Nurture Early for Optimal Nutrition (NEON) participatory learning and action women's groups to improve infant feeding and practices in South Asian infants: pilot randomised trial study protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Feeding practices developed in early life can impact a child's nutrition, growth, dental health, cognitive development and lifetime risk of chronic diseases. Substantial evidence suggests ethnic health inequalities, and non-recommended complementary infant feeding practices among UK's South Asian (SA) population. Nurture Early for Optimal Nutrition aims to use women's group participatory learning and action (PLA) cycles to optimise infant feeding, care and dental hygiene practices in SA infants <2 years in East London. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A three-arm pilot feasibility cluster randomised controlled trial will assess feasibility, acceptability, costs and explore preliminary effectiveness for proposed primary outcome (ie, reporting on body mass index (BMI) z-score). Multilingual SA community facilitators will deliver the intervention, group PLA Cycle, to mothers/carers in respective ethnic/language groups. 12 wards are randomised to face-to-face PLA, online PLA and usual care arms in 1:1:1 ratio. Primary outcomes are feasibility and process measures (ie, BMI z-score, study records, feedback questionnaires, direct observation of intervention and sustainability) for assessment against Go/Stop criteria. Secondary outcomes are cluster-level and economic outcomes (ie, eating behaviour, parental feeding practices, network diffusion, children development performance, level of dental caries, general practitioner utilisation, costs, staff time). Outcomes are measured at baseline, every 2 weeks during intervention, 14 weeks and at 6 months by blinded outcome assessors where possible. This study will use concurrent mixed-methods evaluation. Quantitative analyses include descriptive summary with 95% CI and sample size calculation for the definitive trial. The intervention effect with CI will be estimated for child BMI z-score. Implementation will be evaluated qualitatively using thematic framework analysis. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethics approval was obtained from University College London (UCL), National Health Service (Health Research Authority (HRA) and Health and Care Research Wales (HRCW)). Results will be published in peer-reviewed journals, presented at scientific conferences/workshops with commissioners, partners and participating communities. Plain language summaries will be disseminated through community groups, websites and social media. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: IRAS-ID-296259 (ISRCTN10234623).

Ethnic differences in multimorbidity after accounting for social-economic factors, findings from The Health Survey for England.

BACKGROUND: Social-economic factors and health behaviours may be driving variation in ethnic health inequalities in multimorbidity including among distinct ethnic groups. METHODS: Using the cross-sectional nationally representative Health Surveys for England 2011-18 (N = 54 438, aged 16+), we performed multivariable logistic regression on the odds of having general multimorbidity (≥2 longstanding conditions) by ethnicity [British White (reference group), White Irish, Other White, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Chinese, African, Caribbean, White mixed, Other Mixed], adjusting for age, sex, education, area deprivation, obesity, smoking status and survey year. This was repeated for cardiovascular multimorbidity (N = 37 148, aged 40+: having ≥2 of the following: self-reported diabetes, hypertension, heart attack or stroke) and multiple cardiometabolic risk biomarkers (HbA1c ≥6.5%, raised blood pressure, total cholesterol ≥5mmol/L). RESULTS: Twenty percent of adults had general multimorbidity. In fully adjusted models, compared with the White British majority, Other White [odds ratio (OR) = 0.63; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.53-0.74], Chinese (OR = 0.58, 95% CI 0.36-0.93) and African adults (OR = 0.54, 95% CI 0.42-0.69), had lower odds of general multimorbidity. Among adults aged 40+, Pakistani (OR = 1.27, 95% CI 0.97-1.66; P = 0.080) and Bangladeshi (OR = 1.75, 95% CI 1.16-2.65) had increased odds, and African adults had decreased odds (OR = 0.63, 95% CI 0.47-0.83) of general multimorbidity. Risk of cardiovascular multimorbidity was higher among Indian (OR = 3.31, 95% CI 2.56-4.28), Pakistani (OR = 3.48, 95% CI 2.52-4.80), Bangladeshi (OR = 3.67, 95% CI 1.98-6.78), African (OR = 1.61, 95% CI 1.05-2.47), Caribbean (OR = 2.18, 95% CI 1.59-2.99) and White mixed (OR = 1.98, 95% CI 1.14-3.44) adults. Indian adults were also at risk of having multiple cardiometabolic risk biomarkers. CONCLUSION: Ethnic inequalities in multimorbidity are independent of social-economic factors. Ethnic minority groups are particularly at risk of cardiovascular multimorbidity, which may be exacerbated by poorer management of cardiometabolic risk requiring further investigation.

