Changing stigmatisation of leprosy: an exploratory, qualitative life course study in Western Nigeria.

Introduction: Renewed interest in health-related stigma has invigorated calls to understand factors and processes underlying stigma. However, few empirical studies explore the influences of structural discrimination and moral status on leprosy-related stigma. We investigated how sociocultural context and organisational policies and practices influenced the connotations of leprosy, sources of stigma and the changing social responses to leprosy in Western Nigeria.

"Who Will Marry a Diseased Girl?" Marriage, Gender, and Tuberculosis Stigma in Asia.

In a qualitative study on the stigma associated with tuberculosis (TB), involving 73 interviews and eight focus groups conducted in five sites across three countries (Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan), participants spoke of TB's negative impact on the marriage prospects of women in particular. Combining the approach to discovering grounded theory with a conceptualization of causality based on a realist ontology, we developed a theory to explain the relationships between TB, gender, and marriage. The mechanism at the heart of the theory is TB's disruptiveness to the gendered roles of wife (or daughter-in-law) and mother.

Capacity to conduct health research among NGOs in Malawi: Diverse strengths, needs and opportunities for development.

Background: The role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in health research has attracted growing attention. NGOs are important service providers and advocates in international health, and conducting research can help NGOs to strengthen these service delivery and advocacy activities. However, capacity to conduct research varies among NGOs.

Can "realist" randomised controlled trials be genuinely realist?

In this paper, we respond to a paper by Jamal and colleagues published in Trials in October 2015 and take an opportunity to continue the much-needed debate about what applied scientific realism is. The paper by Jamal et al. is useful because it exposes the challenges of combining a realist evaluation approach (as developed by Pawson and Tilley) with the randomised controlled trial (RCT) design.

Perceptions of the health effects of stoves in Mongolia.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the views of stove users in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on how stoves affect their health.

Design/methodology/approach: In this paper focus groups were conducted with improved stove users; traditional stove users; and a mix of traditional and improved stove users. Individual interviews were also held with various types of stove users.

International health in medical education: students' experiences and views.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the experiences and views of the first group of medical students to complete the intercalated International Health BSc in Leeds.

Design/methodology/approach: The paper draws on experiences of international health and draws parallels with those of other international health students. The paper also discusses how studying international health may benefit future doctors and considers how medical education can take a more international approach.

Health system decentralisation in Nepal: identifying the issues.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss policy analysis in Nepal and review the wide range of choices feasible in decentralisation decision making.

Design/methodology/approach: In this paper an iterative qualitative method was developed and used in the research, which consisted of focus group interviews, key informant interviews, document analysis, including descriptive statistics, and analysis of the policy context. Participants in the research reflected the urban/rural mix of districts and the geography of Nepal.