A scoping review of applied tick control research in North America: funding, implementation, and advancement.

Geographic ranges of ticks and tick-borne pathogens within North America are shifting due to environmental changes and human-driven activities, with species of public health concern presenting a multifaceted risk to human health. Innovative strategies and continued collaboration to control tick populations are needed to combat this growing threat. We conducted a scoping review of the literature to describe the nature of applied tick control research conducted in North America (Canada, Mexico, and the United States) to date, with the goal of describing key concepts and identifying gaps in this research area.

Family medicine research: seizing the moment to advance the field.

Despite a growing awareness that primary care is essential to an accessible, equitable, high-quality, cost-effective health care system, family medicine research remains woefully underdeveloped. The increased focus of both state and federal policy makers on primary care payment and care delivery models presents an opportunity for family medicine to redefine itself as an academically rigorous discipline at the forefront of generating evidence that improves patient care and population health while reducing costs. In a critical review of the literature, we identified five themes-leadership, funding, resources, team science, and departmental culture-that are integral to family medicine departments seeking to grow and expand their research capacity.

Mobility paradoxes: disruptors, benefits, and agency among mobile female sex workers living with HIV in the Dominican Republic and Tanzania.

Background: Mobility is a key social determinant of health for female sex workers (FSWs). While extant research has focused on the adverse effects of mobility for FSWs, there are very few studies that have examined the multiple ways in which mobility may impact the lives of these mobile women from their perspective. This qualitative study aims to fill this gap by exploring how mobility impacts the lives, livelihoods, and HIV care and treatment from the perspectives of women living with HIV in two epidemic settings, the Dominican Republic and Tanzania.

WHO antenatal care policy and prevention of malaria in pregnancy in sub-Saharan Africa.

Background: The WHO 2016 antenatal care (ANC) policy recommends at least eight antenatal contacts during pregnancy. This study assessed ANC8 uptake following policy implementation and explored the relationship between ANC attendance and intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) coverage in sub-Saharan Africa following the rollout of the World Health Organization (WHO) 2016 ANC policy, specifically, to assess differences in IPTp uptake between women attending eight versus four ANC contacts.

Methods: A secondary analysis of data from 20 sub-Saharan African countries with available Demographic Health and Malaria Indicator surveys from 2018 to 2023 was performed.

What does your partner want? Using a gender equality lens to assess partner support and involvement in family planning in Uganda.

It is unclear if there are any differences in the ways men and women perceive partner support in the context of family planning. The USAID-funded Social and Behavior Change Activity (SBCA) in Uganda explored male versus female priorities in the decision-making considerations and preferred measures of partner support related to family planning. Data were from a cross -sectional nationally representative telephone survey of 1177 men and women aged 18-49 years old in sexual partnerships.

A Platform for Sustainable Scale: The Challenge Initiative's Innovative Approach to Scaling Proven Interventions.

Introduction: The global health community continues to face barriers in scaling up evidence-based interventions for widespread adoption. Although many effective interventions have been developed over the years, expanding their reach to benefit broader populations has happened slowly or not at all.

Overview: The Challenge Initiative (TCI) is a nontraditional development platform that supports local urban governments to rapidly scale up proven family planning (FP) and adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health (AYSRH) interventions for the urban poor.

The Challenge Initiative: Lessons on Rapid Scale-Up of Family Planning and Adolescent and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health Services.

The articles in this supplement showcase The Challenge Initiative’s strategies and insights for sustainably scaling evidence-based family planning and adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health interventions and emphasize the need for multipronged interventions that address the complex web of factors influencing adolescents’ and youth’s access to contraceptive services.

A review of strategies and levels of community engagement in strengths-based and needs-based health communication interventions.

Background: Community engagement is key in health communication interventions that seek to incorporate community voices in their planning and implementation. Understanding what approaches and strategies are currently being used can help tailor programs in different social and cultural contexts. This review explores needs-based and strengths-based approaches and consensus and conflict strategies in community-based global health communications programs.

What Underlies State Government Performance in Scaling Family Planning Programming? A Study of The Challenge Initiative State Partnerships in Nigeria.

