Public Health Commons^™

Salud Mesoamérica 2015 Initiative: Design, Implementation, And Baseline Findings, Ali H. Mokdad, Katherine Elliott Colson, Paola Zuniga-Brenes, Diego Rios-Zertuche, Erin B. Palmisano, Catherine W. Gillespie, +27 Additional Authors

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Background

Health has improved markedly in Mesoamerica, the region consisting of southern Mexico and Central America, over the past decade. Despite this progress, there remain substantial inequalities in health outcomes, access, and quality of medical care between and within countries. Poor, indigenous, and rural populations have considerably worse health indicators than national or regional averages. In an effort to address these health inequalities, the Salud Mesoamérica 2015 Initiative (SM2015), a results-based financing initiative, was established.

Methods

For each of the eight participating countries, health targets were set to measure the progress of improvements in maternal and child health produced by …

Improving Newborn Care Practices Through Home Visits: Lessons From Malawi, Nepal, Bangladesh, And Uganda., Deborah Sitrin, Tanya Guenther, Peter Waiswa, Sarah Namutamba, Gertrude Namazzi, Srijana Sharma, K. C. Ashish, Sayed Rubayet, Subrata Bhadra, Reuben Ligowe, Emmanuel Chimbalanga, Elizabeth Sewell, Kate Kerber, Allisyn Moran

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Background: Nearly all newborn deaths occur in low- or middle-income countries. Many of these deaths could be prevented through promotion and provision of newborn care practices such as thermal care, early and exclusive breastfeeding, and hygienic cord care. Home visit programmes promoting these practices were piloted in Malawi, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Uganda.

Objective: This study assessed changes in selected newborn care practices over time in pilot programme areas in four countries and evaluated whether women who received home visits during pregnancy were more likely to report use of three key practices.

Design: Using data from cross-sectional surveys …