AbstractBackgroundThe BRANCH Consortium recently conducted 10 mixed-methods case studies to investigate the provision of health and nutrition interventions for women and children in conflict-affected countries, aiming to better understand the dominant influences on humanitarian health actors' programmatic decision-making and how such actors surmount intervention delivery barriers. In this paper, the research challenges encountered and the mitigating strategies employed by the case study investigators in four of the BRANCH case study contexts are discussed: Somalia, Mali, Pakistan and Afghanistan.DiscussionMany of the encountered research challenges were anticipated, with investigators adopting mitigation strategies in advance or early on, but others were unexpected, with implications for how studies were ultimately conducted and how well the original study aims were met. Insecurity was a fundamental challenge in all study contexts, with restricted geographical access and concerns for personal safety affecting sampling and data collection plans, and requiring reliance on digital communications, remote study management, and off-site team meetings wherever possible. The need to navigate complex local sociopolitical contexts required maximum reliance on local partners' knowledge, expertise and networks, and this was facilitated by early engagement with a wide range of local study stakeholders. Severe lack of reliable quantitative data on intervention coverage affected the extent to which information from different sources could be triangulated or integrated to inform an understanding of the influences on humanitarian actors' decision-making.ConclusionStrong local partners are essential to the success of any project, contributing not only technical and methodological capacity but also the insight needed to truly understand and interpret local dynamics for the wider study team and to navigate those dynamics to ensure study rigour and relevance. Maintaining realistic expectations of data that are typically available in conflict settings is also essential, while pushing for more resources and further methodological innovation to improve data collection in such settings. Finally, successful health research in the complex, dynamic and unpredictable contexts of conflict settings requires flexibility and adaptability of researchers, as well as sponsors and donors.
BACKGROUND: According to the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015, lower respiratory tract infection is the leading cause of infectious disease death, and the fifth most common cause of death overall. Vitamin C has a role in modulating resistance to infectious agents, therefore vitamin C supplementation may be important in preventing and treating pneumonia. OBJECTIVES: To assess the impact of vitamin C supplementation to prevent and treat pneumonia in children and adults. SEARCH METHODS: We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, CINAHL, LILACS, Web of Science, and two trials registers to 4 March 2020. We also checked references to identify additional studies. We did not apply any publication status or language filters. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi‐RCTs (studies using allocation methods that are not random, e.g. date of birth, medical record number) assessing the role of vitamin C supplementation in the prevention and treatment of pneumonia in children and adults compared to control or placebo. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We used standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane. MAIN RESULTS: We included seven studies in the review and identified two ongoing studies. The seven included studies involved a total of 2774 participants; five studies were RCTs and two were quasi‐RCTs. The included studies were conducted in high‐income countries (UK, USA and Chile) and lower‐middle‐income countries (Bangladesh and Pakistan). Four studies were conducted in hospital inpatient settings, two in schools, and one in a military training centre. Three studies included children under five years of age, two school‐aged children, one adult participants, and one older participants aged 60 to 90 years. Two studies assessed the effect of vitamin C supplementation for pneumonia prevention; four studies assessed the effect of vitamin C supplementation as an adjunct to pneumonia treatment; and one study assessed the role of vitamin C for both prevention and treatment of ...
Abstract Introduction Since decades, the health system of Afghanistan has been in disarray due to ongoing conflict. We aimed to explore the direct effects of conflict on provision of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition (RMNCAH&N) services and describe the contextual factors influencing these services.
Method We conducted a quantitative analysis of secondary data on RMNCAH&N indicators and undertook a supportive qualitative study to help understand processes and contextual factors. For quantitative analysis, we stratified the various provinces of Afghanistan into minimal-, moderate- and severe conflict categories based on battle-related deaths from Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) and through accessibility of health services using a Delphi methodology. The coverage of RMNCAH&N indicators across the continuum of care were extracted from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS). The qualitative data was captured by conducting key informant interviews of multi-sectoral stakeholders working in government, NGOs and UN agencies.
Results Comparison of various provinces based on the severity of conflict through Delphi process showed that the mean coverage of various RMNCAH&N indicators including antenatal care (OR: 0.42, 95%CI: 0.32–0.55), facility delivery (OR: 0.42, 95%CI: 0.32–0.56), skilled birth attendance (OR: 0.43, 95%CI: 0.33–0.57), DPT3 (OR: 0.26, 95% CI: 0.20–0.33) and oral rehydration therapy (OR: 0.37, 95% CI: 0.25–0.55) was significantly lower for severe conflict provinces when compared to minimal conflict provinces. The qualitative analysis identified various factors affecting decision making and service delivery including insecurity, cultural norms, unavailability of workforce, poor monitoring, lack of funds and inconsistent supplies. Other factors include weak stewardship, capacity gap at the central level and poor coordination at national, regional and district level.