Mapping Two Decades of Paediatric Down Syndrome Research Literature.

Background: While research has led to significant advancements in the health and life expectancy of children with Down Syndrome (DS), there remains a significant burden of disease and health inequity. Further research, focused on areas of greatest need, is imperative to address this. An understanding of what research has been undertaken, and any existing gaps, helps to guide future academic efforts. Methods: We utilised an epistemological approach to summarise two decades of paediatric DS literature. Publications were categorised according to the country of origin, methodology, primary health themes and subcategory research themes. Results: Across 5,800 paediatric DS publications we demonstrate a general increase in the number of publications in this field between 2000 and 2014, with a trending decline thereafter. The majority of publications were affiliated with Institutions based in Western countries. The majority of studies utilised a cross-sectional methodology (33.3%), while relatively few were interventional (5.6%), qualitative (2.7%) or mixed-method studies (1.6%). Most publications focused on development & cognition (13.1%), neurology (9.9%) and oncology (9.8%), with fewer focusing on genitourinary health (0.9%), growth (0.9%), mortality (0.9%) and child protection (0.2%). Conclusion: These findings highlight areas of relative paucity within the paediatric DS literature which may warrant increased academic attention.

Building referral mechanisms for neonatal care in humanitarian emergency settings: A systematic review.

AIM: During humanitarian emergencies, women and children are particularly vulnerable to health complications and neonatal mortality rates have been shown to rise. Additionally, health cluster partners face challenges in coordinating referrals, both between communities and camps to health facilities and across different levels of health facilities. The purpose of this review was to identify the primary referral needs of neonates during humanitarian emergencies, current gaps and barriers, and effective mechanisms for overcoming these barriers. METHODS: A systematic review was performed using four electronic databases (CINAHL, EMBASE, Medline, and Scopus) between June and August 2019 (PROSPERO registration number CRD42019127705). Title, abstract, and full text screening were conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. The target population was neonates born during humanitarian emergencies. Studies from high-income countries and prior to 1991 were excluded. The STROBE checklist was used to assess for risk of bias. RESULTS: A total of 11 articles were included in the analysis; these were mainly cross-sectional, field-based studies. The primary needs identified were referrals from homes to health facilities before and during labour, and inter-facility referrals after labour to more specialised services. Some of the main barriers included a lack of roads and infrastructure for transport, staff shortages-especially among more specialised services, and a lack of knowledge among patients for self-referral. Mechanisms for addressing these needs and gaps included providing training for community healthcare workers (CHWs) or traditional birth attendants to identify and address antenatal and post-natal complications; education programmes for pregnant women during the antenatal period; and establishing ambulance services in partnership with local Non-Governmental Organizations. CONCLUSION: This review benefited from a strong consensus among selected studies but was limited in the quality of data and types of data that were reported. Based on the above findings, the following recommendations were compiled: Focus on local capacity-building programmes to address programmes acutely. Recruit CHWs to raise awareness of neonatal complications among pregnant women. Upskill CHWs to provide timely, appropriate and quality care during humanitarian emergencies.

Global and regional governance of One Health and implications for global health security.

