Core competencies in applied infectious disease epidemiology: a framework for countries in Europe.

In 2009, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) developed a competency framework to support European Union countries and the European Commission in ensuring a competent public health workforce for Europe. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic emphasised the importance of harmonised public health strategies and competencies across international boundaries, specifically for infectious diseases. This perspective presents the process to update the competency framework for applied infectious disease epidemiology, highlighting ECDC's efforts to support countries with using the framework.

Tradition, leadership and innovation in public health education. Commemorating the 100th anniversary of ESPM.

Health is a global concern. No one country or health system can tackle public health problems on their own. Climate change, enironmental degradation, conflict, human trafficking and migration, substance addictions, the uncontrolled corporate health damage caused by multinational corporations, economic catastrophe, global market collapse- all these require concerted public health action from local to global level.

Maternal Serum Zinc, Copper, Magnesium, and Iron in Spontaneous Abortions.

Twenty five percent of pregnant women have some degree of vaginal bleeding during the first trimester, and about 50% of those pregnancies end in spontaneous abortion (SA) because the fetus is not developing typically. As studies have reported that inadequacies of trace metals such as Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Magnesium (Mg) can predispose to various adverse pregnancy outcomes (PO); multiple micronutrient (MMN) supplementations are given without justifying their deficiency and toxicities on the fetus. Earlier studies on effects of MMN supplementations during pregnancy have not considered the need, duration, dose, and time of initiation of supplementations leading to inconclusive results.

Sexual violence and risk factors among night shift female college students in Hawassa city, South Ethiopia, 2020.

Background: Sexual violence is any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances, against a person's sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting. Several studies were undertaken on sexual violence among students in general. Nevertheless, there is paucity of information about sexual violence among night shift students in particular; even if they are more vulnerable to sexual violence due to the nature of the class time.

A multilevel analysis of trends and predictors associated with teenage pregnancy in Zambia (2001-2018).

Background: Teenage pregnancy remains a major social and public health challenge in developing countries especially sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where prevalence rates are still increasing. Even if considerable effort has been made over the years to study determining factors of teenage pregnancy in SSA, few studies have looked at the trends and associated factors over a longer period. Furthermore, no known study has focussed on both individual and contextual factors influencing teenage pregnancy in Zambia.

Individual and Community-level factors associated with early marriage in Zambia: a mixed effect analysis.

Background: Child marriage has long been a public health concern around the world, because it has the potential to deprive adolescent girls of their sexual reproductive health rights and limits their ability to reach their full potential in life. The prevalence of child marriage has been consistently higher in sub-Saharan Africa than elsewhere. However, fewer studies have explored the influence of both individual and community-level influences on early marriage in sub-Saharan Africa.

A systematic scoping review of digital health technologies during COVID-19: a new normal in primary health care delivery.

Unlabelled: This scoping review compiled information concerning digital health technologies (DHTs) evolution to support primary health care (PHC) during COVID-19 and lessons for the future of PHC. The identified literature was published during the COVID-19 peak years (2019-2021), retrieved from PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar, as well as hand searched on the internet. Predefined inclusion criteria were used, thematic analysis was applied, and reporting followed the PRISMA for Scoping Reviews.

Unmet need for family planning among married women in sub-Saharan Africa: a meta-analysis of DHS data (1995 - 2020).

Background: Closing the gap of unmet needs for family planning (FP) in sub-Saharan Africa remains critical in improving maternal and child health outcomes. Determining the prevalence of unmet needs for family planning among married women in the reproductive age is vital for designing effective sexual reproductive health interventions and programmes. Here, we use nationally representative data drawn from sub-Saharan countries to estimate and examine heterogeneity of unmet needs for family planning among currently married women of reproductive age.

Identifying the Gaps Between Public Health Training and Practice: A Workforce Competencies Comparative Analysis.

The study aimed to generate insights on how best to enhance the compatibility between Public Health training program competencies and the implementation of competencies required by employers to address current and emerging public health needs. A survey adapted from the WHO-ASPHER Competency Framework for the Public Health Workforce was conducted online among Israeli public health managers from August to November 2021. The survey was formulated to mirror Essential Public Health Operations.

Development and national scale implementation of an open-source electronic laboratory information system (OpenELIS) in Côte d'Ivoire: Sustainability lessons from the first 13 years.

Purpose: Côte d'Ivoire has a tiered public health laboratory system of 9 reference laboratories, 77 laboratories at regional and general hospitals, and 100 laboratories among 1,486 district health centers. Prior to 2009, nearly all of these laboratories used paper registers and reports to collect and report laboratory data to clinicians and national disease monitoring programs.

