Increasing Spiritual Beliefs are Associated With Lower HIV Incidence Among Black Men Who Have Sex With Men: Results From HPTN 061 Longitudinal Study.

BACKGROUND: There is a limited understanding about the impact of spiritual beliefs and activities on HIV seroconversion among black men who have sex with men (BMSM), which we investigate in this study. SETTING: United States. METHODS: The HIV Prevention Trials Network Study 061 collected demographic and biomedical assessments among BMSM across 6 United States cities for longitudinal analysis. Spiritual beliefs and spiritual activities are constructed composite scales. Bivariate analyses among 894 who provided data at 12-month follow-up compared men who seroconverted to HIV between baseline and 6 months with those who remained uninfected with HIV at 12 months. Cox proportional hazard regression among 944 men tested spiritual beliefs and activities on the longitudinal risk of HIV seroconversion adjusting for age and any sexually transmitted infection (STI). RESULTS: Among this sample, HIV incidence between baseline and 6 months was 1.69%, (95% confidence intervals [CI]: 1.04 to 2.77). Men who seroconverted to HIV were significantly younger than those who remained uninfected at the 12-month follow-up: (mean age 27, SD = 11 vs 37, SD = 12) and a higher proportion reported any STI (46.67% vs 11.39%, P < 0.01). A one-unit increase in spiritual beliefs was associated with lower hazard rate of seroconverting to HIV at follow-up [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) = 0.37, 95% CI: = (0.16 to 0.87)]. Religious service attendance and spiritual activities were unrelated to seroconverting. CONCLUSIONS: Spirituality is important in the lives of BMSM. Biomedical and behavioral HIV prevention interventions should consider assessing spiritual beliefs in HIV care among BMSM.

"If it weren't for my traditional healer, I would be dead": Engaging traditional healers to support people living with HIV in rural Mozambique.

Across rural sub-Saharan Africa, people living with HIV (PLHIV) commonly seek out treatment from traditional healers. We report on the clinical outcomes of a community health worker intervention adapted for traditional healers with insight into our results from qualitative interviews. We employed a pre-post intervention study design and used sequential mixed methods to assess the impact of a traditional healer support worker intervention in Zambézia province, Mozambique. After receiving a positive test result, 276 participants who were newly enrolled in HIV treatment and were interested in receiving home-based support from a traditional healer were recruited into the study. Those who enrolled from February 2016 to August 2016 received standard of care services, while those who enrolled from June 2017 to May 2018 received support from a traditional healer. We conducted interviews among healers and participants to gain insight into fidelity of study activities, barriers to support, and program improvement. Medication possession ratio at home (based on pharmacy pick-up dates) was not significantly different between pre- and post-intervention participants (0.80 in the pre-intervention group compared to 0.79 in the post-intervention group; p = 0.96). Participants reported receiving educational and psychosocial support from healers. Healers adapted their support protocol to initiate directly observed therapy among participants with poor adherence. Traditional healers can provide community-based psychosocial support, education, directly observed therapy, and disclosure assistance for PLHIV. Multiple factors may hinder patients' desire and ability to remain adherent to treatment, including poverty, confusion about medication side effects, and frustration with wait times at the health facility.

"If it weren't for my traditional healer, I would be dead": Engaging traditional healers to support people living with HIV in rural Mozambique

