JAMA Pediatrics
January 2016, Vol 170, No. 1
http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/issue.aspx

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Viewpoint | January 2016
Harnessing Social Media for Child Health Research – Pediatric Research 2.0
Kurt R. Schumacher, MD, MS1; Joyce M. Lee, MD, MPH2,3
Author Affiliations
JAMA Pediatr. 2016;170(1):5-6. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2015.2696.

Extract
This Viewpoint reviews both the opportunities and the challenges of using social media to obtain condition-specific, patient-reported data.
The term social media refers to the forms of electronic communication that enable users to create or share content with others, and these forms of electronic communication are nearly universal in the adolescent pediatric population, with more than 90% of teens 12 to 17 years of age reporting use of some form of social media.1 Facebook is still the dominant social network, but adolescents are using other channels, including Twitter, Instagram, and private messaging applications.1 With the widespread adoption of any new technology, including social media, there will likely be consequences for child health outcomes. The majority of pediatric research has focused on the potential harms (ie, a proliferation of research studies that have evaluated the adverse effects of social media on outcomes including sexting, cyberbullying, depression, and substance abuse).2,3 These represent important contributions to the literature but neglect the possible opportunities that social media bring to the research enterprise, including disease-specific investigations relevant to both pediatric generalists and subspecialists, because only a handful of pediatric studies have focused on specific medical conditions.2 The use of social media in child health research is in its infancy; we believe that social media hold great promise as a research tool to be leveraged across the entire child health research continuum, especially given that electronic resources are by far the most common media used by teens seeking health information.4 We review both the opportunities and the challenges of using social media to obtain condition-specific, patient-reported data…

 Journal of Human Trafficking
Volume 1, Issue 4, 2015
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/uhmt20/current

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Articles
Project Backpage: Using Text Messaging to Initiate Outreach Support for Victims of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation
pages 259-274
Gordon A. Gow, Timothy Barlott, Kathleen Quinn, Jacqui Linder, Andrea Soler, Gillian Edwards & Samina Hossain
Abstract
The sex industry occurs in many venues, ranging from the highly visible survival sex trade on the street to venues such as regulated massage parlors and strip clubs, to less visible escort agencies making use of hotel venues, and the highly invisible exploitation that occurs through trick pads and microbrothels operating out of homes, apartments, or condos. In many communities, outreach efforts have focused primarily on direct face-to-face contact with individuals in the survival sex trade. However, in recent years, there has been a marked decrease in the street survival sex trade as the use of the Internet to buy and sell sites has become widespread. In this article, we describe the design and outcome of a multiphase community-university collaboration in Edmonton, Canada, to explore the use of Short Message Service (SMS) text messaging to initiate outreach with individuals advertising on the adult services section of the Web site Backpage.com. The article describes the impetus behind the project, the project goals and design, as well as results thus far. We also reflect on the results and present a set of emerging best practices, including the contribution of two-way text-based interaction for establishing trust between outreach organizations and the individuals seeking support. Overall, results from the project provide evidence to show that SMS is a cost-effective and important complementary communication strategy for outreach organizations seeking to initiate outreach to victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation.

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Fighting Human Trafficking Through Transit Monitoring: A Data-Driven Model Developed in Nepal
Jonathan Hudlow a*
DOI:10.1080/23322705.2015.1098521 pages 275-295
Published online: 08 Dec 2015
Abstract
Transit monitoring is an innovative approach to fighting human trafficking that involves identifying and intercepting potential victims of human trafficking before they are exploited. In doing so, it relies upon established indicators of trafficking, local staff with special training, and data from a customized human-trafficking fusion center. As an anti-trafficking strategy, it provides tangible impact on the dollar, and, by focusing on trafficking as it is occurring, it creates otherwise rare opportunities for engagement. Among these is the opportunity for gathering actionable intelligence on traffickers, which can then be used in proactive investigations. Intervening prior to the exploitation phase of trafficking also presents a number of exceptional challenges from navigating situations with inconclusive evidence to ensuring that interceptions do not infringe upon the human rights of migrants. Transit monitoring has developed as an anti-trafficking strategy through the work of nongovernmental organizations in Nepal, where a unique combination of factors created an urgent need for such an approach. Initial efforts have been made to replicate the model in India and Bangladesh, and there is reason to believe that transit monitoring could be an effective strategy for fighting human trafficking in many other countries as well.

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Understanding the Support Needs of Human-Trafficking Victims: A Review of Three Human-Trafficking Program Evaluations
pages 318-337
Deanna Davy
DOI:10.1080/23322705.2015.1090865
Abstract
Human trafficking is a global crime and human rights violation that affects nearly every country of the world. Victims of human trafficking may suffer severe physical, psychological, and emotional health consequences as they are often subjected to a range of abuses such as physical violence, sexual assault, emotional abuse, mind-control, and torture. A variety of human-trafficking victim support programs exist in the United States and other countries that receive human-trafficking victims to support their immediate and longer-term needs. There is a dearth of contemporary literature on the subject of the support needs of human-trafficking victims. Further, due to a lack of publicly available program evaluations, little is also known about whether victim support programs are able to meet the needs of human-trafficking victims. This article aims to bridge a gap in knowledge and understanding of human-trafficking victims’ support needs and whether they are being met by support programs by reviewing three recent U.S.-based human-trafficking victim support program evaluations.

The Lancet
Jan 09, 2016 Volume 387 Number 10014 p95-198 e1-e8
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/current

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Editorial
Zika virus: a new global threat for 2016
The Lancet
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)00014-3
Summary
Concerns about the threat posed to global health security by Zika virus are escalating, with new outbreaks reported in Central and South America. Locally transmitted (autochthonous) cases of Zika have now been detected in Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela. The first five autochthonous cases detected in Suriname are reported in Correspondence online, with complete coding of the Zika virus sequence for one patient, and envelope protein coding sequences for three others.

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Comment
Civil–military cooperation in Ebola and beyond
Adam Kamradt-Scott, Sophie Harman, Clare Wenham, Frank Smith III
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)01128-9
Summary
The 2014 Ebola outbreak in west Africa blurred the lines between a public health emergency and humanitarian crisis. In so doing, it highlighted serious problems with coordinating disaster responses. Civilian agencies were overwhelmed; several non-government organisations closed down their operations and exited the affected countries; and, although the health sector in Liberia stepped up, Sierra Leone and Guinea remained in disarray. Since then WHO declared Sierra Leone to be Ebola free on Nov 7, 2015,1 and declared the end of human-to-human transmission of Ebola virus in Guinea on Dec 29, 2015.

