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The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) goal to end the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic as a public health threat by 2030 emphasises the importance of leaving no one behind. To determine progress towards the elimination goal in Ghana, an in-depth understanding of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) care from the perspective of vulnerable populations such as persons living with HIV in incarceration is necessary. This study aims to explore the experiences of incarcerated individuals living with HIV (ILHIV) and on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in selected Ghanaian prisons to help inform policy.

The study adopted a qualitative approach involving in-depth interviews with 16 purposively selected ILHIV on ART from purposively selected prisons. Interviews were conducted between October and December 2022. Thematic analysis was performed using the ATLAS.Ti software.

Three themes were generated from the analysis: waking up to a positive HIV status; living with HIV a day at a time; and being my brother’s keeper: preventing HIV transmission. All participants underwent HIV screening at the various prisons. ILHIV also had access to ART although those on remand had challenges with refills. Stigma perpetuated by incarcerated individuals against those with HIV existed, and experiences of inadequate nutrition among incarcerated individuals on ART were reported. Opportunities to improve the experiences of the ILHIV are required to improve care and reduce morbidity and mortality.

Through first-hand experiences from ILHIV in prisons, this study provides the perception of incarcerated individuals on HIV care in prisons. The insights gained from this study can contribute to the development of targeted interventions and strategies to improve HIV care and support for incarcerated individuals.

Drug use in prisons remains a public health concern because it is often the place of drug initiation. The purpose of this study was to analyze the drug use in prison in Burkina Faso.

We conducted cross-sectional study in the prison of Ouagadougou. The adult prisoners (male and female) incarcerated for more than one month at the largest prison of Burkina Faso were included in the study. Participants were selected using a systematic random sampling. Data were collected from October 28 to November 26, 2018. The face-to-face interviews were conducted in the prison grounds. Logistic multivariate regression was used to identify factors associated with in prison drug use. All analysis was done using Stata.

A total of 379 prisoners were included in this study. Approximately one-third inmates (32.71%; n = 124) experienced illicit drug in lifetime. Nearly one-third (28.76%; n = 109) of the prisoners were drug users before incarceration and 11.87% (n = 45) used drug inside the prison, of which 33.33% (n = 15) initiated drug use in the prison. Cannabis was the first drug used by the prisoners (71.11%) followed by tramadol (62.22%), diazepam (13.33%) and cocaine (2.22%). Four prisoners (3.63%) had reported Heroin use before incarceration. Cannabis was mainly smoked. Tramadol, diazepam and amphetamines were swallowed or mixed with food. Cocaine is smoked and snorted. Case of injection of cocaine and heroin was reported before incarceration. Main factors independently associated with drug use in prison is drug use before prison and young age of inmates. Indeed, inmates who had reported drug use before prison had 4.01 time {adjusted odd ratio (AOR: 4.01 [95% CI: 1.91–8.41])} higher odds to use drug in prison.

To conduct the interviews in the prison grounds could be a limitation due to social desirability bias. Indeed, the prisoners may understate drug use in prison for the fear of likely additional sentence. Availability of biological tests for drug markers might help addressed this bias. Nevertheless, the findings of this study should help to plan effective drug use prevention and care programs for prisoners.

The actions must include the implementation of a medical and psychological care in continuum of healthcare system in Burkina Faso. This system should include screening at entry and adequate health and psychological care in prison for drug users for an effective control of drugs use in prison.

Most of these drug users in prison have a low level of education and are unemployed. Education activities and training on occupational activities to prepare drug users for a successful social reintegration less dependent on drugs is essential. This study can be a basis to explore more possibilities and find out what is available to help those with substance use disorder, manage these cases in prison and prevent relapse on release.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first study on drug use in prison in Burkina Faso. It indicates that the repressive strategy against drug use seems ineffective because former users continue their consumption inside and also new users are initiated to use drugs in prison.

This study aims to examine the perceptions and evaluations of Muslim COVID-19 survivors and health workers regarding the halal, business and ethical attributes of hospitals during their interactions related to COVID-19 treatment.

Descriptive qualitative research with semi-structured online interviews was used to gather insights from COVID-19 survivors and health workers who treated COVID-19 patients. The findings were then compared with existing literature on hospital services and Sharia attributes.

The study found that patients and health-care workers in hospitals are concerned about whether the hospital follows Sharia law, the quality of health-care and hospital services and the ethical conduct of hospital staff. This is especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic, when patients are more anxious about religious conduct and the afterlife.

Hospitals need to address halal attributes in all aspects of their services for Muslim patients and business attributes such as standard health-care quality, service quality and ethical attributes. Participants indicated that when these needs are met, they are more likely to revisit the hospital and recommend it to others.

This study contributes to understanding the expectations of Muslim patients regarding hospital services that meet Islamic ethical and business requirements. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study broadens the understanding of how to better serve Muslim customers.

Recently, powerful instruments for biomedical engineering research studies, including disease modeling, drug designing and nano-drug delivering, have been extremely investigated by researchers. Particularly, investigation in various microfluidics techniques and novel biomedical approaches for microfluidic-based substrate have progressed in recent years, and therefore, various cell culture platforms have been manufactured for these types of approaches. These microinstruments, known as tissue chip platforms, mimic in vivo living tissue and exhibit more physiologically similar vitro models of human tissues. Using lab-on-a-chip technologies in vitro cell culturing quickly caused in optimized systems of tissues compared to static culture. These chipsets prepare cell culture media to mimic physiological reactions and behaviors.

