Incorporating COVID-19 into Acute Febrile Illness Surveillance Systems, Belize, Kenya, Ethiopia, Peru, and Liberia, 2020-2021.

Existing acute febrile illness (AFI) surveillance systems can be leveraged to identify and characterize emerging pathogens, such as SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collaborated with ministries of health and implementing partners in Belize, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, and Peru to adapt AFI surveillance systems to generate COVID-19 response information. Staff at sentinel sites collected epidemiologic data from persons meeting AFI criteria and specimens for SARS-CoV-2 testing. A total of 5,501 patients with AFI were enrolled during March 2020-October 2021; >69% underwent SARS-CoV-2 testing. Percentage positivity for SARS-CoV-2 ranged from 4% (87/2,151, Kenya) to 19% (22/115, Ethiopia). We show SARS-CoV-2 testing was successfully integrated into AFI surveillance in 5 low- to middle-income countries to detect COVID-19 within AFI care-seeking populations. AFI surveillance systems can be used to build capacity to detect and respond to both emerging and endemic infectious disease threats.

Association of Health Insurance Literacy with Health Care Utilization: a Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Given increasing numbers of people experiencing transitions in health insurance due to declines in employer-sponsored insurance and changes in health policy, the understanding and application of health insurance terms and concepts (health insurance literacy) may be important for navigating use of health care. The study objective was to systematically review evidence on the relationship between health insurance literacy and health care utilization. METHODS: Medline, SCOPUS, Web of Science, CINAHL, PsychInfo, Cochrane Library, and reference lists of published literature were searched in August 2019. Quantitative, qualitative, and intervention studies that assessed the association of health insurance literacy as the exposure and health care utilization as the outcome were identified, without language or date restrictions. Outcomes were independently assessed by 2-3 reviewers. RESULTS: Twenty-one studies including a total of 62,416 subjects met inclusion criteria: three interventional trials, two mixed-methods studies, and sixteen cross-sectional studies. Ten of thirteen preventive care studies suggested that higher health insurance literacy was associated with greater utilization of primary care and other preventive services. Eight of nine studies of care avoidance demonstrated that individuals with lower health insurance literacy were more likely to delay or avoid care. A few studies had mixed results regarding the utilization of emergency department, inpatient, and surgical care. DISCUSSION: The emerging literature in this area suggests that health insurance literacy is an important factor that can enable effective utilization of health care, including primary care and preventive services. However, the literature is limited by a paucity of studies using validated tools that broadly measure health insurance literacy (rather than testing knowledge of specific covered services). Improving health insurance literacy of the general public and increasing plain language communication of health insurance plan features at the point of health care navigation may encourage more effective and cost-conscious utilization.

The Health and Retirement Study Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol Project: Study Design and Methods.

INTRODUCTION: The Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) Project is a substudy within the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), an ongoing nationally representative panel study of about 20,000 adults aged 51 or older in the United States. The HCAP is part of an international research collaboration funded by the National Institute on Aging to better measure and identify cognitive impairment and dementia in representative population-based samples of older adults, in the context of ongoing longitudinal studies of aging in high-, middle-, and low-income countries around the world. METHODS: The HCAP cognitive test battery was designed to measure a range of key cognitive domains affected by cognitive aging (including attention, memory, executive function, language, and visuospatial function) and to allow harmonization and comparisons to other studies in the United States and around the world. The HCAP included a pair of in-person interviews, one with the target HRS respondent (a randomly selected HRS sample member, aged 65+) that lasted approximately 1 h and one with an informant nominated by the respondent that lasted approximately 20 min. The final HRS HCAP sample included 3,496 study subjects, representing a 79% response rate among those invited to participate. CONCLUSION: Linking detailed HCAP cognitive assessments to the wealth of available longitudinal HRS data on cognition, health, biomarkers, genetics, health care utilization, informal care, and economic resources and behavior will provide unique and expanded opportunities to study cognitive impairment and dementia in a nationally representative US population-based sample. The fielding of similar HCAP projects in multiple countries around the world will provide additional opportunities to study international differences in the prevalence, incidence, and outcomes of dementia globally with comparable data. Like all HRS data, HCAP data are publicly available at no cost to researchers.

Expanding choice and access in contraception: an assessment of intrauterine contraception policies in low and middle-income countries.

