Effects of public financing of essential maternal and child health interventions across wealth quintiles in Nigeria: an extended cost-effectiveness analysis.

Background: Maternal and newborn mortality rates in Nigeria are among the highest globally, and large socioeconomic inequalities exist in access to maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) services in the country. Inequalities also exist in catastrophic health expenditure among households in Nigeria. We aimed to estimate the health and financial risk protection benefits across different wealth groups in Nigeria if a policy of public financing of MNCH interventions were to be introduced.

Cortisol awakening response over the course of humanitarian aid deployment: a prospective cohort study.

: Internationally deployed humanitarian aid (HA) workers are routinely confronted with potentially traumatic stressors. However, it remains unknown whether HA deployment and related traumatic stress are associated with long-term changes in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function. Therefore, we investigated whether cortisol awakening response (CAR) decreased upon deployment and whether this was moderated by previous and recent trauma exposure and parallel changes in symptom severity and perceived social support.

Global Trends of Monitoring and Data Collection on the HIV Response among Key Populations Since the 2001 UN Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS.

Monitoring and evaluation indicators for HIV programs' response to the epidemic among key populations (sex workers, people who inject drugs, men who have sex with men, transgender people) are critical for reviewing the global response. From the beginning of global reporting, insufficiency of data has been a challenge for monitoring the epidemic response among key populations. However, key populations were only indirectly referenced in the 2001 Declaration of Commitment.

The importance of assessing self-reported HIV status in bio-behavioural surveys.

In bio-behavioural surveys measuring prevalence of infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), respondents should be asked the results of their last HIV test. However, many government authorities, nongovernmental organizations, researchers and other civil society stakeholders have stated that respondents involved in such surveys should not be asked to self-report their HIV status. The reasons offered for not asking respondents to report their status are that responses may be inaccurate and that asking about HIV status may violate the respondents' human rights and exacerbate stigma and discrimination.

Risk factors and outcomes for late presentation for HIV-positive persons in Europe: results from the Collaboration of Observational HIV Epidemiological Research Europe Study (COHERE).

Background: Few studies have monitored late presentation (LP) of HIV infection over the European continent, including Eastern Europe. Study objectives were to explore the impact of LP on AIDS and mortality.

Methods And Findings: LP was defined in Collaboration of Observational HIV Epidemiological Research Europe (COHERE) as HIV diagnosis with a CD4 count <350/mm(3) or an AIDS diagnosis within 6 months of HIV diagnosis among persons presenting for care between 1 January 2000 and 30 June 2011.

Psychological distress, depression, anxiety, and burnout among international humanitarian aid workers: a longitudinal study.

Background: International humanitarian aid workers providing care in emergencies are subjected to numerous chronic and traumatic stressors.

Objectives: To examine consequences of such experiences on aid workers' mental health and how the impact is influenced by moderating variables.

Methodology: We conducted a longitudinal study in a sample of international non-governmental organizations.

Population size estimation of men who have sex with men through the network scale-up method in Japan.

Background: Men who have sex with men (MSM) are one of the groups most at risk for HIV infection in Japan. However, size estimates of MSM populations have not been conducted with sufficient frequency and rigor because of the difficulty, high cost and stigma associated with reaching such populations. This study examined an innovative and simple method for estimating the size of the MSM population in Japan.

Expanding ART for treatment and prevention of HIV in South Africa: estimated cost and cost-effectiveness 2011-2050.

Background: Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) significantly reduces HIV transmission. We conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis of the impact of expanded ART in South Africa.

Methods: We model a best case scenario of 90% annual HIV testing coverage in adults 15-49 years old and four ART eligibility scenarios: CD4 count <200 cells/mm(3) (current practice), CD4 count <350, CD4 count <500, all CD4 levels.

Costing human rights and community support interventions as a part of universal access to HIV treatment and care in a Southern African setting.

Expanding access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) has both individual health benefits and potential to decrease HIV incidence. Ensuring access to HIV services is a significant human rights issue and successful programmes require adequate human rights protections and community support. However, the cost of specific human rights and community support interventions for equitable, sustainable and non-discriminatory access to ART are not well described.

HCV screening practices and prevalence in an MCO, 2000-2007.

Background/objective: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends routine screening for the hepatitis C virus antibody (anti- HCV) among persons most likely to be infected. Little is known about anti-HCV screening and prevalence in routine practice settings. We studied anti-HCV screening rates, anti-HCV positivity, and demographic and risk factors associated with increased likelihood of anti-HCV screening or positivity in a managed care organization (MCO).

Ethnomedical syndromes and treatment-seeking behavior among Mayan refugees in Chiapas, Mexico.

This survey investigated the prevalence of ethnomedical syndromes and examined treatments and treatment-seeking in Mayan Guatemalans living in United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee (UNHCR) camps in Chiapas, Mexico. Methods included a rapid ethnographic assessment to refine survey methods and inform the cross-sectional survey, which also examined mental health outcomes; 183 households were approached for interview, representing an estimated 1,546 residents in five refugee camps and 93% of all households. One adult per household (N = 170) was interviewed regarding his or her health; an additional 9 adults in three surveyed households participated and were included in this analysis; of the 179 participants, 95 primary child-care providers also answered a children's health questionnaire for their children.

Mental health problems among adults in tsunami-affected areas in southern Thailand.

Context: On December 26, 2004, an undersea earthquake occurred off the northwestern coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The tsunami that followed severely affected all 6 southwestern provinces of Thailand, where 5395 individuals died, 2991 were unaccounted for, and 8457 were injured.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression among individuals residing in areas affected by the tsunami in southern Thailand as part of a public health emergency response and rapid assessment.

The mental health status of Mayan refugees after repatriation to Guatemala.

Objective: Only one previous study had examined the epidemiology of mental health in Guatemalan refugees. The objective of this new study was to estimate the prevalence of mental illness and to assess factors associated with poor mental health among Guatemalan Mayan refugees who had been repatriated to Guatemala after spending 12-18 years in refugee camps in Mexico, and to compare the results for the repatriated Guatemalans with those for Guatemalan refugees who were continuing to live in Mexico.

Methods: In 2001 a cross-sectional survey of adults (> or = 16 years) was conducted with random household sampling proportional to the population size in each of the five repatriation villages surveyed.

Factors associated with poor mental health among Guatemalan refugees living in Mexico 20 years after civil conflict.

Context: From 1981 to 2001, 46 000 refugees who fled the 36-year civil conflict in Guatemala for Chiapas, Mexico were under the protection of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of mental illness and factors associated with poor mental health of underserved Guatemalan refugee communities located in Chiapas, Mexico, since 1981 and to assess need for mental health services.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Cross-sectional survey of 183 households in 5 Mayan refugee camps in Chiapas representing an estimated 1546 residents (adults and children) conducted November-December 2000.