Across rural sub-Saharan Africa, people living with HIV (PLHIV) commonly seek out treatment from traditional healers. We report on the clinical outcomes of a community health worker intervention adapted for traditional healers with insight into our results from qualitative interviews. We employed a pre-post intervention study design and used sequential mixed methods to assess the impact of a traditional healer support worker intervention in Zambézia province, Mozambique. After receiving a positive test result, 276 participants who were newly enrolled in HIV treatment and were interested in receiving home-based support from a traditional healer were recruited into the study. Those who enrolled from February 2016 to August 2016 received standard of care services, while those who enrolled from June 2017 to May 2018 received support from a traditional healer. We conducted interviews among healers and participants to gain insight into fidelity of study activities, barriers to support, and program improvement. Medication possession ratio at home (based on pharmacy pick-up dates) was not significantly different between pre- and post-intervention participants (0.80 in the pre-intervention group compared to 0.79 in the post-intervention group; p = 0.96). Participants reported receiving educational and psychosocial support from healers. Healers adapted their support protocol to initiate directly observed therapy among participants with poor adherence. Traditional healers can provide community-based psychosocial support, education, directly observed therapy, and disclosure assistance for PLHIV. Multiple factors may hinder patients' desire and ability to remain adherent to treatment, including poverty, confusion about medication side effects, and frustration with wait times at the health facility.

Sexually Transmitted Infections in the U.S. Military: A Sexual Health Paradigm to Address Risk Behaviors, Unintended Pregnancy, Alcohol Use, and Sexual Trauma.

To address the ongoing epidemic of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the United States, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (National Academies) conducted a consensus study on STI control and prevention in the United States to provide recommendations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Association of County and City Health Officials. The culminating report identified military personnel as one of the priority groups that require special consideration given the high prevalence of STIs and their associated behaviors (e.g., concurrent sexual partners and infrequent condom use) that occur during active duty service. Universal health care access, the relative ease and frequency of STI screening, and the educational opportunities within the military are all assets in STI control and prevention. The report offers a comprehensive framework on multiple and interrelated influences on STI risk, prevention, health care access, delivery, and treatment. It also provides an overview of the multilevel risk and protective factors associated with STIs that could be applied using a sexual health paradigm. The military context must integrate the multilevel domains of influences to guide the effort to fill current gaps and research needs. The Department of Defense, with its large clinical and preventive medicine workforce and its well-established universal health care system, is well positioned to enact changes to shift its current approach to STI prevention, treatment, and control. STI control based on highlighting behavioral, social, cultural, and environmental influences on service members' sexual health and wellness may well drive better STI care and prevention outcomes.

Report From the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine-STI: Adopting a Sexual Health Paradigm-A Synopsis for Sexually Transmitted Infection Practitioners, Clinicians, and Researchers.

ABSTRACT: Despite decades of medical, diagnostic, and public health advances related to diagnosis and management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), rates of reportable STIs continue to grow. A 2021 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report on the current state of STI management and prevention in the United States, entitled Sexually Transmitted Infections: Adopting a Sexual Health Paradigm, offers recommendations on future public health programs, policy, and research. This new report builds upon the 1997 Institute of Medicine report, The Hidden Epidemic: Confronting Sexually Transmitted Diseases, and provides 11 recommendations organized under 4 action areas: (1) adopt a sexual health paradigm, (2) broaden ownership and accountability for responding to STIs, (3) bolster existing systems and programs for responding to STIs, and (4) embrace innovation and policy change to improve sexual health. We present our interpretive synopsis of this report, highlighting elements of particular interest to STI and sexual health practitioners, including clinicians, researchers, disease intervention specialists, community outreach workers, and public health staff. The report asserts that it is possible to create a healthier and more equitable future where fewer adolescents and adults are infected, fewer babies are born with STIs, and people entering their sexual debut and continuing throughout the life span are taught the language and skills to conceptualize and enact their own vision for what it means to be sexually healthy.

Interaction of Religion/Spirituality With Internalized HIV Stigma, Depression, Alcohol Use, and Sexual Risk Among Black Men Who Have Sex With Men: The 6 City HPTN 061 Study.

