sectional data from the 2019 Demographic Health Survey were utilized to examine the association between FGM and three sexual behaviors; sexual debut before 18 years, child marriage and adolescent motherhood. To model this association, a generalized estimation equation technique was employed, while controlling for socio-demographic characteristics.

Can women's reports in client exit interviews be used to measure and track progress of antenatal care services quality? Evidence from a facility assessment census in Malawi.

Introduction: Unlike household surveys, client exit interviews are conducted immediately after a consultation and therefore provides an opportunity to capture routine performance and level of service quality. This study examines the validity and reliability of women's reports on selected ANC interventions in exit interviews conducted in Malawi.

Methods: Using data from the 2013-2014 Malawi service provision facility census, we compared women's reports in exit interviews regarding the contents of ANC received with reports obtained through direct observation by a trained healthcare professional.

Developing Malawi's Universal Health Coverage Index.

The inclusion of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in the Sustainable Development Goals (target 3.8) cemented its position as a key global health priority and highlighted the need to measure it, and to track progress over time. In this study, we aimed to develop a summary measure of UHC for Malawi which will act as a baseline for tracking UHC index between 2020 and 2030.

The world is coming to an end! COVID-19, depression, and anxiety among adolescents in Malawi.

Introduction: This paper assessed the effects of Covid-19 on adolescent mental health in Malawi. There is minimal research on adolescent mental health in Africa, Malawi in particular. The study shows a link between the pandemic and mental health.

Covid-19 and mental health in Malawi.

This paper investigates the centrality of in mental health conception and treatment in Malawi. is an African philosophical worldview which stresses that an individual is human as they relate to others, as in the saying Its communitarian approach contrasts with a predominantly western individualistic worldview; There are spelling variations of the word across Bantu languages, including (Congo), (Angola); (Malawi); (Mozambique); (South Africa); (Zimbabwe); (Tanzania); and (Uganda). Literature shows that if embraced and advocated for, plays a positive and influential role in mainstreaming and dealing with mental health issues in communitarian societies where the ideals are part of the social fabric.

A spatial analysis of out-of-pocket payments for healthcare in Malawi.

Out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditures on health remain high in many low- and middle-income countries despite policy efforts aiming to reduce these health costs by targeting their hotspots. Hotspot targeting remains inadequate, particularly where the OOP expenditures are related across geographic regions due to unequal demand, supply and prices of healthcare services. In this paper, we investigate the existence of geographical correlations in OOP health expenditures by employing a spatial Durbin model on data from 778 clusters obtained from the 2016 Malawi's Integrated Household Survey.

Examining the impact of WHO's Focused Antenatal Care policy on early access, underutilisation and quality of antenatal care services in Malawi: a retrospective study.

Background: A variety of antenatal care models have been implemented in low and middle-income countries over the past decades, as proposed by the World Health Organisation (WHO). One such model is the 2001 Focused Antenatal Care (FANC) programme. FANC recommended a minimum of four visits for women with uncomplicated pregnancies and emphasised quality of care to improve both maternal and neonatal outcomes.

Impoverishing effects of catastrophic health expenditures in Malawi.

Background: Out of pocket (OOP) health spending can potentially expose households to risk of incurring large medical bills, and this may impact on their welfare. This work investigates the effect of catastrophic OOP on the incidence and depth of poverty in Malawi.

Methods: The paper is based on data that was collected from 12,271 households that were interviewed during the third Malawi integrated household survey (IHS-3).