BMC Research Notes
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcresnotes/content
(Accessed 2 May 2015)
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Research article
Palliative care in South Asia: a systematic review of the evidence for care models, interventions, and outcomes
Taranjit Singh, Richard Harding BMC Research Notes 2015, 8:172 (30 April 2015)

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Research article
Uptake of influenza vaccination in pregnancy amongst Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women: a mixed-methods pilot study
Kerry-Ann F O’Grady, Melissa Dunbar, Linda G Medlin, Kerry K Hall, Maree Toombs, Judith Meiklejohn, Lisa McHugh, Peter D Massey, Amy Creighton, Ross M Andrews BMC Research Notes 2015,
Abstract (provisional)
Background
Influenza infection during pregnancy causes significant morbidity and mortality. Immunisation against influenza is recommended during pregnancy in several countries however, there are limited data on vaccine uptake, and the determinants of vaccination, in pregnant Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Islander women. This study aimed to collect pilot data on vaccine uptake and attitudes towards, and perceptions of, maternal influenza vaccination in this population in order to inform the development of larger studies.
Methods
A mixed-methods study comprised of a cross-sectional survey and yarning circles (focus groups) amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women attending two primary health care services. The women were between 28 weeks gestation and less than 16 weeks post-birth. These data were supplemented by data collected in an ongoing national Australian study of maternal influenza vaccination. Aboriginal research officers collected community data and data from the yarning circles which were based on a narrative enquiry framework. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse quantitative data and thematic analyses were applied to qualitative data.
Results
Quantitative data were available for 53 women and seven of these women participated in the yarning circles. The proportion of women who reported receipt of an influenza vaccine during their pregnancy was 9/53. Less than half of the participants (21/53) reported they had been offered the vaccine in pregnancy. Forty-three percent reported they would get a vaccine if they became pregnant again. Qualitative data suggested perceived benefits to themselves and their infants were important factors in the decision to be vaccinated but there was insufficient information available to women to make that choice.
Conclusions
The rates of influenza immunisation may continue to remain low for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander women during pregnancy. Access to services and recommendations by a health care worker may be factors in the lower rates. Our findings support the need for larger studies directed at monitoring and understanding the determinants of maternal influenza vaccine uptake during pregnancy in Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women. This research will best be achieved using methods that account for the social and cultural contexts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Australia.

Bulletin of the World Health Organization
Volume 93, Number 5, May 2015, 285-360
http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/93/5/en/

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EDITORIALS
Knowledge for effective action to improve the health of women, children and adolescents in the post-2015 era: a call for papers
Flavia Bustreo & Robin Gorna
doi: 10.2471/BLT.15.156521

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Research
Surveys of measles vaccination coverage in eastern and southern Africa: a review of quality and methods used
Reinhard Kaiser, Messeret E Shibeshi, Jethro M Chakauya, Emelda Dzeka, Balcha G Masresha, Fussum Daniel & Nestor Shivute
Abstract
Objective
To assess the methods used in the evaluation of measles vaccination coverage, identify quality concerns and provide recommendations for improvement.
Methods
We reviewed surveys that were conducted to evaluate supplementary measles immunization activities in eastern and southern Africa during 2012 and 2013. We investigated the organization(s) undertaking each survey, survey design, sample size, the numbers of study clusters and children per study cluster, recording of immunizations and methods of analysis. We documented sampling methods at the level of clusters, households and individual children. We also assessed the length of training for field teams at national and regional levels, the composition of teams and the supervision provided.
Findings
The surveys were conducted in Comoros, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Of the 13 reports we reviewed, there were weaknesses in 10 of them for ethical clearance, 9 for sample size calculation, 6 for sampling methods, 12 for training structures, 13 for supervision structures and 11 for data analysis.
Conclusion
We recommend improvements in the documentation of routine and supplementary immunization, via home-based vaccination cards or other records. For surveys conducted after supplementary immunization, a standard protocol is required. Finally, we recommend that standards be developed for report templates and for the technical review of protocols and reports. This would ensure that the results of vaccination coverage surveys are accurate, comparable, reliable and valuable for programme improvement.

