An in-depth analysis of factors influencing small-scale cattle farmers' participation in livestock markets in Western Province of Zambia: navigating challenges and barriers.

Introductions: The low participation of small-scale farmers in livestock markets in sub-Saharan Africa, including Zambia, is a major inhibitor to private sector investment in the livestock subsector. Despite the immense potential of the livestock industry to bolster the economic development of countries in this region, several socioeconomic, environmental, and cultural factors contribute to this hindrance.

Methods: This study was conducted in the Western Province of Zambia and adopted a qualitative research approach to understand the challenges and barriers affecting livestock markets among smallholder cattle farmers.

Antibiotic Dispensing Practices Among Community Retail Pharmacies and Registered Drugstores: Results from a Simulated Client Study in Lilongwe, Malawi.

Introduction: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is largely driven by the inappropriate use of antibiotics. This has been attributed to the non-prescription sale of antibiotics in retail drug outlets. Despite the rising number of retail drug outlets in Malawi, the practice of drug dispensing in private pharmacies has not been evaluated.

Determining Targets for Antiretroviral Drug Concentrations: A Causal Framework Illustrated With Pediatric Efavirenz Data From the CHAPAS-3 Trial.

Background: Determining a therapeutic window for maintaining antiretroviral drug concentrations within an appropriate range is required for identifying effective dosing regimens. The limits of this window are typically calculated using predictive models. We propose that target concentrations should instead be calculated based on counterfactual probabilities of relevant outcomes and describe a counterfactual framework for this.

Predictors of maternal HIV acquisition during pregnancy and lactation in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review and narrative synthesis.

Objectives: To eliminate vertical transmission of HIV, global institutions recommend using a risk-guided approach for HIV prevention services in antenatal and postnatal settings. Identifying predictors of maternal HIV acquisition can inform the development of risk-guided approaches, but individual studies of predictors can have limited power and generalizability.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review and narrative synthesis to identify common predictors of maternal HIV acquisition in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

The influence of wife abuse on women's reproductive choices inSouthern African Countries: Findings from a cross-sectional analysis of demographic and health surveys.

Understanding women's attitudes towards wife abuse and its effects on their reproductive choices is crucial for promoting gender equality in Southern Africa. However, a paucity of research has explored this relationship. Using IPUMS Demographic and Health Surveys data from 2011-2018 across eight Southern African nations, we analyzed 17,968 women's attitudes towards wife beating and their reproductive choices through a cross-sectional design and multilevel logistic regression models.

Effectiveness of economic support, comprehensive sexuality education and community dialogue on early childbearing and sitting for grade nine exams among adolescent girls in rural Zambia: a cluster randomised trial.

Background: Adolescent pregnancies pose a risk to young mothers and their babies. In Zambia, one third of 18-year-old girls have given birth. Poverty, low secondary school enrolment, misinformation, and community norms contribute to early childbearing.

Isolation and Identification of Lumpy Skin Disease Virus.

Lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV), a member of the capripoxvirus genus, induces lumpy skin disease (LSD) in cattle and buffalo populations. The initial documentation of LSD dates back to 1929 in Zambia, with subsequent rapid dissemination within the cattle community in Africa and Asia. Described as the "smallpox" equivalent in cattle, LSD manifests through clinical features such as fever, extensive cutaneous nodules, body wasting, lymph node enlargement, and skin edema.

DETECTION OF NEW HIV CASES UNDER EPIDEMIC CONTROL - WHEN IS IT THE RIGHT TIME TO REVIEW HIV TESTING ALGORITHMS FOR COUNTRIES NEARING THE 95-95-95 MILESTONES? CASE STUDY -BOTSWANA.

Background: Accurate diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is dependent on using established national HIV testing algorithm. The purpose of this study was to review published articles to identify, and apply lessons learned to determine factors affecting transition of HIV testing algorithm for countries that have attained HIV epidemic control.

Materials And Methods: We systematically searched peer-reviewed articles from online scientific databases; PubMed and Google Scholar from January 2019 to March 2024, using defined search phrases to extract articles.

Psychometric properties and clinical utility of spinal health outcome measures in school-based interventions among children and adolescents: a systematic review protocol.

Introduction: Spinal health in children and adolescents has global implications, impacting school attendance, academic performance and physical activity. Effective school-based interventions are essential for promoting spinal health literacy, positive behaviours and academic success.

Objectives: This review aims to collect data on school-based interventions for spinal health in children and adolescents over the past two decades.

Predictors of upper limb motor recovery in stroke survivors: a pre-post test study design.

Objectives: The study aimed to assess the predictors of upper limb motor recovery in stroke survivors.

Design: Pre-post test study design.

Setting: Conducted in two centres (First Level Hospital and University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka).

TIDieR-WASH: A Guideline for Reporting Implementation of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Interventions.

Introduction: Accurate information on context and implementation of public health interventions is necessary to replicate, adapt, and scale effective interventions and to interpret evaluations. Reporting the context and implementation of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) interventions has been inconsistent and incomplete.

Methods: To improve the reporting of WASH interventions, we developed the Template for Intervention Description and Replication for WASH (TIDieR-WASH) checklist and guide, by adapting and expanding the original TIDieR guide.

Basic and preclinical epilepsy research Scientists' perception of clinical epileptology.

The interaction between basic science epilepsy researchers and clinical epileptologists is a longstanding issue. Efforts to provide opportunities for a dialogue between preclinical and clinical epilepsy professionals are crucial to reduce the knowledge gap between them and improve the translational success of neurobiology-based research. The International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) Research and Innovation Task Force circulated a survey to investigate the need for an update on new clinical epilepsy concepts within the basic science community.

Factors associated with retakes in health Professions Courses: A case study of Five selected Universities in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Background: Academic examination retakes are significant challenges in health professions education. With rigorous clinical assessments, limited training resources and high-stakes examinations, students struggle to meet academic requirements which cab result in retakes. This study aimed to assess the proportion of medical and nursing students with retakes across five Sub-Saharan African universities and to explore factors contributing to the retakes.

World Health Organization African Region national heads of units of diagnostics and laboratory services meetings proceedings.

Background: In the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region, many cases of serious and preventable diseases remain unmanaged because appropriate and good quality diagnostic support is not available at all levels within countries' health systems. Diagnostic and laboratory services influence the efficiency and effectiveness of both clinical and public health functions, including diagnosis, treatment, health promotion, disease prevention, surveillance and response, and research. Essential to global health security, these services are vital to decision-making processes by clinicians, epidemiologists, public health specialists, and health policymakers.

Systemic biological mechanisms underpin poor post-discharge growth among severely wasted children with HIV.

In sub-Saharan Africa, children with severe malnutrition (SM) and HIV have substantially worse outcomes than children with SM alone, facing higher mortality risk and impaired nutritional recovery post-hospitalisation. Biological mechanisms underpinning this risk remain incompletely understood. This case-control study nested within the CHAIN cohort in Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, and Burkina Faso examined effect of HIV on six months post-discharge growth among children with SM and those at risk of malnutrition, assessed proteomic signatures associated with HIV in these children, and investigated how these systemic processes impact post-discharge growth in children with SM.