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High-quality research is a core input for policies and programs that seek to improve public health and social development. In the context of a pandemic, however, in-person data collection could spread coronavirus. Researchers across disciplines must safely and effectively balance the need for primary data while protecting participants, staff, and the communities in which they work. As the world learns how to mitigate the spread of coronavirus, research institutions across the globe are creating their own guidelines and approaches to resuming in-person activities as global governing bodies and governments lag behind in providing guidance. As the COVID-19 pandemic shapeshifts, the question of whether, where, and how to resume in-person data collection has generated collective action among public health experts and social scientists. The authors propose key principles and practical steps that researchers should consider when weighing the prospect of returning to in-person data collection. The recommendations arise from the Population Council-convened webinar, "Resuming In-Person Data Collection during COVID-19," that brought together scientists, ethicists, and research implementers who are pioneering adaptations across disciplines to in-person research activities during the pandemic.

NOTE: This article is a preprint and has not been peer-reviewed. It reports new medical research that has yet to be evaluated and so should not be used to guide clinical practice. --- The government of Kenya has launched a phased rollout of COVID-19 vaccination. A major barrier is vaccine hesitancy; the refusal or delay of accepting vaccination. This study evaluated the level and determinants of vaccine hesitancy in Kenya. We conducted a cross-sectional study administered through a phone-based survey in February 2021 in four counties of Kenya. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify individual perceived risks and influences, context-specific factors, and vaccine-specific issues associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Kenya was high: 60.1%. Factors associated with vaccine hesitancy included: older age, lower education level, perceived difficulty in adhering to government regulations on COVID-19 prevention, less adherence to wearing of face masks, not having ever been tested for COVID-19, no reported socio-economic loss as a result of COVID public-health restriction measures, and concerns regarding vaccine safety and effectiveness. There is a need for the prioritization of interventions to address vaccine hesitancy and improve vaccine confidence as part of the vaccine roll-out plan. These messaging and/or interventions should be holistic to include the value of other public health measures, be focused and targeted to specific groups, raise awareness on the risks of COVID-19 and effectively communicate the benefits and risks of vaccines.

Background: COVID-19 is spreading rapidly in India and other parts of the world. Despite the Indian Government's efforts to contain the disease in the affected districts, cases have been reported in 627 (98%) of 640 districts. There is a need to devise a tool for district-level planning and prioritisation and effective allocation of resources. Based on publicly available data, this study reports a vulnerability index for identification of vulnerable regions in India on the basis of population and infrastructural characteristics. Methods: We computed a composite index of vulnerability at the state and district levels based on 15 indicators across the following five domains: socioeconomic, demographic, housing and hygiene, epidemiological, and health system. We used a percentile ranking method to compute both domain-specific and overall vulnerability and presented results spatially with number of positive COVID-19 cases in districts. Findings: A number of districts in nine large states—Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Odisha, and Gujarat—located in every region of the country except the northeast, were found to have high overall vulnerability (index value more than 0·75). These states also had high vulnerability according to most of the five domains. Although our intention was not to predict the risk of infection for a district or a state, we observed similarities between vulnerability and the current concentration of COVID-19 cases at the state level. However, this relationship was not clear at the district level. Interpretation: The vulnerability index presented in this paper identified a number of vulnerable districts in India, which currently do not have large numbers of COVID-19 cases but could be strongly impacted by the epidemic. Our index aims to help planners and policy makers effectively prioritise regions for resource allocation and adopt risk mitigation strategies for better preparedness and responses to the COVID-19 epidemic.

From July 16–30, 2020, a COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices phone survey was completed with 1,322 adults in Wajir, Kenya. Households were part of the ongoing Adolescent Girls Initiative–Kenya cohort across 79 villages in Wajir, an underdeveloped area of Kenya. The pandemic and associated social distancing and lockdown measures have had a large economic, health, and social impact on respondents. Many are earning less income, and a substantial percentage are experiencing food insecurity. Relative to need, very few adults are receiving assistance. Among the recommendations in this brief are that public education campaigns focus on ensuring that people know that anyone can become infected with COVID-19 and spread it without showing symptoms, and ensuring that those who test positive receive needed food and medical care. Government and NGO assistance to adults in Wajir has been minimal despite large numbers forgoing meals and experiencing income loss. Assistance in the form of food, vouchers, or cash should be provided and targeted to those with greatest need. As school closures continue, the government must seek out additional avenues for children to access learning content.

