An epidemiological cross sectional study was undertaken in Yaoundé in 2002 and updated in 2005. Focused on health within the city, the objectives were to measure diarrheal prevalence and to identify the risk factors associated with them. Results of microbiological examinations have revealed an urban average prevalence rate of 14.5%. Access to basic services in the living environment appears to ...

Social support is critical for women dealing with intimate partner violence (IPV).When support from their informal sources, such as family, friends, and neighbours, is limited, women tend to access services provided by health professionals, social workers, and settlement workers. In this qualitative descriptive study, community leaders who were also first-generation immigrants describe the comp...

A lack of effective options in local technology poses challenges when onsite household sanitation facilities are eventually filled to capacity in unplanned settlement areas within Mzuzu City, located in northern Malawi. Vacuum trucks currently dominate the market but focus on emptying septic tanks in the more easily accessible planned settlement areas, rather than servicing the pit latrines com...

BACKGROUND Our intention was to analyze demographic and contextual factors associated with sexual risk taking among HIV-infected patients on antiretroviral treatment (ART) in Africa's largest informal urban settlement, Kibera in Nairobi, Kenya. METHODS We used a cross-sectional survey in a resource-poor, urban informal settlement in Nairobi; 515 consecutive adult patients on ART attending the...

OBJECTIVE In three primary health care clinics run by Médecins Sans Frontières in the informal settlement of Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya, we describe the caseload, management and treatment outcomes of patients with hypertension (HT) and/or diabetes mellitus (DM) receiving care from January 2010 to June 2012. METHOD Descriptive study using prospectively collected routine programme data. RESULTS O...

BACKGROUND Characterizing infectious disease burden in Africa is important for prioritizing and targeting limited resources for curative and preventive services and monitoring the impact of interventions. METHODS From June 1, 2006 to May 31, 2008, we estimated rates of acute lower respiratory tract illness (ALRI), diarrhea and acute febrile illness (AFI) among >50,000 persons participating in...

Introduction Informal patient payments for healthcare are common in the Western Balkans, negatively affecting public health and healthcare.   Aim To identify literature from the Western Balkans on what is known about informal patient payments and bought and brought goods, to examine their effects on healthcare and to determine what actions can be taken to tackle these payments.   Methods After ...