BACKGROUND: Globally 214 million women of reproductive age in developing regions have unmet needs in modern contraceptives. Intrauterine contraception (IUC) is highly effective, has few medical contraindications, low discontinuation, and is a low cost modern contraceptive method. However, there is relatively low use of IUDs in LMICs. One reason for this may be policies that restrict IUD availability and use. This study assess national policies pertaining to IUD from a diverse set of countries. METHODS: Between December 2015 and February 2016, a 12-question survey pertaining to IUD policy was sent to WHO regional and country representatives. RESULTS: Sixty-nine surveys were used from countries through WHO regional offices. Among those surveyed, 87% (n = 60) had policies pertaining to IUD use. Among them, 84% (n = 58) reported that hormonal IUDs were available, but only 42% (n = 29) had them in the public sector. Free IUDs in the public sector were available in 75% (n = 52) of countries. For IUD promotion, 75% (n = 52) of countries reported cooperation with NGOs, and 48% (n = 33) received free devices from donors. Policy restrictions beyond the WHO guidelines existed in 15 countries and included restrictions to use for women who were nulliparous, adolescent, unmarried, or had multiple partners. CONCLUSIONS: National policy is important in facilitating modern contraceptive uptake. While many countries who responded in the survey, have policies about IUD use in place, 16% still had none on IUD. Another gap identified was low availability of hormonal IUDs, especially in the public sector. Private sector remains untapped potential in expanding method choice by making IUDs available and accessible in developing countries. Most countries do have policy in place to facilitate IUD use, though there are still gaps in the accessibility of IUDs in many countries. Lastly there is a need to revisit restrictive policies that prevent IUD use for specific populations of women for whom IUDs can be beneficial in realizing their reproductive needs.

Research gaps and emerging priorities in sexual and reproductive health in Africa and the eastern Mediterranean regions.

BACKGROUND: In-country research capacity is key to creating improvements in local implementation of health programs and can help prioritize health issues in a landscape of limited funding. Research prioritization has shown to be particularly useful to help answer strategic and programmatic issues in health care, including sexual and reproductive health (SRH). The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a priority setting exercise that brought together researchers and program managers from the WHO Africa and Eastern Mediterranean regions to identify key SRH issues. METHODS: In June 2015, researchers and program managers from the WHO Africa and Eastern Mediterranean regions met for a three-day meeting to discuss strategies to strengthen research capacity in the regions. A prioritization exercise was carried out to identify key priority areas for research in SRH. The process included five criteria: answerability, effectiveness, deliverability and acceptability, potential impact of the intervention/program to improve reproductive, maternal and newborn health substantially, and equity. RESULTS: The six main priorities identified include: creation and investment in multipurpose prevention technologies, addressing adolescent violence and early pregnancy (especially in the context of early marriage), improved maternal and newborn emergency care, increased evaluation and improvement of adolescent health interventions including contraception, further focus on family planning uptake and barriers, and improving care for mothers and children during childbirth. CONCLUSION: The setting of priorities is the first step in a dynamic process to identify where research funding should be focused to maximize health benefits. The key elements identified in this exercise provides guidance for decision makers to focus action on identified research priorities and goals. Prioritization and identifying/acting on research gaps can have great impact across multiple sectors in the regions for improved reproductive, maternal and children health.

Contraception supply chain challenges: a review of evidence from low- and middle-income countries.

PURPOSE: To identify and assess factors determining the functioning of supply chain systems for modern contraception in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and to identify challenges contributing to contraception stockouts that may lead to unmet need. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Scientific databases and grey literature were searched including Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE), PubMed, MEDLINE, POPLINE, CINAHL, Academic Search Complete, Science Direct, Web of Science, Cochrane Central, Google Scholar, WHO databases and websites of key international organisations. RESULTS: Studies indicated that supply chain system inefficiencies significantly affect availability of modern FP and contraception commodities in LMICs, especially in rural public facilities where distribution barriers may be acute. Supply chain failures or bottlenecks may be attributed to: weak and poorly institutionalized logistic management information systems (LMIS), poor physical infrastructures in LMICs, lack of trained and dedicated staff for supply chain management, inadequate funding, and rigid government policies on task sharing. However, there is evidence that implementing effective LMISs and involving public and private providers will distribution channels resulted in reduction in medical commodities' stockout rates. CONCLUSIONS: Supply chain bottlenecks contribute significantly to persistent high stockout rates for modern contraceptives in LMICs. Interventions aimed at enhancing uptake of contraceptives to reduce the problem of unmet need in LMICs should make strong commitments towards strengthening these countries' health commodities supply chain management systems. Current evidence is limited and additional, and well-designed implementation research on contraception supply chain systems is warranted to gain further understanding and insights on the determinants of supply chain bottlenecks and their impact on stockouts of contraception commodities.

A toolkit for planning and implementing acute febrile illness (AFI) surveillance.