Between August 15 and 18, 2020, a COVID-19 phone survey was completed with 858 adults in Kisumu, Kenya, a densely populated port city on Lake Victoria. The households were part the DREAMS program and evaluation cohort. The COVID-19 pandemic and associated social distancing and lockdown measures have had a large economic, health, and social impact on respondents. Many are earning less income due to COVID-19, and a substantial percentage report experiencing food insecurity. Relative to need, very few adults are receiving assistance. Among the recommendations in this brief are that public education campaigns focus on addressing stigma, and that those who test positive for COVID-19 receive needed food and medical care. Government and NGO assistance to adults in Kisumu has been minimal despite large numbers forgoing meals and experiencing income loss. Assistance in the form of food, vouchers, or cash should be provided and targeted to those with greatest need. Resources to address the high increases in violence and tension, both in the community and within households are needed.

Egypt's 2011 Tahrir Revolution was fueled by the volatile combination of pervasive public governance failures and a large youth population blocked from successfully navigating the transition to adulthood. Far from addressing these problems, this Revolution led to instability, economic stagnation, and the rapid return to power of Egypt's military–elite alliance, further marginalizing the youth population. This article argues that Egyptian youth's predicament must be understood as the result of public governance failures. Their dependence on a failed and unaccountable public education system leaves them without the skills needed for productive employment, while Egypt's dualistic "limited access order" leads to the suppression of medium‐size firms, forcing low‐income youth to accept poorly paid, insecure employment in the informal sector, and constraining opportunities for educated youth, particularly young women, who remain outside the workforce. Viable, sustained solutions to youth's problems require that the Egyptian government tackle the underlying public governance failures by introducing accountability to citizens for public service quality, streamlining regulatory systems to accelerate enterprise growth and expand competition, and instituting greater transparency to achieve inclusive and broad‐based growth. Though not directed at youth per se, such systemic reforms must underpin any successful effort to relieve Egypt's youth crisis.

Recent school shooting incidents have served to highlight the social problem of lethal violence by young people in the US. While many factors need to be considered, it is argued here that broader social & economic forces (eg, poverty, inequality, & social exclusion) shape most of the problem of youth violence. These structural factors tend to foster violence indirectly through their impact on the close-in institutions of the family, school, & community. The organizing concepts of social support & informal social controls are drawn on to examine theory & research on the connections between economic inequality & social exclusion, the close-in institutions of family & community, & violent youth crime. It is argued that structural forces reduce the ability of families & communities to provide the social support & informal social control needed to prevent youth violence. Policy implications are briefly discussed. 35 References. Adapted from the source document.

Drawing on data collected from a school-based study in India, this paper adds to the scant literature on the relationship between school quality and agency and attitudes of girls and boys in secondary schools; it also explores the better-researched association between school quality and academic competencies. The study was conducted among girls and boys in Class 10 in 30 government-run secondary schools in the state of Bihar. Findings show that classroom dynamics, particularly non-discriminatory treatment by teachers and their expression of gender egalitarian attitudes positively influenced gender role attitudes and awareness of health matters among girls and boys. It also influenced their academic performance.

The International Conference on Population and Development and related resolutions have repeatedly called on governments to provide adolescents and young people with comprehensive sexuality education (CSE). Drawing from these documents, reviews and meta-analyses of program evaluations, and situation analyses, this article summarizes the elements, effectiveness, quality, and country-level coverage of CSE. Throughout, it highlights the matter of a gender and rights perspective in CSE. It presents the policy and evidence-based rationales for emphasizing gender, power, and rights within programs—including citing an analysis finding that such an approach has a greater likelihood of reducing rates of sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy—and notes a recent shift toward this approach. It discusses the logic of an "empowerment approach to CSE" that seeks to empower young people—especially girls and other marginalized young people—to see themselves and others as equal members in their relationships, able to protect their own health, and as individuals capable of engaging as active participants in society.