BACKGROUND: Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) remain at highest risk for HIV in the United States. Internalized HIV stigma and depression contribute to substance use and condomless anal intercourse (CAI). Religion and spirituality (R/S) are associated with decreased HIV-related risk behaviors for some groups, but their impact among BMSM is uncertain. We investigated the main and moderating roles of R/S on pathways from internalized HIV stigma to CAI while under the influence of drugs. METHODS: We used baseline data from 1511 BMSM from the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) 061 study to examine the associations between internalized HIV stigma, depressive symptoms, alcohol use, and CAI while under the influence of drugs, adjusting for covariates in generalized structural equation models. We then tested whether R/S moderated the association between (1) internalized HIV stigma and depressive symptoms, (2) depressive symptoms and alcohol use, and (3) alcohol use and CAI while under the influence of drugs. RESULTS: Spiritual beliefs [F(1,2) = 9.99, P < 0.001], spiritual activities [F(1,2) = 9.99, P < 0.001], and religious attendance [F(1,2) = 9.99, P < 0.001] moderated the pathway between internalized HIV stigma and depressive symptoms. As internalized HIV stigma increased, those with lower spiritual activity scores experienced significantly higher increases in depressive symptoms compared with those with higher spiritual activity scores whose depressive symptom scores remained unchanged [stigma × spiritual activities B = -0.18 (SE = 0.07), P < 0.001]. CONCLUSIONS: Religion and spirituality were protective against CAI among BMSM. Future intervention research should explore ways to incorporate religious and/or spiritual activities to reduce internalized HIV stigma as one way to reduce depressive symptoms among BMSM.

An unrecognized key population? Traditional treatment practices associated with HIV risk among traditional healers in rural South Africa.

OBJECTIVE: To understand the risk of HIV acquisition through occupational exposure among rural South African traditional healers, notably via the practice of traditional skin incisions with razors. DESIGN: A random sample of traditional healers living in South Africa participated in a cross-sectional survey that included a rapid HIV test. SETTING: Rural Bushbuckridge district of Mpumalanga, South Africa. PARTICIPANTS: Traditional healers. INTERVENTION: Pretest counseling, posttest counseling, and referral to care if HIV seropositive. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): HIV infection. RESULTS: Among healers who reported a previous positive test result or accepted an HIV test (96%), HIV prevalence was 30% (95% confidence interval: 23-37%). During their careers, 98% of healers reported conducting at least one 'vaccination' (as traditional incisions are called), 32% reported always using gloves when conducting these procedures, 29 (14%) reported patient blood touching their bare skin. Healers who reported exposure to patient blood had a higher HIV prevalence than their nonexposed colleagues (adjusted risk ratio: 2.35, 95% confidence interval: 1.55-3.56, P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Nearly all traditional healers are routinely performing minimally invasive skin incisions that could expose them to patient blood. The lack of training and access to personal protective equipment increase their risk of acquisition of blood-borne pathogens, including HIV. Given the widespread practice of traditional skin incisions across southern Africa, and the higher levels of HIV among traditional healers exposed to patient blood, it is likely that traditional healers are a hitherto unrecognized key population at disproportionate risk of acquiring HIV.

Taking stock of vaccine hesitancy among migrants: a scoping review protocol.

INTRODUCTION: At the 72nd World Health Assembly of May 2019, WHO member states prioritised a global action plan to promote migrant and refugee health. Five months earlier, WHO had declared vaccine hesitancy-the reluctance to vaccinate despite the availability of vaccination services-as one of the top 10 threats to global health. Although vaccination is often a requirement for immigration, repeated outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases within certain immigrant communities in some host nations suggest that vaccine hesitancy could be a factor in their susceptibility to vaccine-preventable diseases. Studies of the prevalence and determinants of vaccine hesitancy among migrants globally seem to be lacking. This scoping review will (1) identify articles on vaccine hesitancy among migrants; (2) examine the extent and nature of the extant evidence; and (3) determine the value of undertaking a full systematic review. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The framework for the scoping review proposed by the Joanna Briggs Institute will be used. The reporting will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews checklist. Studies published in English or French between January 1999 and December 2019 will be drawn from most or all of the following multidisciplinary databases: Africa-Wide Information, Allied and Complementary Medicine, Cochrane Library, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Embase, Index Medicus for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, Literature in the Health Sciences in Latin America and the Caribbean, Medline, Proquest Theses/Dissertations, PsycInfo and Web of Science. The search will include an extensive list of keywords to capture multiple dimensions of confidence and hesitancy vis-à-vis vaccines among migrants. Findings will be reported through summary narratives, tables, flowcharts and evidence maps. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This review is exempted from ethical approval and will be published in a peer-reviewed open-access journal to ensure wide dissemination.

