Factors affecting trust in clinical trials conduct: Views of stakeholders from a qualitative study in Ghana.

Evidence exists that scientists' dehumanization and exploitation of people in the name of science led to suspicion and mistrust in clinical trials conduct. In Ghana, there are equally signs of public distrust in the conduct of biomedical research. Typical examples are the unsuccessful conduct of the Ebola vaccine trial and the initial refusal of parents to allow their children to receive the recently piloted malaria vaccine in Ghana.

Engaging community members in setting priorities for nutrition interventions in rural northern Ghana.

This study used "Choosing All Together" (CHAT), a deliberative engagement tool to prioritise nutrition interventions and to understand reasons for intervention choices of a rural community in northern Ghana. The study took an exploratory cross-sectional design and used a mixed method approach to collect data between December 2020 and February 2021. Eleven nutrition interventions were identified through policy reviews, interaction with different stakeholders and focus group discussions with community members.

Provider implicit and explicit bias in person-centered maternity care: a cross-sectional study with maternity providers in Northern Ghana.

Background: Person-centered maternity care (PCMC) has become a priority in the global health discourse on quality of care due to the high prevalence of disrespectful and lack of responsive care during facility-based childbirth. Although PCMC is generally sub-optimal, there are significant disparities. On average, women of low socioeconomic status (SES) tend to receive poorer PCMC than women of higher SES.

Identifying the prevalence and correlates of multimorbidity in middle-aged men and women: a cross-sectional population-based study in four African countries.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of multimorbidity, to identify which chronic conditions cluster together and to identify factors associated with a greater risk for multimorbidity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Design: Cross-sectional, multicentre, population-based study.

Setting: Six urban and rural communities in four sub-Saharan African countries.

Pf7: an open dataset of genome variation in 20,000 worldwide samples.

We describe the MalariaGEN Pf7 data resource, the seventh release of genome variation data from the MalariaGEN network.  It comprises over 20,000 samples from 82 partner studies in 33 countries, including several malaria endemic regions that were previously underrepresented.  For the first time we include dried blood spot samples that were sequenced after selective whole genome amplification, necessitating new methods to genotype copy number variations.

How different incentives influence reported motivation and perceptions of performance in Ghanaian community-based health planning and services zones.

Background: Maternal mortality is still a burden worldwide, and Ghana's maternal and child mortalities are still high. Incentive schemes have been effective in improving health workers' performance thereby reducing maternal and child deaths. The efficiency of public health services in most developing countries has been linked to the provision of incentives.

Molecular survey of Anaplasma and Ehrlichia species in livestock ticks from Kassena-Nankana, Ghana; with a first report of Anaplasma capra and Ehrlichia minasensis.

Tick-borne pathogens harm livestock production and pose a significant risk to public health. To combat these effects, it is necessary to identify the circulating pathogens to create effective control measures. This study identified Anaplasma and Ehrlichia species in ticks collected from livestock in the Kassena-Nankana Districts between February 2020 and December 2020.

Current tobacco use and susceptibility to using tobacco among non-users of tobacco: A cross-sectional study among school-going adolescents in Sierra Leone.

Introduction: Tobacco use is a global health threat associated with a high disease burden and death. Current tobacco use and susceptibility to using tobacco products among adolescents who are potential adult tobacco users have not been explored in Sierra Leone. Thus, we aimed to estimate the prevalence and correlates of current tobacco use and tobacco non-users susceptibility to using tobacco amongst high school students in Sierra Leone.

Physical Activity and Its Association With Body Mass Index: A Cross-Sectional Analysis in Middle-Aged Adults From 4 Sub-Saharan African Countries.

Background: This study aimed to explore association of self-reported physical activity domains of work, leisure, and transport-related physical activity and body mass index (BMI) in 9388 adult men and women from the Africa-Wits-INDEPTH partnership for Genomic (AWI-Gen) study in Africa. Africa-Wits-INDEPTH partnership for Genomic is a large, population-based cross-sectional cohort with participants from 6 sites from rural and urban areas in 4 sub-Saharan African countries.

Methods: A sex-stratified meta-analysis of cross-sectional data from men and women aged 29-82 years was used to assess the association of physical activity with BMI.

Community perspectives on cardiovascular disease control in rural Ghana: A qualitative study.

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevalence is high in Ghana-but awareness, prevention, and treatment is sparse, particularly in rural regions. The nurse-led Community-based Health Planning and Services program offers general preventive and primary care in these areas, but overlooks CVD and its risk factors.

Methods: We conducted in-depth interviews with 30 community members (CM) in rural Navrongo, Ghana to understand their knowledge and beliefs regarding the causes and treatment of CVD and the potential role of community nurses in rendering CVD care.

Optimising reporting of adverse events following immunisation by healthcare workers in Ghana: A qualitative study in four regions.

Introduction: Despite the emphasis on reporting of Adverse Events Following Immunisation (AEFIs) during didactic training sessions, especially prior to new vaccine introductions, it remains low in Ghana. We explored the factors underlying the under-reporting of AEFI by healthcare workers (HCWs) to provide guidance on appropriate interventions to increase reporting.

Methods: We conducted an exploratory descriptive in-depth study of the factors contributing to low reporting of AEFI among HCWs in four regions in Ghana.

Individual and situational predictors of psychological and physiological stress and burnout among maternity providers in Northern Ghana.

Background: Maternity providers, including nurses, midwives, physicians, are at significant risk for stress and burnout due to the nature of care provision in maternal and child health settings. Yet, the empirical evidence on stress and burnout among maternity providers in sub-Saharan Africa is scarce. Therefore, the purpose of our study was to (1) assess levels of stress and burnout among maternity providers and support staff in Ghana, and (2) identify individual and situational factors associated with maternity provider stress, burnout, and physiology.

