Access to energy and women's human capital in sub-Saharan Africa.

This study examines the link between access to energy and women's human capital by focusing on women's life expectancy and school enrollment. To evaluate this relationship, we take a supranational perspective by using data from a panel of 34 sub-Saharan African countries over a 21-year period from 2000 to 2020. To do so, the ordinary least squares estimation technique applied to a fixed effects specification was adopted.

Financial stability in sub-Saharan Africa: Does monetary policy matter?

The SDGs give priority to a high-quality monetary policy via domestic credit and the money supply. This objective has been widely studied and a rich literature exists on the subject. With this in mind, in this paper we examine how monetary policy (domestic credit and money supply) has affected financial stability in 48 sub-Saharan African countries between 2000 and 2021.

Does it pay for firms to adopt environmental protection devices? An empirical examination in Cameroon.

The decision to adopt environmental protection policies within companies is faced with the fear of negative repercussions on performance. The aim of this paper is to analyse the effect of adopting environmental protection measures on the performance of VSEs in the tertiary sector in Cameroon. The use of linear models and matching methods such as Propensity Score Matching (PSM) and Multivariate Distance Matching (MDM) reveals a positive influence on performance.

The association between intimate partner violence and breastfeeding practices in Cameroon: An analysis from demographic and health survey of 2018.

Intimate partner violence is a major public health concern around the world. While its degrading effects on maternal health are well documented, it is not clear establishing a link with child health outcomes, especially on breastfeeding practices. Therefore, this paper aims to analyze the association between Intimate partner violence and breastfeeding practices in Cameroon using data from the 2018 demographic and health survey.

Climate vulnerability and child health outcomes in developing countries: Do women's political empowerment and female education make the difference?

Health as a common good is of paramount importance for the world, especially in developing countries. This paper contributes to the literature by analysing the effect of climate vulnerability on child health outcomes in a sample of 107 developing countries over the period 2000-2020. We also analyse the mediating role of women's political empowerment and women's education in the relationship between climate vulnerability and child health outcomes.

Climate variability, armed conflicts and child malnutrition in sub-saharan Africa: A spatial analysis in Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria.

Background: Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has one of the highest prevalence of malnutrition among children under 5 in the world. It is also the region most vulnerable to the adverse effect of climate change, and the one that records the most armed conflicts. The chains of causality suggested in the literature on the relationship between climate change, armed conflict, and malnutrition have rarely been supported by empirical evidence for SSA countries.

Nonpharmaceutical interventions reduce the incidence and mortality of COVID-19: A study based on the survey from the International COVID-19 Research Network (ICRN).

The recently emerged novel coronavirus, "severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)," caused a highly contagious disease called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). It has severely damaged the world's most developed countries and has turned into a major threat for low- and middle-income countries. Since its emergence in late 2019, medical interventions have been substantial, and most countries relied on public health measures collectively known as nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs).

Does poverty increase COVID-19 in Africa? A cross-country analysis.

Background: Most economies in African countries are informal. As such, households in these countries tend to face higher levels of informality coupled with a lack of social protection, and have no replacement income or savings in the event of unexpected external shocks, such as COVID-19. Thus, the COVID-19 shock and its negative economic effects triggered a cascade of income losses and bankruptcies that pushed a significant share of households in African countries into poverty.

Climate variability, water supply, sanitation and diarrhea among children under five in Sub-Saharan Africa: a multilevel analysis.

Climate variability is expected to increase the risk of diarrhea diseases, a leading cause of child mortality and morbidity in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The risk of diarrhea is more acute when populations have poor access to improved water and sanitation. This study seeks to determine individual and joint effects of climate variation, water supply and sanitation on the occurrence of diarrhea among children under five in SSA using multilevel mixed-effect Poisson regression including cross-level interaction.

The association between women's empowerment and reproductive health care utilization in Cameroon.

Background: The context related to maternal mortality has improved over the past decade in Cameroon. However, the demand for reproductive health care use remains insufficient with regard to public health policy targets, and women's empowerment is identified as a catalyst with a great potential.

Objective: This study aims to analyse the association between the dimensions of women's empowerment and the utilization of adequate reproductive health care.

The global case fatality rate of coronavirus disease 2019 by continents and national income: A meta-analysis.

The aim of this study is to provide a more accurate representation of COVID-19's case fatality rate (CFR) by performing meta-analyses by continents and income, and by comparing the result with pooled estimates. We used multiple worldwide data sources on COVID-19 for every country reporting COVID-19 cases. On the basis of data, we performed random and fixed meta-analyses for CFR of COVID-19 by continents and income according to each individual calendar date.

Measuring the effects of prenatal care on child birth weight in Cameroon.