Acute febrile illness (AFI) is a broad clinical syndrome with a wide range of potential infectious etiologies. The lack of accessible, standardized approaches to conducting AFI etiologic investigations has contributed to significant global gaps in data on the epidemiology of AFI. Based on lessons learned from years of supporting AFI sentinel surveillance worldwide, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed the toolkit for planning and implementing AFI surveillance, described here. This toolkit provides a comprehensive yet flexible framework to guide researchers, public health officials, and other implementers in developing a strategy to identify and/or monitor the potential causes of AFI. The toolkit comprises a cohesive set of planning aids and supporting materials, including an implementation framework, generic protocol, several generic forms (including screening, case report, specimen collection and testing, and informed consent and assent), and a generic data dictionary. These materials incorporate key elements intended to harmonize approaches for AFI surveillance, as well as setting-specific components and considerations for adaptation based on local surveillance objectives and limitations. Appropriate adaptation and implementation of this toolkit may generate data that expand the global AFI knowledge base, strengthen countries' surveillance and laboratory capacity, and enhance outbreak detection and response efforts.

Widowhood and cognition among older women in India: New insights on widowhood duration and mediators.

Background: Widowhood, a marital status that disproportionately affects older women, has been associated with poorer health compared to married individuals. However, relatively little is known about the association between widowhood in later-life and cognitive health in low- and middle-income countries. Methods: To address this research gap, we used data from the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (2017-19) to investigate the widowhood disparity in cognitive health among mid-aged and older women in India, including how this relationship varies by the duration of widowhood. We further examined the extent to which economic, social, and health conditions mediate this association. Results: Cognition scores for widowed women were on average lower by almost 0.1 standard deviations compared to married women. Overall, this disparity increased with widowhood duration, with non-linearities in this association. The disparity in cognition scores increased with widowhood duration up to twenty years but did not increase further among those with longer widowhood duration. Worse physical and mental health were found to mediate almost thirty percent of the total association between widowhood and cognition. These mediators were most useful in explaining the association between lower cognition and widowhood among women who experienced widowhood for ten years or longer. Conclusion: The study highlights the significant disadvantage in cognitive functioning among older widowed women in India. The study also provides evidence on potential mediators, suggesting differential effects of mediators at different stages of widowhood.

Hypertension and Cognitive Health Among Older Adults in India.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the prevalence of diagnosed and undiagnosed hypertension and their relationship to cognitive function in older adults in India. DESIGN: Longitudinal Aging Study in India-Diagnostic Assessment of Dementia (LASI-DAD), an in-depth national study of late-life cognition and dementia. SETTING: Geriatric hospitals and respondents' homes across 14 states in India. PARTICIPANTS: N = 2,874 individuals aged 60 years and older from LASI-DAD. MEASUREMENTS: Hypertension was identified by self-report of physician diagnosis or measured blood pressure (BP) of 140/90 mmHg or higher. Undiagnosed hypertension was defined as hypertensive BP measurements, but no physician diagnosis. Controlled hypertension was defined as BP lower than 140/90 mmHg among those with a physician diagnosis. Total hypertension included both diagnosed and undiagnosed hypertension. A summary cognition score, derived from the sum of 18 cognitive tests administered in the LASI-DAD (range = 0-360) was used to assess cognitive function. RESULTS: Total hypertension prevalence was 63.2% (41.5% diagnosed and 21.6% undiagnosed). Among those with hypertension, 34.5% were undiagnosed, 34.2% were diagnosed but uncontrolled, and 31.3% were diagnosed and controlled. Neither diagnosed nor undiagnosed hypertension was related to cognitive function in fully adjusted models. Older age, female sex, less education, being widowed, rural residence, residing in the north or central regions, being in a scheduled caste or tribe, low consumption, being underweight, and history of stroke were all independently associated with worse cognitive test performance. CONCLUSION: Two-thirds of older Indian adults had hypertension, with the majority being undiagnosed or diagnosed but not adequately controlled. Hypertension was not independently associated with cognitive function, whereas sociodemographic factors were independently related to cognitive function. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:S29-S35, 2020.

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to family planning and gender equity among husbands of adolescent girls in Niger.