The apparent failure of global health security to prevent or prepare for the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for closer cooperation between human, animal (domestic and wildlife), and environmental health sectors. However, the many institutions, processes, regulatory frameworks, and legal instruments with direct and indirect roles in the global governance of One Health have led to a fragmented, global, multilateral health security architecture. We explore four challenges: first, the sectoral, professional, and institutional silos and tensions existing between human, animal, and environmental health; second, the challenge that the international legal system, state sovereignty, and existing legal instruments pose for the governance of One Health; third, the power dynamics and asymmetry in power between countries represented in multilateral institutions and their impact on priority setting; and finally, the current financing mechanisms that predominantly focus on response to crises, and the chronic underinvestment for epidemic and emergency prevention, mitigation, and preparedness activities. We illustrate the global and regional dimensions to these four challenges and how they relate to national needs and priorities through three case studies on compulsory licensing, the governance of water resources in the Lake Chad Basin, and the desert locust infestation in east Africa. Finally, we propose 12 recommendations for the global community to address these challenges. Despite its broad and holistic agenda, One Health continues to be dominated by human and domestic animal health experts. Substantial efforts should be made to address the social-ecological drivers of health emergencies including outbreaks of emerging, re-emerging, and endemic infectious diseases. These drivers include climate change, biodiversity loss, and land-use change, and therefore require effective and enforceable legislation, investment, capacity building, and integration of other sectors and professionals beyond health.

The Use of Digital Technology for COVID-19 Detection and Response Management in Indonesia: Mixed Methods Study.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a greater use of digital technologies as part of the health care response in many countries, including Indonesia. It is the world's fourth-most populous nation and Southeast Asia's most populous country, with considerable public health pressures. OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study is to identify and review the use of digital health technologies in COVID-19 detection and response management in Indonesia. METHODS: We conducted a literature review of publicly accessible information in technical and scientific journals, as well as news articles from September 2020 to August 2022 to identify the use case examples of digital technologies in COVID-19 detection and response management in Indonesia. RESULTS: The results are presented in 3 groups, namely (1) big data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning (technologies for the collection or processing of data); (2) health care system technologies (acting at the public health level); and (3) COVID-19 screening, population treatment, and prevention population treatment (acting at the individual patient level). Some of these technologies are the result of government-academia-private sector collaborations during the pandemic, which represent a novel, multisectoral practice in Indonesia within the public health care ecosystem. A small number of the identified technologies pre-existed the pandemic but were upgraded and adapted for current needs. CONCLUSIONS: Digital technologies were developed in Indonesia during the pandemic, with a direct impact on supporting COVID-19 management, detection, response, and treatment. They addressed different areas of the technological spectrum and with different levels of adoption, ranging from local to regional to national. The indirect impact of this wave of technological creation and use is a strong foundation for fostering future multisectoral collaboration within the national health care system of Indonesia.

The Use of a Health Compliance Monitoring System During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Indonesia: Evaluation Study.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 cases are soaring in Asia. Indonesia, Southeast Asia's most populous country, is now ranked second in the number of cases and deaths in Asia, after India. The compliance toward mask wearing, social distancing, and hand washing needs to be monitored to assess public behavioral changes that can reduce transmission. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate this compliance in Indonesia between October 2020 and May 2021 and demonstrate the use of the Bersatu Lawan COVID-19 (BLC) mobile app in monitoring this compliance. METHODS: Data were collected in real time by the BLC app from reports submitted by personnel of military services, police officers, and behavioral change ambassadors. Subsequently, the data were analyzed automatically by the system managed by the Indonesia National Task Force for the Acceleration of COVID-19 Mitigation. RESULTS: Between October 1, 2020, and May 2, 2021, the BLC app generated more than 165 million reports, with 469 million people monitored and 124,315,568 locations under observation in 514 districts/cities in 34 provinces in Indonesia. This paper grouped them into 4 colored zones, based on the degree of compliance, and analyzed variations among regions and locations. CONCLUSIONS: Compliance rates vary among the 34 provinces and among the districts and cities of those provinces. However, compliance to mask wearing seems slightly higher than social distancing. This finding suggests that policy makers need to promote higher compliance in other measures, including social distancing and hand washing, whose efficacies have been proven to break the chain of transmission when combined with masks wearing.

Why India is struggling to feed their young children? A qualitative analysis for tribal communities.