Low birth weight continues to be a significant public health problem worldwide with a range of short- and long-term consequences. However, the analysis of its determinants remains a less addressed issue in sub-Saharan African countries despite the poor child health indicators observed there. The objective of this study is to examine the effects of prenatal care on child birth weight in Cameroon, using data from the fifth Demographic and Health Survey.

The effect of women's bargaining power within couples on contraceptive use in Cameroon.

Background: The prevalence of contraception among married women, evaluated at 23%, is low in Cameroon. Maternal death rates, estimated at 782 deaths per 100,000 live births, are very worrying. The National Strategic Plan for Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (2015-2020) and the Health Sector Strategy (2016-2027) focuses on increasing modern contraceptive prevalence as a means to reduce maternal death.

Replication of influential studies on biomedical, social, behavioural and structural interventions for HIV prevention and treatment.

Replication is an important tool to promote high quality research and ensure policy makers can rely on studies in making guidelines or funding programs. By ensuring influential studies are replicable we provide assurance that the policies based on these studies are well-founded and the conclusions and recommendations are robust-to different estimation models or different choices. In this paper, we argue that replication is not only useful but necessary to ensure that an author's choice in how to analyse data is not the only factor that determines whether an intervention is effective or not.

Do the dynamics of vaccine programs improve the full immunization of children under the age of five in Cameroon?

Background: Among the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), three were devoted to health. Two amongst which MDG4 in relation to the reduction of infant mortality has not been achieved in Least Developed Countries (LDC). In Africa, a significant part of infant mortality is due to vaccine-preventable diseases administered free of charge by the Extended Program on Immunization (EPI).

Drivers of legal and illegal solid waste disposal in the Global South - The case of households in Yaoundé (Cameroon).

Managing municipal solid waste is a challenge for many policy makers, but even more so in the Global South. Regulatory instruments are often limited, available resources are scarce and illegal waste disposal is an easy opt-out. We analyze a unique dataset regarding waste disposal choices by households in Yaoundé, Cameroon, including information on illegal waste dumping.

Treatment of HIV among tuberculosis patients: A replication study of timing of antiretroviral therapy for HIV-1-associated tuberculosis.

Co-diagnosis of HIV and tuberculosis presents a treatment dilemma. Starting both treatments at the same time can cause a flood of immune response called immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) which can be lethal. But, how long to delay HIV treatment is less understood.

Advantages and disadvantages of channeling Gavi's health system strengthening funds through health partners, a case study.

Introduction: Following a period of interruption of Gavi's funds for health system strengthening (HSS) in Cameroon and Chad, the two countries reprogramed their HSS grants. To implement the reprogrammed HSS, Chad committed to better management of the funds. Cameroon chose to channel the HSS funds through one of the health partners.

Two decades of tobacco use prevention and control policies in Cameroon: results from the analysis of non-communicable disease prevention policies in Africa.

Background: Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the world today. In 2010, the World Health Organization (WHO) proposed efficient and inexpensive "best buy" interventions for prevention of tobacco use including: tax increases, smoke-free indoor workplaces and public places, bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, and health information and warnings. This paper analyzes the extent to which tobacco use prevention policies in Cameroon align with the WHO tobacco "best buy" interventions.

Small area estimation of under-5 mortality in Bangladesh, Cameroon, Chad, Mozambique, Uganda, and Zambia using spatially misaligned data.

Background: The under-5 mortality rate (U5MR) is an important metric of child health and survival. Country-level estimates of U5MR are readily available, but efforts to estimate U5MR subnationally have been limited, in part, due to spatial misalignment of available data sources (e.g.

Resource Allocation Strategies to Increase the Efficiency and Sustainability of Gavi's Health System Strengthening Grants.

Background: Despite the increase in Health System Strengthening (HSS) grants, there is no consensus among global health actors about how to maximize the efficiency and sustainability of HSS programs and their resulting gains. To formally analyze and compare the efficiency and sustainability of Gavi's HSS grants, we investigated the factors, events and root causes that increased the time and effort needed to implement HSS grants, decreased expected outcomes and threatened the continuity of activities and the sustainability of the results gained through these grants in Cameron and Chad.

Methods: We conducted 2 retrospective independent evaluations of Gavi's HSS support in Cameroon and Chad using a mixed methodology.

Challenges to implementing Gavi's health system strengthening support in Chad and Cameroon: results from a mixed-methods evaluation.

Background: Since 2005, Gavi has provided health system strengthening (HSS) grants to address bottlenecks affecting immunization services. This study is the first to evaluate the Gavi HSS implementation process in either Cameroon or Chad, two countries with significant health system challenges and poor achievement on the child and maternal health Millennium Development Goals.

Methods: We triangulated quantitative and qualitative data including financial records, document review, field visit questionnaires, and key informant interviews (KII) with representatives from the Ministries of Health, Gavi, and other partners.