Mapping Evidence on the Burden of Breast, Cervical, and Prostate Cancers in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Scoping Review.

Background: Cancer remains a major public health problem, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where the provision of health care is poor. This scoping review mapped evidence in the literature regarding the burden of cervical, breast and prostate cancers in SSA.

Methods: We conducted this scoping review using the Arksey and O'Malley framework, with five steps: identifying the research question; searching for relevant studies; selecting studies; charting the data; and collating, summarizing, and reporting the data.

Prevalence and factors associated with self-reported HIV testing among adolescent girls and young women in Rwanda: evidence from 2019/20 Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey.

Background: HIV/AIDS remains a major public health problem globally. The majority of people living with HIV are from Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) aged 15-24 years. HIV testing is crucial as it is the gateway to HIV prevention, treatment, and care; therefore this study determined the prevalence and factors associated with self-reported HIV testing among AGYW in Rwanda.

Protocol for updated systematic review and meta-analysis on the burden of non-communicable diseases among people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa.

Introduction: Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is faced with the dual epidemics of HIV/AIDS and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes and mental illnesses are the five major NCDs, causing death globally with low-income and middle-income countries, contributing 78% of all NCD deaths and 85% of premature deaths. There has been increased interest in the integration of HIV and NCDs care, especially in SSA that accounts for 55% of people living with HIV (PLHIV) globally.

Tuberculosis patients at the human-animal interface: Potential zooanthroponotic and zoonotic transmission.

Background: Human-to-animal transmission of reported in South Africa but there is a paucity of epidemiological data. The aim of this One Health manuscript is to describe zooanthroponotic exposure of domestic animals to TB patients, virtually all of whom had laboratory confirmed pulmonary disease.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was nested within two TB contact tracing studies and collected data from 2017 to 2019.

HIV-related stigma and universal testing and treatment for HIV prevention and care: design of an implementation science evaluation nested in the HPTN 071 (PopART) cluster-randomized trial in Zambia and South Africa.

Background: Stigma and discrimination related to HIV and key populations at high risk of HIV have the potential to impede the implementation of effective HIV prevention and treatment programmes at scale. Studies measuring the impact of stigma on these programmes are rare. We are conducting an implementation science study of HIV-related stigma in communities and health settings within a large, pragmatic cluster-randomized trial of a universal testing and treatment intervention for HIV prevention in Zambia and South Africa and will assess how stigma affects, and is affected by, implementation of this intervention.

The Second Zambian National Tuberculosis Drug Resistance survey - a comparison of conventional and molecular methods.

Objective: The prevalence of MDR-TB in Zambia was estimated to be 1.8% in 2001. A second drug resistance survey was conducted in 2008 to determine trends; the use of the Genotype MTBDRplus assay was applied to compare results to the gold standard.

Implementation Research to Inform the Use of Xpert MTB/RIF in Primary Health Care Facilities in High TB and HIV Settings in Resource Constrained Settings.

Background: The current cost of Xpert MTB RIF (Xpert) consumables is such that algorithms are needed to select which patients to prioritise for testing with Xpert.

Objective: To evaluate two algorithms for prioritisation of Xpert in primary health care settings in a high TB and HIV burden setting.

Method: Consecutive, presumptive TB patients with a cough of any duration were offered either Xpert or Fluorescence microscopy (FM) test depending on their CXR score or HIV status.

The sensitivity and specificity of using a computer aided diagnosis program for automatically scoring chest X-rays of presumptive TB patients compared with Xpert MTB/RIF in Lusaka Zambia.

Objective: To determine the sensitivity and specificity of a Computer Aided Diagnosis (CAD) program for scoring chest x-rays (CXRs) of presumptive tuberculosis (TB) patients compared to Xpert MTB/RIF (Xpert).

Method: Consecutive presumptive TB patients with a cough of any duration were offered digital CXR, and opt out HIV testing. CXRs were electronically scored as normal (CAD score ≤ 60) or abnormal (CAD score > 60) using a CAD program.

Sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility of the Capilia TB-Neo assay.

The performance of the Capilia TB-Neo assay, a new-generation assay, was assessed by determining its sensitivity, specificity, reproducibility, and cross-reaction with contaminating organisms. The sensitivity and specificity were 99.2 and 96.

The effects of HIV on the sensitivity of a whole blood IFN-gamma release assay in Zambian adults with active tuberculosis.

Background: Interferon gamma release assays (IGRA) are replacing the tuberculin skin test (TST) as a diagnostic tool for Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. However research into the test's performance in the high HIV-TB burden setting is scarce. This study aimed to define the sensitivity of an IGRA, QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QGIT), in adult Zambian patients with active smear-positive tuberculosis.