Barriers and facilitators of the electronic medical record adoption among healthcare providers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Introduction: An electronic medical record (EMR) can enhance the quality of care and patient outcomes. Ethiopia started the implementation of EMR in 2013. However, its adoption among healthcare providers has been low.

Utilization of technology to provide on-the-job trainings on Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care: Perspectives of nurses and midwives working in Rwanda's remote health facilities.

Introduction: One of the targets for the third sustainable development goals is to reduce worldwide maternal mortality ratio (MMR) to less than 70 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030. To address issues affecting women and the newborns during childbirth and postnatal period, concerted efforts from governments and their stakeholders are crucial to maximize the use of technology to enhance frontline health professionals' skills to provide the emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC). However, no study has garnered nurses' and midwives' perspectives regarding the application of technology-enhanced learning approach to provide on-the-job Continuous Professional Development (CPD) and factors that may influence the application of this training approach in the Rwandan context.

The status of immunization program and challenges in Ethiopia: A mixed method study.

Introduction: Immunization helps reduce morbidity and mortality attributable to severe vaccine-preventable childhood illnesses. However, vaccination coverage and the quality of immunization data remain challenging in Ethiopia. This has led to poor planning, suboptimal vaccination coverage, and the resurgence of vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks in under-immunized pocket areas.

Multiple indicators of violence against female sex workers and its associated factors in Ghana: Evidence from the 2015 integrated bio-behavioral surveillance survey cross-sectional study.

Background And Aims: Violence against female sex workers (FSWs) is a widespread phenomenon, especially in African nations like Ghana where sex work is outlawed primarily because of the pervasive worldview that sex work is a contravention of morality. Violence against FSWs deters them from accessing critical health services and heightens their risk of STIs including HIV infection. The study examined the prevalence and the associated factors of multiple indicators of violence against FSWs.

Impact of integrated community-facility interventions model on neonatal mortality in rural Bangladesh- a quasi-experimental study.

Background: Neonatal mortality remains unacceptably high in many countries. WHO recommends that all newborns be assessed during the postnatal period and should seek prompt medical care if there is any danger sign. However, in many developing countries, only a small proportion of women receive postnatal care.

Engagement of Lady Health Workers for COVID-19 Home-based Care in Pakistan: An Example of Task Shifting.

In April 2021, following the Federal government's decision, an intervention was designed to execute COVID-19 home-based care training program for the LHWs in all provinces to avoid overcrowding in large hospitals so that critically ill patients can get due attention and treatment. The training curriculum was developed in local languages following guidance from NIH and WHO. Basic health units were used as the venue for training and the doctors delivered the sessions as master trainers.

What do Family Planning Staff Prioritize for Patient Experience Improvements? Findings From a Training Initiative in New York State.

It is especially important for providers of sexual and reproductive healthcare services to deliver positive patient experiences, given the personal, preference-driven, and sensitive nature of these services. We facilitated a patient experience training initiative with 8 teams representing family planning agencies in New York State. Teams participated in onsite assessment activities, 4 individualized coaching calls, and 5 group virtual sessions.

Willingness to Pay for HIV Prevention Commodities Among Key Population Groups in Nigeria.

Introduction: Key population (KP) groups, such as female sex workers and men who have sex with men, in Nigeria rely on free HIV prevention commodities, including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and HIV self-testing (HIVST) kits, provided through foreign aid. We investigated the willingness of KP groups to use and pay for HIV prevention commodities to support improved sustainable HIV prevention programming.

Methods: In 2020, we conducted a cross-sectional survey in 3 states with KP groups.

Scaling up nutrition through multisectoral planning: An exploratory review of 26 national nutrition plans.

With a growing consensus on the need to address malnutrition in a comprehensive and multisectoral way, there has been increased attention on the processes and factors for multisectoral nutrition planning to be successful. To guide countries, the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement developed a checklist that defined characteristics of good national nutrition plans. This exploratory review used the framework of the Checklist to assess 26 national multisectoral nutrition plans (MSNPs) developed between 2014 and 2020.

COVID-19 and fiscal space for health system in Pakistan: It is time for a policy decision.

Most developing countries with weak economies and low GDPs strive to invest an optimal amount of budget to health sector. Compounding on this state of affairs is their inherent inefficiency to spend even that meager amount on the welfare of the patients, improving service delivery, motivating their workforce and making their health systems responsive to the needs of the people they serve. With weak fiscal base and inelasticity in budget spending, when these countries face a catastrophe like COVID-19, there is a whole situation of havoc and lack of finances emerges as the biggest issue in such crises.

Mental health among Ebola survivors in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea: results from a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: To describe the prevalence and correlates of depression and anxiety among adult Ebola virus disease (EVD) survivors in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: One-on-one surveys were conducted in EVD-affected communities in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea in early 2018.

Comparing the effectiveness of a blended learning approach with a conventional learning approach for basic emergency obstetric and newborn care training in Ethiopia.

Background: Lack of trained personnel is a major obstacle to providing the full package of emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC) services in Ethiopia and other low-income countries. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a blended learning approach to in-service EmONC training could be as effective as a conventional learning approach while reducing costs.

Methods: A quasi-experimental study design assigned providers in need of EmONC training to blended learning (12 days of offsite training followed by daily SMS and weekly phone calls) or conventional learning (18 days of offsite training followed by a facility visit to mentor participants).

Maternal Anthropometric Measurements Do Not Have Effect on Birth Weight of Term, Single, and Live Births in Addis Ababa City, Ethiopia.

Low birth weight is a global public health problem for mortality and morbidity in any age group. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of maternal anthropometric measurements on birth weight. A cross-sectional study was conducted from Nov 25, 2012, to Feb 25, 2013, in maternity public hospitals in Addis Ababa city, Ethiopia.

Building Healthy Start Grantees' Capacity to Achieve Collective Impact: Lessons from the Field.

Purpose While Healthy Start has emphasized the need for multi-sectorial community engagement and collaboration since its inception, in 2014 Healthy Start adopted Collective Impact (CI) as a framework for reducing infant mortality. This paper describes the development of a peer-focused capacity-building strategy that introduced key elements of CI and preliminary findings of Healthy Start grantees' progress with using CI as an approach to collaboration. Description The Collective Impact Peer Learning Networks (CI-PLNs) consisted of eight 90-min virtual monthly meetings and one face-to-face session that reviewed CI pre-conditions and conditions.

Lower mortality is observed among low birth weight young infants who have received home-based care by female community health volunteers in rural Nepal.

Background: There has been little success in attempts to reduce the proportion of births with low birth weight (LBW). However, deaths associated with LBW may be prevented with extra attention to warmth, feeding, and prevention or early treatment of infections. There are few studies on this in Nepal and in many other developing countries.

Integrated delivery of health services during outreach visits: a literature review of program experience through a routine immunization lens.

Background: Outreach services are used systematically to deliver immunization and health services to individuals with insufficient access to health facilities in lower-income countries. Currently, the topic of integrated service delivery during immunization outreach lacks the attention paid to integration at fixed sites or during campaigns. This article explores integrated outreach and risks associated with service integration.