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Series
Antimicrobials: access and sustainable effectiveness
Access to effective antimicrobials: a worldwide challenge
Ramanan Laxminarayan, Precious Matsoso, Suraj Pant, Charles Brower, John-Arne Røttingen, Keith Klugman, Sally Davies

Antimicrobials: access and sustainable effectiveness
Understanding the mechanisms and drivers of antimicrobial resistance
Alison H Holmes, Luke S P Moore, Arnfinn Sundsfjord, Martin Steinbakk, Sadie Regmi, Abhilasha Karkey, Philippe J Guerin, Laura J V Piddock

Antimicrobials: access and sustainable effectiveness
Maximising access to achieve appropriate human antimicrobial use in low-income and middle-income countries
Marc Mendelson, John-Arne Røttingen, Unni Gopinathan, Davidson H Hamer, Heiman Wertheim, Buddha Basnyat, Christopher Butler, Göran Tomson, Manica Balasegaram
Summary
Access to quality-assured antimicrobials is regarded as part of the human right to health, yet universal access is often undermined in low-income and middle-income countries. Lack of access to the instruments necessary to make the correct diagnosis and prescribe antimicrobials appropriately, in addition to weak health systems, heightens the challenge faced by prescribers. Evidence-based interventions in community and health-care settings can increase access to appropriately prescribed antimicrobials. The key global enablers of sustainable financing, governance, and leadership will be necessary to achieve access while preventing excess antimicrobial use.

The Lancet Infectious Diseases
Jan 2016 Volume 16 Number 1 p1-130 e1-e9
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/issue/current

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Editorial
Measles immunisation: time to close the gap
The Lancet Infectious Diseases
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(15)00504-6
Summary
Since the beginning of the century, the number of measles-related deaths has fallen substantially; between 2000 and 2014 mass immunisation efforts prevented an estimated 17·1 million deaths worldwide, and the number of cases decreased from 146 to 40 per million. Unfortunately, after this decrease the situation has stagnated and many countries are falling far behind the 2015 elimination targets according to a report by WHO and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released in November, 2015.

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Comment
Duration of immune responses after Ebola virus vaccination
Open Access
Steven B Bradfute
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(15)00408-9
Summary
In The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Milagritos Tapia and colleagues1 address two important facets of Ebola virus immunity: longevity of vaccine-induced immune responses and correlates of immunity. Early attempts at Ebola virus vaccines on the basis of traditional methods, such as inactivated preparations and subunit vaccines, were not effective in animal studies2 (although later publications on these platforms are more promising3). Subsequent studies used a wide diversity of vaccine platforms that had not been used in approved human vaccines, such as non-pathogenic viral vectors engineered to express Ebola virus surface glycoprotein.

Articles
Use of ChAd3-EBO-Z Ebola virus vaccine in Malian and US adults, and boosting of Malian adults with MVA-BN-Filo: a phase 1, single-blind, randomised trial, a phase 1b, open-label and double-blind, dose-escalation trial, and a nested, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
Milagritos D Tapia, Samba O Sow, Kirsten E Lyke, Fadima Cheick Haidara, Fatoumata Diallo, Moussa Doumbia, Awa Traore, Flanon Coulibaly, Mamoudou Kodio, Uma Onwuchekwa, Marcelo B Sztein, Rezwanul Wahid, James D Campbell, Marie-Paule Kieny, Vasee Moorthy, Egeruan B Imoukhuede, Tommy Rampling, Francois Roman, Iris De Ryck, Abbie R Bellamy, Len Dally, Olivier Tshiani Mbaya, Aurélie Ploquin, Yan Zhou, Daphne A Stanley, Robert Bailer, Richard A Koup, Mario Roederer, Julie Ledgerwood, Adrian V S Hill, W Ripley Ballou, Nancy Sullivan, Barney Graham, Myron M Levine
Open Access
Summary
Background
The 2014 west African Zaire Ebola virus epidemic prompted worldwide partners to accelerate clinical development of replication-defective chimpanzee adenovirus 3 vector vaccine expressing Zaire Ebola virus glycoprotein (ChAd3-EBO-Z). We aimed to investigate the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of ChAd3-EBO-Z in Malian and US adults, and assess the effect of boosting of Malians with modified vaccinia Ankara expressing Zaire Ebola virus glycoprotein and other filovirus antigens (MVA-BN-Filo).
Methods
In the phase 1, single-blind, randomised trial of ChAd3-EBO-Z in the USA, we recruited adults aged 18–65 years from the University of Maryland medical community and the Baltimore community. In the phase 1b, open-label and double-blind, dose-escalation trial of ChAd3-EBO-Z in Mali, we recruited adults 18–50 years of age from six hospitals and health centres in Bamako (Mali), some of whom were also eligible for a nested, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of MVA-BN-Filo. For randomised segments of the Malian trial and for the US trial, we randomly allocated participants (1:1; block size of six [Malian] or four [US]; ARB produced computer-generated randomisation lists; clinical staff did randomisation) to different single doses of intramuscular immunisation with ChAd3-EBO-Z: Malians received 1 × 1010 viral particle units (pu), 2·5 × 1010 pu, 5 × 1010 pu, or 1 × 1011 pu; US participants received 1 × 1010 pu or 1 × 1011 pu. We randomly allocated Malians in the nested trial (1:1) to receive a single dose of 2 × 108 plaque-forming units of MVA-BN-Filo or saline placebo. In the double-blind segments of the Malian trial, investigators, clinical staff, participants, and immunology laboratory staff were masked, but the study pharmacist (MK), vaccine administrator, and study statistician (ARB) were unmasked. In the US trial, investigators were not masked, but participants were. Analyses were per protocol. The primary outcome was safety, measured with occurrence of adverse events for 7 days after vaccination. Both trials are registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, numbers NCT02231866 (US) and NCT02267109 (Malian).
Findings
Between Oct 8, 2014, and Feb 16, 2015, we randomly allocated 91 participants in Mali (ten [11%] to 1 × 1010 pu, 35 [38%] to 2·5 × 1010 pu, 35 [38%] to 5 × 1010 pu, and 11 [12%] to 1 × 1011 pu) and 20 in the USA (ten [50%] to 1 × 1010 pu and ten [50%] to 1 × 1011 pu), and boosted 52 Malians with MVA-BN-Filo (27 [52%]) or saline (25 [48%]). We identified no safety concerns with either vaccine: seven (8%) of 91 participants in Mali (five [5%] received 5 × 1010 and two [2%] received 1 × 1011 pu) and four (20%) of 20 in the USA (all received 1 × 1011 pu) given ChAd3-EBO-Z had fever lasting for less than 24 h, and 15 (56%) of 27 Malians boosted with MVA-BN-Filo had injection-site pain or tenderness.
Interpretation
1  × 1011 pu single-dose ChAd3-EBO-Z could suffice for phase 3 efficacy trials of ring-vaccination containment needing short-term, high-level protection to interrupt transmission. MVA-BN-Filo boosting, although a complex regimen, could confer long-lived protection if needed (eg, for health-care workers).
Funding
Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council UK, Department for International Development UK, National Cancer Institute, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Federal Funds from National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

