Publications
Policy Brief: Reforço do sistema de saúde nas zonas rurais da Guiné-Bissau: Lições retiradas da execução do Programa Integrado para a Redução da Mortalidade Materna e Infanil (PIMI)
Este policy brief resume os principais resultados da avaliação do programa PIMI realizada pelo Projeto de Saúde de Bandim, incumbido pela Delegação da União Europeia na Guiné-Bissau.
Policy Brief: Health system strengthening in rural Guinea-Bissau: Lessons learned from the implementaion of the Integrated Programme for the Reducion of Maternal and Child Mortality (PIMI)
This policy brief summarises the key results of the Bandim Health Project's evaluation of the PIMI programme, commissioned by the Delegation of the European Union to Guinea-Bissau.
Provider-mother interactions are associated with birth outcome misclassifications in household surveys: A case-control study in Guinea-Bissau
We found common (~1/4) differential classification of stillbirths and early neonatal deaths between two data sources: a) the continuous demographic surveillance and b) a retrospective survey interviewing the same women about all their births. The limited information provided to mothers may contribute to explaining why.
Stillbirth and early neonatal mortality rates may be underestimated using recall information: A comparison of demographic surveillance methodologies
Using demographic surveillance data for births between 2012-20, we found that early neonatal mortality and stillbirth rates were significantly underestimated when it was assumed that full information could be obtained at visits every 6 months.
Overall effect of a campaign with measles vaccine on the composite outcome mortality or hospital admission: a cluster-randomised trial among children aged 9-59 months in rural Guinea-Bissau
This paper describes the results of our large trial conducted between 2016-20. We found a lower than anticipated mortality among enrolled children and that the measles vaccination campaign did not reduce mortality or admissions.
Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) to mitigate the risk of illness and mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cluster-randomised trial in Guinea-Bissau
The results of our recent cluster-randomised trial in urban Guinea-Bissau finding sex-differential effects of OPV on morbidity and mortality in adults aged 50+.
Health effects of utilising hospital contacts to provide measles vaccination to children 9 - 59 months — a randomised controlled trial in Guinea-Bissau
Trial protocol for our ongoing trial assessing if providing missing doses of measles vaccine at curative health systems contacts can reduce the risk of subsequent illness and mortality.
The mortality effects of disregarding the strategy to save doses of measles vaccine - a cluster-randomized trial in Guinea-Bissau
Measles vaccine (MV) may improve health beyond measles protection. To avoid wastage from multi-dose vials, children in Guinea-Bissau are only measles vaccinated when aged 9-11 months and when six or more children are present. We assessed health impacts of providing MV to all measles-unvaccinated children 9-35 months in a cluster-randomised trial.
Disregarding the restrictive vial-opening policy for BCG vaccine in Guinea-Bissau: impact and cost-effectiveness for tuberculosis mortality and all-cause mortality in children aged 0-4 years
BCG vaccination is frequently delayed in low-income countries. Restrictive vial-opening policies, where a vial of BCG vaccine is not opened for few children, are a major reason for delay. During delays, children are unprotected against tuberculosis (TB) and deprived of non-specific effects of BCG.
We assessed the potential effect and cost-effectiveness of disregarding the restrictive vial-opening policy, on TB and all-cause mortality. Opening a vial of BCG for each child at the first contact with the health care system was estimated to reduce both TB mortality an all-cause mortality.
Neonatal and child mortality data in retrospective population-based surveys compared with prospective demographic surveillance: EN-INDEPTH study
Global mortality estimates remain heavily dependent on household surveys in low- and middle-income countries, where most under-five deaths occur. We compared mortality estimates for survey and HDSS data and describe age-at-death distributions during the past 5 years for children born to the same women. We assessed the proportion of HDSS-births that could be matched on month-of-birth to survey-births and used regression models to identify factors associated with matching.