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Research
A multimedia consent tool for research participants in the Gambia: a randomized controlled trial
Muhammed Olanrewaju Afolabi, Nuala McGrath, Umberto D’Alessandro, Beate Kampmann, Egeruan B Imoukhuede, Raffaella M Ravinetto, Neal Alexander, Heidi J Larson, Daniel Chandramohan & Kalifa Bojang
Abstract
Objective
To assess the effectiveness of a multimedia informed consent tool for adults participating in a clinical trial in the Gambia.
Methods
Adults eligible for inclusion in a malaria treatment trial (n = 311) were randomized to receive information needed for informed consent using either a multimedia tool (intervention arm) or a standard procedure (control arm). A computerized, audio questionnaire was used to assess participants’ comprehension of informed consent. This was done immediately after consent had been obtained (at day 0) and at subsequent follow-up visits (days 7, 14, 21 and 28). The acceptability and ease of use of the multimedia tool were assessed in focus groups.
Findings
On day 0, the median comprehension score in the intervention arm was 64% compared with 40% in the control arm (P = 0.042). The difference remained significant at all follow-up visits. Poorer comprehension was independently associated with female sex (odds ratio, OR: 0.29; 95% confidence interval, CI: 0.12–0.70) and residing in Jahaly rather than Basse province (OR: 0.33; 95% CI: 0.13–0.82). There was no significant independent association with educational level. The risk that a participant’s comprehension score would drop to half of the initial value was lower in the intervention arm (hazard ratio 0.22, 95% CI: 0.16–0.31). Overall, 70% (42/60) of focus group participants from the intervention arm found the multimedia tool clear and easy to understand.
Conclusion
A multimedia informed consent tool significantly improved comprehension and retention of consent information by research participants with low levels of literacy.

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Systematic Reviews
Strategies to increase the demand for childhood vaccination in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Mira Johri, Myriam Cielo Pérez, Catherine Arsenault, Jitendar K Sharma, Nitika Pant Pai, Smriti Pahwa & Marie-Pierre Sylvestre
Abstract
Objective
To investigate which strategies to increase demand for vaccination are effective in increasing child vaccine coverage in low- and middle-income countries.
Methods
We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane library, POPLINE, ECONLIT, CINAHL, LILACS, BDSP, Web of Science and Scopus databases for relevant studies, published in English, French, German, Hindi, Portuguese and Spanish up to 25 March 2014. We included studies of interventions intended to increase demand for routine childhood vaccination. Studies were eligible if conducted in low- and middle-income countries and employing a randomized controlled trial, non-randomized controlled trial, controlled before-and-after or interrupted time series design. We estimated risk of bias using Cochrane collaboration guidelines and performed random-effects meta-analysis.
Findings
We identified 11 studies comprising four randomized controlled trials, six cluster randomized controlled trials and one controlled before-and-after study published in English between 1996 and 2013. Participants were generally parents of young children exposed to an eligible intervention. Six studies demonstrated low risk of bias and five studies had moderate to high risk of bias. We conducted a pooled analysis considering all 11 studies, with data from 11 512 participants. Demand-side interventions were associated with significantly higher receipt of vaccines, relative risk (RR): 1.30, (95% confidence interval, CI: 1.17–1.44). Subgroup analyses also demonstrated significant effects of seven education and knowledge translation studies, RR: 1.40 (95% CI: 1.20–1.63) and of four studies which used incentives, RR: 1.28 (95% CI: 1.12–1.45).
Conclusion
Demand-side interventions lead to significant gains in child vaccination coverage in low- and middle-income countries. Educational approaches and use of incentives were both effective strategies.

Conflict and Health
[Accessed 2 May 2015]
http://www.conflictandhealth.com/

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Case study
Diabetes in an emergency context: the Malian case study
Besançon S, Fall IS, Doré M, Sidibé A, Hagon O, Chappuis F and Beran D Conflict and Health 2015, 9:15 (1 May 2015)
Abstract
Background
The World Health Organization proposes 6 building blocks for health systems. These are vulnerable to challenges in many contexts. Findings from a 2004 assessment of the health system in Mali for diabetes care found many barriers were present for the management and care of this condition. Following this assessment different projects to strengthen the healthcare system for people living with diabetes were undertaken by a local NGO, Santé Diabète.
Case description
In March 2012, following a Coup in Bamako, the northern part of Mali was occupied and cut-off from the rest of the country. This had a major impact on the health system throughout the country. Due to the lack of response by humanitarian actors, Santé Diabète in close collaboration with other local stakeholders developed a humanitarian response for patients with diabetes. This response included evacuation of children with Type 1 diabetes from northern regions to Bamako; supplies of medicines and tools for management of diabetes; and support to people with diabetes who moved from the north to the south of the country.
Discussion
It has been argued that diabetes is a good tracer for health systems and based on Santé Diabète’s experience in Mali, diabetes could also be used as a tracer in the context of emergencies. One lesson from this experience is that although people with diabetes should be included as a vulnerable part of the population they are not considered as such. Also within a complex emergency different “diabetes populations” may exist with different needs requiring tailored responses, such as internally displaced people versus those still in conflict areas. From Santé Diabète’s perspective, the challenge was changing the ways it operated from a development NGO to an emergency NGO. In this role it could rely on its knowledge of the local situation and its function as part of the post-conflict situation.
Conclusion
The lessons learnt from this experience by Santé Diabète in Mali may be useful for other NGOs and the humanitarian response in general in addressing the challenge of managing non communicable diseases and diabetes in conflict and disaster situations in countries with weak health systems.

Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation
http://www.resource-allocation.com/
(Accessed 2 May 2015)

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Commentary
Health care: the challenge to deal with uncertainty and value judgment
Marcos Bosi Ferraz
Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation 2015, 13:8 (1 May 2015)
Abstract (provisional)
The exponential increase of knowledge in the life sciences field, more specifically in health sciences, in the past few years has brought additional levels of complexity when deciding and implementing strategies in the health care system. A predominantly paternalistic way to decide about available options to maintain or improve individual or collective health has been moving to a shared-decision model considering the empowered patient. In spite of the reduction of uncertainty when making health and health care decisions due to the advancement in scientific methods, and, in spite of the asymmetry of information, knowledge and power to make decisions, we are progressively recognizing the importance of individuals, the target of the intervention, to express their preferences and to take an active role in the decision making process. Health care stakeholders, recognizing the scarcity of resources available and the fortunate ever increasing amount of applicable knowledge and its corresponding interventions to improve the population quantity and quality of life, should stimulate society to address and discuss health care issues that will guide critical choices and define health care priorities based mostly on judgment and the best evidence available.

Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation
http://www.resource-allocation.com/
(Accessed 2 May 2015)

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Research
Cost-effectiveness of live oral attenuated human rotavirus vaccine in Tanzania
Ruhago GM, Ngalesoni FN, Robberstad B and Norheim OF Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation 2015, 13:7 (28 April 2015)
Abstract (provisional)
Background
Globally, diarrhoea is the second leading cause of morbidity and mortality, responsible for the annual loss of about 10% of the total global childhood disease burden. In Tanzania, Rotavirus infection is the major cause of severe diarrhoea and diarrhoeal mortality in children under five years. Immunisation can reduce the burden, and Tanzania added rotavirus vaccine to its national immunisation programme in January 2013. This study explores the cost effectiveness of introducing rotavirus vaccine within the Tanzania Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI).
Methods
We quantified all health system implementation costs, including programme costs, to calculate the cost effectiveness of adding rotavirus immunisation to EPI and the existing provision of diarrhoea treatment (oral rehydration salts and intravenous fluids) to children. We used ingredients and step down costing methods. Cost and coverage data were collected in 2012 at one urban and one rural district hospital and a health centre in Tanzania. We used Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) as the outcome measure and estimated incremental costs and health outcomes using a Markov transition model with weekly cycles up to a five-year time horizon.
Results
The average unit cost per vaccine dose at 93% coverage is US$ 8.4, with marked difference between the urban facility US$ 5.2; and the rural facility US$ 9.8. RV1 vaccine added to current diarrhoea treatment is highly cost effective compared to diarrhoea treatment given alone, with incremental cost effectiveness ratio of US$ 112 per DALY averted, varying from US$ 80–218 in sensitivity analysis. The intervention approaches a 100% probability of being cost effective at a much lower level of willingness-to-pay than the US$609 per capita Tanzania gross domestic product (GDP).
Conclusions
The combination of rotavirus immunisation with diarrhoea treatment is likely to be cost effective when willingness to pay for health is higher than USD 112 per DALY. Universal coverage of the vaccine will accelerate progress towards achievement of the child health Millennium Development Goals.

Development in Practice
Volume 25, Issue 4, 2015
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cdip20/current

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Increasing access to rural maternal health services in Zambia through demand-side interventions
Cathy Green, Miniratu Soyoola, Mary Surridge, Abdul Razak Badru, Dynes Kaluba, Paula Quigley & Tendayi Kureya
pages 450-464
DOI:10.1080/09614524.2015.1027148
Published online: 24 Apr 2015
Abstract
This paper examines a demand-side intervention that significantly increased access to maternal health services in rural Zambia in a context where skilled birth attendance rates had been stagnant for over two decades. Aspects of the intervention design that were crucial to the programme’s success were the participatory and adult learning-centred approach used to mobilise intervention communities, the use of a community volunteer model, and the design’s sensitivity and responsiveness to underlying social factors and problems. The demand-side intervention is already being scaled up in six districts, and is highly suitable for national level scale-up.

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Co-producing a post-trafficking agenda: collaborating on transforming citizenship in Nepal
Open access
DOI:10.1080/09614524.2015.1029436
Nina Laurie*, Diane Richardson, Meena Poudel, Shakti Samuha & Janet Townsend
pages 465-477
Published online: 24 Apr 2015
Abstract
This article discusses how a new agenda on post-trafficking is gaining momentum through academic and activist anti-trafficking collaborations focused on co-producing knowledge with women who have returned from trafficking situations. Co-production of this nature is important as the issues raised by post-trafficking scenarios are largely ignored in anti-trafficking strategies, and the stigmatisation and poverty which women in these circumstances encounter means they rarely have a voice in policy-making. Drawing on research in Nepal, we present four types of co-produced data around transforming citizenship post-trafficking, and reflect on the strategies for generating and using them for advocacy purposes.