Project: Since 2009 the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Côte d'Ivoire has sought to implement a comprehensive set of activities aimed at strengthening the laboratory system.

Working toward a transdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning planetary health-A collective reflection.

Background: In order to educate the next generation of leaders to work at reverting the damaging effects of the Anthropocene, there is an increasing need to incorporate more environmental-related aspects in all teaching programmes, including the health-related. Planetary health is a complex field which can benefit from a transdisciplinary pedagogical approach. The aim of this research was to evaluate an approach working toward transdisciplinarity applied to a course of Planetary Health taught at the Bachelor degree Global Responsibility & Leadership of the University of Groningen through substantive feedback and reflections from the students.

Randomized Trial of Vaccines for Zaire Ebola Virus Disease.

Background: Questions remain concerning the rapidity of immune responses and the durability and safety of vaccines used to prevent Zaire Ebola virus disease.

Methods: We conducted two randomized, placebo-controlled trials - one involving adults and one involving children - to evaluate the safety and immune responses of three vaccine regimens against Zaire Ebola virus disease: Ad26.ZEBOV followed by MVA-BN-Filo 56 days later (the Ad26-MVA group), rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP followed by placebo 56 days later (the rVSV group), and rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP followed by rVSVΔG-ZEBOV-GP 56 days later (the rVSV-booster group).

Understanding context in the implementation of emergency obstetric and neonatal care in health facilities in Osun State, Nigeria- a mixed-methods study.

Background: Successful implementation of Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care (EmONC) is likely to improve pregnancy outcomes and is essential for quality maternity care. Context in implementation is described as factors that enabled or disabled implementation of interventions. While the context of implementation is important for the effectiveness of evidence-based interventions, the context of EmONC implementation has not been widely studied in Nigeria.

Addressing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: A content analysis of government social media platforms in England and Italy during 2020-2021.

Objectives: This study investigates how England's and Italy's Public Health Governmental Departments addressed COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy (VH) on social media platforms.

Study Design: A conventional content analysis of the social media accounts of Public Health England (PHE), currently the UK Health Security Agency, and the Italian Ministry of Health (IMH) were performed during December 1st, 2020-April 30th, 2021.

Methods: A total of 531 and 110 posts were extracted from the accounts of PHE and the IMH respectively.

Economic costs and Predictors of occupation-related Injuries in Ethiopian sugar industries from the Employer's perspective: top-down approach and friction method.

Background: For many industrial workers, occupational injuries are a common health and safety concern. However, sufficient information on the economic costs and predictors of occupation-related injuries from the perspective of employers is lacking in developing countries, including Ethiopia. The objective of this study was to close this gap by quantifying the economic costs and predictors of occupation-related injuries in Ethiopian manufacturing industries from the employer's perspective.

Health promotion and disease prevention in the education of health professionals: a mapping of European educational programmes from 2019.

Background: Health professionals face barriers in carrying out effective health promotion and disease prevention. To indicate what are the needs for curriculum development in educational programmes, this study aims to provide an overview of how various health professionals are currently trained in health promotion and disease prevention at different educational levels.

Methods: In 2019, a descriptive mapping exercise was performed focusing on European programmes for different health and healthcare professionals at the three levels of education (undergraduate, postgraduate, and continuous professional development [CPD]).

Factors contributing to occupational injuries among workers in the construction, manufacturing, and mining industries in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Personal injuries, illnesses, or deaths resulting from occupational accidents pose critical public health issues with severe social and economic implications. Studies on risk factors for occupational injuries in Africa have been indecisive. This study aimed to identify factors influencing occupational injuries at the regional level and to generate estimates of the contribution of each.

Contextual factors and spatial trends of childhood malnutrition in Zambia.

Background: Understanding the national burden and epidemiological profile of childhood malnutrition is central to achieving both national and global health priorities. However, national estimates of malnutrition often conceal large geographical disparities. This study examined the prevalence of childhood malnutrition across provinces in Zambia, changes over time, and identified factors associated with the changes.

Exploring barriers and facilitators to integrated policy formulation and implementation of family planning and urban development programmes in Nigeria.

Background: As more people now live in urban areas than in rural communities in Nigeria, urban development (UD) requires urgent policy and programmatic attention. Although the population factor has been identified as important to achieving national development goals, and evidence suggests that meeting the family planning (FP) and reproductive health (RH) needs of the vulnerable urban population can serve as an important recipe for achieving population growth rates consistent with building sustainable, habitable and prosperous urban settings, FP remains a neglected subject in UD initiatives in Nigeria. This study explored barriers and facilitators in achieving integrated policy formulation and implementation of FP and UD programmes in Nigeria.