The impact of i-PUSH on maternal and child health care utilization, health outcomes, and financial protection: study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial based on financial and health diaries data.

Background: Universal Health Coverage ensures access to quality health services for all, with no financial hardship when accessing the needed services. Nevertheless, access to quality health services is marred by substantial resource shortages creating service delivery gaps in low-and middle-income countries, including Kenya. The Innovative Partnership for Universal Sustainable Healthcare (i-PUSH) program, developed by AMREF Health Africa and PharmAccess Foundation (PAF), aims to empower low-income women of reproductive age and their families through innovative digital tools.

Patient- and procedure-related factors affecting proximal and distal detection rates for polyps and adenomas: results from 1603 screening colonoscopies.

Background: Screening colonoscopy is less effective in reducing the incidence of proximal compared to distal colorectal cancer, presumably because of missed adenomas and advanced lesions during endoscopy. Thus, effectiveness and success of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening programs depend decisively on the quality of the endoscopic procedures.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of 1603 average risk screening colonoscopies to calculate and to identify determinants of separate detection rates for proximally and distally located polyps, adenomas, and advanced adenomas was performed.

[Virological surveillance of acute flaccid paralysis in Democratic Republic of Congo from 1997-2001].

The purpose of this report is to describe the results of virological surveillance of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a war-torn country. A total of 3658 stool samples were collected from patients with AFP in provinces under government control and processed as recommended by WHO. The number of specimens tested increased from 32 in 1997 to 2471 in 2001 as the national epidemiologic surveillance program for AFP improved.