Evaluating the uptake and effect of Surgical Safety Checklist implementation in a rural hospital, Neno District, Malawi.

Background: The WHO introduced the Surgical Safety Checklist (SSC) in 2008, which has been proven to enhance collaboration and patient safety before, during and after surgical procedures. However, the impact of using SSC has not been assessed in a rural setting in Malawi. We aimed to evaluate the uptake of SSC in Neno District, Malawi.

Drug-Resistant tuberculosis, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, 2001-2007.

In Africa, incidence and prevalence of drug-resistant tuberculosis have been assumed to be low. However, investigation after a 2005 outbreak of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa, found that the incidence rate for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in KwaZulu-Natal was among the highest globally and would be higher if case-finding efforts were intensified.

The operation, quality and costs of a district hospital laboratory service in Malawi.

Laboratory services are run down in many low-income countries, severely constraining their input to patient care and disease surveillance. There are few data about the quality and cost of individual components of the laboratory service in poorer countries, yet this information is essential if optimal use is to be made of scarce resources. Staff time, range of tests, workload, and safety procedures were monitored over 12 months (1997-98) in a typical district hospital laboratory in Malawi.

Sexually transmitted infections and sexual behaviour among commercial sex workers in a rural district of Malawi.

In Thyolo District, Malawi, a study was conducted among commercial sex workers (CSWs) attending mobile clinics in order to; determine the prevalence and pattern of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), describe sexual behaviour among those who have an STI and identify risk factors associated with 'no condom use'. There were 1817 CSWs, of whom 448 (25%) had an STI. Of these, the commonest infections included 237 (53%) cases of abnormal vaginal discharge, 109 (24%) cases of pelvic inflammatory disease and 95 (21%) cases of genital ulcer disease (GUD).