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Personal View
The scenario approach for countries considering the addition of oral cholera vaccination in cholera preparedness and control plans
Jacqueline Deen, Lorenz von Seidlein, Francisco J Luquero, Christopher Troeger, Rita Reyburn, Anna Lena Lopez, Amanda Debes, David A Sack
Summary
Oral cholera vaccination could be deployed in a diverse range of situations from cholera-endemic areas and locations of humanitarian crises, but no clear consensus exists. The supply of licensed, WHO-prequalified cholera vaccines is not sufficient to meet endemic and epidemic needs worldwide and so prioritisation is needed. We have developed a scenario approach to systematically classify situations in which oral cholera vaccination might be useful. Our scenario approach distinguishes between five types of cholera epidemiology based on experiences from around the world and provides evidence that we hope will spur the development of detailed guidelines on how and where oral cholera vaccines could, and should, be most rationally deployed.

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The Ebola Vaccine Team B: a model for promoting the rapid development of medical countermeasures for emerging infectious disease threats
Michael Osterholm, Kristine Moore, Julie Ostrowsky, Kathleen Kimball-Baker, Jeremy Farrar, Wellcome Trust-CIDRAP Ebola Vaccine Team B
Summary
In support of accelerated development of Ebola vaccines from preclinical research to clinical trials, in November, 2014, the Wellcome Trust and the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota established the Wellcome Trust-CIDRAP Ebola Vaccine Team B initiative. This ongoing initiative includes experts with global experience in various phases of bringing new vaccines to market, such as funding, research and development, manufacturing, determination of safety and efficacy, regulatory approval, and vaccination delivery. It also includes experts in community engagement strategies and ethical issues germane to vaccination policies, including eight African scientists with direct experience in developing and implementing vaccination policies in Africa. Ebola Vaccine Team B members have worked on a range of vaccination programmes, such as polio eradication (Africa and globally), development of meningococcal A disease vaccination campaigns in Africa, and malaria and HIV/AIDS vaccine research. We also provide perspective on how this experience can inform future situations where urgent development of vaccines is needed, and we comment on the role that an independent, expert group such as Team B can have in support of national and international public health authorities toward addressing a public health crisis.

Nature
Volume 529 Number 7584 pp6-122 7 January 2016
http://www.nature.com/nature/current_issue.html

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Letter
Influence of extreme weather disasters on global crop production
Corey Lesk, Pedram Rowhani & Navin Ramankutty
Abstract
In recent years, several extreme weather disasters have partially or completely damaged regional crop production1, 2, 3, 4, 5. While detailed regional accounts of the effects of extreme weather disasters exist, the global scale effects of droughts, floods and extreme temperature on crop production are yet to be quantified. Here we estimate for the first time, to our knowledge, national cereal production losses across the globe resulting from reported extreme weather disasters during 1964–2007. We show that droughts and extreme heat significantly reduced national cereal production by 9–10%, whereas our analysis could not identify an effect from floods and extreme cold in the national data. Analysing the underlying processes, we find that production losses due to droughts were associated with a reduction in both harvested area and yields, whereas extreme heat mainly decreased cereal yields. Furthermore, the results highlight ~7% greater production damage from more recent droughts and 8–11% more damage in developed countries than in developing ones. Our findings may help to guide agricultural priorities in international disaster risk reduction and adaptation efforts.

New England Journal of Medicine
January 7, 2016 Vol. 374 No. 1
http://www.nejm.org/toc/nejm/medical-journal

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Original Article
Effect of Artesunate–Amodiaquine on Mortality Related to Ebola Virus Disease
Etienne Gignoux, M.P.H., Andrew S. Azman, Ph.D., Martin de Smet, M.D., Philippe Azuma, M.D., Moses Massaquoi, M.D., Dorian Job, M.D., Amanda Tiffany, M.P.H., Roberta Petrucci, M.D., Esther Sterk, M.D., M.I.H., Julien Potet, M.D., Motoi Suzuki, M.D., Andreas Kurth, Ph.D., Angela Cannas, Ph.D., Anne Bocquin, M.Sc., Thomas Strecker, Ph.D., Christopher Logue, Ph.D., Thomas Pottage, B.Sc., Constanze Yue, Ph.D., Jean-Clement Cabrol, M.D., Micaela Serafini, M.D., M.P.H., and Iza Ciglenecki, M.D.
N Engl J Med 2016; 374:23-32 January 7, 2016 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1504605
Abstract
Background
Malaria treatment is recommended for patients with suspected Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa, whether systeomatically or based on confirmed malaria diagnosis. At the Ebola treatment center in Foya, Lofa County, Liberia, the supply of artemether–lumefantrine, a first-line antimalarial combination drug, ran out for a 12-day period in August 2014. During this time, patients received the combination drug artesunate–amodiaquine; amodiaquine is a compound with anti–Ebola virus activity in vitro. No other obvious change in the care of patients occurred during this period.
Full Text of Background…
Methods
We fit unadjusted and adjusted regression models to standardized patient-level data to estimate the risk ratio for death among patients with confirmed EVD who were prescribed artesunate–amodiaquine (artesunate–amodiaquine group), as compared with those who were prescribed artemether–lumefantrine (artemether–lumefantrine group) and those who were not prescribed any antimalarial drug (no-antimalarial group).
Full Text of Methods…
Results
Between June 5 and October 24, 2014, a total of 382 patients with confirmed EVD were admitted to the Ebola treatment center in Foya. At admission, 194 patients were prescribed artemether–lumefantrine and 71 were prescribed artesunate–amodiaquine. The characteristics of the patients in the artesunate–amodiaquine group were similar to those in the artemether–lumefantrine group and those in the no-antimalarial group. A total of 125 of the 194 patients in the artemether–lumefantrine group (64.4%) died, as compared with 36 of the 71 patients in the artesunate–amodiaquine group (50.7%). In adjusted analyses, the artesunate–amodiaquine group had a 31% lower risk of death than the artemether–lumefantrine group (risk ratio, 0.69; 95% confidence interval, 0.54 to 0.89), with a stronger effect observed among patients without malaria.
Full Text of Results…
Conclusions
Patients who were prescribed artesunate–amodiaquine had a lower risk of death from EVD than did patients who were prescribed artemether–lumefantrine. However, our analyses cannot exclude the possibility that artemether–lumefantrine is associated with an increased risk of death or that the use of artesunate–amodiaquine was associated with unmeasured patient characteristics that directly altered the risk of death.