Non-HDL-C and LDL-C/HDL-C are associated with self-reported cardiovascular disease in a rural West African population: Analysis of an array of lipid metrics in an AWI-Gen sub-study.

Few studies have compared the utility of serum levels of lipid fractions in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk assessment in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The current study interrogated this question among men and women aged 40-60 years in rural northern Ghana. This was a cross-sectional study in which data was collected on socio-demography, behaviour, health history, anthropometry and lipid levels.

Breast cancer screening pathways in Ghana: applying an exploratory single case study methodology with cross-case analysis.

Background: Breast cancer is steadily increasing in Ghana, with the majority of Ghanaians only seeking care in the advanced stage of the disease. Furthermore, structured breast cancer control strategies are mostly non-existent. This study aimed to examine breast cancer and breast screening pathways in a tertiary healthcare facility within the Kumasi metropolis.

Outbreak investigation of an unknown gastrointestinal illness in District Victoria, Country Mala, 2016.

This case study is based on an outbreak investigation conducted by multisectoral team from animal and public health offices in Kaktong (a remote village in Zhemgang District Bhutan) during July-September 2010. This outbreak caused by ingestion of infected cow meat which had died after a brief illness (bleeding of unclotted blood from nostrils). The owner of the affected cow had opened the carcass and dressed the meat, which he shared or sold within the village for human consumption.

Bio-efficacy, physical integrity, use and attrition of long-lasting insecticidal nets under operational conditions for malaria prevention in Ghana.

Background: Malaria remains a public health challenge in endemic countries of the world. The use of Long-lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs) is one of the major ways of malaria vector control. Recent evidence however suggests some LLINs are unable to maintain their effectiveness over their useful life span.

Institutionalising maternal and newborn quality-of-care standards in Bangladesh, Ghana and Tanzania: a quasi-experimental study.

Introduction: Facility interventions to improve quality of care around childbirth are known but need to be packaged, tested and institutionalised within health systems to impact on maternal and newborn outcomes.

Methods: We conducted cross-sectional assessments at baseline (2016) and after 18 months of provider-led implementation of UNICEF/WHO's Every Mother Every Newborn Quality Improvement (EMEN-QI) standards (preceding the WHO Standards for improving quality of maternal and newborn care in health facilities). 19 hospitals and health centres (2.

Urogenital schistosomiasis transmission, malaria and anemia among school-age children in Northern Ghana.

Background: In sub-Saharan Africa, co-morbidity with malaria, schistosomiasis, and soil transmitted helminths (STH) is common among young children. The current study investigated malaria, urinary schistosomiasis and their co-infection and anemia among school-age children in an endemic community, Nakolo in the Kassena-Nankana East District of northern Ghana.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 336 school-age children, 5-16 years was undertaken.

Characterization of CYP2D6 Pharmacogenetic Variation in Sub-Saharan African Populations.

Cytochrome P450 2D6 (CYP2D6) is a key enzyme in drug response owing to its involvement in the metabolism of ~ 25% of clinically prescribed medications. The encoding CYP2D6 gene is highly polymorphic, and many pharmacogenetics studies have been performed worldwide to investigate the distribution of CYP2D6 star alleles (haplotypes); however, African populations have been relatively understudied to date. In this study, the distributions of CYP2D6 star alleles and predicted drug metabolizer phenotypes-derived from activity scores-were examined across multiple sub-Saharan African populations based on bioinformatics analysis of 961 high-depth whole genome sequences.

Stopping Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) After Defeating Poliomyelitis in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Harmful Unintended Consequences? Review of the Nonspecific Effects of OPV.

Background: The live vaccines bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) and measles vaccine have beneficial nonspecific effects (NSEs) reducing mortality, more than can be explained by prevention of tuberculosis or measles infection. Live oral polio vaccine (OPV) will be stopped after polio eradication; we therefore reviewed the potential NSEs of OPV.

Methods: OPV has been provided in 3 contexts: (1) coadministration of OPV and diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccine at 6, 10, and 14 weeks of age; (2) at birth (OPV0) with BCG; and (3) in OPV campaigns (C-OPVs) initiated to eradicate polio infection.

Cost of childbirth in Upper West Region of Ghana: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Out-of-pocket payment (OOPP) is reported to be a major barrier to seeking maternal health care especially among the poor and can expose households to a risk of catastrophic expenditure and impoverishment.This study examined the OOPPs women made during childbirth in the Upper West region of Ghana.

Methods: We carried out a cross-sectional study and interviewed women who gave birth between January 2013 and December 2017.

Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Association Between Classical Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Common Carotid Intima-Media Thickness: An Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis.

Background The major risk factors for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease differ by race or ethnicity but have largely been defined using populations of European ancestry. Despite the rising prevalence of cardiovascular disease in Africa there are few related data from African populations. Therefore, we compared the association of established cardiovascular risk factors with carotid-intima media thickness (CIMT), a subclinical marker of atherosclerosis, between African, African American, Asian, European, and Hispanic populations.

GMZ2 Vaccine-Induced Antibody Responses, Naturally Acquired Immunity and the Incidence of Malaria in Burkinabe Children.

GMZ2 is a malaria vaccine candidate evaluated in a phase 2b multi-centre trial. Here we assessed antibody responses and the association of naturally acquired immunity with incidence of malaria in one of the trial sites, Banfora in Burkina Faso. The analysis included 453 (GMZ2 = 230, rabies = 223) children aged 12-60 months old.