The Immunization Agenda 2030 Strategy to reach zero-dose children in low-income and middle-income countries: a scoping review.

Introduction: Intensified efforts are needed to achieve the Immunization Agenda 2030 (IA2030) target to halve the number of children not reached by routine vaccination ('zero-dose' (ZD) children) by 2030. This scoping review maps and synthesises the scientific literature on ZD children in low-income and middle-income countries since the IA2030 launch.

Methods: Our protocol, developed per the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines, was registered on the Open Science Framework prior to execution, and our search strategies were designed by a research librarian.

The effects of orphanhood and lack of parental care on child vaccination: analyses of 189 cross-sectional UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys from 82 countries, 2005-2022.

Background: Children lacking parental protection may tend to miss out on essential services. We investigated whether orphans and children without parental care were at risk of sub-optimal vaccination.

Methods: Cross-sectional analyses of 189 UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys from 82 predominantly low- and middle-income countries, conducted from January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2022.

Multiple deprivations as drivers of suboptimal basic child vaccination in Latin America and the Caribbean: cross-sectional analysis of household survey data for 18,136 children across 211 regions in 15 countries.

Background: Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) maintained high childhood vaccination coverage for 17 years but faced setbacks, increasing vulnerability to vaccine-preventable diseases. Despite signs of recovery, geographic inequalities and social deprivations persist. This study provides an up-to-date cross-sectional analysis of prevalence, subnational variation, and key determinants of suboptimal basic child vaccination (BCV).

Gaps in the Ottawa Statement on the Ethical Design and Conduct of Cluster Randomized Trials: a citation analysis reveals a need for updated ethics guidelines.

Background: Although commonly used to evaluate health interventions, cluster randomized trials raise difficult ethical issues. Recognizing this, the Ottawa Statement on the Ethical Design and Conduct of Cluster Randomized Trials, published in 2012, provides 15 recommendations to address ethical issues across seven domains. But due to several developments in the design and implementation of cluster randomized trials, there are new issues requiring guidance.

Randomization procedures in parallel-arm cluster randomized trials in low- and middle-income countries: a review of 300 trials published between 2017-2022.

Objectives: Cluster randomized trials (CRTs) are frequently used to evaluate interventions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Robust execution and transparent reporting of randomization procedures are essential for successful implementation and accurate interpretation of CRTs. Our objectives were to review the quality of reporting and implementation of randomization procedures in a sample of parallel-arm CRTs conducted in LMICs.

Vaccination for prevention of hearing loss: a scoping review.

Background: Infectious diseases in childhood and adolescence are significant and often preventable causes of hearing loss, especially in low- and middle-income countries. We conducted a scoping review to examine the extent, range and nature of available evidence on the role of vaccination for prevention of hearing loss worldwide.

Methods: We reviewed the published scientific literature to identify studies providing quantitative information on the relationship between vaccination and hearing loss.

Small-area variation in child under-vaccination in India: a multilevel analysis of cross-sectional data from 36 states and Union Territories, 707 districts, and 22,349 small-area clusters.

Background: India has made exceptional advances in child immunisation, but subnational inequities in vaccination coverage impede attainment of key programmatic goals. Our study provides an up-to-date national portrait of local variations in child vaccination using a comprehensive set of indicators relevant to routine immunisation.

Methods: Indicators representing unvaccinated (zero-dose) children, incomplete basic immunisation, and vulnerability to measles and polio, were constructed from India's 2019-2021 National Family Health Survey.

Systematic scoping review of cluster randomised trials conducted exclusively in low-income and middle-income countries between 2017 and 2022.

Objective: Cluster randomised trials (CRTs) are used for evaluating health-related interventions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) but raise complex ethical issues. To inform the development of future ethics guidance, we aim to characterise CRTs conducted exclusively in LMICs by examining the types of clusters, settings, author affiliations and primary clinical focus and to evaluate adherence to trial registration and ethics reporting requirements over time.

Design: A systematic scoping review using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews.

Experiences of community reintegration after obstetric fistula repair at Jean Paul 2 hospital, Conakry, Guinea.

The study explored women's experiences of their community reintegration process after surgical repair of obstetric fistula at Jean Paul 2 Hospital in Conakry, Guinea. The study examined how lived experiences of the disease impacted on the community reintegration of treated women. Using a qualitative research methodology, ten women participated after giving informed consent.

HIV-sensitive social protection for unemployed and out-of-school young women in Botswana: An exploratory study of barriers and solutions.

Promotive social protection programs aim to increase income and capabilities and could help address structural drivers of HIV-vulnerability like poverty, lack of education and gender inequality. Unemployed and out-of-school young women bear the brunt of HIV infection in Botswana, but rarely benefit from such economic empowerment programs. Using a qualitative exploratory study design and a participatory research approach, we explored factors affecting perceived program benefit and potential solutions to barriers.