Despite having the highest fertility rate in the world, research on Niger men and family planning (FP) is limited. We collected survey data collected in the Dosso region of Niger in 2016 from 1136 men who are the husbands of adolescent girls. We report descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariable logistic regression on three dichotomous outcomes: (a) knowledge of modern contraceptives, (b) beliefs that only husbands should make FP decisions, and (c) current FP use. About 56% had ever heard of the pill, 6% had ever heard of an intrauterine device, and 45% had ever heard of an injectable. In our multivariable analyses, we found: a man knowing at least one modern method was significantly associated with his age, wife's education level, gender ideology, and wife's say in healthcare decisions; men's belief that men alone should make FP decisions was associated with husband's Quranic education, gender ideology, and attitudes towards violence against women; men's reports of adolescent wives' current family planning use was associated with men's Quranic education, women's involvement in her own healthcare decisions, and belief that men alone should decide about family planning. Finding suggests that interventions should target aim to reduce gender inequities to increase family planning utilisation.

Assessment of Family Planning Service Availability and Readiness in 10 African Countries.

BACKGROUND: Access to family planning services and appropriate contraceptive methods is crucial for ensuring good health outcomes for women and adolescent girls. The World Health Organization worked with the U.S. Agency for International Development to develop the Service Availability and Readiness Assessment (SARA) survey to measure health facility capacity to provide end users with appropriate, high-quality health care. In this study, we looked at the service availability and readiness of health facilities to provide contraception in 10 African countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Mauritania, Niger, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda. METHODS: This study compared SARA survey data on family planning services from each of the 10 countries. We conducted a descriptive analysis of variations in facility readiness and the availability of services, contraceptive methods, trained staff, family planning guidelines, and basic health care equipment. RESULTS: Overall, many of the countries surveyed had a relatively high availability of at least 1 contraceptive method. Rural facilities tended to have more availability of contraception than urban facilities, and government facilities tended to have higher availability of family planning than other providers. The countries differed in their particular dominant contraceptive method, and stock-outs of contraceptive methods were observed. Countries had overall low levels of all 6 tracer items (availability of family planning guidelines, staff trained in family planning, blood pressure apparatuses, combined oral contraceptive, injectable contraceptives, and male condoms on the day of the assessment), indicating low health system readiness. There were discrepancies between reported and observed availability of blood pressure apparatuses and family planning guides and having at least 1 staff member trained to use these tools. In all countries, unmarried adolescents appeared to have less access to family planning than the general population. CONCLUSION: Stock-outs and logistics management problems were common among the countries surveyed. Critical gaps between reported and actual availability of products and services often makes it difficult for end users to access appropriate family planning methods. To address many of the issues, additional health worker training is needed and more effort to target and support adolescents should be undertaken. To achieve universal health coverage targets for family planning, gaps in the availability and readiness of health systems to provide contraceptive products and services must be reduced.

The logistics of voucher management: the underreported component in family planning voucher discussions.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of health care vouchers or coupons is to receive a health service in exchange which is fully or partially subsidized, such as any treatment offered for communicable disease; for immunization; antenatal care-/postnatal care-related maternal health services; a family planning (FP) service; or to get a health commodity like a medicine. Vouchers are targeted for a group of people who can benefit the most such as on the basis of poverty ranking, marginalized or living in rural areas. According to the World Health Organization, voucher schemes in the area of sexual and reproductive health are considered of high value if they are implemented to address the issues of contraceptive commodity or service unavailability or to address the barriers to access such services through contracting out health services, for example, through social franchising (SF). FP vouchers can substantially expand contraceptive access and choice and empower the underserved populations. Literature cites voucher's effectiveness in better targeting, increasing use, and improving program outcomes in FP programs; however, there is little research or explanation of how voucher management is done in practice. DISCUSSION: The paper attempts to describe various components of voucher management system and its functioning using example of a voucher program in Pakistan. There are challenges such as high upfront cost, targeting the appropriate clients, validation of vouchers, and quality assurance, but these can be managed with better preparation at the planning and design stage. Strong monitoring and evaluation are integral to successful implementation of the voucher program. Also, voucher interventions that are targeted and adopt a pro-poor strategy have been found to improve access to care within poor and marginalized populations. Such programs have the capacity to bridge health inequities in developing nations. Targeted voucher schemes such as those which are designed as pro-poor or pro-rural are known to reduce barriers to access for those living with poverty or for the ones considered as marginalized population. Hence, such interventions have the capacity to fulfill the gaps in health inequities, especially, in low- and/or middle-income countries. CONCLUSION: Voucher programs should report the voucher logistics and management to build a larger evidence base of best practices. All voucher schemes must be designed, implemented, and evaluated on the basis of set objectives through addressing the local context. But any voucher implementing organization also conducting the in-house voucher management simultaneously may be considered as a weakness in program design, in turn providing rationale for either failure or success of that particular voucher intervention. Therefore, separating implementation and management of a voucher initiative can lead to enhanced transparency, improved accountability, allow for independent validation of services, and facilitate compliance for payments.