Prevalence and risk factors of hypertension in Mauritius: A cross-sectional study.

Hypertension, a highly prevalent non-communicable disease is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. In the Republic of Mauritius, the growing number of elderly people along with a rise in overweight and obese populations indicate a looming increase in hypertension prevalence. Given its profound burden on the population and economy, updated insights into the burden and determinants of hypertension in Mauritius is crucial for developing interventions aimed at prevention, management and identifying of at-risk groups.

Has stakeholder participation in health facility governing committees promoted social accountability? A qualitative study in Tanzania.

Background: Since the 1990s, Tanzania has actively encouraged stakeholder participation in health services through Health Facility Governing Committees (HFGCs) to promote social accountability within its broader health system reforms. While previous studies have explored the functionality of the HFGCs, this study aimed to understand whether stakeholder participation in the HFGCs contributes to promoting social accountability in the health system.

Methods: Between July and October 2022, a qualitative study in two districts of Tanzania was carried out.

Collaborative dynamics and shared motivation: exploring tobacco control policy development in Zambia.

In Zambia, efforts to produce a tobacco control policy have stalled for over a decade, and the country is not yet close to developing one. Limited studies have explored the dynamics in this policy process and how they affect the attainment of policy goals and outcomes. This study explored how collaborative dynamics within tobacco control policy development shaped shared motivation among stakeholders in Zambia.

Assessing community awareness and participation in health facility governing committees in two districts of Tanzania: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Tanzania has been promoting community participation in health, either directly or through health facility governing committees (HFGCs), as part of its wider, ongoing health system reforms since the 1990s. Although some studies have assessed the functioning of the HFGCs, little is known about community knowledge and involvement in their activities.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey assessing community awareness and participation in HFGCs was conducted between July and October 2022, involving two rural districts of Tanzania, which were selected based on their performance: Handeni, showing low performance and Mbarali, high performance.

Refraining from seeking dental care among the Sámi in Sweden: a cross-sectional study.

Background: While equity in health care is the core of the Swedish health system, social inequalities in accessing health care, particularly regarding dental care, exist. There is however no information on how the Sámi population is affected. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and risk factors for refraining from seeking dental care among the Sámi in Sweden.

The transmission of social inequalities through economic difficulties and lifestyle factors on body mass index: An intersectional mediation analysis in the Swedish population.

Body mass index (BMI) has increased in Sweden, disproportionally for socially disadvantaged groups, including women, low-educated, and immigrants, who may also face economic constraints, physical inactivity, and poor-quality diets. Intersectional public health research aims to unravel such complex social inequalities, but the intersectional transmission of inequalities to BMI remains unexplored. We aimed to examine intersectional inequalities in BMI mediated by economic strain and health-related lifestyle in the Swedish population.

Evaluating the impact of the 2010 Swedish choice reform in primary health care on avoidable hospitalization and socioeconomic inequities: an interrupted time series analysis using register data.

Background: The Swedish Primary Health Care (PHC) system has, like in other European countries, undergone a gradual transition towards marketization and privatization, most distinctly through a 2010 choice reform. The reform led to an overall but regionally heterogenous expansion of private PHC providers in Sweden, and with evidence also pointing to possible inequities in various aspects of PHC provision. Evidence on the reform's impact on population-level primary health care performance and equity in performance remains scarce.

Did the COVID-19 quarantine policies applied in Cochabamba, Bolivia mitigated cases successfully? an interrupted time series analysis.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic prompted varied policy responses globally, with Latin America facing unique challenges. A detailed examination of these policies' impacts on health systems is crucial, particularly in Bolivia, where information about policy implementation and outcomes is limited.

Objective: To describe the COVID-19 testing trends and evaluate the effects of quarantine measures on these trends in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

Sámi community perspectives on the COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed methods case study in Arctic Sweden.

The COVID-19 pandemic posed a grave threat not only to Indigenous people's health and well-being, but also to Indigenous communities and societies. This applies also to the Indigenous peoples of the Arctic, where unintentional effects of public health actions to mitigate the spread of virus may have long-lasting effects on vulnerable communities. This study aim was to identify and describe Sámi perspectives on how the Sámi society in Sweden was specifically affected by the pandemic and associated public health actions during 2020-2021.

Prevalence and social determinants of smoking among men in Mauritius: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Mauritius has implemented a range of stringent policies to control smoking and promote public health. Regular monitoring focuses on the prevalence of tobacco use, yet there is a gap in understanding its socio-economic patterns.

Objective: The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of tobacco smoking and to identify the social determinants associated with smoking among men in Mauritius in 2021.

Diverse methodological approaches to a Circumpolar multi-site case study which upholds and responds to local and Indigenous community research processes in the Arctic.

This paper outlines the methodological approaches to a multi-site Circumpolar case study exploring the impacts of COVID-19 on Indigenous and remote communities in 7 of 8 Arctic countries. Researchers involved with the project implemented a three-phase multi-site case study to assess the positive and negative societal outcomes associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in Arctic communities from 2020 to 2023. The goal of the multi-site case study was to identify community-driven models and evidence-based promising practices and recommendations that can help inform cohesive and coordinated public health responses and protocols related to future public health emergencies in the Arctic.