OBJECTIVE: This interdisciplinary qualitative study aims to explore the health, education, engineering and environment factors impacting on feeding practices in rural India. The ultimate goal of the Participatory Approach for Nutrition in Children: Strengthening Health Education Engineering and Environment Linkages project is to identify challenges and opportunities for improvement to subsequently develop socioculturally appropriate, tailored, innovative interventions for the successful implementation of appropriate infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices locally. DESIGN: Qualitative research method, involving five phases: (1) identification of local feeding practices; (2) identification of the local needs and opportunities for children aged 6-24 months; and (3-5) analysis of the gathered qualitative data, intervention design, review and distribution. SETTING: Nine villages in two community development blocks, that is, Ghatol and Kushalgarh, located in the Banswara district in Rajasthan, India. PARTICIPANTS: 68 participants completed semistructured interviews or focus group discussions including: mothers, grandmothers, auxiliary nurse midwife, Anganwadi worker, ASHA Sahyogini, school teachers and local elected representative. PHENOMENON OF INTEREST: IYCF practices and the factors associated with it. ANALYSIS: Thematic analysis. RESULTS: Our results could be broadly categorised into two domains: (1) the current practices of IYCF and (2) the key drivers and challenges of IYCF. We explicate the complex phenomena and emergent model focusing on: mother's role and autonomy, knowledge and attitude towards feeding of young children, availability of services and resources that shape these practices set against the context of agriculture and livelihood patterns and its contribution to availability of food as well as on migration cycles thereby affecting the lives of 'left behind', and access to basic health, education and infrastructure services. CONCLUSIONS: This interdisciplinary and participatory study explored determinants impacting feeding practices across political, village and household environments. These results shaped the process for cocreation of our context-specific intervention package.

Developing a community facilitator-led participatory learning and action women's group intervention to improve infant feeding, care and dental hygiene practices in South Asian infants: NEON programme.

INTRODUCTION: The Nurture Early for Optimal Nutrition (NEON) study is a multiphase project that aims to optimize feeding, care and dental hygiene practices in South Asian children <2 years in East London, United Kingdom. The multiphase project uses a participatory learning and action (PLA) approach facilitated by a multilingual community facilitator. In this paper, we elaborate on the process and results of the Intervention Development Phase in the context of the wider NEON programme. METHODS: Qualitative community-based participatory intervention codevelopment and adaptation. SETTING: Community centres in East London and online (Zoom) meetings and workshops. PARTICIPANTS: In total, 32 participants registered to participate in the Intervention Development Phase. Four Intervention Development workshops were held, attended by 25, 17, 20 and 20 participants, respectively. RESULTS: Collaboratively, a culturally sensitive NEON intervention package was developed consisting of (1) PLA group facilitator manual, (2) picture cards detailing recommended and nonrecommended feeding, care and dental hygiene practices with facilitators/barriers to uptake as well as solutions to address these, (3) healthy infant cultural recipes, (4) participatory Community Asset Maps and (5) list of resources and services supporting infant feeding, care and dental hygiene practices. CONCLUSION: The Intervention Development Phase of the NEON programme demonstrates the value of a collaborative approach between researchers, community facilitators and the target population when developing public health interventions. We recommend that interventions to promote infant feeding, care and dental hygiene practices should be codeveloped with communities. Recognizing and taking into account both social and cultural norms may be of particular value for infants from ethnically diverse communities to develop interventions that are both effective in and accepted by these communities. PATIENT AND PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT AND ENGAGEMENT: Considerable efforts were placed on Patient/Participant and Public Involvement and Engagement. Five community facilitators were identified, each of which represented one ethnic/language group: (i) Bangladeshi/Bengali and Sylheti, (ii) Pakistani/Urdu, (iii) Indian/Gujrati, (iv) Indian/Punjabi and (v) Sri Lankan/Tamil. The community facilitators were engaged in every step of the study, from the initial drafting of the protocol and study design to the Intervention Development and refinement of the NEON toolkit, as well as the publication and dissemination of the study findings. More specifically, their role in the Intervention Development Phase of the NEON programme was to: 1. Support the development of the study protocol, information sheets and ethics application. 2. Ensure any documents intended for community members are clear, appropriate and sensitively worded. 3. Develop strategies to troubleshoot any logistical challenges of project delivery, for example, recruitment shortfalls. 4. Contribute to the writing of academic papers, in particular reviewing and revising drafts. 5. Develop plain language summaries and assist in dissemination activities, for example, updates on relevant websites. 6. Contribute to the development of the NEON intervention toolkit and recruitment of the community members. 7. Attend and contribute to Intervention Development workshops, ensuring the participant's voices were the focus of the discussion and workshop outcomes.