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Original Article
Evaluation of Convalescent Plasma for Ebola Virus Disease in Guinea
Johan van Griensven, M.D., Ph.D., Tansy Edwards, M.Sc., Xavier de Lamballerie, M.D., Ph.D., Malcolm G. Semple, M.D., Ph.D., Pierre Gallian, Ph.D., Sylvain Baize, Ph.D., Peter W. Horby, M.D., Ph.D., Hervé Raoul, Ph.D., N’Faly Magassouba, Ph.D., Annick Antierens, M.D., Carolyn Lomas, M.D., Ousmane Faye, Ph.D., Amadou A. Sall, Ph.D., Katrien Fransen, M.Sc., Jozefien Buyze, Ph.D., Raffaella Ravinetto, Pharm.D., Pierre Tiberghien, M.D., Ph.D., Yves Claeys, M.Sc., Maaike De Crop, M.Sc., Lutgarde Lynen, M.D., Ph.D., Elhadj Ibrahima Bah, M.D., Peter G. Smith, D.Sc., Alexandre Delamou, M.D., Anja De Weggheleire, M.D., and Nyankoye Haba, M.Sc. for the Ebola-Tx Consortium
N Engl J Med 2016; 374:33-42 January 7, 2016 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1511812
Abstract
Background
In the wake of the recent outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in several African countries, the World Health Organization prioritized the evaluation of treatment with convalescent plasma derived from patients who have recovered from the disease. We evaluated the safety and efficacy of convalescent plasma for the treatment of EVD in Guinea.
Full Text of Background…
Methods
In this nonrandomized, comparative study, 99 patients of various ages (including pregnant women) with confirmed EVD received two consecutive transfusions of 200 to 250 ml of ABO-compatible convalescent plasma, with each unit of plasma obtained from a separate convalescent donor. The transfusions were initiated on the day of diagnosis or up to 2 days later. The level of neutralizing antibodies against Ebola virus in the plasma was unknown at the time of administration. The control group was 418 patients who had been treated at the same center during the previous 5 months. The primary outcome was the risk of death during the period from 3 to 16 days after diagnosis with adjustments for age and the baseline cycle-threshold value on polymerase-chain-reaction assay; patients who had died before day 3 were excluded. The clinically important difference was defined as an absolute reduction in mortality of 20 percentage points in the convalescent-plasma group as compared with the control group.
Full Text of Methods…
Results
A total of 84 patients who were treated with plasma were included in the primary analysis. At baseline, the convalescent-plasma group had slightly higher cycle-threshold values and a shorter duration of symptoms than did the control group, along with a higher frequency of eye redness and difficulty in swallowing. From day 3 to day 16 after diagnosis, the risk of death was 31% in the convalescent-plasma group and 38% in the control group (risk difference, −7 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], −18 to 4). The difference was reduced after adjustment for age and cycle-threshold value (adjusted risk difference, −3 percentage points; 95% CI, −13 to 8). No serious adverse reactions associated with the use of convalescent plasma were observed.
Full Text of Results…
Conclusions
The transfusion of up to 500 ml of convalescent plasma with unknown levels of neutralizing antibodies in 84 patients with confirmed EVD was not associated with a significant improvement in survival. (Funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02342171.)

Oxford Monitor of Forced Migration
OxMo – Vol. 5, No. 2
http://oxmofm.com/current-issue/

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Academic Article
State responsibility for international cooperation on migration control: the case of Australia
Nikolas Feith Tan
This article examines international cooperation on migration control with particular reference to the case of Australia, a state that has entered into a range of migration control and asylum processing arrangements with neighbouring developing countries. The article defines such arrangements, designed to prevent access to asylum, as cooperative non-entrée. In the past 15 years, Australia has developed a far-reaching cooperative nonentrée regime with countries of origin and transit. These extraterritorial cooperation arrangements challenge the reach of human rights and refugee law. The article considers two avenues to hold Australia internationally responsible for human rights and refugee law violations in the course of cooperative non-entrée practices, namely extraterritorial human rights jurisdiction and complicity under the law of State Responsibility. The article concludes that despite the extraterritorial and international character of cooperative nonentrée, Australia is not beyond the reach of international law.

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Policy Monitor
On encampment and gendered vulnerabilities: a critical analysis of the UK’s vulnerable persons relocation scheme for Syrian refugees
Lewis Turner
This paper offers a critical analysis of the UK’s Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme for Syrian refugees, arguing that its focus on  refugee camps is neither reflective of the realities of refugeehood for Syrians in the Middle East, nor in line with developments in UNHCR
policy. In its substance and presentation, the scheme exploits gendered notions of vulnerability, allowing the UK to position itself as a defender of the helpless in camps, while simultaneously reinforcing its attempts to depict refugees and migrants in Europe as
‘threatening’, and to resist their resettlement in the UK.

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Syrian informal tented settlements in Jordan: humanitarian gaps and challenges
Alex Odlum
Syrian refugees in Jordan have predominantly rented accommodation in urban and periurban areas or relied on humanitarian assistance channelled through formal camps. Yet, faced with unaffordable rents and living costs in Jordanian towns, the unsuitability of remote refugee camps, and the prospect of etching out a living through informal agricultural labour, over 16,000 Syrians have resorted to living in informal tented settlements (ITS) across rural Jordan. This article draws attention to the neglected plight of Syrian ITS in Jordan, analyses the Jordanian Government’s policy response to the expansion of ITS, and calls for stronger humanitarian as well as legal support to vulnerable ITS dwellers.

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Law Monitor
Forced displacement as a war crime in non-international armed conflicts under the ICC Statute: exploring the horizons of a wider interpretation complimenting international humanitarian law
Anubhav Dutt Tiwara
Forced displacement has become a regular feature of non-international armed conflicts pointing towards the fragrant violation of international humanitarian law (IHL) by parties to the conflicts. The paper addresses the war crime of forced displacement in internal armed conflicts under the Statute of the International Criminal Court and advances the argument that the provision must be interpreted against the background of IHL principles. Such wider interpretation not only fulfills the legal obligation to interpret the treaty in good faith, but may act as a deterrent to armed actors in such conflict, and thus prove beneficial for the effective protection of civilians during internal armed conflicts.

