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As one of the main knowledge producers, researchers can play an important role in contributing to efforts that bridge the gap between knowledge, policy and practice. However, for researchers to play this role, they need knowledge translation (KT) capacities that many typically lack. Furthermore, research has confirmed that little is known on KT training approaches for LMICs researchers and their effectiveness. This paper seeks to contribute to filling this knowledge gap on KT training approaches for LMIC researchers by assessing the effectiveness of a training and mentorship intervention to build African researchers' KT capacity. We conducted KT training and mentorship for 23 early and mid-career researchers from 20 universities in sub-Saharan Africa. This comprised a 5-day intense residential training workshop, followed by a 6-months mentorship. A pre- and post-training test was used to assess the immediate effect of the workshop. The intermediate effect of the training following a 6-month mentorship was assessed by the number of researchers who completed policy briefs during this period and those who participated in the webinar series conducted during this period. Overall, the aggregate average point change in the self-reported learning between the pre-training and the post-training survey was 1.9, which demonstrated the effectiveness of the training workshop. This was confirmed by a 33.7% increase in the aggregate average percentage of participants that responded correctly to questions assessing topics covered in the training between the pre-training and the post-training survey. During the mentorship period, 19 of the 23 researchers prepared and submitted complete drafts of their policy briefs within two months after the training. Fewer (4) researchers revised and submitted final policy briefs. More than half of the trained researchers participated in the webinars conducted in the first three months of the mentorship, whereas less than half of the researchers participated in the webinars conducted in the last three months. KT training and mentorship can be an effective intervention for addressing researchers' KT capacity gaps. For sustainability, KT training and mentorship need to be integrated in graduate training programmes in universities so that future LMIC researchers leave training institutions with the KT capacities they need for influencing policy and programme decisions and actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, public health measures like face masks, hand hygiene and maintaining social distancing have been implemented to delay and reduce local transmission of COVID-19. To date there is emerging evidence to provide effectiveness and compliance to intervention measures on COVID-19 due to rapid spread of the disease. We synthesized evidence of community interventions and innovative practices to mitigate COVID-19 as well as previous respiratory outbreak infections which may share some aspects of transmission dynamics with COVID-19. In the study, we systematically searched the literature on community interventions to mitigate COVID-19, SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), H1N1 Influenza and MERS (middle east respiratory syndrome) epidemics in PubMed, Google Scholar, World Health Organization (WHO), MEDRXIV and Google from their inception until May 30, 2020 for up-to-date published and grey resources. We screened records, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias in duplicates. We rated the certainty of evidence according to Cochrane methods and the GRADE approach. This study is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42020183064). Of 41,138 papers found, 17 studies met the inclusion criteria in various settings in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). One of the papers from LMICs originated from Africa (Madagascar) with the rest from Asia 9 (China 5, Bangladesh 2, Thailand 2); South America 5 (Mexico 3, Peru 2) and Europe 2 (Serbia and Romania). Following five studies on the use of face masks, the risk of contracting SARS and Influenza was reduced OR 0.78 and 95% CI = 0.36–1.67. Equally, six studies on hand hygiene practices reported a reduced risk of contracting SARS and Influenza OR 0.95 and 95% CI = 0.83–1.08. Further two studies that looked at combined use of face masks and hand hygiene interventions showed the effectiveness in controlling the transmission of influenza OR 0.94 and 95% CI = 0.58–1.54. Nine studies on social distancing intervention demonstrated the importance of physical distance through closure of learning institutions on the transmission dynamics of disease. The evidence confirms the use of face masks, good hand hygiene and social distancing as community interventions are effective to control the spread of SARS and influenza in LMICs. However, the effectiveness of community interventions in LMICs should be informed by adherence of the mitigation measures and contextual factors taking into account the best practices. The study has shown gaps in adherence/compliance of the interventions, hence a need for robust intervention studies to better inform the evidence on compliance of the interventions. Nevertheless, this rapid review of currently best available evidence might inform interim guidance on similar respiratory infectious diseases like Covid-19 in Kenya and similar LMIC context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of sociocultural factors such as religion and ethnicity in aiding or hampering family planning (FP) uptake in rural Western Kenya, a region with persistently high fertility rates, is not well established. We explored whether attitudes towards FP can be attributed to religious affiliation and/or ethnicity among women in the region. Findings show that religion and ethnicity have no impact; the most significant factors are level of education and knowledge about the benefits of FP for the mother. FP interventions ought to include strategies aimed at enhancing women's knowledge about the positive impacts of family planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Kenya is characterized by high unmet need for family planning (FP) and high unplanned pregnancy, in a context of urban population explosion and increased urban poverty. It witnessed an improvement of its FP and reproductive health (RH) indicators in the recent past, after a period of stalled progress. The objectives of the paper are to: a) describe inequities in modern contraceptive use, types of methods used, and the main sources of contraceptives in urban Kenya; b) examine the extent to which differences in contraceptive use between the poor and the rich widened or shrank over time; and c) attempt to relate these findings to the FP programming context, with a focus on whether the services are increasingly reaching the urban poor. Methods: We use data from the 1993, 1998, 2003 and 2008/09 Kenya demographic and health survey. Bivariate analyses describe the patterns of modern contraceptive use and the types and sources of methods used, while