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Farmer-to-farmer extension: opportunities for enhancing performance of volunteer farmer trainers in Kenya
DOI:10.1080/09614524.2015.1029438
Evelyne Kiptot* & Steven Franzel
pages 503-517
Published online: 24 Apr 2015
Abstract
Farmer-to-farmer extension (FFE) is playing a complementary role to formal extension services in facilitating the spread of agricultural technologies and improving farmers’ capacities. The effectiveness and sustainability of such programmes depend on volunteer farmer trainers (VFTs) having technical skills and overcoming process-related challenges that hinder them from achieving the desired outcomes. This article uses quantitative and qualitative data collected from seven sites to explore the challenges experienced by VFTs as they share their knowledge on livestock feed innovations in a dairy development project in Kenya. Sustainable opportunities for enhancing VFTs’ performance are discussed.

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Intersection of disability and gender: multi-layered experiences of Ethiopian women with disabilities
DOI:10.1080/09614524.2015.1031085
Hisayo Katsui* & Mina C. Mojtahedi
pages 563-573
Published online: 24 Apr 2015
Abstract
This article explores the intersection of disability and gender through the experiences of Ethiopian women with disabilities using household chores as an example. As these women are often hidden at home, little literature is available on them. Thus this article aims to highlight the lived experiences of women with disabilities who are or have been at home. The interviewed women introduce peer support as an important means to increase their self-esteem and face stigma in their daily lives in a positive manner through dialogue and negotiation. The paper further suggests employing women with disabilities as a means to enable them to play a significant role in development cooperation by changing the status quo towards equality.

Infectious Diseases of Poverty
http://www.idpjournal.com/content
[Accessed 2 May 2015]

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Commentary
Sustaining the gains made in malaria control and elimination
Randall A Kramer, Adriane Lesser Infectious Diseases of Poverty 2015, 4:26 (3 May 2015)
Abstract (provisional)
Significant progress has been made in the last 25 years to reduce the malaria burden, but considerable challenges remain. These gains have resulted from large investments in a range of control measures targeting malaria. Fana and co-authors find a strong relationship between education level and net usage with malaria parasitemia in pregnant women, suggesting the need for targeted control strategies. Mayala and co-workers find important links between agriculture and malaria with implications for inter-sectoral collaboration for malaria control.

Journal of Global Ethics
Volume 11, Issue 1, 2015
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rjge20/.U2V-Elf4L0l#.VAJEj2N4WF8

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Forum: The Sustainable Development Goals [8 articles plus introduction below]
INTRODUCTION: The Sustainable Development Goals Forum
DOI:10.1080/17449626.2015.1021091
Eric Palmer*
pages 3-9
Abstract
This introduction notes the contributions of various authors to the first issue of the Journal of Global Ethics 2015 Forum and briefly explains the United Nations process through which the sustainable development goals have been formulated up to the receipt by the General Assembly, in August 2014, of the Report of the Open Working Group of the General Assembly on Sustainable Development Goals (UN A/68/970). The goals are identified as a confluence of distinct streams of UN work attended to variously by policy experts and political figures in the past several decades. Sources include, most obviously, the Millennium Declaration of 2000 and the Millennium Development Goals, but also the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, the Human Development Reports of 1990 forward, and the 1987 Brundtland Report.

Journal of International Development
May 2015 Volume 27, Issue 4 Pages 415–572
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jid.v27.4/issuetoc

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Why Aid is Unpredictable: An Empirical Analysis of the Gap Between Actual and Planned Aid Flows (pages 440–463)
Gustavo Javier Canavire-Bacarreza, Eric Neumayer and Peter Nunnenkamp
Article first published online: 22 JAN 2015 | DOI: 10.1002/jid.3073
Abstract
Aid flows continue to be volatile and unpredictable, even though it is widely accepted that this erodes the effectiveness of foreign aid. We argue that fragmented donor–recipient relationships, notably the large number of minor aid relations that tend to be associated with donors’ desire to ‘fly their flag’ around the world, increase aid unpredictability. Our empirical analysis of the determinants of aid unpredictability suggests that aid becomes less predictable with more fragmented donor–recipient relationships. Specifically, the effect of fragmentation on overshooting previous spending plans is statistically significant and substantively important. In contrast, fragmented donor–recipient relationships have no effect on the shortfall of actual aid compared with donors’ spending plans.

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Poverty and Natural Resources Degradation: Analysis of their Interactions in Lake Tana Basin, Ethiopia (pages 516–527)
Berihun Daregot, Bogale Ayalneh, Kassa Belay and Abebaw Degnet
Article first published online: 25 APR 2013 | DOI: 10.1002/jid.2914
Abstract
Developing a clear understanding of the links between poverty and natural resources degradation remained a vital task in the poverty reduction and sustainable resources conservation process. Accordingly, this paper explores the poverty and natural resources degradation linkages in Lake Tana Basin of Ethiopia. With the application of simultaneous order probit econometric model, this paper argues that a one-sided argument of poverty that causes natural resources degradation is challenged, as poverty not only contributes to natural resources degradation but also natural resources degradation contributes to poverty along with other factors.

