Japan International Cooperation Agency

About: Japan International Cooperation Agency is a government organization based out in Tokyo, Japan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Public health. The organization has 555 authors who have published 613 publications receiving 9536 citations.

Home-based records for poor mothers and children in Afghanistan, a cross sectional population based study.

Abstract: No studies have examined distribution, retention and use of maternal and child health (MCH) home-based records (HBRs) in the poorest women in low income countries. Our primary objective was to compare distribution of the new Afghanistan MCH HBR (the MCH handbook) to the poorest women (quintiles 1–2) with the least poor women (quintiles 3–5). Secondary objectives were to assess distribution, retention and use of the handbook across wealth, education, age and parity strata. This was a population based cross sectional study set in Kama and Mirbachakot districts of Afghanistan from August 2017 to April 2018. Women were eligible to be part of the study if they had a child born in the last 6 months. Multivariable logistic regression models were constructed to adjust for clustering by district and potential confounders decided a priori (maternal education, maternal age, parity, age of child, sex of child) and to calculate adjusted odds ratios (aOR), 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) and corresponding p values. Principal components analysis was used to create the wealth quintiles using standard methods. Wealth categories were ‘poorest’ (quintiles 1,2) and ‘least poor’ (quintiles 3,4,5). 1728/1943 (88.5%) mothers received a handbook. The poorest women (633, 88.8%) had similar odds of receiving a handbook compared to the least poor (990, 91.7%) (aOR 1.26, 95%CI [0.91–1.77], p value 0.165). Education status (aOR 1.03, 95%CI [0.63–1.68], p value 0.903) and age (aOR 1.39, 95%CI [0.68–2.84], p value 0.369) had little effect. Multiparous women (1371, 91.5%) had a higher odds than primiparous women (252, 85.7%) (aOR 1.83, 95%CI [1.16–2.87], p value 0.009). Use of the handbook by health providers and mothers was similar across quintiles. Ten (0.5%) women reported that they received a book but then lost it. We were able to achieve almost universal coverage of our new MCH HBR in our study area in Afghanistan. The handbook will be scaled up over the next three years across all of Afghanistan and will include close monitoring and assessment of coverage and use by all families.

The Institutional Prospects of Cross-Border Higher Education for East Asian Regional Integration: An Analysis of the JICA Survey of Leading Universities in East Asia

Abstract: This chapter deals with the institutional prospects of cross-border higher education for East Asian regional integration, using an analysis of the JICA survey of leading universities in East Asia as the basis for their observations The authors note that governments, higher educational institutions, international organizations, and international university associations are all discussing the construction of a new East Asian collaborative higher education framework as well as fostering the cross-border activities within East Asia They examine universities’ responses to the activeness of their cross-border activities, the significance of their expected outcomes, and the preferences of their region of partners and then attempt to project the directions of a future East Asian regional higher education framework

Understanding mSOS: A qualitative study examining the implementation of a text-messaging outbreak alert system in rural Kenya.

Abstract: Outbreaks of epidemic diseases pose serious public health risks. To overcome the hurdles of sub-optimal disease surveillance reporting from the health facilities to relevant authorities, the Ministry of Health in Kenya piloted mSOS (mobile SMS-based disease outbreak alert system) in 2013–2014. In this paper, we report the results of the qualitative study, which examined factors that influence the performances of mSOS implementation. In-depth interviews were conducted with 11 disease surveillance coordinators and 32 in-charges of rural health facilities that took part in the mSOS intervention. Drawing from the framework analysis, dominant themes that emerged from the interviews are presented. All participants voiced their excitement in using mSOS. The results showed that the technology was well accepted, easy to use, and both health workers and managers unanimously recommended the scale-up of the system despite challenges encountered in the implementation processes. The most challenging components were the context in which mSOS was implemented, including the lack of strong existing structure for continuous support supervision, feedback and response action related to disease surveillance. The study revealed broader health systems issues that should be addressed prior to and during the intervention scale-up.