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This article presents a case-controlled study that estimated the prevalence of disabilities in HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected children in Lilongwe, Malawi, examines types of disability and associated clinical and socio-demographic factors and identifies needs, opportunities and barriers for rehabilitation in Malawi. This study reveals the magnitude of disability among HIV-infected children and the large unmet need for rehabilitation services. It recommends that this expanding issue is investigated further to provide an evidence base for holistic care for disabled children living with HIV

PLoS ONE, Vol 8, No 12

IK Notes report on indigenous knowledge initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa and occasionally on such initiatives outside the region. It is published by the World Bank Africa region’s Knowledge and Learning Centre as part of an evolving partnership between the World Bank, communities, NGOs, development institutions and multilateral organisations. This edition outlines the high rate of maternal and infant mortality in Mali, despite interventions by the government and donors in the past ten years. It then outlines the methodology used in developing a close collaboration between the traditional system of assistance to pregnancy and childbirth (of which traditional birth assistants (TBAs) are the protagonists) and the modern system of management of obstetrical emergencies. This involved a new role for the TBAs in breaking down cultural barriers in access to modern health care. The first results appear promising, and the authors stress the importance of taking into account traditional knowledge in birthing practices when developing a national strategy for the control of maternal and infant mortality

Poor-rich inequalities in health in developing countries receive a lot of attention from researchers and policy makers. However, different indicators of wealth are used in different studies. There is a lack of evidence on the extent to which the use of different measures of economic status affects the observed magnitude of health inequalities. This paper provides empirical evidence for 10 developing countries, using the Demographic and Health Surveys data-set. It compares the World Bank asset index to three alternative wealth indices, all based on household assets. Results indicated that the relative position of households in the national wealth hierarchy varied to an important extent with the asset index used; observed poor-rich inequalities in under-5 mortality and immunisation coverage often changed, in some cases to an important extent; and the size and direction of this change varied per country, index, and health indicator

This study deals with the MDG-related topic of increasing the efficiency of countries in producing good outcomes with their available resources. The first two papers use country-level data to look at the efficiency of countries in improving health, education, and GDP outcomes. The last two use within-country data on health and education in Argentina and Mexico to look at the same issues. The analysis helps quantify how much progress could be achieved through better efficiency, and to some extent, how efficiency itself could be improved