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Multi-Local Livelihoods and Food Security in Rural Africa (pages 528–545)
Agnes Andersson Djurfeldt
Article first published online: 4 FEB 2014 | DOI: 10.1002/jid.2991
Abstract
This article analyses household-based food transfers as an expression of multi-local livelihoods. Transfers of maize outside the co-resident household unit are analysed on the basis of data from 2857 smallholder households across nine African countries. The study complements a growing interest in the role of food transfers for urban food security, through considering the food security implications for sending households. Food transfers in the top income quintile consist of distributing surplus production, whereas in the lower quintiles, transfers clearly compromise the food security of the sending households. The spatial mismatch between household production and consumption points to the need for development strategies that consider these wider subsistence obligations.

Journal of Medical Ethics
May 2015, Volume 41, Issue 5
http://jme.bmj.com/content/current
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Feature article
Tsunami-tendenko and morality in disasters
Satoshi Kodama
Correspondence to Dr Satoshi Kodama, Department of Ethics, Kyoto University Graduate School of Letters, Sakyo-ku 606-8501, Kyoto, Japan; satoshikodama-tky@umin.ac.jp
Accepted 11 March 2013
Published Online First 26 March 2013
Abstract
Disaster planning challenges our morality. Everyday rules of action may need to be suspended during large-scale disasters in favour of maxims that that may make prudential or practical sense and may even be morally preferable but emotionally hard to accept, such as tsunami-tendenko. This maxim dictates that the individual not stay and help others but run and preserve his or her life instead. Tsunami-tendenko became well known after the great East Japan earthquake on 11 March 2011, when almost all the elementary and junior high school students in one city survived the tsunami because they acted on this maxim that had been taught for several years. While tsunami-tendenko has been praised, two criticisms of it merit careful consideration: one, that the maxim is selfish and immoral; and two, that it goes against the natural tendency to try to save others in dire need. In this paper, I will explain the concept of tsunami-tendenko and then respond to these criticisms. Such ethical analysis is essential for dispelling confusion and doubts about evacuation policies in a disaster.
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Commentaries
Can self-preservation be virtuous in disaster situations?
Justin Oakley
J Med Ethics 2015;41:364-365 Published Online First: 13 September 2013 doi:10.1136/medethics-2013-101631
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Tsunami-tendenko and morality in disasters
Atsushi Asai
J Med Ethics 2015;41:365-366 Published Online First: 22 July 2013 doi:10.1136/medethics-2013-101629

The Lancet
May 02, 2015 Volume 385 Number 9979 p1697-1802
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/current

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Editorial
Migrant crisis in the Mediterranean
The Lancet
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60875-3
Summary
In October, 2014, the British Government quietly announced its decision to withdraw support for Mare Nostrum, a search and rescue operation for migrants in the Mediterranean Sea. “We do not support planned search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean,” said Baroness Anelay, to avoid “an unintended ‘pull factor’, encouraging more migrants to attempt the dangerous sea crossing and thereby leading to more tragic and unnecessary deaths.” As of April 27, more than 1700 men, women, and children—each seeking a better and safer life in Europe—have drowned trying to cross the Mediterranean, compared with 96 over the same period in 2014.

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Comment
Ageing, health, and social care: reframing the discussion
Daniel Davis, Carol Brayne
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60466-4
Summary
The current age structure of the UK population is radically different from that at inception of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948, and health inequalities are widening fastest in people aged 65 years and older.1 On the one hand there are fit, highly advantaged people at advanced ages for whom functional limitations and disability are postponed (ie, compression of morbidity);2 and, on the other, there are those who age faster and die earlier, with a higher prevalence of chronic diseases, at least partly related to lifetimes of disadvantage and social environments that have not led to healthy ageing.

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Comment
Health and sustainable development: a call for papers
Richard Horton, Zoë Mullan
Open Access
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60504-9

In just under 5 months’ time, the aspiration for the next 15 years of development efforts will be signed off at the UN General Assembly in New York, USA. These Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are already at an advanced stage of drafting—17 ambitious goals and 169 targets (panel), which have been criticised even by the UN General Secretary for being too voluminous.1 Amid this multitude of outcomes, those pertaining to health are reduced from three Millennium Development Goals to one SDG. What does this mean for global health research?

It means an opportunity. As we concern ourselves with the prominence of health in the new agenda, it’s easy to forget that (human) development is by definition people-centred, and that living a long, healthy, and creative life is its cornerstone.2 The expansion of the new goals to encompass many (if not all3) of the enablers of an enriched life, for our generation and for those that follow, represents an opportunity to lift ourselves out of the silos we so decry and to embrace other disciplines that underlie the purpose of our own.
As the SDGs, in whatever final form they take, are unveiled in September, 2015, The Lancet and The Lancet Global Health will begin to curate a special issue on sustainable development, to be published in April, 2016. As part of this special issue, we seek original research articles that cross two or more of the key disciplines of the SDGs: poverty, nutrition, health, education, economics, gender equality, water and sanitation, energy, urban planning, conservation, and climate change. Multidisciplinary authorship is a must. The deadline is Sept 15, 2015, and submissions should be made online.

