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IntroductionGlobally, about half of all pregnancies are unintended and/or unwanted and three-fifths of these end in induced abortion. When faced with a choice to terminate pregnancy, women’s abortion decision-making processes are often complex and multiphasic and maybe amplified in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) which bear the major burden of abortion-related morbidity and mortality. Our review aims to (1) describe abortion decision-making trajectories for women in LMICs and (2) investigate factors influencing the choice of abortion decision-making trajectories in LMICs.Methods and analysisWe will search and retrieve published and unpublished qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods, community and/or hospital-based studies conducted in LMICs from 1 January 2000 up to 16 February 2021. We will search Ovid Medline, Ovid EMBASE, Ovid PsycInfo, Ovid Global Health, Web of Science (including Social Science Citation Index), Scopus, IBSS, CINAHL via EBSCO, WHO Global Index Medicus, the Cochrane Library, WHO website, ProQuest and Google Scholar. We will search reference lists of eligible studies and contact experts for additional data/information, if required. We will extract all relevant data to answer our research questions and assess study quality using the appropriate appraisal tools. Depending on the extracted data, our analysis will use sequential or convergent synthesis methods proposed by Hong et al. For qualitative studies, we will synthesise evidence using thematic synthesis, meta-ethnography or ‘best-fit’ framework synthesis; and for quantitative findings, we will provide a narrative synthesis and/or meta-analysis. We will do sensitivity analyses and assess confidence in our findings using Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, and Evaluation –Confidence in Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative Research (GRADE-CERQUal) for qualitative findings and Grades of Recommednation, Assessment, and Evaluation (GRADE) for quantitative findings.Ethics and disseminationWe did not require ethics approval for this systematic review. We will publish our findings in an open-access peer-reviewed journal with global and maternal health readership. We will also present our findings at national and international scientific conferences.

Background: Globally, approximately 11–21 million people get typhoid fever annually. The disease is characterized by prolonged fever, headache, nausea, loss of appetite, and constipation or diarrhoea and the transmission is oral-faecal. In early 2015, the Uganda Ministry of Health, confirmed typhoid fever outbreak in Kampala city which quickly spread to the neighbouring districts. Strategies including preventive and curative measures were put in place to control the disease although the outbreak persisted and spread quickly. In response, this study was commissioned to identify risk factors that propagated the outbreak in Kampala and the surrounding districts, and to establish innovative ways of communicating risk and behavioural change messages to the populations at risk. Methods: This was a qualitative study among residents working in major food markets of Kampala, Mukono and Wakiso districts. Data was collected using 14 focus group discussions (FGDs), 25 Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), 10 In-depth Interviews (IDIs), and environmental observations within communities including major markets. A total of 10 FGDs from Kampala district were stratified by sex while the 4 FGDs conducted in Mukono and Wakiso districts were mixed by sex. Data was analysed employing the thematic approach using open codding. Results: Behavioural practices, environmental, health system and policy related factors propagated the outbreak. We established that poor personal and food hygiene, contaminated water sources, consumption of unsafe beverages, the prolonged dry season, inadequate disease surveillance and delay in diagnosis and treatment of cases were main factors that led to the outbreak. Our study established that the behaviour change approaches were electronic, media, print and face to face communication. These strategies created an understanding of the presence of the outbreak but had some limitations. The study highlighted major recommendations for future control of typhoid outbreak included innovative use of technology and intersectoral collaborations. Conclusion: Typhoid outbreak was spread through individual behavioural, environmental and health system factors. Innovative communication strategies including use of mobile technologies, school children as messengers, strengthened face to face communication by community leaders and expressing messages in terms of economic losses and gains were recommended.

Background An estimated 2.8 million neonatal deaths occur annually worldwide. The vulnerability of newborns makes the timeliness of seeking and receiving care critical for neonatal survival and prevention of long-term sequelae. To better understand the role active referrals by community health workers play in neonatal careseeking, we synthesize data on referral completion rates for neonates with danger signs predictive of mortality or major morbidity in low- and middle-income countries. Methods A systematic review was conducted in May 2014 of the following databases: Medline-PubMed, Embase, and WHO databases. We also searched grey literature. In addition, an investigator group was established to identify unpublished data on newborn referral and completion rates. Inquiries were made to the network of research groups supported by Save the Children’s Saving Newborn Lives project and other relevant research groups. Results Three Sub-Saharan African and five South Asian studies reported data on community-to-facility referral completion rates. The studies varied on factors such as referral rates, the assessed danger signs, frequency of home visits in the neonatal period, and what was done to facilitate referrals. Neonatal referral completion rates ranged from 34 to 97 %, with the median rate of 74 %. Four studies reported data on the early neonatal period; early neonatal completion rates ranged from 46 to 97 %, with a median of 70 %. The definition of referral completion differed by studies, in aspects such as where the newborns were referred to and what was considered timely completion. Conclusions Existing literature reports a wide range of neonatal referral completion rates in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia following active illness surveillance. Interpreting these referral completion rates is challenging due to the great variation in study design and context. Often, what qualifies as referral and/or referral completion is poorly defined, which makes it difficult to aggregate existing data to draw appropriate conclusions that can inform programs. Further research is necessary to continue highlighting ways for programs, governments, and policymakers to best aid families in low-resource settings in protecting their newborns from major health consequences. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-2330-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Uganda's Ministry of Health, together with partners, has introduced integrated community case management (iCCM) for children under 5 years. We assessed how the iCCM program addresses newborn care in three midwestern districts through document reviews, structured interviews, and focus group discussions with village health team (VHT) members trained in iCCM, caregivers, and other stakeholders. Almost all VHT members reported that they refer sick newborns to facilities and could identify at least three newborn danger signs. However, they did not identify the most important clinical indicators of severe illness. The extent of compliance with newborn referral and quality of care for newborns at facilities is not clear. Overall iCCM is perceived as beneficial, but caregivers, VHTs, and health workers want to do more for sick babies at facilities and in communities. Additional research is needed to assess the ability of VHTs to identify newborn danger signs, referral compliance, and quality of newborn treatment at facilities.