In this opinion piece for Think Global Health, the Population Council's Thoai Ngo, with colleagues Charlotte Brasseux, Saleh Abbas and Mingqi Song, underscore that U.S. COVID-19 data remain fragmented and incomplete at national, state and city levels, leaving "the U.S. government, health officials and the public largely in the dark about how the coronavirus is infecting and killing people in their communities." Citing their latest analysis of COVID-19 data reporting and analyses across fifty states, Washington DC, and ten major cities from December 2020, which builds on two previous analyses from May and August by the authors, they stress that the U.S. remains woefully under-equipped to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19. They outline seven tangible steps to rectify the U.S. COVID-19 data crisis and urge the new administration to invest in strengthening data systems and expertise, arming themselves and fellow health officials with insights to guide prevention and containment efforts on the local and national level.

Objective: Urban slums are at high risk of COVID-19 transmission due to the lack of basic housing, water, and sanitation, and overcrowding. No systematic surveys of slum households' experiences exist to date. Methods: A mobile phone knowledge, attitudes, and practices survey was conducted March 30-31, 2020. Participants were sampled from two study cohorts across five urban slums in Nairobi, Kenya. Findings: 2,009 individuals (63% female) participated. Knowledge of fever and cough as COVID-19 symptoms was high, but only 42% listed difficulty breathing. Most (83%) knew anyone could be infected; younger participants had lower perceived risk. High risk groups were correctly identified (the elderly - 64%; those with weak immune systems - 40%) however, 20% incorrectly stated children. Handwashing and using hand sanitizer were known prevention methods, though not having a personal water source (37%) and hand sanitizer being too expensive (53%) were barriers. Social distancing measures were challenging as 61% said this would risk income. A third worried about losing income, only 26% were concerned about infecting others if themselves sick. Government TV ads and short message service (SMS) were the most common sources of COVID-19 information and considered trustworthy (by > 95%) but were less likely to reach less educated households. Conclusion: Knowledge of COVID-19 is high; significant challenges for behavior change campaigns to reach everyone with contextually appropriate guidance remain. Government communication channels should continue with additional efforts to reach less educated households. A strategy is necessary to facilitate social distancing, handwashing and targeted distributions of cash and food.

NOTE: This article is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review. It reports new medical research that has yet to be evaluated and so should not be used to guide clinical practice. --- Background: Many low- and middle-income countries have implemented control measures against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, it is not clear to what extent these measures explain the low numbers of recorded COVID-19 cases and deaths in Africa. One of the main aims of control measures is to reduce respiratory pathogen transmission through direct contact with others. In this study we collect contact data from residents of informal settlements around Nairobi, Kenya to assess if control measures have changed contact patterns, and estimate the impact of changes on the basic reproduction number (R0). Methods: We conducted a social contact survey with 213 residents of five informal settlements around Nairobi in early May 2020, four weeks after the Kenyan government introduced enhanced physical distancing measures and a curfew between 7pm and 5am. Respondents were asked to report all direct physical and non-physical contacts made the previous day, alongside a questionnaire asking about the social and economic impact of COVID-19 and control measures. We examined contact patterns by demographic factors, including socioeconomic status. We described the impact of COVID-19 and control measures on income and food security. We compared contact patterns during control measures to patterns from non-pandemic periods to estimate the change in R0. Findings: We estimate that control measures reduced physical and non-physical contacts, reducing the R0 from around 2.6 to between 0.5 and 0.7, depending on the pre-COVID-19 comparison matrix used. Masks were worn by at least one person in 92% of contacts. Respondents in the poorest socioeconomic quintile reported 1.5 times more contacts than those in the richest. 86% of respondents reported a total or partial loss of income due to COVID-19, and 74% reported eating less or skipping ...