The Importance of Partnership in the Rollout of Triple-Drug Therapy to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis in the Pacific.

We discuss the experience of some Pacific island countries in introducing the new WHO-recommended treatment protocol for lymphatic filariasis-a triple-drug therapy composed of ivermectin, diethylcarbamazine, and albendazole. The successful rollout of the new treatment protocol was dependent on strong partnerships among these countries' ministries of health, WHO, and other stakeholders. Effective communication among these partners allowed for lessons learned to cross borders and have a positive impact on the experiences of other countries. We also describe various challenges confronted during this process and the ways these countries overcame them.

Socioeconomic barriers to facility-based delivery in urban poor communities of Lagos: Wealth, linguistic capacity, and residential area.

Background: The objective of this study is to describe delivery care utilizations and to identify socioeconomic barriers to practicing facility-based deliveries, in urban poor communities of Lagos, Nigeria. Methods: The study was a prospective cohort study conducted in Lagos Mainland, a local government area of Lagos State, Nigeria. A total of 723 randomly selected pregnant women participated in this study. The socio-economic barriers were sought from three different perspectives, i.e., household wealth as a financial barrier, linguistic capacity as a social barrier, and residential area as a physical barrier. The data were analyzed with descriptive and multivariate statistical methods using the imputed datasets. Results: While 41.9% of the participants delivered at governmental health facilities, 28.3% and 29.8% of them gave births at private health facilities and other places, respectively. As the results of the analyses, household wealth was positively associated with childbirth at a governmental health facility. Egun-speaking women were more likely to give births at private facilities than Yoruba-speaking women, while Igbo-speaking and Hausa-speaking women were more likely to choose other places for their childbirths. Conclusion: This study identified the financial and linguistic barriers to facility-based deliveries among women in urban poor communities.