Conclusion RMNCAH&N service delivery has been significantly hampered by conflict in Afghanistan over the last several years. This has been further compromised by poor infrastructure, weak stewardship and poor capacity and collaboration at all levels. With the potential of peace and conflict resolution in Afghanistan, we would underscore the importance of continued oversight and integrated implementation of sustainable, grass root RMNCAH&N services with a focus on reaching the most marginalized.
INTRODUCTION: Since decades, the health system of Afghanistan has been in disarray due to ongoing conflict. We aimed to explore the direct effects of conflict on provision of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition (RMNCAH&N) services and describe the contextual factors influencing these services. METHOD: We conducted a quantitative analysis of secondary data on RMNCAH&N indicators and undertook a supportive qualitative study to help understand processes and contextual factors. For quantitative analysis, we stratified the various provinces of Afghanistan into minimal-, moderate- and severe conflict categories based on battle-related deaths from Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) and through accessibility of health services using a Delphi methodology. The coverage of RMNCAH&N indicators across the continuum of care were extracted from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS). The qualitative data was captured by conducting key informant interviews of multi-sectoral stakeholders working in government, NGOs and UN agencies. RESULTS: Comparison of various provinces based on the severity of conflict through Delphi process showed that the mean coverage of various RMNCAH&N indicators including antenatal care (OR: 0.42, 95%CI: 0.32–0.55), facility delivery (OR: 0.42, 95%CI: 0.32–0.56), skilled birth attendance (OR: 0.43, 95%CI: 0.33–0.57), DPT3 (OR: 0.26, 95% CI: 0.20–0.33) and oral rehydration therapy (OR: 0.37, 95% CI: 0.25–0.55) was significantly lower for severe conflict provinces when compared to minimal conflict provinces. The qualitative analysis identified various factors affecting decision making and service delivery including insecurity, cultural norms, unavailability of workforce, poor monitoring, lack of funds and inconsistent supplies. Other factors include weak stewardship, capacity gap at the central level and poor coordination at national, regional and district level. CONCLUSION: RMNCAH&N service ...
Abstract Introduction In conflict affected countries, healthcare delivery remains a huge concern. Pakistan is one country engulfed with conflict spanning various areas and time spans. We aimed to explore the effect of conflict on provision of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition (RMNCAH&N) services and describe the contextual factors influencing the prioritization and implementation in conflict affected areas of Pakistan (Balochistan and FATA).
Method We conducted a secondary quantitative and a primary qualitative analysis. For the quantitative analysis, we stratified the various districts/agencies of Balochistan and FATA into the conflict categories of minimal-, moderate- and severe based on accessibility to health services through a Delphi methodology with local stakeholders and implementing agencies and also based on battle-related deaths (BRD) information from Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP). The coverage of RMNCAH&N indicators across the continuum of care were extracted from the demographic and health surveys (DHS) and district health information system (DHIS). We conducted a stratified descriptive analysis and multivariate analysis using STATA version 15. The qualitative data was captured by conducting key informant interviews of stakeholders working in government, NGOs, UN agencies and academia. All the interviews were audiotaped which were transcribed, translated, coded and analyzed on Nvivo software version 10.
Results The comparison of the various districts based on the severity of conflict through Delphi process showed that the mean coverage of various RMNCAH&N indicators in Balochistan were significantly lower in severe- conflict districts when compared to minimal conflict districts, while there was no significant difference between moderate and severe conflict areas. There was no reliable quantitative data available for FATA. Key factors identified through qualitative analysis, which affected the prioritization and delivery of services included planning at the central level, lack of coordination amongst various hierarchies of the government and various stakeholders. Other factors included unavailability of health workforce especially female workers, poor quality of healthcare services, poor data keeping and monitoring, lack of funds and inconsistent supplies. Women and child health is set at a high priority but capacity gap at service delivery, resilience from health workers, insecurity and poor infrastructure severely hampers the delivery of quality healthcare services.
Conclusion Conflict has severely hampered the delivery of health services and a wholesome effort is desired involving coordination amongst various stakeholders. The multiple barriers in conflict contexts cannot be fully mitigated, but efforts should be made to negate these as much as possible with good governance, planning, efficiency and transparency in utilization of available resources.