Building on health security capacities in Indonesia: Lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic responses and challenges.

As an active member country of the WHO's International Health Regulation and Global Health Security Agenda, Indonesia, the world's fourth-most populous and largest archipelagic country has recorded the second-highest COVID-19 cases in Asia with over 1.8 million cases in early June 2021. This geographically and socially diverse country has a dynamic national and sub-national government coordination with decentralized authorities that can complicate a pandemic response which often requires nationally harmonized policies, adaptability to sub-national contexts and global interconnectedness. This paper analyses and reviews COVID-19 public data, regulations, guidance documents, statements and other related official documents to present a narrative that summarizes the government's COVID-19 response strategies. It further analyses the challenges and achievements of the country's zoonotic diseases preparedness and responses and lastly provides relevant recommendations. Findings are presented in four sections according to the Global Health Security Agenda capacities, namely epidemiological surveillance (detect capacity); laboratory diagnostic testing (respond capacity); data management and analysis (enable capacity); and the role of sub-national governments. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a catalyst for the rapid transformation of existing surveillance systems, inter-related stakeholder coordination and agile development from the pre-pandemic health security capacities. This paper offers several recommendations on surveillance, laboratory capacity and data management, which might be useful for Indonesia and other countries with similar characteristics beyond the COVID-19 response, such as achieving long-term health security, zoonoses and pandemic prevention, as well as a digital transformation of their governmental capacities.

Role of schools in community mobilisation to improve IYCF practices in 6-24-month-old tribal children in the Banswara district, India: findings from the qualitative PANChSHEEEL study.

OBJECTIVE: India has been struggling with infant malnutrition for decades. There is a need to identify suitable platforms for community engagement to promote locally feasible, resource efficient Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) interventions. This study aims to explore if and how schools could represent a site for community engagement in rural India, acting as innovation hubs to foster positive change in partnership with the Angawadi centres. DESIGN: Five-phase formative study; A parallel mixed methods approach structured by a socioecological framework was used for data collection at individual, household and community levels. This paper focuses on the qualitative findings. SETTING: This study was undertaken in nine villages within two blocks, 'Ghatol' and 'Kushalgarh', in the Banswara district of Rajasthan, India. PARTICIPANTS: 17 schools were identified. Interviews were conducted with local opinion leaders and representatives in the education sector, including principals, schoolteachers, block and district education officers. Across the nine study villages, information was gathered from 67 mothers, 58 paternal grandmothers using Focus Discussion Groups (FDGs) and 49 key respondents in Key Informant Interviews. RESULTS: Schools were considered an important community resource. Challenges included limited parental participation and student absenteeism; however, several drivers and opportunities were identified, which may render schools a suitable intervention delivery site. Enrolment rates were high, with schools and associated staff encouraging parental involvement and student attendance. Existing initiatives, including the mid-day meal, play opportunities and education on health and hygiene, further highlight the potential reliability of schools as a platform for community mobilisation. CONCLUSIONS: Schools have been shown to be functional platforms frequently visited and trusted by community members. With teachers and children as change agents, schools could represent a suitable setting for community mobilisation in future wider scale intervention studies. Expanding the supportive environment around schools will be essential to reinforce healthy IYCF practices in the long term.

Participatory learning and action (PLA) to improve health outcomes in high-income settings: a systematic review protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Participatory learning and action (PLA) is a form of group reflection and learning with documented efficacy in low-income countries to improve social and health outcomes. PLA represents both a learning philosophy and a practical framework that could be applied to a variety of contexts. To date, PLA has not been widely implemented within high-income countries (HICs) to improve health and health-related outcomes. We aim to synthesise the literature currently available by means of a systematic review to form a foundation for future applications of PLA methodology in HICs. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Two reviewers will independently search predefined terms in the following electronic bibliographic databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and Cochrane Library. The search terms will encompass PLA and PDSA (Plan-Do-Study-Act) projects, as well as studies using the Triple/Quadruple Aim model. We will include randomised controlled trials that incorporate online or face-to-face components using the PLA/PDSA methodology. Our data will be extracted into a standardised prepiloted form with subsequent narrative review according to the SWiM (Synthesis Without Meta-Analysis) guidelines. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: No ethics approval is required for this study. The results of this study will be submitted for publication in a leading peer-reviewed academic journal in this field. Additionally, a report will be produced for the funders of this review, which can be viewed for free on their website. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42020187978.

