INTRODUCTION Landmines are indiscriminate weapons that mainly injure poor populations in the developing world. Pre-hospital treatment by village-based paramedics and first responders has reduced mortality, but little is known about the social impact of paramedic and first responder training in villages. The aim of this study was to understand how villagers in socially deprived, mine-infested vi...

BACKGROUND A village-randomized trial of a seven-valent pneumococcal-conjugate-vaccine (PCV-7) conducted in rural Gambia showed a decrease of vaccine-type (VT) and a non-significant increase in non-vaccine-type (NVT) nasopharyngeal carriage of pneumococci two years after vaccination. Here, we report findings four years after vaccination. METHODS PCV-7 was given to all children below 30 months...

INTRODUCTION Because cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality in Honduras, this study assessed knowledge, attitudes and barriers to cervical cancer screening services by Papanicolaou smear (pap smear) for women in rural, remote Honduras served by Virginia Commonwealth University's Global Health and Health Disparities Program (GH2DP). METHODS Two interviewers administered an in...

We have been implementing the research work in order to achieve the rural clinics that can provide the similar quality of clinic performance as that of urban general hospitals. The research work involves the use of common fund in community, from the financial viewpoint, for the purpose of continuous management of clinics in rural villages of developing countries, and the introduction of telemed...

BACKGROUND Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is an important vector-borne disease in Iran. The present study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of Deltamethrin treated nets in comparison to Indoors Residual Spraying (IRS) for the control of leishmaniasis in a new focal area of Iran. METHODS The study was carried out in 5 villages in the west of Iran during 2012-2013. One village was selected to the ap...

Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN) is a chronic tubulointerstitial disease whose mosaic-like distribution throughout the Balkans has not changed significantly since its initial description. In this study, we explored the hypothesis that the occurrence of BEN is linked with the environmental geochemistry of villages. Soil samples were collected from BEN and non-BEN villages in the Vratza region of...

Proximity and affiliation to the local market appear to be two of the most relevant factors to explain farmer's choices to select a particular trading point. Physical barriers may limit the options , especially in developing countries. A network of villages linked by traders/farmer-traders sharing livestock markets was built with field data collected in 75 villages from 8 kebelles in the Wasson...

BACKGROUND Zinc treatment shortens diarrhea episodes and can prevent future episodes. In rural Africa, most children with diarrhea are not brought to health facilities. In a village-randomized trial in rural Kenya, we assessed if zinc treatment might have a community-level preventive effect on diarrhea incidence if available at home versus only at health facilities. METHODS We randomized 16 K...

BACKGROUND Information and behaviour can spread through interpersonal ties. By targeting influential individuals, health interventions that harness the distributive properties of social networks could be made more effective and efficient than those that do not. Our aim was to assess which targeting methods produce the greatest cascades or spillover effects and hence maximise population-level be...