Pediatrics
January 2016, VOLUME 137 / ISSUE 1
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/137/1?current-issue=y

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Ethics Rounds
Ethical Considerations for Including Women as Research Participants
Pediatrics Jan 2016, 137 (1) 1; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2015-3990
In November 2015, the American Academy of Pediatrics endorsed the following publication: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Committee Opinion No. 646. Ethical considerations for including women as research participants. Washington, DC: American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; November 2015. Available at: http://www.acog.org/-/media/Committee-Opinions/Committee-on-Ethics/co646.pdf?dmc=1&ts=20151028T1411564748
Abstract
Inclusion of women in research studies is necessary for valid inference about health and disease in women. The generalization of results from trials conducted in men may yield erroneous conclusions that fail to account for the biological differences between men and women. Although significant changes in research design and practice have led to an increase in the proportion of women in research trials, knowledge gaps remain because of a continued lack of inclusion of women, especially those who are pregnant, in in premarketing research trials. This document provides a historical overview of issues surrounding women as participants in research trials, followed by an ethical framework and discussion of the issues of informed consent, contraception requirements, intimate partner consent, and the appropriate inclusion of pregnant women in research studies.

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Immigrant Families, Children With Special Health Care Needs, and the Medical Home
Kristin Kan, Hwajung Choi, Matthew Davis
Pediatrics Jan 2016, 137 (1) 1-8; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2015-3221

PLoS Medicine
http://www.plosmedicine.org/
(Accessed 9 January 2016)

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Data Sharing as Part of the Normal Scientific Process: A View from the Pharmaceutical Industry
Patrick Vallance, Andrew Freeman, Murray Stewart
Perspective | published 05 Jan 2016 | PLOS Medicine
10.1371/journal.pmed.1001936

In this week’s PLOS Medicine, Modjarrad and colleagues report the outcome of a World Health Organisation (WHO) consultation on developing global norms for sharing data and results during public health emergencies, with a focus on clinical, epidemiologic, and genetic features of emerging infectious diseases as well as experimental diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines [1]. There can be little doubt that the need to find effective health care solutions as quickly as possible to prevent or stop the spread of infectious disease in an emergency makes rapid data sharing the right thing to do for patients and society. Many of the barriers to data sharing in public health emergencies identified in the paper by Modjarrad et al. have been highlighted as areas for change to enable data sharing more generally [2,3]. We are perpetually in the midst of several health care crises, including those of neglected tropical diseases and other chronic diseases, for which data sharing has the potential to lead to faster and better solutions. As a matter of principle, we should be willing to share data without regards to which disease is being studied. So, which data and when?…

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Developing Global Norms for Sharing Data and Results during Public Health Emergencies
Kayvon Modjarrad, Vasee S. Moorthy, Piers Millett, Pierre-Stéphane Gsell, Cathy Roth, Marie-Paule Kieny
Policy Forum | published 05 Jan 2016 | PLOS Medicine
10.1371/journal.pmed.1001935
Summary Points
:: Leading stakeholders from around the world convened at a WHO consultation in September 2015, where they affirmed that timely and transparent sharing of data and results during public health emergencies must become the global norm.
:: Representatives from major biomedical journals who attended the meeting agreed that public disclosure of information of relevance to public health emergencies should not be delayed by publication timelines and that early disclosure should not and will not prejudice later journal publication.
:: Researchers should be responsible for the accuracy of shared preliminary results, ensuring that they have been subjected to sufficient quality control before public dissemination.
:: Opting in to data sharing should be the default practice, and the onus should be placed on data generators and stewards at the local, national, and international level to explain any decision to opt out from sharing data and results during public health emergencies.
:: Incentives for sharing data should be created and tailored for each type of data generator and steward, while data management and analysis expertise is enhanced in under-resourced settings.

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Advancing Medical Professionalism in US Military Detainee Treatment
Leonard S. Rubenstein, Scott A. Allen, Phyllis A. Guze
Essay | published 05 Jan 2016 | PLOS Medicine
10.1371/journal.pmed.1001930
Summary Points
:: The United States Department of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) promulgated policies and requirements that required health professionals to participate in the mistreatment of counter-terrorism detainees through participation in such practices as abusive interrogation and force-feeding of detainees, in violation of ethical standards established by associations representing the health professions.
:: A report of the Defense Health Board to the Secretary of Defense on military medical ethics released in 2015 found that the Department of Defense “does not have an enterprise-wide, formal, integrated infrastructure to systematically build, support, sustain, and promote an evolving ethical culture within the military health care environment.”
:: The Board also found that ethical codes promulgated by the health professions, including the duty to avoid harm, provide a sound basis for military medical practice, even taking into account the unique challenges often faced by military health professionals in reconciling the military mission with patient needs.
:: The health professional community should urge the Secretary of Defense to adopt and implement the recommendations of the Defense Health Board, rescind directives authorizing participation of health professionals in interrogation and force-feeding because they are inconsistent with professional ethics, and provide ongoing advice and support for the reform process.

PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
http://www.plosntds.org/
(Accessed 9 January 2016)

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Relevance of Non-communicable Comorbidities for the Development of the Severe Forms of Dengue: A Systematic Literature Review
Joao Toledo, Leyanna George, Eric Martinez, Adhara Lazaro, Wai Wai Han, Giovanini E. Coelho, Silvia Runge Ranzinger, Olaf Horstick
Research Article | published 04 Jan 2016 | PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
10.1371/journal.pntd.0004284

PLoS One
http://www.plosone.org/
[Accessed 9 January 2016]