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Viewpoint
WHO’s new End TB Strategy
Dr Mukund Uplekar, MD, Diana Weil, MSc, Knut Lonnroth, MD, Ernesto Jaramillo, MD, Christian Lienhardt, MD, Hannah Monica Dias, MSc, Dennis Falzon, MD, Katherine Floyd, PhD, Giuliano Gargioni, MD, Haileyesus Getahun, MD, Christopher Gilpin, MD, Philippe Glaziou, MD, Malgorzata Grzemska, MD, Fuad Mirzayev, MD, Hiroki Nakatani, MD, Mario Raviglione, MD, for WHO’s Global TB Programme
Published Online: 23 March 2015
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60570-0
Summary
On May 19, 2014, the 67th World Health Assembly (WHA) adopted WHO’s “Global strategy and targets for tuberculosis prevention, care and control after 2015”.1 This post-2015 global tuberculosis strategy, labelled the End TB Strategy, was shaped during the past 2 years. A wide range of stakeholders—from ministries of health and national tuberculosis programmes to technical and scientific institutions, financial and development partners, civil society and health activists, non-governmental organisations, and the private sector—contributed to its development.

Pediatrics
May 2015, VOLUME 135 / ISSUE 5
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/current.shtml

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Review Article
Linear Growth and Child Development in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Meta-Analysis
Christopher R. Sudfeld, ScDa, Dana Charles McCoy, PhDb, Goodarz Danaei, MD, ScDa,c, Günther Fink, PhDa, Majid Ezzati, PhDd, Kathryn G. Andrews, MPHa, and Wafaie W. Fawzi, MBBS, DrPHa,c,e
Author Affiliations
Departments of aGlobal Health and Population,
cEpidemiology, and
eNutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts;
bCenter on the Developing Child, Schools of Education and Public Health, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts; and
dDepartments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, MRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The initial years of life are critical for physical growth and broader cognitive, motor, and socioemotional development, but the magnitude of the link between these processes remains unclear. Our objective was to produce quantitative estimates of the cross-sectional and prospective association of height-for-age z score (HAZ) with child development.
METHODS: Observational studies conducted in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) presenting data on the relationship of linear growth with any measure of child development among children <12 years of age were identified from a systematic search of PubMed, Embase, and PsycINFO. Two reviewers then extracted these data by using a standardized form.
RESULTS: A total of 68 published studies conducted in 29 LMICs were included in the final database. The pooled adjusted standardized mean difference in cross-sectional cognitive ability per unit increase in HAZ for children ≤2 years old was +0.24 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.14–0.33; I2 = 53%) and +0.09 for children >2 years old (95% CI, 0.05–0.12; I2 = 78%). Prospectively, each unit increase in HAZ for children ≤2 years old was associated with a +0.22-SD increase in cognition at 5 to 11 years after multivariate adjustment (95% CI, 0.17–0.27; I2 = 0%). HAZ was also significantly associated with earlier walking age and better motor scores (P < .05).
CONCLUSIONS: Observational evidence suggests a robust positive association between linear growth during the first 2 years of life with cognitive and motor development. Effective interventions that reduce linear growth restriction may improve developmental outcomes; however, integration with environmental, educational, and stimulation interventions may produce larger positive effects.

PLOS Currents: Disasters
[Accessed 2 May 2015]
http://currents.plos.org/disasters/

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A Systematic Review of the Health Impacts of Mass Earth Movements (Landslides)
April 30, 2015 • Research article
Background. Mass ground movements (commonly referred to as ‘landslides’) are common natural hazards that can have significant economic, social and health impacts. They occur as single events, or as clusters, and are often part of ‘disaster’ chains, occurring secondary to, or acting as the precursor of other disaster events. Whilst there is a large body of literature on the engineering and geological aspects of landslides, the mortality and morbidity caused by landslides is less well documented. As far as we are aware, this is the first systematic review to examine the health impacts of landslides.
Methods. The MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, SCOPUS databases and the Cochrane library were systematically searched to identify articles which considered the health impacts of landslides. Case studies, case series, primary research and systematic reviews were included. News reports, editorials and non-systematic reviews were excluded. Only articles in English were considered. The references of retrieved papers were searched to identify additional articles.
Findings. 913 abstracts were reviewed and 143 full text articles selected for review. A total of 27 papers reporting research studies were included in the review (25 from initial search, 1 from review of references and 1 from personal correspondence). We found a limited number of studies on the physical health consequences of landslides. Only one study provided detail of the causes of mortality and morbidity in relation a landslide event. Landslides cause significant mental health impacts, in particular the prevalence of PTSD may be higher after landslides than other types of disaster, though these studies tend to be older with only 3 papers published in the last 5 years, with 2 being published 20 years ago, and diagnostic criteria have changed since they were produced.
Discussion. We were disappointed at the small number of relevant studies, and the generally poor documentation of the health impacts of landslides. Mental health impacts were better documented, though some of the studies are now quite old. Further research on the health impacts of landslides needs to be undertaken to support those responding to landslide disasters and to aid disaster risk mitigation advocacy.

