Can public education campaigns equitably counter the use of substandard and falsified (SF) medical products in African countries?

Substandard and falsified (SF) medical products are a serious health and economic concern that disproportionately impact low- and middle-income countries and marginalized groups. Public education campaigns are demand-side interventions that may reduce risk of SF exposure, but the effectiveness of such campaigns, and their likelihood of benefitting everybody, is unclear. Nationwide pilot risk communication campaigns, involving multiple media, were deployed in Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Uganda in 2020-2021.

Potential antihyperlipidemic effects of myrcenol and curzerene in high-fat fed rats.

The study evaluated the anti-hyperlipidemic effects of myrcenol and curzerene on a high fat diet induced hyperlipidemia rat model. Thirty male albino rats were fed on a high-fat diet for four months. The HFD-induced hyperperlipidemia rats were treated with rosuvastatin (10 mg/kg), curzerene (130 mg/kg) and myrcenol (100 mg/kg) for four weeks.

The nature of self-medication in Uganda: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: In Uganda, many people self-medicate and the practice raises important questions about access to healthcare, patient choices, and the increasing prevalence of antimicrobial resistance. This systematic review and meta-analysis investigated the prevalence and factors associated with self-medication in Uganda.

Methods: We searched Scopus, PubMed, and Embase databases, WHO AFRO, UNIPH registries, and Google Scholar search engine from inception to November 2024 using the algorithm "Self-Medication" AND "Uganda".

Perceptions and practices of imaging personnel and physicians regarding the use of brain MRI for dementia diagnosis in Uganda.

Introduction: Diagnosing dementia remains challenging in low-income settings due to limited diagnostic options and the absence of definitive biomarkers. The use of brain MRI in the diagnosis of dementia is infrequent in Uganda, and even when it is used, subtle findings like mild regional atrophy are often overlooked, despite being crucial for imaging diagnosis.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions and practices of imaging personnel and physicians regarding the use of brain MRI as a diagnostic approach for dementia in Uganda.

Leaving no one behind: Disability and HIV prevention, knowledge among adults in a population cohort in Uganda.

Background: People with disability are a vulnerable population and are at a high risk of acquiring human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.

Objectives: We investigated the association between severity of disability and not having knowledge of any HIV prevention method among adults in Uganda.

Method: Between January 2015 and December 2015, data were collected within a general population in Uganda, on six domains of disability based on the Washington Group Short Set on Functioning.

A never-ending story: updated 3D cyber-taxonomic revision of the ant genus Wheeler (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Dorylinae) for the Afrotropical region.

The ant genus are fascinating ants due to their distinctive morphology, ecology, and rarity. In this study, a comprehensive revision of in the Afrotropical region is presented, through a combination of morphological examination under the light microscope and three-dimensional (3D) cyber-taxonomy based on microtomography (micro-CT). Micro-CT based 3D surface models of all species were used for virtual morphological visualisation and examination.

Prioritizing post-COVID-19 health research in sub-Saharan Africa: A modified Delphi study for future pandemic.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic exposed weaknesses in healthcare systems and disparities in healthcare access across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The insights of frontline healthcare professionals (HCPs), and healthcare researchers involved with the response to COVID in SSA are crucial to ensuring that health systems are optimally prepared for the next pandemic threat. Nonetheless, there is limited consensus as to what are the clinical and public health research priorities necessary to ensure that SSA is optimally prepared and responsive to future pandemics.

"You're in an Image of a Man but Not a Man": A Qualitative Analysis of Intersectional Stigma Among Men with HIV Experiencing Subfertility in Rural Southwestern Uganda.

Many men with HIV (MWH) want to have children and may encounter HIV- and infertility-related stigma experiences. Integration of reproductive health and HIV care for men is rare. When available, safer conception care focuses on HIV prevention but lacks fertility support.

A qualitative study to understand the facilitators of and barriers to retention in care to the national PMTCT Option B+ programme in Uganda.

Introduction: Effective prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) programmes require women and their infants to have access to a cascade of HIV care and treatment interventions. Retention in care reduces the risk of vertical transmission and opportunistic infections among mothers living with HIV. Uganda has made great strides in ensuring the success of the prevention of mother to child transmission program.

Prevalence and factors associated with multidrug resistant Escherichia coli carriage on chicken farms in west Nile region in Uganda: A cross-sectional survey.

Infections with multi-drug-resistant (MDR) pathogens in food-animals threaten public health and food security. However, the epidemiology and factors associated with MDR Escherichia coli (MDR E. coli) on Ugandan farms are not well known.

HIV clinical outcomes among people with HIV and diabetes mellitus in Kampala, Uganda; A matched retrospective cohort study.

Suppressive antiretroviral treatment (ART) has resulted into prolonged survival of people with HIV (PWH) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) with resultant increase in the incidence of non-communicable diseases (NCD), such as diabetes mellitus (DM). However, there is a lack of data on the effect of DM on HIV-related outcomes among PWH in this setting. The study aimed to compare HIV clinical outcomes (viral load suppression, retention in care, hospitalization, tuberculosis, and mortality) between PWH with DM and those without at two large HIV clinics in Kampala, Uganda.

Subnational trends and inequalities of under-immunisation and zero-dose among children aged 12-23 months in Uganda: a national population-based cross-sectional study.

Objective: Despite the Global Vaccine Action Plan's goal of at least 90% vaccine coverage for all children, Uganda has made limited progress in vaccination over the past decade. The objective of this study was to examine the subnational trends in the prevalence and inequalities in under-immunisation and zero-dose among children aged 12-23 months in Uganda.