INTRODUCTION: In conflict affected countries, healthcare delivery remains a huge concern. Pakistan is one country engulfed with conflict spanning various areas and time spans. We aimed to explore the effect of conflict on provision of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition (RMNCAH&N) services and describe the contextual factors influencing the prioritization and implementation in conflict affected areas of Pakistan (Balochistan and FATA). METHOD: We conducted a secondary quantitative and a primary qualitative analysis. For the quantitative analysis, we stratified the various districts/agencies of Balochistan and FATA into the conflict categories of minimal-, moderate- and severe based on accessibility to health services through a Delphi methodology with local stakeholders and implementing agencies and also based on battle-related deaths (BRD) information from Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP). The coverage of RMNCAH&N indicators across the continuum of care were extracted from the demographic and health surveys (DHS) and district health information system (DHIS). We conducted a stratified descriptive analysis and multivariate analysis using STATA version 15. The qualitative data was captured by conducting key informant interviews of stakeholders working in government, NGOs, UN agencies and academia. All the interviews were audiotaped which were transcribed, translated, coded and analyzed on Nvivo software version 10. RESULTS: The comparison of the various districts based on the severity of conflict through Delphi process showed that the mean coverage of various RMNCAH&N indicators in Balochistan were significantly lower in severe- conflict districts when compared to minimal conflict districts, while there was no significant difference between moderate and severe conflict areas. There was no reliable quantitative data available for FATA. Key factors identified through qualitative analysis, which affected the prioritization and delivery of services included ...
Introduction: Since decades, the health system of Afghanistan has been in disarray due to ongoing conflict. We aimed to explore the direct effects of conflict on provision of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition (RMNCAH&N) services and describe the contextual factors influencing these services.Method: We conducted a quantitative analysis of secondary data on RMNCAH&N indicators and undertook a supportive qualitative study to help understand processes and contextual factors. For quantitative analysis, we stratified the various provinces of Afghanistan into minimal-, moderate- and severe conflict categories based on battle-related deaths from Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) and through accessibility of health services using a Delphi methodology. The coverage of RMNCAH&N indicators across the continuum of care were extracted from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS). The qualitative data was captured by conducting key informant interviews of multi-sectoral stakeholders working in government, NGOs and UN agencies.Results: Comparison of various provinces based on the severity of conflict through Delphi process showed that the mean coverage of various RMNCAH&N indicators including antenatal care (OR: 0.42, 95%CI: 0.32-0.55), facility delivery (OR: 0.42, 95%CI: 0.32-0.56), skilled birth attendance (OR: 0.43, 95%CI: 0.33-0.57), DPT3 (OR: 0.26, 95% CI: 0.20-0.33) and oral rehydration therapy (OR: 0.37, 95% CI: 0.25-0.55) was significantly lower for severe conflict provinces when compared to minimal conflict provinces. The qualitative analysis identified various factors affecting decision making and service delivery including insecurity, cultural norms, unavailability of workforce, poor monitoring, lack of funds and inconsistent supplies. Other factors include weak stewardship, capacity gap at the central level and poor coordination at national, regional and district level.Conclusion: RMNCAH&N service delivery has been significantly hampered by conflict in Afghanistan over the last several years. This has been further compromised by poor infrastructure, weak stewardship and poor capacity and collaboration at all levels. With the potential of peace and conflict resolution in Afghanistan, we would underscore the importance of continued oversight and integrated implementation of sustainable, grass root RMNCAH&N services with a focus on reaching the most marginalized.