Influence of gender and parental migration on IYCF practices in 6-23-month-old tribal children in Banswara district, India: findings from the cross-sectional PANChSHEEEL study.

BACKGROUND: The interdisciplinary Participatory Approach for Nutrition in Children: Strengthening Health, Education, Engineering and Environment Linkages (PANChSHEEEL) study used a participatory approach to develop locally-feasible and tailored solutions to optimise Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices at an individual, household, community, and environmental level. This paper aims to evaluate the influence of gender; migration; and Health, Education, Engineering and Environmental (HEEE) factors on IYCF practices, with the primary outcomes being three key complementary-feeding practices of Minimum Dietary Diversity (MDD), Minimum Meal Frequency (MMF) and Minimum Acceptable Diet (MAD). METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of 325 households with children aged 6-23 months was conducted in nine purposively selected villages in two blocks of Banswara district, Rajasthan, India. A survey tool was developed, translated into the local language, pre-tested, and administered in a gender-sensitive manner. Data-collection processes were standardized to ensure quality measures. Association of the primary outcome with 27 variables was tested using a Chi-square test (Mantel-Haenszel method); backward stepwise regression analysis was conducted to assess the impact of effect modifiers (gender, parental migration). RESULTS: Half of the surveyed children were of each gender, and fathers from half of the households were found to have migrated within the previous year to search for additional income. Parental literacy ranged from 60 to 70%. More than half of the households had access to milk-producing animals. Consumption of each of the seven food groups, eggs (4.7% vs 0.7%; p < 0.02), MDD (10.5% vs 3.2%; p < 0.02) and MAD (9.4% vs 2.6%; p < 0.02) were higher for boys than for girls. After controlling for contextual factors, a male child was 4.1 times more likely to get a diet with MDD and 3.8 times more likely to get a diet with MAD. A child from a non-migrant household was 2.0-2.1 times more likely to get a diet with MDD and MAD as compared to a child from a migrant household. However, this association was not found to be statistically significant after regression. Presence of milk-producing animals in households and consumption of milk/milk products by children in the previous 24 h were the other two strong predictors of MDD and MAD, although access to animal milk in the house did not translate to an increase in consumption of milk/milk products by a child. CONCLUSION: Gender discrimination in diet diversity and complementary-feeding practices starts early in childhood with boys having a distinct advantage over girls. In the case of parental migration, further research is required to establish if it has an adverse impact on feeding practices. Emphasis needs to be given to gender issues and other contextual factors when developing strategies to optimise complementary feeding practices. TRIAL REGISTRATION: With UCL ethics [Ethics ID 4032/002] in United Kingdom and with Sigma IRB [10,025/IRB/D/17-18] in India.

COVID-19 & informal settlements: is 'Stay Home' safe?

The disproportional burden of coronavirus (COVID-19) and vulnerability to containment measures in informal settlements have been recognised; however, the role of poor housing conditions in propagating these remains neglected. Poor housing conditions makes it difficult to effectively implement social distancing measures. With increased time spent in cramped, dark and uncomfortable indoor environments, water and sanitation outside the home, and no outdoor space, higher exposure to existing health hazards and high levels of stress, with women and children being most vulnerable, are anticipated. Through this commentary paper, we reflect on these interconnections and recommend immediate measures and the long-term need for adequate housing for health and well-being.

What are the determinants of childhood infections in India's peri-urban slums? A case study of eight cities.