Adapting an adherence support workers intervention: engaging traditional healers as adherence partners for persons enrolled in HIV care and treatment in rural Mozambique.

BACKGROUND: Systematic adaptation of evidence-informed interventions that increase retention in care and improve adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) are essential to ending the HIV epidemic in rural sub-Saharan Africa. We selected and adapted an adherence support worker intervention employed in Malawi for use by traditional healers in rural Mozambique. Given the levels of trust and dependence previously expressed by persons living with HIV (PLHIV) for traditional medicine, we adapted the program to engage traditional healers within the allopathic health system. METHODS: Adaption followed a theoretically driven approach to intervention adaption: the Assessment-Decision-Administration-Production-Topical Experts-Integration-Training-Testing (ADAPT-ITT) model. Three rounds of performance feedback, based on theater presentations of the adapted intervention for stakeholders and idea generation, were completed with 12 groups from March to July 2016 to develop the final model. We offered healer support to 180 newly diagnosed HIV-infected patients. RESULTS: Traditional healers were an acceptable group of community health workers to assist with patient adherence and retention. Traditional healers, clinicians, and interested community members suggested novel strategies to tailor the adherence support worker intervention, revealing a local culture of HIV denialism, aversion to the health system, and dislike of healthcare providers, as well as a preference for traditional treatments. Proposed changes to the intervention included modifications to the training language and topics, expanded community-based activities to support acceptability of an HIV diagnosis and to facilitate partner disclosure, and accompaniment to the health facility by healers to encourage delivery of respectful clinical care. PLHIV, healers, and clinicians deemed the intervention socially acceptable during focus groups. We subsequently recruited 180 newly diagnosed HIV-infected patients into the program: 170 (94%) accepted. CONCLUSIONS: Systematic translation of interventions, even between regions with similar social and economic environments, is an important first step to successful program implementation. Efforts previously limited to community health workers can be tailored for use by traditional healers-an underutilized and often maligned health workforce. It proved feasible to use theater-based performances to demonstrate delivery of the intervention in low-literacy populations, generating discussions about social norms, community concerns, and the merits of an acceptable strategy to improve retention and adherence to ART.

Impact of a critical health workforce shortage on child health in Zimbabwe: a country case study on progress in child survival, 2000-2013.

Despite notable progress reducing global under-five mortality rates, insufficient progress in most sub-Saharan African nations has prevented the achievement of Millennium Development Goal four (MDG#4) to reduce under-five mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015. Country-level assessments of factors underlying why some African countries have not been able to achieve MDG#4 have not been published. Zimbabwe was included in a four-country study examining barriers and facilitators of under-five survival between 2000 and 2013 due to its comparatively slow progress towards MDG#4. A review of national health policy and strategy documents and analysis of qualitative data identified Zimbabwe's critical shortage of health workers and diminished opportunities for professional training and education as an overarching challenge. Moreover, this insufficient health workforce severely limited the availability, quality, and utilization of life-saving health services for pregnant women and children during the study period. The impact of these challenges was most evident in Zimbabwe's persistently high neonatal mortality rate, and was likely compounded by policy gaps failing to authorize midwives to deliver life-saving interventions and to ensure health staff make home post-natal care visits soon after birth. Similarly, the lack of a national policy authorizing lower-level cadres of health workers to provide community-based treatment of pneumonia contributed to low coverage of this effective intervention and high child mortality. Zimbabwe has recently begun to address these challenges through comprehensive policies and strategies targeting improved recruitment and retention of experienced senior providers and by shifting responsibility of basic maternal, neonatal and child health services to lower-level cadres and community health workers that require less training, are geographically broadly distributed, and are more cost-effective, however the impact of these interventions could not be assessed within the scope and timeframe of the current study.