Perinatal morbidity among women with a previous caesarean delivery (PRISMA trial): a cluster-randomised trial.

Background: Women with a previous caesarean delivery face a difficult choice in their next pregnancy: planning another caesarean or attempting vaginal delivery, both of which are associated with potential maternal and perinatal complications. This trial aimed to assess whether a multifaceted intervention, which promoted person-centred decision making and best practices, would reduce the risk of major perinatal morbidity among women with one previous caesarean delivery.

Methods: We conducted an open, multicentre, cluster-randomised, controlled trial of a multifaceted 2-year intervention in 40 hospitals in Quebec among women with one previous caesarean delivery, in which hospitals were the units of randomisation and women the units of analysis.

Vulnerable young women and frontline service providers identify options to improve the HIV-sensitivity of social protection programmes in Botswana: A modified Policy Delphi approach.

Poverty, lack of education and gender inequality make unemployed and out-of-school young women extremely vulnerable to HIV infection. Promotive social protection programmes aim to increase livelihood and capabilities and could empower this priority population to act on HIV prevention choices. In Botswana, they rarely benefit from such programmes.

Mapping of Pro-Equity Interventions Proposed by Immunisation Programs in Gavi Health Systems Strengthening Grants.

Reaching zero-dose (ZD) children, operationally defined as children who have not received a first dose of the diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTP1) vaccine, is crucial to increase equitable immunisation coverage and access to primary health care. However, little is known about the approaches already taken by countries to improve immunisation equity. We reviewed all Health System Strengthening (HSS) proposals submitted by Gavi-supported countries from 2014 to 2021 inclusively and extracted information on interventions favouring equity.

Patterns in the Prevalence of Unvaccinated Children Across 36 States and Union Territories in India, 1993-2021.

Importance: Children who do not receive any routine vaccinations (ie, who have 0-dose status) are at elevated risk of death, morbidity, and socioeconomic vulnerabilities that limit their development over the life course. India has the world's highest number of children with 0-dose status; analysis of national and subnational patterns is the first important step to addressing this problem.

Objectives: To examine the patterns among children with 0-dose immunization status across all 36 states and union territories (UTs) in India over 29 years, from 1993 to 2021, and to elucidate the relative share of multiple geographic regions in the total geographic variation in 0-dose immunization.

Socioeconomic and geographic inequities in vaccination among children 12 to 59 months in Mexico, 2012 to 2021.

Objective: To document the evolution of socioeconomic and geographical inequalities in childhood vaccination in Mexico from 2012 to 2021.

Methods: Repeated cross-sectional analysis using three rounds of National Health and Nutrition Surveys (2012, 2018, and 2021). Dichotomous variables were created to identify the proportion of children who received no dose of each vaccine included in the national immunization schedule (BCG; diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus-containing; rotavirus; pneumococcal conjugate; and measles, mumps, and rubella [MMR]), and the proportion completely unvaccinated.

Advancing Immunization Coverage and Equity: A Structured Synthesis of Pro-Equity Strategies in 61 Gavi-Supported Countries.

Background: Global immunization inequities persist, reflected in the 25 million underimmunized and 18 million zero-dose children in 2021. To identify country approaches to reach underimmunized and zero-dose children, we undertook a structured synthesis of pro-equity strategies across 61 countries receiving programmatic support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

Methods: We extracted data from 174 Country Joint Appraisals and Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue reports (2016-2020).

Progress in reaching unvaccinated (zero-dose) children in India, 1992-2016: a multilevel, geospatial analysis of repeated cross-sectional surveys.

Background: Reaching zero-dose children (infants who receive no routine vaccinations) is a global strategic priority. We studied zero-dose children in India over 24 years to clarify aggregate trends and the contribution of large-scale social, economic, and geographical inequalities to these.

Methods: We did a multilevel, geospatial analysis of repeated cross-sectional surveys of all four rounds (1992-2016) of India's National Family Health Survey to study the prevalence, distribution, and drivers of zero-dose (no first dose of diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis) vaccination status.

HIV-sensitive social protection for vulnerable young women in East and Southern Africa: a systematic review.

Introduction: Social protection programmes are considered HIV-sensitive when addressing risk, vulnerability or impact of HIV infection. Socio-economic interventions, like livelihood and employability programmes, address HIV vulnerabilities like poverty and gender inequality. We explored the HIV-sensitivity of socio-economic interventions for unemployed and out-of-school young women aged 15 to 30 years, in East and Southern Africa, a key population for HIV infection.