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Social Factors Influencing Child Health in Ghana
Emmanuel Quansah, Lilian Akorfa Ohene, Linda Norman, Michael Osei Mireku, Thomas K. Karikari
Research Article | published 08 Jan 2016 | PLOS ONE
10.1371/journal.pone.0145401
Abstract
Objectives
Social factors have profound effects on health. Children are especially vulnerable to social influences, particularly in their early years. Adverse social exposures in childhood can lead to chronic disorders later in life. Here, we sought to identify and evaluate the impact of social factors on child health in Ghana. As Ghana is unlikely to achieve the Millennium Development Goals’ target of reducing child mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015, we deemed it necessary to identify social determinants that might have contributed to the non-realisation of this goal.
Methods
ScienceDirect, PubMed, MEDLINE via EBSCO and Google Scholar were searched for published articles reporting on the influence of social factors on child health in Ghana. After screening the 98 articles identified, 34 of them that met our inclusion criteria were selected for qualitative review.
Results
Major social factors influencing child health in the country include maternal education, rural-urban disparities (place of residence), family income (wealth/poverty) and high dependency (multiparousity). These factors are associated with child mortality, nutritional status of children, completion of immunisation programmes, health-seeking behaviour and hygiene practices.
Conclusions
Several social factors influence child health outcomes in Ghana. Developing more effective responses to these social determinants would require sustainable efforts from all stakeholders including the Government, healthcare providers and families. We recommend the development of interventions that would support families through direct social support initiatives aimed at alleviating poverty and inequality, and indirect approaches targeted at eliminating the dependence of poor health outcomes on social factors. Importantly, the expansion of quality free education interventions to improve would-be-mother’s health knowledge is emphasised.

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Exploring the Potential Health Impact and Cost-Effectiveness of AIDS Vaccine within a Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Response in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Thomas M. Harmon, Kevin A. Fisher, Margaret G. McGlynn, John Stover, Mitchell J. Warren, Yu Teng, Arne Näveke
Research Article | published 05 Jan 2016 | PLOS ONE
10.1371/journal.pone.0146387
Abstract
Background
The Investment Framework Enhanced (IFE) proposed in 2013 by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) explored how maximizing existing interventions and adding emerging prevention options, including a vaccine, could further reduce new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This article describes additional modeling which looks more closely at the potential health impact and cost-effectiveness of AIDS vaccination in LMICs as part of UNAIDS IFE.
Methods
An epidemiological model was used to explore the potential impact of AIDS vaccination in LMICs in combination with other interventions through 2070. Assumptions were based on perspectives from research, vaccination and public health experts, as well as observations from other HIV/AIDS interventions and vaccination programs. Sensitivity analyses varied vaccine efficacy, duration of protection, coverage, and cost.
Results
If UNAIDS IFE goals were fully achieved, new annual HIV infections in LMICs would decline from 2.0 million in 2014 to 550,000 in 2070. A 70% efficacious vaccine introduced in 2027 with three doses, strong uptake and five years of protection would reduce annual new infections by 44% over the first decade, by 65% the first 25 years and by 78% to 122,000 in 2070. Vaccine impact would be much greater if the assumptions in UNAIDS IFE were not fully achieved. An AIDS vaccine would be cost-effective within a wide range of scenarios.
Interpretation
Even a modestly effective vaccine could contribute strongly to a sustainable response to HIV/AIDS and be cost-effective, even with optimistic assumptions about other interventions. Higher efficacy would provide even greater impact and cost-effectiveness, and would support broader access. Vaccine efficacy and cost per regimen are critical in achieving cost-effectiveness, with cost per regimen being particularly critical in low-income countries and at lower efficacy levels.

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Impact of Contextual Factors on the Effect of Interventions to Improve Health Worker Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa: Review of Randomised Clinical Trials
Claire Blacklock, Daniela C. Gonçalves Bradley, Sharon Mickan, Merlin Willcox, Nia Roberts, Anna Bergström, David Mant
Research Article | published 05 Jan 2016 | PLOS ONE
10.1371/journal.pone.0145206

PNAS – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States
of America
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/
(Accessed 9 January 2016)

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Social Sciences – Social Sciences – Biological Sciences – Physiology
Social relationships and physiological determinants of longevity across the human life span
Yang Claire Yang, Courtney Boen, Karen Gerken, Ting Li, Kristen Schorpp, and Kathleen Mullan Harris
PNAS 2016 ; published ahead of print January 4, 2016, doi:10.1073/pnas.1511085112
Significance
Although much evidence has accrued in research over the past 20 years on the strong causal associations between social relationships and health and longevity, important gaps remain in our understanding of the mechanisms, timing, and duration of these associations. This study integrates social and biological disciplinary perspectives and research to examine how social relationships “get under the skin” to affect physiological well-being as individuals age. By combining data from and harmonizing measurement across four large nationally representative, population-based, contemporary surveys using an innovative longitudinal life course design, this study provides previously unidentified evidence on the biological and life course mechanisms linking social relationship patterns with health. As such, our findings advance explanations of the emergence and progression of diseases across the human life span.

Abstract
Two decades of research indicate causal associations between social relationships and mortality, but important questions remain as to how social relationships affect health, when effects emerge, and how long they last. Drawing on data from four nationally representative longitudinal samples of the US population, we implemented an innovative life course design to assess the prospective association of both structural and functional dimensions of social relationships (social integration, social support, and social strain) with objectively measured biomarkers of physical health (C-reactive protein, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, waist circumference, and body mass index) within each life stage, including adolescence and young, middle, and late adulthood, and compare such associations across life stages. We found that a higher degree of social integration was associated with lower risk of physiological dysregulation in a dose–response manner in both early and later life. Conversely, lack of social connections was associated with vastly elevated risk in specific life stages. For example, social isolation increased the risk of inflammation by the same magnitude as physical inactivity in adolescence, and the effect of social isolation on hypertension exceeded that of clinical risk factors such as diabetes in old age. Analyses of multiple dimensions of social relationships within multiple samples across the life course produced consistent and robust associations with health. Physiological impacts of structural and functional dimensions of social relationships emerge uniquely in adolescence and midlife and persist into old age.

Preventive Medicine
Volume 82, Pages 1-118 (January 2016)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00917435/82
Original Research Article
Post-nuclear disaster evacuation and survival amongst elderly people in Fukushima: A comparative analysis between evacuees and non-evacuees
Pages 77-82
Shuhei Nomura, Marta Blangiardo, Masaharu Tsubokura, Yoshitaka Nishikawa, Stuart Gilmour, Masahiro Kami, Susan Hodgson
Abstract
Background
Considering the health impacts of evacuation is fundamental to disaster planning especially for vulnerable elderly populations; however, evacuation-related mortality risks have not been well-investigated. We conducted an analysis to compare survival of evacuated and non-evacuated residents of elderly care facilities, following the Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant incident on 11th March 2011.
Objective
To assess associations between evacuation and mortality after the Fukushima nuclear incident; and to present discussion points on disaster planning, with reference to vulnerable elderly populations.
Methods
The study population comprised 1,215 residents admitted to seven elderly care facilities located 20–40 km from the nuclear plant in the five years before the incident. Demographic and clinical characteristics were obtained from medical records. Evacuation histories were tracked until mid 2013. Main outcome measures are hazard ratios in evacuees versus non-evacuees using random-effects Cox proportional hazards models, and pre- and post-disaster survival probabilities and relative mortality incidence.
Results
Experiencing the disasters did not have a significant influence on mortality (hazard ratio 1.10, 95% confidence interval: 0.84–1.43). Evacuation was associated with 1.82 times higher mortality (95% confidence interval: 1.22–2.70) after adjusting for confounders, with the initial evacuation from the original facility associated with 3.37 times higher mortality risk (95% confidence interval: 1.66–6.81) than non evacuation.
Conclusions
The government should consider updating its requirements for emergency planning for elderly facilities and ensure that, in a disaster setting, these facilities have the capacity and support to shelter in place for at least sufficient time to adequately prepare initial evacuation.