Occupational hazards of traditional healers: repeated unprotected blood exposures risk infectious disease transmission.

OBJECTIVE: Healers provide support for acute and chronic illnesses in rural Mozambique, such as socially acceptable traditional 'vaccinations' (subcutaneous cuts in the skin to rub herbs directly into the bloody lesion). We aimed to document the frequency of blood exposure by traditional practitioners in Mozambique. METHODS: We conducted surveys with a simple random sample of 236 traditional healers in Zambézia province. Chi-square and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were used to compare 'injection' behaviours across districts. RESULTS: Healers treated a median of eight patients in the past month (IQR: 4-15). About 75% conducted 'injections'. These healers 'injected' a median of four patients (IQR: 1-8), used a new razor a median of three times (IQR: 1-8), and almost never used gloves. Lifetime blood exposures among those who provided 'injections' during treatments were estimated to be 1758 over a healer's career. CONCLUSION: The majority of healers are exposed repeatedly to patient blood. Given the high prevalence of HIV, hepatitis B and C virus, and other blood-borne agents, specific healer practices are an occupational hazard and reuse of razors is risky for their clients.

Integrated prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission services, antiretroviral therapy initiation, and maternal and infant retention in care in rural north-central Nigeria: a cluster-randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Antiretroviral therapy (ART) and retention in care are essential for the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT). We aimed to assess the effect of a family-focused, integrated PMTCT care package. METHODS: In this parallel, cluster-randomised controlled trial, we pair-matched 12 primary and secondary level health-care facilities located in rural north-central Nigeria. Clinic pairs were randomly assigned to intervention or standard of care (control) by computer-generated sequence. HIV-infected women (and their infants) presenting for antenatal care or delivery were included if they had unknown HIV status at presentation (there was no age limit for the study, but the youngest participant was 16 years old); history of antiretroviral prophylaxis or treatment, but not receiving these at presentation; or known HIV status but had never received treatment. Standard of care included health information, opt-out HIV testing, infant feeding counselling, referral for CD4 cell counts and treatment, home-based services, antiretroviral prophylaxis, and early infant diagnosis. The intervention package added task shifting, point-of-care CD4 testing, integrated mother and infant service provision, and male partner and community engagement. The primary outcomes were the proportion of eligible women who initiated ART and the proportion of women and their infants retained in care at 6 weeks and 12 weeks post partum (assessed by generalised linear mixed effects model with random effects for matched clinic pairs). The trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01805752. FINDINGS: Between April 1, 2013, and March 31, 2014, we enrolled 369 eligible women (172 intervention, 197 control), similar across groups for marital status, duration of HIV diagnosis, and distance to facility. Median CD4 count was 424 cells per µL (IQR 268-606) in the intervention group and 314 cells per µL (245-406) in the control group (p<0·0001). Of the 369 women included in the study, 363 (98%) had WHO clinical stage 1 disease, 364 (99%) had high functional status, and 353 (96%) delivered vaginally. Mothers in the intervention group were more likely to initiate ART (166 [97%] vs 77 [39%]; adjusted relative risk 3·3, 95% CI 1·4-7·8). Mother and infant pairs in the intervention group were more likely to be retained in care at 6 weeks (125 [83%] of 150 vs 15 [9%] of 170; adjusted relative risk 9·1, 5·2-15·9) and 12 weeks (112 [75%] of 150 vs 11 [7%] of 168 pairs; 10·3, 5·4-19·7) post partum. INTERPRETATION: This integrated, family-focused PMTCT service package improved maternal ART initiation and mother and infant retention in care. An effective approach to improve the quality of PMTCT service delivery will positively affect global goals for the elimination of mother-to-child HIV transmission. FUNDING: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and US National Institutes of Health.

