Health insurance enrolment in the Upper West Region of Ghana: Does food security matter?

Toward achieving universal health coverage, Ghana's national health insurance has been acclaimed as a pro-poor scheme, yet been criticized for leaving the poor behind. Arising from this is how poverty has been operationalized and how poor people are targeted for enrolment into the scheme. We examine the role of food insecurity (not currently considered) as a multidimensional vulnerability concept on enrolment into Ghana's health insurance using binary logistics regression on cross-sectional survey of household heads (n = 1438) in the Upper West Region of Ghana.

Married women's autonomy and post-delivery modern contraceptive use in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Background: Although use of modern contraception is considered beneficial in lowering maternal and child mortality rates, the prevalence of contraceptive use remains low in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This study examined modern contraceptive use and its linkage to women's autonomy.

Methods: Data were drawn from the 2013-2014 Democratic Republic of Congo Demographic and Health Survey.

How is dietary diversity related to haematological status of preschool children in Ghana?

The role of dietary diversity on blood biomarkers may be significant, but the evidence is limited. This study assessed the association between dietary diversity and haematological status of children aged 6-59 months controlling for various known confounders. The analysis in this study is based on the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health survey data.

Relationships between Wasting and Stunting and Their Concurrent Occurrence in Ghanaian Preschool Children.

Objective. The main aim of the study was to assess the magnitude of concurrent wasting and stunting among Ghanaian preschool children. Secondly, we investigated the relationship between wasting and stunting as well as factors associated with these conditions.

Persistent misconceptions about HIV transmission among males and females in Malawi.

Background: The prevalence of HIV in Malawi is one of the highest in sub-Saharan Africa, and misconceptions about its mode of transmission are considered a major contributor to the continued spread of the virus.

Methods: Using the 2010 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey, the current study explored factors associated with misconceptions about HIV transmission among males and females.

Results: We found that higher levels of ABC prevention knowledge were associated with lower likelihood of endorsing misconceptions among females and males (OR = 0.

Financial sustainability versus access and quality in a challenged health system: an examination of the capitation policy debate in Ghana.

Policy makers in low and middle-income countries are frequently confronted with challenges of increasing health access for poor populations in a sustainable manner. After several years of trying out different health financing mechanisms, health insurance has recently emerged as a pro-poor health financing policy. Capitation, a fixed fee periodically paid to health service providers for anticipated services, is one of the payment policies in health insurance.

Can she make it? Transportation barriers to accessing maternal and child health care services in rural Ghana.

Background: The Ghana Community based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) strategy targets to bring health services to the doorsteps of clients in a manner that improves maternal and child health outcomes. In this strategy, referral is an important component but it is threatened in a rural context where transportation service is a problem. Few studies have examined perceptions of rural dwellers on transportation challenges in accessing maternal health care services within CHPS.