Introduction: In conflict affected countries, healthcare delivery remains a huge concern. Pakistan is one country engulfed with conflict spanning various areas and time spans. We aimed to explore the effect of conflict on provision of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition (RMNCAH&N) services and describe the contextual factors influencing the prioritization and implementation in conflict affected areas of Pakistan (Balochistan and FATA).Method: We conducted a secondary quantitative and a primary qualitative analysis. For the quantitative analysis, we stratified the various districts/agencies of Balochistan and FATA into the conflict categories of minimal-, moderate- and severe based on accessibility to health services through a Delphi methodology with local stakeholders and implementing agencies and also based on battle-related deaths (BRD) information from Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP). The coverage of RMNCAH&N indicators across the continuum of care were extracted from the demographic and health surveys (DHS) and district health information system (DHIS). We conducted a stratified descriptive analysis and multivariate analysis using STATA version 15. The qualitative data was captured by conducting key informant interviews of stakeholders working in government, NGOs, UN agencies and academia. All the interviews were audiotaped which were transcribed, translated, coded and analyzed on Nvivo software version 10.Results: The comparison of the various districts based on the severity of conflict through Delphi process showed that the mean coverage of various RMNCAH&N indicators in Balochistan were significantly lower in severe- conflict districts when compared to minimal conflict districts, while there was no significant difference between moderate and severe conflict areas. There was no reliable quantitative data available for FATA. Key factors identified through qualitative analysis, which affected the prioritization and delivery of services included planning at the central level, lack of coordination amongst various hierarchies of the government and various stakeholders. Other factors included unavailability of health workforce especially female workers, poor quality of healthcare services, poor data keeping and monitoring, lack of funds and inconsistent supplies. Women and child health is set at a high priority but capacity gap at service delivery, resilience from health workers, insecurity and poor infrastructure severely hampers the delivery of quality healthcare services.Conclusion: Conflict has severely hampered the delivery of health services and a wholesome effort is desired involving coordination amongst various stakeholders. The multiple barriers in conflict contexts cannot be fully mitigated, but efforts should be made to negate these as much as possible with good governance, planning, efficiency and transparency in utilization of available resources.
Public–private partnerships are an effective way to address the global double burden of malnutrition. While public–private partnerships operate in multiple forms, their leadership usually falls to governments, public health agencies, or nongovernmental organizations, with the private sector taking a subordinate role. The rapid ascent of social media and mass communications worldwide has provided a disruptive technology for new nutrition intervention programs. A new model, provisionally called private–public engagement, takes advantage of social media, mass media, and integrated social marketing to reach parents, families, and communities directly. These new private–public engagement initiatives need to be managed in ways suggested for public–private partnerships by the World Health Organization, especially if the private sector is in the lead. Once the rationale for engagement is defined, there is a need to mobilize resources, establish in-country partnerships and codes of conduct, and provide a plan for monitoring, evaluation, and accountability. Provided here is an example consistent with the private–public engagement approach, ie, the United for Healthier Kids program, which has been aimed at families with children aged less than 12 years. Materials to inspire behavioral change and promote healthier diets and lifestyle were disseminated in a number of countries through both digital and physical channels, often in partnership with local or regional governments. A description of this program, along with strategies to promote transparency and communication among stakeholders, serves to provide guidance for the development of future effective private–public engagements.
Public-private partnerships are an effective way to address the global double burden of malnutrition. While public-private partnerships operate in multiple forms, their leadership usually falls to governments, public health agencies, or nongovernmental organizations, with the private sector taking a subordinate role. The rapid ascent of social media and mass communications worldwide has provided a disruptive technology for new nutrition intervention programs. A new model, provisionally called private-public engagement, takes advantage of social media, mass media, and integrated social marketing to reach parents, families, and communities directly. These new private-public engagement initiatives need to be managed in ways suggested for public-private partnerships by the World Health Organization, especially if the private sector is in the lead. Once the rationale for engagement is defined, there is a need to mobilize resources, establish in-country partnerships and codes of conduct, and provide a plan for monitoring, evaluation, and accountability. Provided here is an example consistent with the private-public engagement approach, ie, the United for Healthier Kids program, which has been aimed at families with children aged less than 12 years. Materials to inspire behavioral change and promote healthier diets and lifestyle were disseminated in a number of countries through both digital and physical channels, often in partnership with local or regional governments. A description of this program, along with strategies to promote transparency and communication among stakeholders, serves to provide guidance for the development of future effective private-public engagements.
Armed conflict disproportionately affects the morbidity, mortality, and wellbeing of women, newborns, children, and adolescents. Our study presents insights from a collection of ten country case studies aiming to assess the provision of sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health and nutrition interventions in ten conflict-affected settings in Afghanistan, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. We found that despite large variations in contexts and decision making processes, antenatal care, basic emergency obstetric and newborn care, comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care, immunisation, treatment of common childhood illnesses, infant and young child feeding, and malnutrition treatment and screening were prioritised in these ten conflict settings. Many lifesaving women's and children's health (WCH) services, including the majority of reproductive, newborn, and adolescent health services, are not reported as being delivered in the ten conflict settings, and interventions to address stillbirths are absent. International donors remain the primary drivers of influencing the what, where, and how of implementing WCH interventions. Interpretation of WCH outcomes in conflict settings are particularly context-dependent given the myriad of complex factors that constitute conflict and their interactions. Moreover, the comprehensiveness and quality of data remain limited in conflict settings. The dynamic nature of modern conflict and the expanding role of non-state armed groups in large geographic areas pose new challenges to delivering WCH services. However, the humanitarian system is creative and pluralistic and has developed some novel solutions to bring lifesaving WCH services closer to populations using new modes of delivery. These solutions, when rigorously evaluated, can represent concrete response to current implementation challenges to modern armed conflicts.
