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Hepatitis B virus in the Lao People's Democratic Republic: A Cross Sectional Serosurvey in Different Cohorts.
Despite hepatitis B vaccination at birth and at 6, 10 and 14 weeks of age, hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection continues to be endemic in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR). We carried out a cross-sectional serological study in infants, pre-school children, school pupils and pregnant women to determine their burden of disease, risk of infection and vaccination status
Time is (still) of the essence: quantifying the impact of emergency meningitis vaccination response in Katsina State, Nigeria.
In 2009, a large meningitis A epidemic affected a broad region of northern Nigeria and southern Niger, resulting in more than 75 000 cases and 4000 deaths. In collaboration with state and federal agencies, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) intervened with a large-scale vaccination campaign using polysaccharide vaccine. Here the authors analyze the impact (cases averted) of the vaccination response as a function of the timing and coverage achieved
Self-Administered Tuberculosis Treatment Outcomes in a Tribal Population on the Indo-Myanmar Border, Nagaland, India.
Multiple strategies are being adopted by national tuberculosis (TB) programmes to achieve universal coverage of tuberculosis treatment. However, populations living in 'hard-to-reach' areas of north-east India have poor access to health services. Our study aimed to detail treatment outcomes in TB program supported by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and using an alternative model of TB treatment delivery in Mon district, Nagaland, India
Provision of antiretroviral therapy in South Africa: the nuts and bolts
Public sector antiretroviral provision had a slow start in South Africa despite a raging epidemic and a World AIDS conference that shed significant public light on the disparities of therapy access globally. This was largely due to political prevarication in the midst of AIDS denialism. There has been an unprecedented expansion in the HIV treatment programme since 2008. As a result, South Africa now has the largest number of patients on antiretroviral drugs in the world, and South African life expectancy has increased by more than a decade. However, this has led to a number of fiscal, logistic and operational challenges that the country must face as the treatment programme continues to expand. Challenges include increasing detection within communities, linkage and retention in care, while strengthening operational support functions such as consistent drug supply, health staffing and infrastructure, diagnostic services, programme monitoring and sustainable financing. As a middle-income country, albeit with marked income inequality, and the heaviest HIV burden in the world, South Africa is a test case of whether a large-scale public health programme can boast of success in the face of numerous other health-system challenges