Study Design: A retrospective national cross-sectional study.

Building Public Health Quantitative Methods Capacity and Networks in sub-Saharan Africa: An Evaluation of a Faculty Training Program.

Introduction: There is a shortage of individuals trained in using quantitative methods in biomedical research in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Improving public health in SSA requires new ways to promote quantitative knowledge and skills among faculty in biomedical research and better-integrated network systems of support.

Methods: We describe the development, implementation, and evaluation of an innovative faculty training and support program in SSA from December 2017-June 2020, using courses in monitoring and evaluation, data management, and complex surveys as prototypical examples.

A workplace-based HIV self-testing intervention as a determinant for self-testing knowledge, beliefs, and use among unskilled workers in Wakiso Uganda.

Background: The HIV burden still persists to date, as a public global health challenge despite numerous prevention interventions that have been proposed toward achieving 95% of all people living with HIV aware of their HIV status by 2030. Therefore, this study set out to examine the effect of a workplace-based HIV self-testing intervention on the use of HIV self-testing among unskilled workers in Wakiso Uganda.

Methods: A quasi-experimental one-group pretest-posttest design was conducted among 46 participants systematically and randomly selected.

Optimizing data collection for obstetrical ultrasound research at the primary health care level in rural Uganda.

Background: Neonatal and maternal mortality remains high in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Quality data collection is crucial to understand the magnitude of these problems and to measure the impact of interventions aimed at improving neonatal and maternal mortality. However, data collection in the low-income country setting, especially in rural areas, has been a challenge for researchers, policy makers, and public health officials.

Hospital Boarding Creates Critical Shortcomings in Disaster Preparedness.

Hospital patient boarding in emergency departments has reached unprecedented crisis levels over the past 4 years. Boarding and crowding has been demonstrated by prior literature to have adverse effects on patient care as well as increased associated costs. Importantly, the increase in hospital patient boarding has created critical shortcomings in disaster preparedness by limiting the capacity of emergency departments to respond to mass casualty incidents due to space and staffing constraints.

Maternal socialization and infant helping in Uganda and the United Kingdom.

Prosocial behavior, including instrumental helping, emerges early in development, but the role parental attitudes and practices take in shaping the emergence of early helping across different cultural contexts is not well understood. We took a longitudinal approach to investigate maternal socialization of early helping across two different cultural groups. Participants were mother-infant dyads from urban/suburban York, United Kingdom (43 infants: 21 females, 22 males) and the rural Masindi District, Uganda (39 infants: 22 females, 17 males).

Validation of clearcalc for efficient patient specific QA.

Uganda's only radiotherapy center is a very busy facility treating about 210 patients daily on three linear accelerators making it sometimes hard to have machine time for pretreatment QAs. This study was aimed at validating an independent calculation software, ClearCalc (ICS) for second checks of the treatment planning system (TPS) calculations. The validation of ICS started with simple phantom test plans consisting of square, irregular, open and wedged fields designed in the TPS and measured in phantoms.

Promotion of Cardiovascular Health in Africa: The Alliance for Medical Research in Africa (AMedRA) Expert Panel.

This proposed scientific statement is focused on providing new insights regarding challenges and opportunities for cardiovascular health (CVH) promotion in Africa. The statement includes an overview of the current state of CVH in Africa, with a particular interest in the cardiometabolic risk factors and their evaluation through metrics. The statement also explains the main principles of primordial prevention, its relevance in reducing noncommunicable disease and the different strategies that have been effective worldwide.

Barriers to treatment seeking for depression among elderly service users at Butabika National Referral and Teaching hospital, Kampala- Uganda.

Objectives: Depression among the elderly is a significant public health concern in Uganda, where cultural, social, and healthcare-related barriers hinder access to treatment and support. This study examines the barriers to mental health service access faced by elderly service-users in Uganda.

Method: Using an interpretive phenomenological approach, in-depth interviews were conducted to capture the lived experiences of elderly Baganda service users receiving treatment at Butabika National Referral and Teaching hospital.

Effectiveness of monovalent rotavirus vaccine against hospital-attended rotavirus gastroenteritis among children in Uganda.

Background: The underlying causes for lower rotavirus vaccine effectiveness (VE) in high-child-mortality settings are not well understood. Uganda introduced the human monovalent G1P[8] rotavirus vaccine (Rotarix) in June 2018. We determined the effectiveness of Rotarix against rotavirus diarrhea requiring hospital care among Ugandan children.

Interventions to Maintain HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Service Delivery During Public Health Emergencies in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Protocol for a Systematic Review.

Background: Although existing disease preparedness and response frameworks provide guidance about strengthening emergency response capacity, little attention is paid to health service continuity during emergency responses. During the 2014 Ebola outbreak, there were 11,325 reported deaths due to the Ebola virus and yet disruption in access to care caused more than 10,000 additional deaths due to measles, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. Low- and middle-income countries account for the largest disease burden due to HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria and yet previous responses to health emergencies showed that HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria service delivery can be significantly disrupted.

Maternal HIV retesting during antenatal care in selected health facilities in Mayuge district, Uganda: A cross-sectional study.

Vertical transmission of HIV continues to be a key contributor to pediatric HIV infections globally. Routine HIV testing at each antenatal care (ANC) visit can reduce the likelihood of such infections. However, a sub-optimal number of women are re-tested for HIV on their subsequent ANC visits.