Publisher's version (útgefin grein) ; Background In an era of shifting global agendas and expanded emphasis on non-communicable diseases and injuries along with communicable diseases, sound evidence on trends by cause at the national level is essential. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) provides a systematic scientific assessment of published, publicly available, and contributed data on incidence, prevalence, and mortality for a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of diseases and injuries. Methods GBD estimates incidence, prevalence, mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) due to 369 diseases and injuries, for two sexes, and for 204 countries and territories. Input data were extracted from censuses, household surveys, civil registration and vital statistics, disease registries, health service use, air pollution monitors, satellite imaging, disease notifications, and other sources. Cause-specific death rates and cause fractions were calculated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model and spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression. Cause-specific deaths were adjusted to match the total all-cause deaths calculated as part of the GBD population, fertility, and mortality estimates. Deaths were multiplied by standard life expectancy at each age to calculate YLLs. A Bayesian meta-regression modelling tool, DisMod-MR 2.1, was used to ensure consistency between incidence, prevalence, remission, excess mortality, and cause-specific mortality for most causes. Prevalence estimates were multiplied by disability weights for mutually exclusive sequelae of diseases and injuries to calculate YLDs. We considered results in the context of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income per capita, years of schooling, and fertility rate in females younger than 25 years. Uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated for every metric using the 25th and 975th ordered 1000 draw values of the posterior distribution. Findings Global health has steadily improved over the past 30 years as measured by age-standardised DALY rates. After taking into account population growth and ageing, the absolute number of DALYs has remained stable. Since 2010, the pace of decline in global age-standardised DALY rates has accelerated in age groups younger than 50 years compared with the 1990-2010 time period, with the greatest annualised rate of decline occurring in the 0-9-year age group. Six infectious diseases were among the top ten causes of DALYs in children younger than 10 years in 2019: lower respiratory infections (ranked second), diarrhoeal diseases (third), malaria (fifth), meningitis (sixth), whooping cough (ninth), and sexually transmitted infections (which, in this age group, is fully accounted for by congenital syphilis; ranked tenth). In adolescents aged 10-24 years, three injury causes were among the top causes of DALYs: road injuries (ranked first), self-harm (third), and interpersonal violence (fifth). Five of the causes that were in the top ten for ages 10-24 years were also in the top ten in the 25-49-year age group: road injuries (ranked first), HIV/AIDS (second), low back pain (fourth), headache disorders (fifth), and depressive disorders (sixth). In 2019, ischaemic heart disease and stroke were the top-ranked causes of DALYs in both the 50-74-year and 75-years-and-older age groups. Since 1990, there has been a marked shift towards a greater proportion of burden due to YLDs from non-communicable diseases and injuries. In 2019, there were 11 countries where non-communicable disease and injury YLDs constituted more than half of all disease burden. Decreases in age-standardised DALY rates have accelerated over the past decade in countries at the lower end of the SDI range, while improvements have started to stagnate or even reverse in countries with higher SDI. Interpretation As disability becomes an increasingly large component of disease burden and a larger component of health expenditure, greater research and development investment is needed to identify new, more effective intervention strategies. With a rapidly ageing global population, the demands on health services to deal with disabling outcomes, which increase with age, will require policy makers to anticipate these changes. The mix of universal and more geographically specific influences on health reinforces the need for regular reporting on population health in detail and by underlying cause to help decision makers to identify success stories of disease control to emulate, as well as opportunities to improve. Copyright (C) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. ; Research reported in this publication was supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; the University of Melbourne; Queensland Department of Health, Australia; the National Health and Medical Research Council, Australia; Public Health England; the Norwegian Institute of Public Health; St Jude Children's Research Hospital; the Cardiovascular Medical Research and Education Fund; the National Institute on Ageing of the National Institutes of Health (award P30AG047845); and the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health (award R01MH110163). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funders. The authors alone are responsible for the views expressed in this Article and they do not necessarily represent the views, decisions, or policies of the institutions with which they are affiliated, the National Health Service (NHS), the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the UK Department of Health and Social Care, or Public Health England; the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the US Government, or MEASURE Evaluation; or the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). This research used data from the Chile National Health Survey 2003, 2009-10, and 2016-17. The authors are grateful to the Ministry of Health, the survey copyright owner, for allowing them to have the database. All results of the study are those of the authors and in no way committed to the Ministry. The Costa Rican Longevity and Healthy Aging Study project is a longitudinal study by the University of Costa Rica's Centro Centroamericano de Poblacion and Instituto de Investigaciones en Salud, in collaboration with the University of California at Berkeley. The original pre-1945 cohort was funded by the Wellcome Trust (grant 072406), and the 1945-55 Retirement Cohort was funded by the US National Institute on Aging (grant R01AG031716). The principal investigators are Luis Rosero-Bixby and William H Dow and co-principal investigators are Xinia Fernandez and Gilbert Brenes. The accuracy of the authors' statistical analysis and the findings they report are not the responsibility of ECDC. ECDC is not responsible for conclusions or opinions drawn from the data provided. ECDC is not responsible for the correctness of the data and for data management, data merging and data collation after provision of the data. ECDC shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data. The Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) study is an international study carried out in collaboration with WHO/EURO. The international coordinator of the 1997-98, 2001-02, 2005-06, and 2009-10 surveys was Candace Currie and the databank manager for the 1997-98 survey was Bente Wold, whereas for the following surveys Oddrun Samdal was the databank manager. A list of principal investigators in each country can be found on the HBSC website. Data used in this paper come from the 2009-10 Ghana Socioeconomic Panel Study Survey, which is a nationally representative survey of more than 5000 households in Ghana. The survey is a joint effort undertaken by the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) at the University of Ghana and the Economic Growth Centre (EGC) at Yale University. It was funded by EGC. ISSER and the EGC are not responsible for the estimations reported by the analysts. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics granted the researchers access to relevant data in accordance with license number SLN2014-3-170, after subjecting data to processing aiming to preserve the confidentiality of individual data in accordance with the General Statistics Law, 2000. The researchers are solely responsible for the conclusions and inferences drawn upon available data. Data for this research was provided by MEASURE Evaluation, funded by USAID. The authors thank the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey, conducted by the National Research University Higher School of Economics and ZAO Demoscope together with Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Institute of Sociology, Russia Academy of Sciences for making data available. This paper uses data from the Bhutan 2014 STEPS survey, implemented by the Ministry of Health with the support of WHO; the Kuwait 2006 and 2014 STEPS surveys, implemented by the Ministry of Health with the support of WHO; the Libya 2009 STEPS survey, implemented by the Secretariat of Health and Environment with the support of WHO; the Malawi 2009 STEPS survey, implemented by Ministry of Health with the support of WHO; and the Moldova 2013 STEPS survey, implemented by the Ministry of Health, the National Bureau of Statistics, and the National Center of Public Health with the support of WHO. This paper uses data from Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) Waves 1 (DOI:10.6103/SHARE. w1.700), 2 (10.6103/SHARE.w2.700), 3 (10.6103/SHARE.w3.700), 4 (10.6103/SHARE.w4.700), 5 (10.6103/SHARE.w5.700), 6 (10.6103/SHARE.w6.700), and 7 (10.6103/SHARE.w7.700); see Borsch-Supan and colleagues (2013) for methodological details. The SHARE data collection has been funded by the European Commission through FP5 (QLK6-CT-2001-00360), FP6 (SHARE-I3: RII-CT-2006-062193, COMPARE: CIT5-CT-2005-028857, SHARELIFE: CIT4-CT-2006-028812), FP7 (SHARE-PREP: GA N degrees 211909, SHARE-LEAP: GA N degrees 227822, SHARE M4: GA N degrees 261982) and Horizon 2020 (SHARE-DEV3: GA N degrees 676536, SERISS: GA N degrees 654221) and by DG Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion. Additional funding from the German Ministry of Education and Research, the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science, the US National Institute on Aging (U01_AG09740-13S2, P01_AG005842, P01_AG08291, P30_AG12815, R21_AG025169, Y1-AG-4553-01, IAG_BSR06-11, OGHA_04-064, HHSN271201300071C), and from various national funding sources is gratefully acknowledged. This study has been realised using the data collected by the Swiss Household Panel, which is based at the Swiss Centre of Expertise in the Social Sciences. The project is financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation. The United States Aging, Demographics, and Memory Study is a supplement to the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), which is sponsored by the National