Introduction: Relatively few studies rigorously examine the factors associated with health systems strengthening and scaling of interventions at subnational government levels. We aim to examine how The Challenge Initiative (TCI) coaches subnational (state government) actors to scale proven family planning and adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health approaches rapidly and sustainably through public health systems to respond to unmet need among the urban poor.

Methods: This mixed-methods comparative case study draws on 32 semistructured interviews with subnational government leaders and managers, nongovernmental organization leaders, and TCI Nigeria staff, triangulated with project records and government health management information system (HMIS) data.

Innovations in Public Financing for Family Planning at Subnational Levels: Sustainable Cofinancing Strategies for Family Planning With Nigerian States.

Global declines in donor funding present a substantial threat to development financing in low- and middle-income countries. In Nigeria, the resources required to achieve states' health goals surpass existing government budgets and available donor funding, a shortfall that incentivizes efforts to expand nondonor sources of financing, including public-driven cofinancing models. The Challenge Initiative (TCI) in Nigeria implements a demand-led model wherein 13 state governments requested technical support from TCI to adapt and scale up high-impact family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) interventions.

Improving the Quality of Adolescent and Youth-Friendly Health Services Through Integrated Supportive Supervision in Four Nigerian States.

Background: Although the unique sexual and reproductive health needs of adolescents and youth (AY) are widely recognized, the challenge remains how to integrate adolescent- and youth-friendly health services (AYFHS) effectively within a systems-based approach that is both feasible and scalable. This article provides preliminary evidence from 4 Nigerian states that sought to overcome this challenge by implementing capacity-strengthening approaches centered around a shortened quality assurance (QA) tool that has become part of the state health system's routine supportive supervision process and follow-up quality improvement (QI) activities.

Methods: A shortened QA tool was administered to assess and track the performance of 130 high-volume health facilities across 5 domains to serve its AY population with quality contraceptive services.

Balancing the uncertain and unpredictable nature of possible zoonotic disease transmission with the value placed on animals: Findings from a qualitative study in Guinea.

Zoonoses, or diseases that pass between animals and humans, represent a major threat to global health and global economies. In Guinea, zoonotic diseases (e.g.

Improving Contraceptive Service Quality and Accessibility for Adolescents and Youth Through Proprietary Patent Medicine Vendors in Four Nigerian States.

Introduction: In Nigeria, health care services and commodities have increasingly been accessed through private sector entities, including retail pharmacies and drug shops (also called proprietary patent medicine vendors [PPMVs]). However, PPMVs cannot provide long-acting or permanent methods, and concerns have been raised about their quality of services and their need to better comply with government regulations. This article describes how The Challenge Initiative's (TCI) family planning program supported 4 state governments in Nigeria to develop a model to strengthen public-private partnerships between PPMVs and primary health centers (PHCs) to leverage PPMVs to provide adolescents and youth with high-quality contraceptive information, services, and referrals to PHCs.

Early morning anopheline mosquito biting, a potential driver of malaria transmission in Busia County, western Kenya.

Background: Insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) contributed significantly to the decline in malaria since 2000. Their protective efficacy depends not only on access, use, and net integrity, but also location of people within the home environment and mosquito biting profiles. Anopheline mosquito biting and human location data were integrated to identify potential gaps in protection and better understand malaria transmission dynamics in Busia County, western Kenya.

Understanding psychosocial determinants of malaria behaviours in low-transmission settings: a scoping review.

Background: Recent estimates show progress toward malaria elimination is slowing in many settings, underscoring the need for tailored approaches to fight the disease. In addition to essential structural changes, human behaviour plays an important role in elimination. Engagement in malaria behaviours depends in part on psychosocial determinants such as knowledge, perceived risk, and community norms.

Behavioural drivers of child feeding during and after illness in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: results from a qualitative study through the lens of behavioural science.

Objective: For young children experiencing an illness, adequate nutrition is critical for recovery and to prevent malnutrition, yet many children do not receive the recommended quantities of food during illness and recuperation. Our research applied a behavioural science lens to identify drivers of feeding behaviours, including barriers inhibiting caregivers from following the feeding guidelines.

