Globally, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has one of the lowest rates of equitable access to safely managed drinking water. This systematic literature review assessed the effectiveness of infrastructure interventions to provide equitable access to safely managed drinking water in LAC on the burden of diarrhoea in children <5 years. The review was conducted in February 2024 using Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, Global Health, and the Cochrane Library with inclusion criteria: quantitative study designs of intervention effectiveness on burden of diarrhoea in children; conducted in LAC; studies published since 1 January 2000; and full-text available in English. Study quality was assessed via the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality scale. Reported quantitative data for diarrhoea burden of disease were extracted, and thematic analysis informed a narrative synthesis. Six studies from three countries in LAC with >110,000 data-points were included. Water supply infrastructure interventions were effective at reducing the burden of diarrhoea in children <5 years. Household level, rather than community level, access to a piped water supply, a continuous reliable service with <1 day of service interruption per month, and cash transfer programs for environmental public health programs, were identified as key contributors to water infrastructure intervention effectiveness. Previous water supply infrastructure interventions which include the provision of a safe drinking water supply are effective in reducing burden of diarrhoea in children. Future studies are needed to develop a comprehensive understanding of the unique features which contribute to water infrastructure effectiveness.

Low-level viremia during antiretroviral therapy (ART) has been associated with inferior outcomes, but knowledge on the impact of low-level viremia in the current era of dolutegravir-based ART in low-income countries is limited.

In low- and middle-income countries like Bangladesh, inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) practices lead to a higher disease burden among children and hinder their academic performance. However, there have been efforts to improve WASH between 2014 and 2018.

AI is rapidly transforming the design of communication messages across various sectors, including health and safety. However, little is known about its effectiveness for roughly 420 million native Arabic speakers worldwide.

Infectious diseases of poverty (IDoP) affect disproportionately resource-limited and marginalized populations, resulting in spatial patterns of vulnerability across various geographical areas. Currently, no spatial indices exist to quantify vulnerability to IDoP at a fine geographical level within countries, such as municipalities or provinces. Without such an index, policymakers cannot effectively allocate resources or target interventions in the most vulnerable areas. This protocol aims to specify a methodological approach to measure spatial variation in vulnerability to IDoP. We will evaluate this methodological approach using surveillance and seroprevalence data from the Dominican Republic (DR) as part of a broader effort to develop a regional index for the Caribbean region. The study will consist of three main components. The first component involves identifying the relevant factors associated with IDoP in the Caribbean region through a scoping review, supplemented by expert-elicited opinion. The second component will apply a Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process to weigh the aforementioned factors and develop a spatial composite index, using open data and available national surveys in the DR. In the final component, we will evaluate and validate the index by analysing the prevalence of at least three IDoPs at a fine-grained municipal level in the DR, using seroprevalence data from a 2021 national field study and other national surveillance programs. The spatial vulnerability index framework developed in this study will assess the degree of vulnerability to IDoP across different geographical scales, depending on data availability in each country.

Job satisfaction among healthcare workers is essential for maintaining high-quality care. Previous research has shown different levels of job satisfaction, but there is no comprehensive list of determinants of job satisfaction among healthcare workers. This study aims to provide a comprehensive list of determinants of job satisfaction in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar). A systematic review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines across five databases: PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science, Cochrane, and Scopus. Two independent reviewers performed data extraction and review using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) quality assessment checklist. The review was undertaken between 1 January 2012 and 4 November 2022. Five hundred titles and abstracts were screened, yielding 73 eligible studies for inclusion in this review. Of the included studies, 60 were carried out in Saudi Arabia (82.2%), six in Oman (8.2%), three in Qatar (4.1%), two in the United Arab Emirates (2.7%), one in Kuwait (1.4%), and one in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (1.4%). The analysis identified 14 key determinants of job satisfaction among healthcare workers in GCC: pay, promotion, co-workers, supervision, fringe benefits, contingent rewards, operating conditions, nature of work, communication, workload, leadership style, relation with patients, demographic variables, and others, such as hospital type. Thus, our study expands on Spector's nine determinants model of job satisfaction, hence providing a wider and more detail insight into job satisfaction in workplace.