The authors used the application of lab chip instruments as a versatile tool for point of health-care (PHC) applications, and the authors applied a current progress in various platforms toward biochip DNA sensors as an alternative to the general bio electrochemical sensors. Basically, optical sensing is related to the intercalation between glass surfaces containing biomolecules with fluorescence and, subsequently, its reflected light that arises from the characteristics of the chemical agents. Recently, various techniques using optical fiber have progressed significantly, and researchers apply highlighted remarks and future perspectives of these kinds of platforms for PHC applications.

The authors assembled several microfluidic chips through cell culture and immune-fluorescent, as well as using microscopy measurement and image analysis for RNA sequencing. By this work, several chip assemblies were fabricated, and the application of the fluidic routing mechanism enables us to provide chip-to-chip communication with a variety of tissue-on-a-chip. By lab-on-a-chip techniques, the authors exhibited that coating the cell membrane via poly-dopamine and collagen was the best cell membrane coating due to the monolayer growth and differentiation of the cell types during the differentiation period. The authors found the artificial membrane, through coating with Collagen-A, has improved the growth of mouse podocytes cells-5 compared with the fibronectin-coated membrane.

The authors could distinguish the differences across the patient cohort when they used a collagen-coated microfluidic chip. For instance, von Willebrand factor, a blood glycoprotein that promotes hemostasis, can be identified and measured through these type-coated microfluidic chips.

A direct correlation exists between waste disposal, disease spread and public health. This article systematically reviewed healthcare waste and its implication for public health. This review identified and described the associations and impact of waste disposal on public health.

This paper systematically reviewed the literature on waste disposal and its implications for public health by searching Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA), PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and ScienceDirect databases. Of a total of 1,583 studies, 59 articles were selected and reviewed.

The review revealed the spread of infectious diseases and environmental degradation as the most typical implications of improper waste disposal to public health. The impact of waste includes infectious diseases such as cholera, Hepatitis B, respiratory problems, food and metal poisoning, skin infections, and bacteremia, and environmental degradation such as land, water, and air pollution, flooding, drainage obstruction, climate change, and harm to marine and wildlife.

Infectious diseases such as cholera, hepatitis B, respiratory problems, food and metal poisoning, skin infections, bacteremia and environmental degradation such as land, water, and air pollution, flooding, drainage obstruction, climate change, and harm to marine and wildlife are some of the public impacts of improper waste disposal.

Healthcare industry waste is a significant waste that can harm the environment and public health if not properly collected, stored, treated, managed and disposed of. There is a need for knowledge and skills applicable to proper healthcare waste disposal and management. Policies must be developed to implement appropriate waste management to prevent public health threats.

This study aims to investigate whether the presence of women in the boardroom influences companies’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. Furthermore, it examines whether the COVID-19 pandemic and family control affect the relationship.

This study uses nonfinancial firms listed on the Indonesia and Malaysia Stock Exchange during 2018-2021. Thomson Reuters’ database is used to collect the ESG scores. Using 312 firm-year observations, the authors apply multiple regressions and sensitivity testing to ensure the robustness of the results.

This study provides empirical evidence that the presence of women in the boardroom improves companies’ ESG and family control weakens the relationship. Meanwhile, there is no support on the moderating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors also conducted additional tests using ESG pillars (i.e. environment, social and governance pillars) as the dependent variable. The findings are robust to alternative samplings.

This research is limited to Indonesia and Malaysia, thus affecting the generalizability of the results to all developing countries. The sample size is relatively small due to data limitations related to the availability of ESG scores.

The findings of this study provide a basis for the government to establish mandatory regulations regarding sustainability performance. The positive relationship between women on boards and better ESG performance suggests that encouraging gender diversity in corporate leadership can improve sustainability practices. The government may consider implementing gender quota regulations to increase women's representation on corporate boards.

Shareholders can pursue investment portfolios in socially responsible companies, prioritizing ESG performance. In addition, investors should consider the presence of women in the company’s boardroom and whether family control exists when making investment decisions.

Overall, the originality and significance of this research lie in its comprehensive examination of the moderating factors, the inclusion of different governance systems in the sample, and the exploration of psychological aspects, contributing to a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the relationship between women on boards and ESG performance in the context of developing countries.

This study aims to assess dietary choices of pregnant women and its relationship with their anaemia status.

A mixed-method study comprising a survey and three focus group discussions (FGDs). The survey included 380 adult pregnant women with data collected on food choices, preferences and haemoglobin (Hb) status.

More than 50% of women in the study had Hb concentration < 11.0 g/dl; mean Hb was 10.24 g/dl (SD = 1.59). Univariate analysis was used to generate descriptive tabulations for socio-demographic characteristics of respondents, dietary choices for women and anaemia status. T-test and bivariate analysis between dietary diversity score of the women among the food groups consumed as well as their anaemia (Hb) status. This showed that women with high dietary diversity score had improved Hb status (P = 0.003), and those who consumed meat and fish as well as dark leafy vegetables had significantly high diversity scores (P = 0.031 and P = 0.049). Thematic analysis was used for analysing qualitative data.

The sample used in the study is unlikely to be fully representative of pregnant women in the Accra Metropolis. In addition, this study used a cross-sectional study design, making it difficult to establish causal associations between nutritional status and food choice of pregnant women. It does not also show variation in dietary practices by seasons of the year. The scope of the study did not allow for a detailed analysis, and this should be considered in future studies. Also, the study did not explore an obstetric factor like past bleeding history as well as the menstrual cycle of these pregnant women, as these factors are likely to interfere with the anaemia status of the pregnant women.

This paper contributes significant value by specifically focusing on and clarifying the complex relationship between dietary choices and aneamia among pregnant women. It also provides insights into the distinct dietary patterns and preferences of pregnant women, which may be contributing to the high prevalence of aneamia. The results of the study can inform the development of localized, evidence-based interventions to address this critical public health concern, ultimately leading to improved maternal and foetal health outcomes.