Design: In 2021, we conducted qualitative research informed by the behavioural design process.

Improving State Government's Responsiveness to Family Planning Interventions in Nigeria Using an Innovative Reflection and Action Tool.

Background: The Challenge Initiative (TCI) works with state governments in Nigeria to scale high-impact family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) interventions rapidly and sustainably. The Reflection and Action to Improve Self-reliance and Effectiveness (RAISE) tool is an innovative responsive feedback (RF) mechanism developed by TCI to periodically monitor governments' readiness to sustain implementation of their FP/RH interventions.

Raise Description: The RAISE tool-a facilitated, self-administered tool used quarterly to track program improvements, identify gaps, and provide feedback-contains FP/RH progress indicators across 4 pillars: political and financial commitment, government capacity, institutionalization, and sustained demand.

How The Challenge Initiative Adapted and Used Pause and Reflect Responsive Feedback Sessions for Adaptive Management in Nigeria.

Background: The Challenge Initiative (TCI) supports state governments to effectively and sustainably scale up family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) programming in Nigeria. Given the limited evidence on successful scale-up of health interventions, TCI has established responsive feedback (RF) approaches to regularly review and reflect upon its strategies to quickly adapt and document lessons for scaling FP/RH interventions. One of the RF components adopted was pause and reflect (P&R) exercises to facilitate adaptive management.

Perceptions of the COVID-19 Vaccine and Other Adult Vaccinations in Malawi: A Qualitative Assessment.

In Malawi, various brands of the COVID-19 vaccine have been offered to the population, but factors including fear of side effects or other risks, uncertainty about benefits, and misinformation created hesitancy toward them. In early 2022, 4% of Malawians were fully vaccinated for COVID-19. Despite multiple promotion efforts, by August 2022, COVID-19 vaccination nationwide was around 15%.

Six Recommendations for Provider Behavior Change in Family Planning.

Health care provider behavior has the power to influence family planning and reproductive health outcomes positively and negatively, underlining the importance of provider behavior change (PBC) initiatives. However, global health practitioners lack a shared understanding of PBC interventions and what influences provider behavior. Furthermore, PBC interventions in family planning and reproductive health have tended to address individual and workplace environmental factors rather than the full breadth of factors that influence provider behavior, including the broader systems and contexts where providers operate.

"I'd do it for my baby": Lessons learned from qualitative research on COVID-19 vaccination among pregnant women in Côte d'Ivoire.

In January 2023, almost two years after the COVID-19 vaccines were authorized for the general Ivorian population, the Government of Côte d'Ivoire authorized the Pfizer vaccine for pregnant women. Qualitative research with 214 adults (including pregnant women) in three Ivorian cities in November 2022 revealed that most participants knew that the COVID-19 vaccine had not been recommended for pregnant women. Some participants felt that the policy change alone would be enough to motivate pregnant women to get vaccinated, but others felt that it would be difficult to convince pregnant women that the vaccine is safe for them and their babies.

Disentangling the intersection of inequities with health and malaria exposure: key lessons from rural communities in Northern Borneo.

Background: The increasing incidence of Plasmodium knowlesi malaria poses a significant challenge to efforts to eliminate malaria from Malaysia. Macaque reservoirs, outdoors-biting mosquitoes, human activities, and agricultural work are key factors associated with the transmission of this zoonotic pathogen. However, gaps in knowledge regarding reasons that drive malaria persistence in rural Kudat, Sabah, Northern Borneo remain.

A trial of nurturing care among children who are HIV-exposed and uninfected in eSwatini.

Introduction: Children who are HIV-exposed and uninfected (CHEU) are a growing population at potential risk of poor neurocognitive development. We tested a nurturing care intervention on children's neurocognitive development and maternal depressive symptoms (primary) with mediation through caregiving activities (secondary).

Methods: This study was conducted among six intervention and nine comparison antenatal-care/prevention of vertical transmission (ANC/PVT) HIV clinics in eSwatini.