Institute of Aging (grant number NIA U01AG009740). It was conducted jointly by Duke University and the University of Michigan. The HRS is sponsored by the National Institute on Aging (grant number NIA U01AG009740) and is conducted by the University of Michigan. This paper uses data from Add Health, a program project designed by J Richard Udry, Peter S Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris, and funded by a grant P01-HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 17 other agencies. Special acknowledgment is due to Ronald R Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Information on how to obtain the Add Health data files is available on the Add Health website. No direct support was received from grant P01-HD31921 for this analysis. The data reported here have been supplied by the United States Renal Data System. The interpretation and reporting of these data are the responsibility of the authors and in no way should be seen as an official policy or interpretation of the US Government. Collection of data for the Mozambique National Survey on the Causes of Death 2007-08 was made possible by USAID under the terms of cooperative agreement GPO-A-00-08-000_D3-00. This manuscript is based on data collected and shared by the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) from an original study IVI conducted. L G Abreu acknowledges support from Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (Brazil; finance code 001) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq, a Brazilian funding agency). I N Ackerman was supported by a Victorian Health and Medical Research Fellowship awarded by the Victorian Government. O O Adetokunboh acknowledges the South African Department of Science and Innovation and the National Research Foundation. A Agrawal acknowledges the Wellcome Trust DBT India Alliance Senior Fellowship. S M Aljunid acknowledges the Department of Health Policy and Management, Faculty of Public Health, Kuwait University and International Centre for Casemix and Clinical Coding, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Malaysia for the approval and support to participate in this research project. M Ausloos, C Herteliu, and A Pana acknowledge partial support by a grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research and Innovation, CNDS-UEFISCDI, project number PN-III-P4-ID-PCCF-2016-0084. A Badawi is supported by the Public Health Agency of Canada. D A Bennett was supported by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre. R Bourne acknowledges the Brien Holden Vision Institute, University of Heidelberg, Sightsavers, Fred Hollows Foundation, and Thea Foundation. G B Britton and I Moreno Velasquez were supported by the Sistema Nacional de Investigacion, SNI-SENACYT, Panama. R Buchbinder was supported by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Senior Principal Research Fellowship. J J Carrero was supported by the Swedish Research Council (2019-01059). F Carvalho acknowledges UID/MULTI/04378/2019 and UID/QUI/50006/2019 support with funding from FCT/MCTES through national funds. A R Chang was supported by National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases grant K23 DK106515. V M Costa acknowledges the grant SFRH/BHD/110001/2015, received by Portuguese national funds through Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia, IP, under the Norma Transitaria DL57/2016/CP1334/CT0006. A Douiri acknowledges support and funding from the National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care South London at King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the Royal College of Physicians, and support from the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre based at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London. B B Duncan acknowledges grants from the Foundation for the Support of Research of the State of Rio Grande do Sul (IATS and PrInt) and the Brazilian Ministry of Health. H E Erskine is the recipient of an Australian NHMRC Early Career Fellowship grant (APP1137969). A J Ferrari was supported by a NHMRC Early Career Fellowship grant (APP1121516). H E Erskine and A J Ferrari are employed by and A M Mantilla-Herrera and D F Santomauro affiliated with the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, which receives core funding from the Queensland Department of Health. M L Ferreira holds an NHMRC Research Fellowship. C Flohr was supported by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre based at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. M Freitas acknowledges financial support from the EU (European Regional Development Fund [FEDER] funds through COMPETE POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029248) and National Funds (Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia) through project PTDC/NAN-MAT/29248/2017. A L S Guimaraes acknowledges support from CNPq. C Herteliu was partially supported by a grant co-funded by FEDER through Operational Competitiveness Program (project ID P_40_382). P Hoogar acknowledges Centre for Bio Cultural Studies, Directorate of Research, Manipal Academy of Higher Education and Centre for Holistic Development and Research, Kalaghatagi. F N Hugo acknowledges the Visiting Professorship, PRINT Program, CAPES Foundation, Brazil. B-F Hwang was supported by China Medical University (CMU107-Z-04), Taichung, Taiwan. S M S Islam was funded by a National Heart Foundation Senior Research Fellowship and supported by