Qualitative Health Research
January 2016; 26 (2)
http://qhr.sagepub.com/content/current

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Photovoice – Assessing the Long-Term Impact of a Disaster on a Community’s Quality of Life
Lucy Annang1, Sacoby Wilson2, Chiwoneso Tinago1, Louisiana Wright Sanders3, Tina Bevington3, Bethany Carlos4, Evangeline Cornelius5, Erik Svendsen6
1University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA
2University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
3GRACE Study Center, Graniteville, South Carolina, USA
4Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
5PASOs, Columbia, South Carolina, USA
6Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Abstract
Photovoice is a qualitative method of inquiry whereby individuals can document their lived experiences, particularly individuals whose voices are not typically heard in regard to promoting social change and policy development. We used photovoice to elicit major themes regarding community members’ perceptions of the long-term impact on their quality of life as a deadly technological disaster hit a small, rural town in South Carolina. Overall, participants photographed more negative images than positive. Overarching themes included residential and business vacancies, economic decline, the need for clean-up and modernization, attention to wellness or rehabilitation, and concerns for safety. Emergency response agencies should consider the themes elicited from these community residents to help identify where to focus disaster response efforts both in the immediate aftermath and during the long-term recovery period of technological disasters, particularly in underserved, rural communities.

Reproductive Health
http://www.reproductive-health-journal.com/content
[Accessed 9 January 2016]

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Research
Balancing workload, motivation and job satisfaction in Rwanda: assessing the effect of adding family planning service provision to community health worker duties
Dawn Chin-Quee, Cathy Mugeni, Denis Nkunda, Marie Uwizeye, Laurie Stockton, Jennifer Wesson Reproductive Health 2016, 13:2 (6 January 2016)

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Research
Mobile Technology for Improved Family Planning (MOTIF): the development of a mobile phone-based (mHealth) intervention to support post-abortion family planning (PAFP) in Cambodia
Chris Smith, Uk Vannak, Ly Sokhey, Thoai Ngo, Judy Gold, Caroline Free Reproductive Health 2016, 13:1 (5 January 2016)

Risk Analysis
December 2015 Volume 35, Issue 12 Pages 2121–2228
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/risa.2015.35.issue-12/issuetoc

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Original Research Articles
Public Perception of Climate Change: The Importance of Knowledge and Cultural Worldviews (pages 2183–2201)
Jing Shi, Vivianne H. M. Visschers and Michael Siegrist
Article first published online: 29 MAY 2015 | DOI: 10.1111/risa.12406
Abstract
The importance of knowledge for lay people’s climate change concerns has been questioned in recent years, as it had been suggested that cultural values are stronger predictors of concern about climate change than knowledge. Studies that simultaneously measured knowledge related to climate change and cultural values have, however, been missing. We conducted a mail survey in the German-speaking part of Switzerland (N = 1,065). Results suggested that cultural worldviews and climate-related knowledge were significantly related with people’s concern about climate change. Also, cultural worldviews and climate-relevant knowledge appeared important for people’s willingness to change behaviors and to accept climate change policies. In addition, different types of knowledge were found to have different impacts on people’s concern about climate change, their willingness to change behaviors, and their acceptance of policies about climate change. Specifically, causal knowledge significantly increased concern about climate change and willingness to support climate-friendly policies. We therefore concluded that risk communication should focus on causal knowledge, provided this knowledge does not threaten cultural values.

Science
8 January 2016 vol 351, issue 6269, pages 101-200
http://www.sciencemag.org/current.dtl

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Editorial
Biggest opportunity of our age
Sir David King
Sir David King is the United Kingdom Foreign Secretary’s Special Representative for Climate Change.
The importance of the agreement reached at the Paris climate Conference of Parties (COP21) last month cannot be overstated. It is a major step toward preventing some of the worst risks that climate change presents to the global economy and security. Now is the time to seize the opportunity that this moment represents. We must transform world economies away from fossil fuels toward a more sustainable low-carbon future.

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Policy Forum
Development and Environment
Balancing hydropower and biodiversity in the Amazon, Congo, and Mekong
K. O. Winemiller, P. B. McIntyre, L. Castello, E. Fluet-Chouinard, T. Giarrizzo, S. Nam, I. G. Baird, W. Darwall, N. K. Lujan, I. Harrison, M. L. J. Stiassny, R. A. M. Silvano, D. B. Fitzgerald, F. M. Pelicice, A. A. Agostinho, L. C. Gomes, J. S. Albert, E. Baran, M. Petrere Jr., C. Zarfl, M. Mulligan, J. P. Sullivan, C. C. Arantes, L. M. Sousa, A. A. Koning, D. J. Hoeinghaus, M. Sabaj, J. G. Lundberg, J. Armbruster, M. L. Thieme, P. Petry, J. Zuanon, G. Torrente Vilara, J. Snoeks,
C. Ou, W. Rainboth, C. S. Pavanelli, A. Akama, A. van Soesbergen, and L. Sáenz
Science 8 January 2016: 128-129.
The world’s most biodiverse river basins—the Amazon, Congo, and Mekong—are experiencing an unprecedented boom in construction of hydropower dams. These projects address important energy needs, but advocates often overestimate economic benefits and underestimate far-reaching effects on biodiversity and critically important fisheries. Powerful new analytical tools and high-resolution environmental data can clarify trade-offs between engineering and environmental goals and can enable governments and funding institutions to compare alternative sites for dam building. Current site-specific assessment protocols largely ignore cumulative impacts on hydrology and ecosystem services as ever more dams are constructed within a watershed (1). To achieve true sustainability, assessments of new projects must go beyond local impacts by accounting for synergies with existing dams, as well as land cover changes and likely climatic shifts (2, 3). We call for more sophisticated and holistic hydropower planning, including validation of technologies intended to mitigate environmental impacts. Should anything less be required when tampering with the world’s great river ecosystems?