multivariate logistic regression models assess how the gap between the poor and the rich varied over time. The quantitative analysis is complemented by a review on the major FP/RH programs carried out in Kenya. Results: There was a dramatic change in contraceptive use between 2003 and 2008/09 that resulted in virtually no gap between the poor and the rich in 2008/09, by contrast to the period 1993--1998 during which the improvement in contraceptive use did not significantly benefit the urban poor. Indeed, the late 1990s marked the realization by the Government of Kenya and its development partners, of the need to deliberately target the poor with family planning services. Most urban women use short-term and less effective methods, with the proportion of long-acting method users dropping by half during the review period. The proportion of private sector users also declined between 2003 and 2008/09. Conclusion: The narrowing gap in the recent past between the urban poor and the urban rich in the use of modern contraception is undoubtedly good news, which, coupled with the review of the family program context, suggests that family planning programs may be increasingly reaching the urban poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Myths and misconceptions around modern contraceptives have been associated with low contraceptive uptake in sub-Saharan Africa and Kenya in particular. Addressing persistent contraceptive knowledge gaps can make a significant contribution towards improved contraceptive uptake among young women. This qualitative study therefore sought to explore and understand young people's knowledge of modern contraception and to identify their key concerns regarding these methods.Methods: We used focus group discussions (FGD) with vignette and writing activities to explore key myths and misconceptions around the use of contraceptives. Six FGDs (three for young men and three for young women) were conducted with a total of 28 young women and 30 young men from Kwale County, Kenya. We included 10 discussants aged 18-24 per FGD, one FGD had 8 participants. Predefined codes reflecting the discussion guides and emerging issues in the FGDs were used to develop the thematic coding framework. Our analysis followed a pattern of association on the key preset themes focusing on myths and misconceptions around contraceptive use.Results: Results are presented under four key themes: awareness of contraception, myths and misconceptions around contraception, males' contraceptive narratives and young people's preferred sources of contraceptives. Both men and women participants reported basic awareness of contraceptives. A mixture of biological and social misconceptions were discussed and included perceptions that modern contraception: jeopardized future fertility, could result in problems conceiving or birth defects, made women promiscuous, was 'un-African', and would deny couples their sexual freedom. Compared to female respondents in the study, young men appeared to be strong believers of the perceived socio-cultural effects of contraceptives. On preferred sources of contraceptives, respondents reported on two main sources, pharmacies and public hospitals, however, they could not agree on which one was suitable for them.Conclusions: This study revealed the presence of a mixture of biological and social myths and misconceptions around contraception, with young men also strongly adhering to these misconceptions. The low level of contraceptive knowledge, particularly on contraceptive fears as revealed by the study demonstrate critical gaps in sexual and reproductive health (SRH) knowledge among young people. Improved SRH literacy to address contraceptives' fears through appropriate and gender specific interventions to reach out to young men and women with factual SRH information may therefore contribute to increased uptake of SRH services including modern contraceptive methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess access to noncommunicable diseases (NCD) medicines in Kenya for patients diagnosed and prescribed treatment for asthma, diabetes and hypertension.Methods: Households in eight purposively chosen counties were randomly selected. To be eligible, a household needed to have at least one member aged 18 years or older who had been previously diagnosed and prescribed medicines for one of the following NCDs: asthma, diabetes or hypertension. Using a logistic regression model, we explored the relationship between patient characteristics and the probability that patients had the medicines available at the time of the survey visit.Results: A total of 627 individuals were included in the analysis. The highest percentage of medicines availability was in households with diabetes patients (83.1%), followed by hypertension (77.1%) patients. The lowest availability of medicines was found in households with asthma patients (53.1%). The median household expenditure on medicines per month was US$7.00 for households with diabetes patients; it was US$4.00 for asthma. In general, strong predictors of having medicines at home was being older, having some education compared to no education, few household members, wealth, being diagnosed at private nonprofit facilities and having only one patient with NCDs in the household.Conclusions: Our study found that nearly three-quarters of patients diagnosed and prescribed a medicine for hypertension, asthma or diabetes had the medicine available at home. Access challenges remain, in particular for patients from low-income households and for those diagnosed with asthma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The use of long-acting and permanent method (LAPM) for family planning (FP) is of importance to the FP movement. A better understanding of how fertility-related intentions shape the usage of LAPM is important for programming. This paper explored the interaction of fertility intentions with LAPM use in rural western Kenya.Methods: We draw on monitoring data from 28,515 women aged 15-49 years who received FP services between 2013 and 2015 as part of a community-based FP project. We assessed the association between the use of LAPM and fertility intentions, adjusting for age, parity, education, service delivery model, FP counseling and year of data collection.Results: Of the 28,515 women who accessed FP services during the period (2013-2015), about two-thirds (57%) reported using LAPM, much higher than the national rates, and around 46% wanted another child within or after two years. In a multivariable regression model, women who desired no more children tended to use LAPM more than those wanting a child within or after some years as well as those uncertain about their future intentions.Conclusion: The significant rates of utilization of LAPM between both women who desired no more children and the fair proportion of use among women spacing births underscore the benefits of sustained community level interventions that address both the demand and supply barriers of contraceptive adoption and use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]