During the past two decades, researchers and policy-makers have become interested in priority setting for health research both at the country and international levels, and this has increased its visibility. The 1990 report by the Commission on Health Research for Development1 clearly acted as a catalyst in creating this momentum. It recommended that each country should develop a strong national...

Hysterectomy is a leading reason for use of health insurance amongst low-income women in India, but there are limited population-level data available to inform policy. This paper reports on the findings of a mixed-methods study to estimate incidence and identify predictors of hysterectomy in a low-income setting in Gujarat, India. The estimated incidence of hysterectomy, 20.7/1000 woman- years ...

Ischiopagus parasites are fetal defects attached to a relatively normal twin by pelvis. This is the first reported case of parasitic ischiopagus twins without prenatal diagnosis successfully managed in Mozambique. A multidisciplinary team was involved in the supernumerary limbs excision. After 7 months, the infant has a normal development.

INTRODUCTION Rural, minority populations are disproportionately affected by overweight and obesity and may benefit from lifestyle modification programs that are tailored to meet their unique needs. Obesity interventions commonly use goal setting as a behavior change strategy; however, few have investigated the specific contribution of goal setting to behavior change and/or identified the mechan...

OBJECTIVE In global health considerable attention is focused on the search for innovations; however, reports tracking their adoption in routine hospital settings from low-income countries are absent. DESIGN AND SETTING We used data collected on a consistent panel of indicators during four separate cross-sectional, hospital surveys in Kenya to track changes over a period of 11 years (2002-2012...

We present the first study of multidimensional poverty in Benin using the consensual or socially perceived necessities approach. There is a remarkable level consensus about what constitutes the necessities of life and an adequate standard of living. Following Townsend's concept of relative deprivation, we show how social consensus provides the basis for a reliable and valid index of multiple de...

BACKGROUND Health programs commonly promote handwashing by drawing attention to potential fecal contamination in the environment. The underlying assumption is that the thought of fecal contamination will result in disgust, and motivate people to wash their hands with soap. However, this has not proven sufficient to achieve high rates of handwashing with soap at key times. We argue that handwash...

OBJECTIVE To conduct an expert-led process for identifying research priorities in adolescent sexual and reproductive health in low- and middle-income countries. METHODS The authors modified the priority-setting method of the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) to obtain input from nearly 300 researchers, health programme managers and donors with wide-ranging backgrounds and...

Achieving a practical and productive balance in collaborative research between partners from high and lower income countries (North-South Collaborations) requires seeking win-win solutions. This issue requires time to engage each other and to understand each participant’s research priorities and to identify areas of mutual interest. In SACTRC’s experience, key elements include; building researc...