Obesity is associated with multiple noncommunicable diseases and has increased rapidly worldwide. Population obesity in China grew fourfold between 1993 and 2015, increasing most rapidly among children and adolescents. Cost-effective policies and programs delivered over time and at scale are required to change this trajectory, yet application of methodologies to identify such interventions have been sparse. UNICEF China and Peking University together identified the need to strengthen the intervention evidence available to policymakers and to build stakeholders' knowledge and skills. Investment cases combine a review of intervention evidence, policy landscape assessment, and economic modelling to identify cost-effective interventions suited to a specific context. A training and mentorship program aimed to build awareness, knowledge, and skills about this methodology to encourage its use to support decision making and planning to address obesity. Program participants reported increased knowledge of analytical methods to identify contextually relevant cost-effective obesity interventions (92% of evaluation respondents), and 82% reported increased knowledge of evidence-based obesity interventions. 79% reported confidence to apply the learning in their job roles. Training and mentorship can enhance stakeholder knowledge, skills, and confidence to apply investment case methodology to develop economic evidence to strengthen the basis of obesity policy and program commissioning.

Depressive disorders are associated with poor treatment outcomes, physical health, and quality of life among people living with TB (PLWTB) and TB/HIV (PLWTBHIV). Data on depression among PLWTB/HIV are limited in Ukraine.

The balls are rolling for climate change, with increasing vulnerability to women and children related to climate extreme events. Recent evidence has shown that acute exposure to heat wave during pregnancy can be associated with adverse health outcomes in childhood, with the risk being significantly higher among socially disadvantaged population, despite their lack of contribution to global carbon dioxide emissions and the rising global ambient temperature. This unequal impact requires utmost attention to develop tools, establish interdisciplinary teams, and to implement evidence-based interventions for the betterment of women and children in climate-vulnerable populations.

The socio-economic burden of HIV infection remains a critical global health concern. This study was conducted to perform a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the socio-economic burden of HIV infection, highlighting research trends, collaboration networks, and the evolving focus on social determinants of health over the past 32 years. A systematic search was conducted in Scopus and Web of Science Core Collection databases, covering publications from 1992 to 2024. The analysis was performed using RStudio and Biblioshiny, focusing on 1,054 studies from 422 publications. This study revealed a steady annual growth rate of 16.72% in publications on the socio-economic burden of HIV from 1992 to 2024, with the USA and Canada leading in contributions. The University of Toronto emerged as the top institution, while 'social determinants of health' and 'HIV infections' were identified as pivotal research themes. Collaboration networks were predominantly among high-income countries, with limited engagement from high-burden regions like sub-Saharan Africa. Key journals, such as AIDS and Behavior, were identified as central to advancing the field. Thematic analysis highlighted a shift from biomedical to socio-economic factors, emphasizing the need for equitable global collaboration and research addressing disparities in HIV management. This comprehensive analysis provides valuable insights into the evolving landscape of HIV socio-economic burden research, emphasizing the need for increased collaboration with high-burden regions and a continued focus on addressing social determinants of health in HIV management.

The University of Global Health Equity's (UGHE) One Health Field School (OHFS) in Rwanda exemplifies an experiential approach to education that integrates human, animal, and environmental health. This field-based program engages students in real-world settings such as abattoirs, health centers, and mining sites to confront pressing public health issues, from zoonotic diseases and antimicrobial resistance to food safety and environmental health. Following Kolb's experiential learning model, OHFS equips graduate students to observe, analyze, and apply solutions to complex health challenges, fostering adaptability, resilience, and collaborative problem-solving skills. By bridging classroom theory with practical application, OHFS cultivates leadership and a holistic understanding of health, preparing graduates to navigate the interconnected global health landscape. Through this innovative approach, UGHE aims to train a generation of health professionals capable of addressing crises such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and emerging infectious diseases at the human-animal-environment interface.

Households without access to a functioning and well-managed sanitation system produce untreated faecal waste. While connecting households to sewers is ideal in densely populated low-income areas, the connection rates often remain low. Most interventions to increase connectivity focused on addressing financial, social, and legal barriers; there is limited evidence on the effectiveness of behaviour change interventions in promoting sewer connections. Thus, we aim to understand the effectiveness of behaviour change interventions in increasing the uptake of sewer connections. We developed a review protocol with key search terms relating to households, sewers, behaviour change interventions, promotion, and effectiveness. We aimed to identify both the types of interventions deployed and their impact on increasing household sewer connections. Eleven articles met the eligibility criteria and were included in the review. Findings indicate that changes in rates of connection were associated with interventions that included a blend of indirect financial subsidy in the form of a free connection and community-engagement activities. There was limited evidence that behaviour change campaigns without financial incentives lead to changes in sewer connection rates. A multi-component package involving financial subsidies with community engagement is likely to improve the sewer connection rate.