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The Anthropocene is functionally and stratigraphically distinct from the Holocene
Review
Colin N. Waters, et al

Social Science & Medicine
Volume 148, Pages 1-172 (January 2016)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/02779536/148

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Commentaries
Taking the bull by the horns: Ethical considerations in the design and implementation of an Ebola virus therapy trial
Pages 163-170
Francis Kombe, Morenike O. Folayan, Jennyfer Ambe, Adaora Igonoh, Akin Abayomi, GET members
Abstract
Ebola virus is categorized as one of the most dangerous pathogens in the world. Although there is no known cure for Ebola virus, there is some evidence that the severity of the disease can be curtailed using plasma from survivors. Although there is a general consensus on the importance of research, methodological and ethical challenges for conducting research in an emergency situation have been identified. Performing clinical trials is important, especially for health conditions that are of public health significance (including rare epidemics) to develop new therapies as well as to test the efficacy and effectiveness of new interventions. However, routine clinical trial procedures can be difficult to apply in emergency public health crises hence require a consideration of alternative approaches on how therapies in these situations are tested and brought to the market. This paper examines some of the ethical issues that arise when conducting clinical trials during a highly dangerous pathogen outbreak, with a special focus on the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa. The issues presented here come from a review of a protocol that was submitted to the Global Emerging Pathogens Treatment Consortium (GET). In reviewing the proposal, which was about conducting a clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of using convalescent plasma in the management of Ebola virus disease, the authors deliberated on various issues, which were documented as minutes and later used as a basis for this paper. The experiences and reflections shared by the authors, who came from different regions and disciplines across Africa, present wide-ranging perspectives on the conduct of clinical trials during a dangerous disease outbreak in a resource-poor setting.

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“I was on the way to the hospital but delivered in the bush”: Maternal health in Ghana’s Upper West Region in the context of a traditional birth attendants’ ban
Original Research Article
Pages 8-17
Andrea Rishworth, Jenna Dixon, Isaac Luginaah, Paul Mkandawire, Caesar Tampah Prince
Abstract
This study examines perceptions and experiences of mothers, traditional birth attendants (TBA), and skilled birth attendants (SBA) regarding Ghana’s recent policy that forbids TBAs from undertaking deliveries and restricts their role to referrals. In the larger context of Ghana’s highly underdeveloped and geographically uneven health care system, this study draws on the political ecology of health framework to explore the ways global safe motherhood policy discourses intersect with local socio-cultural and political environments of Ghana’s Upper West Region (UWR). This study reveals that futile improvements in maternal health and the continued reliance on TBAs illustrate the government’s inability to understand local realities marked by poor access to SBAs or modern health care services. Using focus group discussions (FGDs) (n = 10) and in-depth interviews (IDIs) (n = 48) conducted in Ghana’s UWR, the findings suggest that mothers generally perceive TBAs as better placed to conduct deliveries in rural isolated communities, where in most cases no SBAs are present or easily accessible. The results indicate that by adhering to the World Health Organization’s guidelines, the local government may be imposing detrimental, unintended consequences on maternal and child health in remote rural locations. In addition, the findings suggest that the new policy has resulted in considerable confusion among TBAs, many of whom remain oblivious or have not been officially notified about the new policy. Furthermore, participant accounts suggest that the new policy is seen as contributing to worsening relations and tensions between TBAs and SBAs, a situation that undermines the delivery of maternal health services in the region. The study concludes by suggesting relevant policy recommendations.

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Quality of qualitative research in the health sciences: Analysis of the common criteria present in 58 assessment guidelines by expert users
Original Research Article
Pages 142-151
M. Santiago-Delefosse, A. Gavin, C. Bruchez, P. Roux, S.L. Stephen
Abstract
The number of qualitative research methods has grown substantially over the last thirty years, both in social sciences and, more recently, in health sciences. This growth came with questions on the quality criteria needed to evaluate this work, and numerous guidelines were published. These guidelines, however, include many discrepancies, both in terms of vocabulary and structure. Many expert evaluators also decry the absence of consensual and reliable evaluation tools. To address this gap, we present the results of an evaluation of 58 existing guidelines in four major health science fields (medicine and epidemiology; nursing and health education; social sciences and public health; psychology/psychiatry, research methods and organization) by expert (n = 16) and peer (n = 40) users (e.g., article reviewers, experts allocating funds, editors). This research was conducted between 2011 and 2014 at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. Experts met during three workshops spread over this period. A series of 12 consensual essential criteria, along with definitions, stemmed from a question in a semi-qualitative evaluation questionnaire that we developed. Although there is consensus on the name of the criteria, we highlight limitations on the ability to compare specific definitions of criteria across health science fields. We conclude that each criterion must be explained to come to broader consensus and identify definitions that are easily operational and consensual to all fields examined.

Tropical Medicine & International Health
January 2016 Volume 21, Issue 1 Pages 1–156
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/tmi.2016.21.issue-1/issuetoc

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Original Research Papers
Quality of antenatal and childbirth care in rural health facilities in Burkina Faso, Ghana and Tanzania: an intervention study (pages 70–83)
Els Duysburgh, Marleen Temmerman, Maurice Yé, Afua Williams, Siriel Massawe, John Williams, Rose Mpembeni, Svetla Loukanova, Walter E. Haefeli and Antje Blank
Article first published online: 18 NOV 2015 | DOI: 10.1111/tmi.12627

The Sentinel

Human Rights Action :: Humanitarian Response :: Health ::
Holistic Development :: Sustainable Resilience
__________________________________________________
Two weeks ending 2 January 2016

This weekly digest is intended to aggregate and distill key content from a broad spectrum of practice domains and organization types including key agencies/IGOs, NGOs, governments, academic and research institutions, consortia and collaborations, foundations, and commercial organizations. We also monitor a spectrum of peer-reviewed journals and general media channels. The Sentinel’s geographic scope is global/regional but selected country-level content is included. We recognize that this spectrum/scope yields an indicative and not an exhaustive product. Comments and suggestions should be directed to:

David R. Curry
Editor &
Founding Managing Director
GE2P2 – Center for Governance, Evidence, Ethics, Policy, Practice
david.r.curry@ge2p2center.net

pdf version: The Sentinel_ week ending 2 January 2016

blog edition: comprised of the 35+ entries  posted below on 3-10 January 2016