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PLoS One 2021 22;16(4):e0249076. Epub 2021 Apr 22.

University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States of America.

Background: One critical element to optimize funding decisions involves the cost and efficiency implications of implementing alternative program components and configurations. Program planners, policy makers and funders alike are in need of relevant, strategic data and analyses to help them plan and implement effective and efficient programs. Contrary to widely accepted conceptions in both policy and academic arenas, average costs per service (so-called "unit costs") vary considerably across implementation settings and facilities. Read More

Epileptic Disord 2021 Apr 22. Epub 2021 Apr 22.

Department of Neurophysiology, Department of Paediatric Neurology, Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Neuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Objective: Neurologists and epileptologists are scarce in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Whilst electroencephalograms (EEGs) are becoming more available in the region, interpretation is typically undertaken by non-specialist clinicians with limited or no training. This is a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature on EEG training of non-specialist clinicians worldwide, assessing the efficacy of the training methodology and the curricula content. Read More

Gates Open Res 2021 29;5:19. Epub 2021 Jan 29.

Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, USA.

Gene drive research is progressing towards future field evaluation of modified mosquitoes for malaria control in sub-Saharan Africa. While many literature sources and guidance point to the inadequacy of individual informed consent for any genetically modified mosquito release, including gene drive ones, (outside of epidemiological studies that might require blood samples) and at the need for a community-level decision, researchers often find themselves with no specific guidance on how that decision should be made, expressed and by whom. Target Malaria, the Kenya Medical Research Institute and the Pan African Mosquito Control Association co-organised a workshop with researchers and practitioners on this topic to question the model proposed by Target Malaria in its research so far that involved the release of genetically modified sterile male mosquitoes and how this could be adapted to future studies involving gene drive mosquito releases for them to offer reflections about potential best practices. Read More

Ghana Med J 2020 Sep;54(3):186-196

Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Ghana Medical School.

Tuberculosis (TB) and HIV are strongly linked. There is a 19 times increased risk of developing active TB in people living with HIV than in HIV-negative people with Sub-Saharan Africa being the hardest hit region. According to the WHO, 1. Read More

Crop Sci 2021 Mar-Apr;61(2):1052-1072. Epub 2020 Dec 22.

West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement Univ. of Ghana PMB 30 Legon Ghana.

The development and commercialization of extra-early quality protein maize (QPM)-provitamin A (PVA) hybrids that are tolerant of low soil N (LN) and resistant are essential for addressing the food insecurity and undernourishment challenges currently faced by sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This study was designed (a) to determine the genetic effects regulating grain yield (GY) and important secondary traits of extra-early yellow and orange QPM-PVA inbred lines under LN, infested, and high-N (HN) conditions, (b) to investigate whether maternal genes influenced the inheritance of GY and other secondary traits, (c) to assess the GY and stability of the hybrids across the three management conditions, and (d) to examine the relationship between single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) marker-based genetic distances and GY. Twenty-four inbred lines were used to produce ninety-six single cross hybrids using the North Carolina Design II. Read More