Engagement of Men in Antenatal Care Services: Increased HIV Testing and Treatment Uptake in a Community Participatory Action Program in Mozambique.

Uptake of HIV testing and antiretroviral therapy (ART) services during antenatal care (ANC) in rural Mozambique is disappointing. To nurture supportive male engagement in ANC services, we partnered with traditional birth attendants and trained a new type of male-to-male community health agent, "Male Champions", who focused on counseling male partners to create new, male-friendly community norms around engagement in spousal/partner pregnancies. We assessed ANC service uptake using a pre-post intervention design. The intervention was associated with increases in: (1) uptake of provider-initiated counseling and testing among pregnant woman (81 vs. 92 %; p < 0.001); (2) male engagement in ANC (5 vs. 34 %; p < 0.001); and (3) uptake of ART (8 vs. 19 %; p < 0.001). When men accepted HIV testing, rates of testing rose markedly among pregnant women. With the challenges in scale-up of Option B+ in sub-Saharan Africa, similar interventions may increase testing and treatment acceptability during pregnancy.

Practical Management of HIV-Associated Anemia in Resource-Limited Settings: Prospective Observational Evaluation of a New Mozambican Guideline.

Mozambique's updated guideline for management of HIV-associated anemia prompts clinicians to consider opportunistic conditions, adverse drug reactions, and untreated immunosuppression in addition to iron deficiency, intestinal helminthes, and malaria. We prospectively evaluated this guideline in rural Zambézia Province. Likely cause(s) of anemia were determined through prespecified history, physical examination, and laboratory testing. Diagnoses were "etiologic" if laboratory confirmed (sputum microscopy, blood culture, Plasmodium falciparum malaria rapid test) or "syndromic" if not. To assess hemoglobin response, we used serial point-of-care measurements. We studied 324 ambulatory, anemic (hemoglobin <10 g/dl) HIV-infected adults. Study clinicians treated nearly all [315 (97.2%)] for suspected iron deficiency and/or helminthes; 56 (17.3%) had laboratory-confirmed malaria. Other assigned diagnoses included tuberculosis [30 (9.3%)], adverse drug reactions [26 (8.0%)], and bacteremia [13 (4.1%)]. Etiologic diagnosis was achieved in 79 (24.4%). Of 169 (52.2%) subjects who improved (hemoglobin increase of ≥1 g/dl without indications for hospitalization), only 65 (38.5%) received conventional management (iron supplementation, deworming, and/or antimalarials) alone. Thirty (9.3%) died and/or were hospitalized, and 125 (38.6%) were lost to follow-up. Multivariable linear and logistic regression models described better hemoglobin responses and/or outcomes in subjects with higher CD4(+) T-lymphocyte counts, pre-enrollment antiretroviral therapy and/or co-trimoxazole prophylaxis, discontinuation of zidovudine for suspected adverse reaction, and smear-positive tuberculosis. Adverse outcomes were associated with fever, low body mass index, bacteremia, esophageal candidiasis, and low or missing CD4(+) T cell counts. In this severely resource-limited setting, successful anemia management often required interventions other than conventional presumptive treatment, thus supporting Mozambique's guideline revision.

Natural history and epidemiology of respiratory syncytial virus infection in the Middle East: Hospital surveillance for children under age two in Jordan.