Deakin University. R Q Ivers was supported by a research fellowship from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. M Jakovljevic acknowledges the Serbian part of this GBD-related contribution was co-funded through Grant OI175014 of the Ministry of Education Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia. P Jeemon was supported by a Clinical and Public Health intermediate fellowship (grant number IA/CPHI/14/1/501497) from the Wellcome Trust-Department of Biotechnology, India Alliance (2015-20). O John is a recipient of UIPA scholarship from University of New South Wales, Sydney. S V Katikireddi acknowledges funding from a NRS Senior Clinical Fellowship (SCAF/15/02), the Medical Research Council (MC_UU_12017/13, MC_UU_12017/15), and the Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office (SPHSU13, SPHSU15). C Kieling is a CNPq researcher and a UK Academy of Medical Sciences Newton Advanced Fellow. Y J Kim was supported by Research Management Office, Xiamen University Malaysia (XMUMRF/2018-C2/ITCM/00010). K Krishan is supported by UGC Centre of Advanced Study awarded to the Department of Anthropology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India. M Kumar was supported by K43 TW 010716 FIC/NIMH. B Lacey acknowledges support from the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre and the BHF Centre of Research Excellence, Oxford. J V Lazarus was supported by a Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities Miguel Servet grant (Instituto de Salud Carlos III [ISCIII]/ESF, the EU [CP18/00074]). K J Looker thanks the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Evaluation of Interventions at the University of Bristol, in partnership with Public Health England, for research support. S Lorkowski was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (nutriCARD, grant agreement number 01EA1808A). R A Lyons is supported by Health Data Research UK (HDR-9006), which is funded by the UK Medical Research Council, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Economic and Social Research Council, NIHR (England), Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates, Health and Social Care Research and Development Division (Welsh Government), Public Health Agency (Northern Ireland), British Heart Foundation, and Wellcome Trust. J J McGrath is supported by the Danish National Research Foundation (Niels Bohr Professorship), and the Queensland Health Department (via West Moreton HHS). P T N Memiah acknowledges support from CODESRIA. U O Mueller gratefully acknowledges funding by the German National Cohort Study BMBF grant number 01ER1801D. S Nomura acknowledges the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan (18K10082). A Ortiz was supported by ISCIII PI19/00815, DTS18/00032, ISCIII-RETIC REDinREN RD016/0009 Fondos FEDER, FRIAT, Comunidad de Madrid B2017/BMD-3686 CIFRA2-CM. These funding sources had no role in the writing of the manuscript or the decision to submit it for publication. S B Patten was supported by the Cuthbertson & Fischer Chair in Pediatric Mental Health at the University of Calgary. G C Patton was supported by an aNHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellowship. M R Phillips was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, number 81371502 and 81761128031). A Raggi, D Sattin, and S Schiavolin were supported by grants from the Italian Ministry of Health (Ricerca Corrente, Fondazione Istituto Neurologico C Besta, Linea 4-Outcome Research: dagli Indicatori alle Raccomandazioni Cliniche). P Rathi and B Unnikrishnan acknowledge Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal. A L P Ribeiro was supported by Brazilian National Research Council, CNPq, and the Minas Gerais State Research Agency, FAPEMIG. D C Ribeiro was supported by The Sir Charles Hercus Health Research Fellowship (#18/111) Health Research Council of New Zealand. D Ribeiro acknowledges financial support from the EU (FEDER funds through the Operational Competitiveness Program; POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029253). P S Sachdev acknowledges funding from the NHMRC of Australia Program Grant. A M Samy was supported by a fellowship from the Egyptian Fulbright Mission Program. M M Santric-Milicevic acknowledges the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (contract number 175087). R Sarmiento-Suarez received institutional support from Applied and Environmental Sciences University (Bogota, Colombia) and ISCIII (Madrid, Spain). A E Schutte received support from the South African National Research Foundation SARChI Initiative (GUN 86895) and Medical Research Council. S T S Skou is currently funded by a grant from Region Zealand (Exercise First) and a grant from the European Research Council under the EU's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement number 801790). J B Soriano is funded by Centro de Investigacion en Red de Enfermedades Respiratorias, ISCIII. R Tabares-Seisdedos was supported in part by the national grant PI17/00719 from ISCIII-FEDER. N Taveira was partially supported by the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership, the EU (LIFE project, reference RIA2016MC-1615). S Tyrovolas was supported by the Foundation for Education and European Culture, the Sara Borrell postdoctoral programme (reference number CD15/00019 from ISCIII-FEDER). S B Zaman received a scholarship from the Australian Government research training programme in support of his academic career. ; "Peer Reviewed"