BACKGROUND: Respiratory Tract Infections (RTIs) and Gastro-Intestinal (GI) infections are the leading causes of child mortality and morbidity. This study investigates the associations between the individual, household and slum-level determinants of children's health and vulnerability to RTIs and GI infections in peri-urban slums in India; an area of research interest at the Childhood Infections and Pollution Consortium. METHODS: The 2015-16 Indian National Family Health Survey was used for data analysis on children aged 0-5 years. NFHS-4 includes data on slums in eight Indian cities, including Delhi, Meerut, Kolkata, Indore, Mumbai, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Chennai. The outcome variables, having fever and cough (FeCo) and diarrhoea in the last two weeks, were used to define the phenotype of infections; for this analysis fever and cough were measures of RTIs and diarrhoea was used to measure GI infections. Exposures considered in this study include variables at the individual, household and slum level and were all informed by existing literature. Multilevel models were used to estimate the association between exposures and outcomes variables; a prior of Cauchy distribution with a scale of 2.5 was selected when building the multilevel logistic models. RESULTS: The total sample size of the number of children included in the analysis was n = 1,424. Data was imputed to account for missingness, and the original and imputed sample showing similar distributions. Results showed that diarrhoea and FeCo were both found to be more present in younger children than older children by a few months. In fixed effects, the odds of developing FeCo were higher if the mother perceives the child was born smaller than average (AOR 4.41, 1.13-17.17, P<0.05) at individual level. On the other hand, the odds of the diarrhoea outcome were lower if the child was older (AOR 0.97, 0.96-0.98, P<0.05) at individual level, and household's water source was public tap or standpipe (AOR 0.54, 0.31-0.96, P<0.05) at household level. CONCLUSION: The determinants of health, both social and related to health care, at all levels demonstrated linkages to child morbidity in RTIs and GI infections. The empirical evidence highlights the need for contextualised ideas at each level, including one health approach when designing interventions to improve child health.

Laboratory Readiness and Response for SARS-Cov-2 in Indonesia.

The laboratory diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection comprises the informational cornerstone in the effort to contain the infections. Therefore, the ability to leverage laboratories' capacity in diagnostic testing and to increase the number of people being tested are critical. This paper reviews the readiness of Indonesian laboratories during the early months of the pandemic. It discusses the success of cross-sectoral collaboration among previously siloed national and sub-national government institutions, international development agencies, and private sector stakeholders. This collaboration managed to scale-up the COVID-19 referral laboratory network from one Ministry of Health NIHRD laboratory in the capital to 685 laboratories across 34 provinces. However, this rapid growth within 12 months since the first Indonesian case was discovered remained insufficient to cater for the constantly surging testing demands within the world's fourth most populous country. Reflecting on how other countries built their current pandemic preparedness from past emergencies, this paper highlights challenges and opportunities in workforce shortage, logistic distribution, and complex administration that need to be addressed.

The Impact of United Kingdom and Malaysia's Inherent Health Systems on Their COVID-19 Responses: A Comparison of Containment Strategies.

In March 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 was officially declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization. Given the novelty of the virus, and hence, lack of official guidance on effective containment strategies, individual countries opted for different containment approaches ranging from herd immunity to strict lockdown. The opposing strategies followed by the United Kingdom and its former colony, Malaysia, stand exemplary for this. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was implemented for testing in both counties. Malaysia acted with strict quarantining rules and infection surveillance. The United Kingdom followed an initially lenient, herd-immunity approach with strict lockdown only enforced weeks later. Although based on the same health-care structure historically, Malaysia developed a more unified health system compared with the United Kingdom. We suggest that this more centralized structure could be one possible explanation for why Malaysia was able to react in a more timely and efficient manner, despite its closer geographic proximity to China. We further explore how the differences in testing and quarantining strategy, as well as political situation and societal compliance could account for the discrepancy in the United Kingdom's versus Malaysia's relative success of COVID-19 containment.

'Birthing a Better Future': A mixed-methods evaluation of an exhibition on the early years of life.