UNLABELLED: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of bronchiolitis and viral pneumonia in infants and young children worldwide. In the Middle East and Arab countries, the burden of RSV-associated hospitalizations is not well characterized. We sought to determine the burden and clinical/epidemiological characteristics of RSV hospitalization in young children in Amman, Jordan. We investigated risk factors for severity including vitamin D levels. METHODS: We conducted viral surveillance with clinical and demographic data in children <2 years admitted with respiratory symptoms and/or fever at the Al-Bashir Government Hospital from March16, 2010 to March 31, 2013. Nasal/throat swabs were obtained and placed into lysis buffer, and frozen at -80°C until testing by real-time RT-PCR for 11 respiratory viruses. Heel stick blood or sera samples for 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels were obtained and sent to a central laboratory for mass spectrometry. RESULTS: Of the 3168 children, >80% testing positive for one virus, with RSV the most common virus detected (44%). The RSV-associated hospitalization rate was highest in children <6 months with an annual range of 21.1-25.9 per 1000, compared to 6.0-8.0 in 6-11-month-olds and 1.6-2.5 in 12-23-month-olds. RSV-positive children compared with RSV-negative were more likely to be previously healthy without underlying medical conditions, less likely to be born prematurely, had a higher frequency of supplemental oxygen use, and had lower median vitamin D levels. Risk factors for oxygen use in RSV-positive children included underlying medical conditions, lack of breastfeeding, younger age, and higher viral load. CONCLUSION: RSV is a major cause of illness in hospitalized Jordanian children and is associated with increased severity compared to other respiratory viruses. Children with RSV in the Middle East would benefit from future RSV vaccines and antiviral therapy.

Determinants of undernutrition among children aged 6 to 59 months in rural Zambézia Province, Mozambique: Results of two population-based serial cross-sectional surveys.

BACKGROUND: While many countries are transitioning from epidemics of undernutrition to overnutrition, Mozambique's very high 44% prevalence of stunting in children under age 5 years is cause for serious concern. METHODS: We conducted two population-based cross-sectional surveys of ~4000 female heads of households each in Zambézia Province, Mozambique from August-September 2010 (Baseline) and April-May 2014 (Endline) as part of the USAID funded Strengthening Communities through Integrated Programs (SCIP) grant. Anthropometric measurements were collected on 560 children aged 6-59 months at Baseline and 912 children at Endline and classified as: "stunted," a height-for-age z-score less than -2; "wasted," weight-for-height z-score less than -2; and "underweight," weight-for-age z-score less than -2. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression using Stata 13.1 were used to examine factors associated with undernutrition. RESULTS: Of children under age five years, 43% were undernourished in 2010 and 55% in 2014. The most common form of undernutrition was stunting (39% in 2010, 51% in 2014), followed by underweight (13% in both 2010 and 2014), and wasting (7% in 2010, 5% in 2014). Child's age was found to have a non-linear association with stunting. Vitamin A supplementation was associated with a 31% (p=0.04) decreased odds of stunting. Children who were exclusively breastfed for at least six months had an 80% (p=0.02) lower odds of wasting in 2014 and 57% (p=0.05) decreased odds of being underweight in 2014. Introducing other foods after age six months was associated with a five-fold increased odds of wasting in 2014 (p=0.02); household food insecurity was associated with wasting (OR=2.08; p=0.03) and underweight in 2010 (OR=2.31; p=0.05). Children whose mother washed her hands with a cleaning agent had a 40% (p=0.05) decreased odds of being underweight. Surprisingly, per point increase in household dietary diversity score, children had 12% greater odds of being stunted in 2010 (p=0.01) but 9% decreased odds of being underweight in 2014 (p=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: A combination of household and individual level factors was associated with undernutrition. As such, employment of multidimensional interventions should be considered to decrease undernutrition in children under five years old.

Antiretroviral therapy program expansion in Zambézia Province, Mozambique: geospatial mapping of community-based and health facility data for integrated health planning.