PLoS Currents: Outbreaks
http://currents.plos.org/outbreaks/
(Accessed 2 May 2015)

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2014 Ebola Outbreak: Media Events Track Changes in Observed Reproductive Number
April 28, 2015 • Commentary
In this commentary, we consider the relationship between early outbreak changes in the observed reproductive number of Ebola in West Africa and various media reported interventions and aggravating events. We find that media reports of interventions that provided education, minimized contact, or strengthened healthcare were typically followed by sustained transmission reductions in both Sierra Leone and Liberia. Meanwhile, media reports of aggravating events generally preceded temporary transmission increases in both countries. Given these preliminary findings, we conclude that media reported events could potentially be incorporated into future epidemic modeling efforts to improve mid-outbreak case projections.

PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
http://www.plosntds.org/
(Accessed 2 May 2015)

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The Association between Nutritional Status and Malaria in Children from a Rural Community in the Amazonian Region: A Longitudinal Study
Márcia Almeida Araújo Alexandre, Silvana Gomes Benzecry, Andre Machado Siqueira, Sheila Vitor-Silva, Gisely Cardoso Melo, Wuelton Marcelo Monteiro, Heitor Pons Leite, Marcus Vinícius Guimarães Lacerda, Maria das Graças Costa Alecrim
Research Article | published 30 Apr 2015 | PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003743

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Helminth Elimination in the Pursuit of Sustainable Development Goals: A “Worm Index” for Human Development
Peter J. Hotez, Jennifer R. Herricks
Editorial | published 30 Apr 2015 | PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003618

PLoS One
[Accessed 2 May 2015]
http://www.plosone.org/

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Health Providers’ Perceptions of Clinical Trials: Lessons from Ghana, Kenya and Burkina Faso
Vibian Angwenyi, Kwaku-Poku Asante, Abdoulaye Traoré, Lawrence Gyabaa Febir, Charlotte Tawiah, Anthony Kwarteng, Alphonse Ouédraogo, Sodiomon Bienvenue Sirima, Seth Owusu-Agyei, Egeruan Babatunde Imoukhuede, Jayne Webster, Daniel Chandramohan, Sassy Molyneux, Caroline Jones
Research Article | published 01 May 2015 | PLOS ONE 10.1371/journal.pone.0124554
Abstract
Background
Clinical trials conducted in Africa often require substantial investments to support trial centres and public health facilities. Trial resources could potentially generate benefits for routine health service delivery but may have unintended consequences. Strengthening ethical practice requires understanding the potential effects of trial inputs on the perceptions and practices of routine health care providers. This study explores the influence of malaria vaccine trials on health service delivery in Ghana, Kenya and Burkina Faso.
Methods
We conducted: audits of trial inputs in 10 trial facilities and among 144 health workers; individual interviews with frontline providers (n=99) and health managers (n=14); and group discussions with fieldworkers (n=9 discussions). Descriptive summaries were generated from audit data. Qualitative data were analysed using a framework approach.
Results
Facilities involved in trials benefited from infrastructure and equipment upgrades, support with essential drugs, access to trial vehicles, and placement of additional qualified trial staff. Qualified trial staff in facilities were often seen as role models by their colleagues; assisting with supportive supervision and reducing facility workload. Some facility staff in place before the trial also received formal training and salary top-ups from the trials. However, differential access to support caused dissatisfaction, and some interviewees expressed concerns about what would happen at the end of the trial once financial and supervisory support was removed.
Conclusion
Clinical trials function as short-term complex health service delivery interventions in the facilities in which they are based. They have the potential to both benefit facilities, staff and communities through providing the supportive environment required for improvements in routine care, but they can also generate dissatisfaction, relationship challenges and demoralisation among staff. Minimising trial related harm and maximising benefits requires careful planning and engagement of key actors at the outset of trials, throughout the trial and on its’ completion.

Science
1 May 2015 vol 348, issue 6234, pages 473-604
http://www.sciencemag.org/current.dtl

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In Depth
Seismology
Nepal disaster presages a coming megaquake
Eric Hand, Priyanka Pulla
Geophysicists studying the rupture mechanics of the magnitude-7.8 earthquake in Nepal have made a startling discovery: that the quake extended deep into the Himalayas, into a region that many scientists had deemed incapable of explosive tearing. The rupture extended past a “lock line” where brittle rock becomes more plastic in its behavior—a region where slip was expected to creep along quietly and not contribute to the overall power of the earthquake. The discovery suggests that, as awful as the present disaster is, future earthquakes in the Himalayas could end up being mightier and more calamitous than modelers assumed.

