RESUMEN
Background and objective:To provide good health and well-being as established by the Sustainable Development Goal(SDG)3,access to digital technologies can act as conduits to achieve such progress in a population.As guided by the World Health Organization,antenatal care(ANC)attendance is one of the measures promoted to curtail the global health burden of maternal and infant mortality.ANC services are seldom utilized to their full potential in Zimbabwe.This study explores if any of the women's digital technology characteristics were associated with antenatal care visits.Methods:The study analyzed population-based cross-sectional data with a subsample of 1 932 women aged 15-49 years from the 2019 Zimbabwe Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey.Test of associations with chi-square test,bivariate,and multivariate multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to examine the predictors of adequate(4-7)and optimal(≥ 8)ANC visits relative to undesirable(1-3)antenatal care visits among women who had given births 2 years before the survey.Results:The results indicate that 64.5％(1246/1 932)of the women attained adequate ANC while about 9.8％(189/1 932)attained optimal ANC.Reading a newspaper/magazine at least once a week(odds ratio[OR]1.73,β'=0.551,t=2.030,P=0.043)and watching television at least once a week(OR 1.72,β'=0.545,t=2.454,P=0.015),listening to the radio less than once a week(OR 1.28,β'=0.247,t=1.750,P=0.080),and owning a mobile phone(OR 1.48,β'=0.394,t=3.020,P=0.003)were positively associated with adequate ANC.Optimal ANC was significantly associated with women being able to read a newspaper at least once a week(OR 2.93,β'=1.074,t=3.120,P=0.002),listen to the radio less than once a week(OR 2.07,β'=0.73,t=2.700,P=0.007)and have ownership of a mobile phone(OR 1.88,β'=0.631,t=2.620,P=0.009).Conclusion:Access to a newspaper,radio,television,and mobile phone were important predictors of a woman's ability to achieve her ANC attendance.Policies to improve the knowledge of ANC packages can be facilitated using digital technology to achieve adequate and preferably optimal ANC in Zimbabwe.It is important to improve digital infrastructure to support digital technologies in providing ANC services.
RESUMEN
Globally,there have been multiple public health emergencies in recent decades.High rates of morbidity,occa-sionally mortality,and economic instability are usually associated with pandemics.One of the epidemics that has significantly increased morbidity and mortality worldwide is the human immunodeficiency virus(HIV)and acquired immune deficiency syndrome(AIDS)pandemic.HIV has a disproportionately negative impact on key populations.Strong leadership,effective communication,and sound science are necessary for public health emer-gency(PHE)responses to be successful.These three PHE response pillars are also essential for bridging the HIV response gap among key populations in the setting of restrictive laws.In this review,we explored the importance of these three pillars of successful PHEs responses,and how they are essential to closing the gap in the HIV response among key populations.Leaders must make decisions and instil a sense of authority in the populace during PHEs to foster trust and confidence.Leaders should base their choices on scientific evidence.Effective communication during PHEs should be proactive,polite,imaginative,innovative,and constructive.To address gaps in the HIV response among key populations,leaders must create a supportive environment for effective communication and scientific research,communication should be used to raise awareness of HIV and to dispel stigma and discrimination,while science should provide evidence of efficacy and effectiveness of interventions among key populations.
RESUMEN
Background: In Sub-Saharan Africa, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remains a public health problem. There is need for evidence-based interventions to curb new infections. HIV status disclosure, especially to sexual partner(s) remains a critical step towards reducing viral transmission across sexual partners.Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study, conducted at HIV clinics of three selected hospitals. Systematic random sampling was employed to sample 384 people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH). A pre-tested self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data.Results: Of the participants, 66% of the participants reported HIV positive status disclosure, with only 46% of these having disclosed to their sexual partner. Logistic regression analysis identified age (p value 0.035; AOR 0.94), being satisfied with counselling (p value 0.017; AOR 0.24), gender (p value 0.030; AOR 5.51) and education (p value 0.041; AOR 2.14) as factors associated with having disclosed HIV status. Being younger, satisfaction with counselling, being female and having attained at least secondary education were all associated with higher odds of HIV status disclosure.Conclusions: Based on the findings of the current study, it can be concluded that there is need to improve rates of HIV status disclosure among PLWH in Kigali, Rwanda. The current study findings have provided baseline information for the local health authorities, health care providers, policy makers and other scholars working in HIV epidemic control. The local health authorities can use this as a guide to develop a programme aimed to address the issue of non-disclosure of HIV status in Kigali City and hence help control the incessant spread of HIV infection.
RESUMEN
We aimed to map literature on the barriers to effective implementation of health education programs (HEPs) in low to middle income countries (LMICs) to guide future implementation research. We employed a rigorous scoping review design. Our review was guided by the Arksey and O’Malley framework, 2005, further enhanced by Levac et al. The keyword search was comprehensive for relevant studies presenting evidence on barriers to implementation of HEPs in LMICs from Google Scholar, PubMed, EBSCOHost (CINAHL and Academic Search Complete) databases and grey literature. The first search identified 3,092 articles, of which 1,412 duplicates were eliminated. An additional 1,632, 34 and 7 articles did not meet the inclusion criteria based on sequential title screen, abstract review and full text review respectively. Seven studies met the inclusion criteria for the actual scoping review. Findings of the review revealed three categories of barriers to effective implementation of HEPs in LMICs grouped as individual or patient level, community level and population level barriers. A key barrier to effective implementation of HEPs in LMICs revealed from the review was socio-economic challenges, which result from resource constraints. This calls for adequate allocation of the limited resources toward health education to ensure effective implementation of HEPs in LMICs and improve health outcomes.