Cost-effectiveness of integrating paediatric tuberculosis services into child healthcare services in Africa: a modelling analysis of a cluster-randomised trial.

Background: In 2021, over one million children developed tuberculosis, resulting in 214 000 deaths, largely due to inadequate diagnosis and treatment. The diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis is limited in most high-burden countries because services are highly centralised at secondary/tertiary levels and are managed in a vertical, non-integrated way. To improve case detection and treatment among children, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends decentralised and integrated tuberculosis care models.

Follow-Up Outcomes of Children, Adolescents, and Young People on Darunavir-Based Third-Line Antiretroviral Therapy: Observational Cohort From 9 African Countries.

Background: We assessed clinical outcomes among children, adolescents, and people younger than 25 years on darunavir-based antiretroviral therapy (ART) in 9 sub-Saharan African countries.

Setting: Third-line ART centers in Cameroon, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Methods: From January 2019 to December 2022, we collected data from a cohort of children, adolescents, and young people receiving third-line ART from 9 sub-Saharan African countries.

Adherence challenges and opportunities for optimizing care through enhanced adherence counseling for adolescents with suspected HIV treatment failure in Kenya.

Background: Adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV) experience higher mortality and are more likely to have poor antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence and unsuppressed viral load (VL) compared to adults. Enhanced adherence counseling (EAC) is a client-centered counseling strategy that aims to identify and address barriers to optimal ART use and can be tailored to the unique needs of adolescents. This study aimed to better understand adherence barriers among ALHIV with suspected treatment failure and their experience with EAC to inform future programming.

Supporting adolescents living with HIV within boarding schools in Kenya.

Adolescents and youth living with HIV (AYLHIV) are a uniquely vulnerable population facing challenges around adherence, disclosure of HIV status and stigma. Providing school-based support for AYLHIV offers an opportunity to optimize their health and wellbeing. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of school-based supportive interventions for AYLHIV in Kenya.

Integrating pediatric TB services into child healthcare services in Africa: study protocol for the INPUT cluster-randomized stepped wedge trial.

Background: Tuberculosis is among the top-10 causes of mortality in children with more than 1 million children suffering from TB disease annually worldwide. The main challenge in young children is the difficulty in establishing an accurate diagnosis of active TB. The INPUT study is a stepped-wedge cluster-randomized intervention study aiming to assess the effectiveness of integrating TB services into child healthcare services on TB diagnosis capacities in children under 5 years of age.

Contraceptive service delivery in Kenya: A qualitative study to identify barriers and preferences among female sex workers and health care providers.

Objective: Female sex workers (FSWs) need access to contraceptive services, yet programs often focus on HIV prevention and less on the broader sexual and reproductive health needs of FSWs. We aimed to identify barriers to accessing contraceptive services among FSWs and preferences for contraceptive service delivery options among FSWs and health care providers (HCPs) in order to inform a service delivery intervention to enhance access to and use of contraceptives for FSWs in Kenya.

Study Design: Twenty focus group discussions were conducted with FSWs and HCPs in central Kenya.

Effectiveness, safety and acceptability of Sino-implant (II) during the first year of use: results from Kenya and Pakistan.

Background: Sino-implant (II) is a two-rod subcutaneous contraceptive implant used up to 4 years, containing 150 mg of levonorgestrel. We conducted two observational studies of Sino-implant (II) to evaluate its performance in routine service delivery settings.

Methods: We enrolled 1326 women age 18-44 who had Sino-implant (II) inserted at clinics in Pakistan and Kenya.

Post-abortion care services for youth and adult clients in Kenya: a comparison of services, client satisfaction and provider attitudes.

Unsafe abortion accounts for 35% of maternal mortality in Kenya. Post-abortion care (PAC) reduces maternal death and provides an opportunity to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Few studies have documented how the receipt of PAC services varies by client age.

Service delivery characteristics associated with contraceptive use among youth clients in integrated voluntary counseling and HIV testing clinics in Kenya.

Youth attending voluntary counseling and HIV testing (VCT) services often have unmet need for contraception. Integrated family planning (FP) and HIV services can address dual HIV and unintended pregnancy prevention needs. However, little is known about which VCT service characteristics, such as quality of care, strength of FP-HIV service integration, and youth-friendliness, affect contraceptive behavior.