PNAS – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States
of America
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/
(Accessed 2 May 2015)

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Energy and material flows of megacities
Christopher A. Kennedya,1, Iain Stewarta, Angelo Facchinib, Igor Cersosimob, Renata Meleb,
Bin Chenc, Mariko Udaa, Arun Kansald, Anthony Chiue, Kwi-gon Kimf, Carolina Dubeuxg, Emilio Lebre La Rovereg, Bruno Cunhag, Stephanie Pincetlh, James Keirsteadi, Sabine Barlesj, Semerdanta Pusakak, Juniati Gunawank, Michael Adegbilel, Mehrdad Nazariham, Shamsul Hoquen, Peter J. Marcotullioo, Florencia González Otharánp, Tarek Genenaq, Nadine Ibrahima,
Rizwan Farooquir, Gemma Cervantess, and Ahmet Duran Sahint
Author Affiliations
Edited by Susan Hanson, Clark University, Worcester, MA, and approved April 2, 2015 (received for review March 6, 2015)
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Significance
Our quantification of energy and material flows for the world’s 27 megacities is a major undertaking, not previously achieved. The sheer magnitude of these flows (e.g., 9% of global electricity, 10% of gasoline; 13% of solid waste) shows the importance of megacities in addressing global environmental challenges. In aggregate the resource flows through megacities are consistent with scaling laws for cities. Statistical relations are established for electricity use, heating/industrial fuels, ground transportation, water consumption, waste generation, and steel production in terms of heating-degree days, urban form, economic activity, and population growth. Analysis at the microscale shows that electricity use is strongly correlated with building floor area, explaining the macroscale correlation between per capita electricity use and urbanized area per capita.
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Abstract
Understanding the drivers of energy and material flows of cities is important for addressing global environmental challenges. Accessing, sharing, and managing energy and material resources is particularly critical for megacities, which face enormous social stresses because of their sheer size and complexity. Here we quantify the energy and material flows through the world’s 27 megacities with populations greater than 10 million people as of 2010. Collectively the resource flows through megacities are largely consistent with scaling laws established in the emerging science of cities. Correlations are established for electricity consumption, heating and industrial fuel use, ground transportation energy use, water consumption, waste generation, and steel production in terms of heating-degree-days, urban form, economic activity, and population growth. The results help identify megacities exhibiting high and low levels of consumption and those making efficient use of resources. The correlation between per capita electricity use and urbanized area per capita is shown to be a consequence of gross building floor area per capita, which is found to increase for lower-density cities. Many of the megacities are growing rapidly in population but are growing even faster in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) and energy use. In the decade from 2001–2011, electricity use and ground transportation fuel use in megacities grew at approximately half the rate of GDP growth.

Risk Analysis
March 2015 Volume 35, Issue 3 Pages 345–554
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/risa.2015.35.issue-3/issuetoc

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Perspectives
The Blind Spot in Risk Ethics: Managing Natural Hazards (pages 354–360)
Neelke Doorn
Article first published online: 16 DEC 2014 | DOI: 10.1111/risa.12293
Abstract
Many risk scholars recognize the importance of including ethical considerations in risk management. Risk ethics can provide in-depth ethical analysis so that ethical considerations can be part of risk-related decisions, rather than an afterthought to those decisions. In this article, I present a brief sketch of the field of risk ethics. I argue that risk ethics has a bias toward technological hazards, thereby overlooking the risks that stem from natural and semi-natural hazards. In order to make a contribution to the field of risk research, risks ethics should broaden its scope to include natural and semi-natural hazards and develop normative distribution criteria that can support decision making on such hazards.

Risk Analysis
March 2015 Volume 35, Issue 3 Pages 345–554
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/risa.2015.35.issue-3/issuetoc

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More Than Fear Induction: Toward an Understanding of People’s Motivation to Be Well-Prepared for Emergencies in Flood-Prone Areas (pages 518–535)
Joop de Boer, W. J. Wouter Botzen and Teun Terpstra
Article first published online: 23 JAN 2015 | DOI: 10.1111/risa.12289
Abstract
This article examines the extent and manner to which evaluations of flood-related precautions are affected by an individual’s motivation and perception of context. It argues that the relationship between risk perception and flood risk preparedness can be fruitfully specified in terms of vulnerability and efficacy if these concepts are put into the perspective of prevention-focused motivation. This relationship was empirically examined in a risk communication experiment in a delta area of the Netherlands (n = 1,887). Prevention-focused motivation was induced by contextualized risk information. The results showed that prevention-focused individuals were more sensitive to the relevance of potential precautions for satisfying their needs in the context they found themselves in. The needs included, but were not limited to, fear reduction. Due to the heterogeneity of the residents, the evaluations reflected individual differences in the intensity and the selectivity of precautionary processes. Four types of persons could be distinguished according to their evaluation of precautionary measures: a high-scoring minority, two more selective types, and a low-scoring minority. For policymakers and risk communicators it is vital to consider the nature of prevention motivation and the context in which it is likely to be high.