Health literacy is a determinant of overall health, particularly among college students who are at increased risk for negative sexual and reproductive health outcomes. Contextualized sexual and reproductive health education serves as an important protective measure for this population. This scoping review examines sexual and reproductive health literacy among college students to identify key determinants, screening tools, and effective interventions. Following the PRISMA-ScR guidelines, a comprehensive systematic search was conducted through PubMed, Embase, and Scopus databases without restrictions to capture all publications related to health literacy of students of higher education from January 2013 to March 2023. Out of 4,526 articles identified in the initial search, 11 studies met the inclusion criteria for this review. Most studies were cross-sectional and conducted in the USA. Sexual and reproductive health literacy was examined as both an outcome, influenced by factors like age, gender, religion, study area, sexual education, birthplace/region, and race/ethnicity, and as an exposure shaping knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding sexual and reproductive health. On the interpersonal level, family influence played a crucial role in shaping sexual and reproductive health literacy. The review also found correlations between health literacy and knowledge, attitudes, and practices, with technology-based interventions. Based on the findings, a conceptual model was developed. Research on sexual and reproductive health literacy remains limited, particularly in sensitive sociocultural contexts. Further studies are needed to explore the impact of sociocultural, religious, and environmental factors on young people's health literacy in order to inform more effective interventions.

The World Health Organization and the International Confederation of Midwives emphasize the importance of accreditation to enhance quality in midwifery education. In midwifery education programmes, internal self-assessments are used to meet accreditation criteria. However, research on this topic is scarce. Therefore, this paper describes how we plan to conduct an evaluation of an internal quality assurance process in midwifery education aimed at achieving national accreditation standards in Bangladesh. This study has a longitudinal exploratory design and will be guided by the principles of process evaluation of complex interventions. An internal quality assurance self-assessment intervention will be introduced at 31 private and public education institutions in Bangladesh. To ensure a sustainable implementation, the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle will be introduced. Data will be collected using self-administered questionnaires and focus group discussions with midwifery faculty and final-semester students. Descriptive statistics and regression models will be performed for the quantitative data, and the qualitative data will be analysed using content analysis. It is anticipated that, without internal quality assurance of midwifery education programmes, accreditation alone is unlikely to enhance quality. We aspire for this research project to illustrate a process that the midwifery institutes can implement themselves for sustainable transformation towards high-quality midwifery education in countries where such internal quality assurance processes have not yet been integrated into the education system.: The study was registered retrospectively with the ISRCTN registry on 26 August 2024. The registration number is: ISRCTN14492910.

Neonatal mortality remains a global health concern. In South Africa, 32% of under-five mortality consists of neonates, with 48% of neonatal deaths attributed to prematurity. The Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) aim to reduce deaths of very low birth weight (VLBW) neonates through community health worker (CHW) home visits.

Ethiopia has experienced growth in the utilization of family planning services. However, there are reports of relatively low client satisfaction across the country.

Sexual harassment (SH) is a persistent problem at workplaces around the world, including academia.

Sub-Saharan African countries like Burkina Faso face a dietary transition and are experiencing a shift in disease burden.

Concurrent anaemia and stunting (CAS) pose severe public health risks in low- and middle-income countries, affecting child health and development.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) increases adverse neonatal and maternal outcomes. Understanding the prevalence and risk factors of GDM is necessary to plan health care interventions and policy.

Community health workers (CHWs) are key players in providing primary healthcare in low- and middle-income countries. However, their absence from the formal health system in many of these countries often presents a challenge to their remuneration. The objective of this scoping review is to document programs implemented at both small and large scales in low- and middle-income countries, the remuneration strategies they have established, and the effects of these strategies on the work of CHWs. In total, we included 50 articles in this review. We have identified four types of compensation: fixed compensation, performance-based compensation, compensation based on income-generating activities (IGAs), and combined compensation. We identified the strengths and weaknesses of each type of compensation. A common strength for most models was improvement in motivation and performance. A common weakness for most models was irregular payments. The results of this review highlight the need to consider the economic, social, and cultural settings of the countries or environments at hand, and to include CHWs in discussions regarding the selection of a compensation model.