Publications

Leishmania (Viannia) guyanensis is believed to be the principal cause of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in Suriname. This disease is treated with pentamidine isethionate (PI), but treatment failure has increasingly been reported.

Community health workers (CHWs) are increasingly recognized as an integral component of the health workforce needed to achieve public health goals in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Many factors intersect to influence CHW performance. A systematic review with a narrative analysis was conducted to identify contextual factors influencing performance of CHWs.

The feminization of agriculture is well recognized: women are acknowledged as the main food producers in mainstream development policy and practice. However, women are disproportionally affected by hunger and malnourishment. A growing body of literature focuses
on how to contribute to improved nutrition through agricultural interventions. ‘Women’s empowerment’ is often cited as a promising strategy for improved nutrition.

Community health workers (CHWs) are increasingly recognized as an integral component of the health workforce needed to achieve public health goals in lowand middle-income countries (LMICs). Many factors influence CHW performance. A systematic review was conducted to identify intervention design related factors influencing performance of CHWs. We systematically searched six databases for quantitative and qualitative studies that included CHWs working in promotional, preventive or curative primary health services in LMICs. One hundred and forty studies met the inclusion criteria, were quality assessed and double read to extract data relevant to the design of CHW programmes. A preliminary framework containing factors influencing CHW performance and characteristics of CHW performance (such as motivation and competencies) guided the literature search and review.

Screening of household contacts of tuberculosis (TB) patients is a recommended strategy to improve early case detection. While it has been widely implemented in low prevalence countries, the most optimal protocols for contact investigation in high prevalence, low resource settings is yet to be determined. This study evaluated contact investigation interventions in eleven lower and middle income countries and reviewed the association between context or program-related factors and the yield of cases among contacts

For agriculture to prosper, farm inputs need to be available, affordable, accessible, and good quality. Seeds, fertilizers, and agro-chemicals, are essential for improving the productivity and incomes of smallholder farmers in developing countries (World Bank, 2007, 2013; Rosegrant et al. ,2001; AGRA 2013; FAO, 2013). As input supply is a critical factor in inclusive agricultural and rural development, many donors support initiatives that improve smallholders’ access to inputs. Some of these programs are successful, others are not.

Sudan has high maternal mortality. The rate among nomads – groups of people who move from place to place as a way of obtaining food, finding pasture or make a living – is very high and varies between different regions of the country. The objective of the study is to identify the factors affecting the utilization of maternal health care services by nomadic communities in Sudan, to make recommendations to improve their health. Nomadic health practices and health care services are the main influencing factors affecting the utilization of maternal health care services. Nomadic health practices are influenced by the mobile lifestyle of nomads, their low level of education and knowledge, gender norms, beliefs, values and attitudes, and their geographical locations. Existing health care services are ill-adapted to the nomadic lifestyle. The study also demonstrates some best practices from other countries that can be applied to the nomadic context in Sudan, such as community health workers, training and support for traditional birth attendants, provision of joint mobile health services for humans and livestock and the establishment of maternity or birth waiting homes. Since the utilization of maternal health care services by nomads is extremely low, the study recommends evidence-based strategies to increase community demand for services or bring women closer to emergency obstetric services.

To measure the effect of changing the point-of-care (POC) testing algorithm of urogenital chlamydia for all male high-risk patients to those with only symptoms with respect to: diagnostic accuracy, loss to follow-up, correctly managed consultations and costs.

The Educational Sector Development Programme (ESDP) IV has set objectives to strengthen the representation and leadership of women academics in universities. It aims to have by 2015 20% of academic staff to be women and 16 females in top academic positions (university (vice-) president). Affirmative action and women’s rights are also enshrined in the Ethiopian Constitution. Women have indeed entered the universities over the past decades; progress on gender balance in academic positions and university management is however below target. This assessment looks
at the actual status in 13 universities, and identifies challenges of female faculty.

Agricultural extension has a significant role to play in rural development. Yet, ‘extension’ itself is also developing and so is its role in development. How extension is understood, coordinated, financed and implemented has evolved over time. While agricultural extension used to be almost exclusively publicly funded and implemented in a top-down manner to increase productivity and transfer new technologies to small-scale farmers, since the late 1980s and 1990s the private sector has gradually become engaged in different ways and extension has evolved to being more participatory and holistic, at least in rhetoric.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with the highest maternal mortality ratio estimated at 846 deaths per 100,000 live births. Innovative strategies such as social accountability are needed to improve both health service delivery and utilization. Indeed, social accountability is a form of citizen engagement defined as the ‘extent and capability of citizens to hold politicians, policy makers and providers accountable and make them responsive to their needs.’ This study explores existing social accountability mechanisms through which women’s concerns are expressed and responded to by health providers in local settings.

Laboratories are an essential and fundamental part of all health systems and their goal to improve health. Reliable and timely laboratory-investigation results are fundamental elements in decision-making in almost all aspects of health services and so directly affect the health and well-being of individuals and countries. Reliable and timely laboratory services are also crucial to a nation’s health security and economy and its ability to meet obligations such as the International Health Regulations. Approximately 60–70% of medical decisions are based on laboratory results. The ongoing outbreak of Ebola virus disease in west Africa has highlighted not only the crucial role of a strong health system in responding to public health emergencies but also the immense cost of ignoring this need. Within such a strong health system, effective high-quality (accredited) laboratories and response networks must be on the front line/

The women’s movement in Zimbabwe has gone through highs and lows in its long history of mobilizing at different levels and on various issues. The first years of the 2000s were such ‘low’ ones that many afterwards wondered whether the women’s movement still existed. Yet new initiatives have emerged and grown, and contexts are changing. New generations and new modes of organizing and agency have taken shape, and significant successes in legal reform have taken place. This paper thus reframes the question about the status of the Zimbabwean’s women’s movement and explores how it is reconfiguring itself and continuing to exist. We first document recent methods of organizing and mobilizing by women in Zimbabwe and look both at new players and new forms of action. Secondly,
we seek to document the movement’s achievements and challenges since the turn of the millennium. The focus will be on organizing through women’s NGOs. The women’s movement in Zimbabwe comprises many actors, key among them women’s NGOs and clubs; women in political parties and the labour movement; women’s religious associations and women’s professional or business associations. In this paper, however, the women’s movement refers to organizing through women’s NGOs. In documenting new players and new forms of action, as well as identifying challenges and achievements, the paper seeks to reflect on and rethink the women’s movement and its status in the contemporary Zimbabwean context. This also provides a basis for reflection on strategies for
transformative change and their underlying theories of change, and on how women’s organizing engages with the state in the pursuit of gender equality and women’s rights.

Every year, farmers in sub-Saharan Africa suffer from unacceptable levels of crop loss as a result of plant health problems, threatening their food security, income and livelihoods