Embodiment of discrimination: a cross-sectional study of threats, humiliating treatment and ethnic discrimination in relation to somatic health complaints among Sámi in Sweden.

Background: Ethnic discrimination is acknowledged as a social determinant of health for Indigenous populations worldwide. This study aimed to investigate embodiment of perceived ethnic discrimination among the Sámi population in Sweden.

Methods: A population-based health study was conducted among the Sámi population aged 18-84 years in 2021.

A novel application of interrupted time series analysis to identify the impact of a primary health care reform on intersectional inequities in avoidable hospitalizations in the adult Swedish population.

Primary health care (PHC) systems are a crucial instrument for achieving equitable population health, but there is little evidence of how PHC reforms impact equities in population health. In 2010, Sweden implemented a reform that promoted marketization and privatization of PHC. The present study uses a novel integration of intersectionality-informed and evaluative epidemiological analytical frameworks to disentangle the impact of the 2010 Swedish PHC reform on intersectional inequities in avoidable hospitalizations.

Public health restrictions, directives, and measures in Arctic countries in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beginning January of 2020, COVID-19 cases detected in Arctic countries triggered government policy responses to stop transmission and limit caseloads beneath levels that would overwhelm existing healthcare systems. This review details the various restrictions, health mandates, and transmission mitigation strategies imposed by governments in eight Arctic countries (the United States, Canada, Greenland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, and Russia) during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, through 31 January 2021s31 January 2021. We highlight formal protocols and informal initiatives adopted by local communities in each country, beyond what was mandated by regional or national governments.

Explaining gender inequalities in overweight people: a Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition analysis in northern Sweden.

Background: Being overweight and obesity are considered serious public health concerns worldwide. At the population level, factors contributing to overweight as well as the differences in overweight between men and women in terms of prevalence or associated factors are relatively well-known. What is less known is what explains the inequalities in overweight between men and women.

Social determinants of self-reported oral health among Sámi in Sweden.

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of poor self-reported oral health and to identify socio-demographic, socio-economic and cultural-related risk factors associated with poor oral health among Sámi in Sweden.

Methods: A Sámi sample frame was constructed drawing from three pre-existing registers. All identified persons aged 18-84 were invited to participate in the study during February-May 2021.

"Overcrowded but lonely": exploring mental health and well-being among young prisoners in Cambodia.

Purpose: Young prisoners are one of the most vulnerable groups in society for mental health problems and ill-being. Therefore, there is a crucial need to understand their physical, psychological and social situations. This study aims to explore young Cambodian prisoners' experiences and perceptions of mental health and well-being, their determinants and their coping strategies.

Role of health facility governing committees in strengthening social accountability to improve the health system in Tanzania: protocol for a participatory action research study.

Introduction: Social accountability is important for improving the delivery of health services and empowering citizens. The government of Tanzania has transferred authority to plan, budget and manage financial resources to the lower health facilities since 2017. Health facility governing committees (HFGCs) therefore play a pivotal role in ensuring social accountability.

Socioeconomic and geographical inequalities in health care coverage in Mozambique: a repeated cross-sectional study of the 2015 and 2018 national surveys.

Background: Over the past years, Mozambique has implemented several initiatives to ensure equitable coverage to health care services. While there have been some achievements in health care coverage at the population level, the effects of these initiatives on social inequalities have not been analysed.

Objective: The present study aimed to assess changes in socioeconomic and geographical inequalities (education, wealth, region, place of residence) in health care coverage between 2015 and 2018 in Mozambique.

Prevalence and factors associated with healthcare avoidance during the COVID-19 pandemic among the Sámi in Sweden: the SámiHET study.

The aim of this population-based cross-sectional study was to assess the prevalence of healthcare avoidance during the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated factors among the Sámi population in Sweden. Data from the "Sámi Health on Equal Terms" (SámiHET) survey conducted in 2021 were used. Overall, 3,658 individuals constituted the analytical sample.

The role of principled engagement in public health policymaking: the case of Zambia's prolonged efforts to develop a comprehensive tobacco control policy.

Background: The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) requires countries to develop and implement multi-sectoral tobacco control strategies, including policies and legislation. Zambia, potentially faced by a rising problem of tobacco smoking, signed the FCTC in 2008 but has been unable to enact a tobacco policy for over a decade.

Objective: This study explores the role of 'principled engagement', a key element of the theoretical framework for collaborative governance, in Zambia's delayed success to develop a comprehensive tobacco control policy.

The self-reported health of the Sámi in Sweden: the SámiHET study.

Background: The Sámi are an ethnic minority and the only Indigenous people in the European Union. Population-based health studies among Sámi in Sweden are scarce and outdated. The aim of this study was to analyse the ethnic, Sámi vs.

Healthcare workers´ experiences and perceptions of the provision of health insurance benefits to the elderly in rural Tanzania: an explorative qualitative study.

Background: Healthcare workers play an important part in the delivery of health insurance benefits, and their role in ensuring service quality and availability, access, and good management practice for insured clients is crucial. Tanzania started a government-based health insurance scheme in the 1990s. However, no studies have specifically looked at the experience of healthcare professionals in the delivery of health insurance services in the country.