BACKGROUND: Our study aimed to evaluate to what extent Zero2 Expo's 'Birthing a Better Future', a co-created multimedia exhibition, was effective in raising awareness on the importance of the first 1001 days of life and explore what refinements would help to optimize the impact of future exhibitions. METHODS: We conducted a mixed-methods evaluation of the exhibition delivered in the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford. Through convenience sampling, 14 participants were selected to participate in 12 structured interviews and 19 participants completed a questionnaire. Interviews were thematically analysed alongside quantitative analysis of questionnaire responses through Likert scales. RESULTS: The majority (78.6%, n = 11/14) of participants who completed the questionnaire either agreed or strongly agreed that the exhibition raised their awareness about the first 1001 days of life. This was supported by the analysis of interviews. The use of art was found to provoke an emotional engagement from participants. Participants felt that the length of the written pieces and location of the exhibition were important factors for designers to consider in future exhibitions. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that multimedia exhibitions, combining science with art, may be an effective way to raise awareness of public health messages. Engaging with key stakeholders will be an essential step in order to improve future public health exhibitions. PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: When designing the study, the public reviewed the study tools, which were refined based on their feedback. At every phase of the study, members of the public who are artists co-created the exhibition content.

Interventions to improve vitamin D status in at-risk ethnic groups during pregnancy and early childhood: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the literature with the primary aim of identifying behavioural interventions to improve vitamin D stores in children from at-risk ethnic groups. DESIGN: Review based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42017080932. Health Behaviour Model and Behaviour Change Wheel framework constructs used to underpin evaluation of interventions. Methodological quality evaluated using Cochrane Risk of Bias, Cochrane ROBINS-I and NHLBI tools. SETTING: Databases Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL with secondary search of Google Scholar. No country limits set. Papers between January 1990 and February 2018, published in English included. Anticipating study heterogeneity, outcome measures not pre-specified and identified from individual full papers. Updated literature search November 2020. PARTICIPANTS: Patient or population including pregnant women, newborns and children aged under 18 years, from Asian or African ethnic groups. RESULTS: Of 10 690 articles screened, 298 underwent full-text review, with 24 ultimately included for data extraction. All identified studies conducted a vitamin D pharmacological supplementation intervention, with two also incorporating a behavioural intervention strategy. No study explicitly defined a primary aim of evaluating a behavioural intervention, undertaken to study its effect on vitamin D supplement uptake. CONCLUSIONS: There is a need to address the paucity of data in ethnic at-risk children on how behavioural interventions ideally developed and co-produced with the community under study, affect and help improve vitamin D uptake, within the antenatal and pregnancy phase as well as during childhood.

The identification of established modifiable mid-life risk factors for cardiovascular disease which contribute to cognitive decline: Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA).

INTRODUCTION: We explored how different chronic diseases, risk factors, and protective factors highly associated with cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are associated with dementia or Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) in Korean elders, with a focus on those that manifest in mid-life. METHODS: A CVD-free cohort (n = 4289) from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging was selected to perform Cox mixed-effects proportional hazard regressions. Eighteen control variables with strong associations to CVD were chosen as explanatory variables, and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score cut-off for dementia and MCI were used as outcome variables. RESULTS: The statistically significant (P < 0.05) adverse factors that contribute in developing dementia were age (aHR 1.07, 1.05-1.09), Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD-10) (aHR 1.17, 1.12-1.23), diagnosis with cerebrovascular disease (aHR 3.73, 1.81-7.66), living with diabetes (aHR 2.30, 1.22-4.35), and living with high blood pressure (HBP) (aHR 2.05, 1.09-3.87). In contrast, the statistically significant protective factors against developing dementia were current alcohol consumption (aHR 0.67, 0.46-0.99), higher educational attainment (aHR 0.36, 0.26-0.56), and regular exercise (aHR 0.37, 0.26-0.51). The factors with a statistically significant adverse association with progression to MCI were age (aHR 1.02, 1.01-1.03) and CESD-10 (aHR 1.17, 1.14-1.19). In contrast, the statistically significant protective factors against developing MCI were BMI (aHR 0.96, 0.94-0.98), higher educational attainment (aHR 0.33, 0.26-0.43), and regular exercise (aHR 0.83, 0.74-0.92). CONCLUSION: In lieu of the protective factor of MCI and dementia, implementing regular exercise routine well before mid-life and cognitive decline is significant, with adjustments made for those suffering from health conditions, so they can continue exercising despite their morbidity. Further attention in diabetes care and management is needed for patients who already show decline in cognitive ability as it is likely that their MCI impacts their ability to manage their existing chronic conditions, which may adversely affect their cognitive ability furthermore.