OBJECTIVE: To generate maps reflecting the intersection of community-based Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) delivery points with facility-based HIV program demographic information collected at the district level in three districts (Ile, Maganja da Costa and Chinde) of Zambézia Province, Mozambique; in order to guide planning decisions about antiretroviral therapy (ART) program expansion. METHODS: Program information was harvested from two separate open source databases maintained for community-based VCT and facility-based HIV care and treatment monitoring from October 2011 to September 2012. Maps were created using ArcGIS 10.1. Travel distance by foot within a 10 km radius is generally considered a tolerable distance in Mozambique for purposes of adherence and retention planning. RESULTS: Community-based VCT activities in each of three districts were clustered within geographic proximity to clinics providing ART, within communities with easier transportation access, and/or near the homes of VCT volunteers. Community HIV testing results yielded HIV seropositivity rates in some regions that were incongruent with the Ministry of Health's estimates for the entire district (2-13% vs. 2% in Ile, 2-54% vs. 11.5% in Maganja da Costa, and 23-43% vs. 14.4% in Chinde). All 3 districts revealed gaps in regional disbursement of community-based VCT activities as well as access to clinics offering ART. CONCLUSIONS: Use of geospatial mapping in the context of program planning and monitoring allowed for characterizing the location and size of each district's HIV population. In extremely resource limited and logistically challenging settings, maps are valuable tools for informing evidence-based decisions in planning program expansion, including ART.

Challenges in the detection, prevention, and treatment of HIV-associated malignancies in low- and middle-income countries in Africa.

Cancers associated with immunosuppression and infections have long been recognized as a major complication of HIV/AIDS. More recently, persons living with HIV are increasingly diagnosed with a wider spectrum of HIV-associated malignancies (HIVAM) as they live longer on combination antiretroviral therapy. This has spurred research to characterize the epidemiology and determine the optimal management of HIVAM with a focus on low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). Given background coinfections, environmental exposures, host genetic profiles, antiretroviral therapy usage, and varying capacities for early diagnosis and treatment, one can expect the biology of cancers in HIV-infected persons in LMICs to have a significant impact on chronic HIV care, as is now the case in high-income countries. Thus, new strategies must be developed to effectively prevent, diagnose, and treat HIVAM in LMICs; provide physical/clinical infrastructures; train the cancer and HIV workforce; and expand research capacity-particularly given the challenges posed by the limitations on available transportation and financial resources and the population's general rural concentration. Opportunities exist to extend resources supported by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria to improve the health-care infrastructure and train the personnel required to prevent and manage cancers in persons living with HIV. These HIV chronic care infrastructures could also serve cancer patients regardless of their HIV status, facilitating long-term care and treatment for persons who do not live near cancer centers, so that they receive the same degree of care as those receiving chronic HIV care today.

Closing the mental health gap in low-income settings by building research capacity: perspectives from Mozambique.

BACKGROUND: Neuropsychiatric disorders are the leading cause of disability worldwide, accounting for 22.7% of all years lived with disability. Despite this global burden, fewer than 25% of affected individuals ever access mental health treatment; in low-income settings, access is much lower, although nonallopathic interventions through traditional healers are common in many venues. Three main barriers to reducing the gap between individuals who need mental health treatment and those who have access to it include stigma and lack of awareness, limited material and human resources, and insufficient research capacity. We argue that investment in dissemination and implementation research is critical to face these barriers. Dissemination and implementation research can improve mental health care in low-income settings by facilitating the adaptation of effective treatment interventions to new settings, particularly when adapting specialist-led interventions developed in high-resource countries to settings with few, if any, mental health professionals. Emerging evidence from other low-income settings suggests that lay providers can be trained to detect mental disorders and deliver basic psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacological interventions when supervised by an expert. OBJECTIVES: We describe a new North-South and South-South research partnership between Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (Mozambique), Columbia University (United States), Vanderbilt University (United States), and Universidade Federal de São Paulo (Brazil), to build research capacity in Mozambique and other Portuguese-speaking African countries. CONCLUSIONS: Mozambique has both the political commitment and available resources for mental health, but inadequate research capacity and workforce limits the country's ability to assess local needs, adapt and test interventions, and identify implementation strategies that can be used to effectively bring evidence-based mental health interventions to scale within the public sector. Global training and research partnerships are critical to building capacity, promoting bilateral learning between and among low- and high-income settings, ultimately reducing the mental health treatment gap worldwide.