Global distribution of research efforts, disease burden, and impact of US public funding withdrawal.

Evaluating whether research aligns with the global burden of disease is essential for equitable and effective scientific progress and improvement of human health. Without systematic evaluation of this alignment, science cannot respond to shifting health needs. Here we analyzed the distribution between research and disease, linking 8.

Prevalence and Treatment of Diarrhea Among Children in India, 2016-2021.

Importance: The World Health Organization recommends the use of oral rehydration solution (ORS) for the treatment of child diarrhea. In India, adherence to these guidelines remains far less than complete.

Objective: To elucidate geographic variations in ORS treatment for child diarrhea between and within India's 720 districts.

Validity and reliability of the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE) for dementia assessment in rural South Africa.

Introduction: The Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE) is suitable for screening dementia, particularly in populations with limited education. However, its feasibility and psychometrics in South Africa remain unassessed.

Methods: We analyzed 1309 index participant-informant dyads from the Health and Aging in Africa: Longitudinal Study of an International Network for the Demographic Evaluation of Populations and Their Health Community in South Africa study in rural South Africa, assessing IQCODE completeness, associations with index participant/informant characteristics, single-factor structure and reliability via factor analysis, and validity through correlations with neuropsychological tests.

Healthy longevity in the Asia-pacific: a cross-national population-based modelling study.

Background Population aging in the Asia-Pacific will not proceed along the paths already followed by more developed countries, but differences in later-life health across the Asia-pacific region are poorly understood. Using data from five harmonized longitudinal surveys in the region, we examine gender and cross-national differences in life expectancy (LE) and health expectancies (HEs) at age 50 in Australia, Japan, South Korea, China, and Indonesia. We adopt a microsimulation-based multistate life table model to provide estimates of HEs across four dimensions of health, including life expectancy free of poor self-related health, ADL disability, functional limitations, and chronic diseases.

Effects of a participatory learning and action programme in women's groups on adolescent girls: a cluster-randomized controlled trial in Bihar, India.

Background: Adolescence is a critical development period where young people acquire health behaviours, making this a crucial time for interventions targeting health. Participatory learning and action programmes aimed at improving maternal and child health are usually delivered through women's groups but could potentially impact adolescent girls as well, either through their direct participation or through information sharing in the community.

Methods: We used a cluster-randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact of a large-scale participatory learning and action programme called on attitudes and health-related knowledge of adolescent girls in rural Bihar.

Sensory impairment and dementia risk among older adults in rural South Africa.

Introduction: South Africa faces growing dementia challenges, worsened by limited medical resources and low education. Modifiable risk factors like hearing and vision impairments remain understudied despite their high prevalence.

Methods: We analyzed data from 567 participants in a rural South African cohort to examine the associations between vision and hearing impairment, and dementia outcomes.

The real-world association between male circumcision and risk of HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa: a household fixed-effects analysis of 279,351 men from 29 countries.

Introduction: While voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) reduces the individual-level risk of HIV acquisition by approximately 60% in randomised-controlled trials, little is known about the 'real-world' long-term effect of medical and traditional male circumcision on the cumulative risk of HIV infection. We estimate the association between these for the first time using a quasi-experimental study design-a household fixed-effects analysis-for sub-Saharan Africa, the global region with the largest HIV burden.

Methods: We pooled individual-level cross-sectional data from the nationally-representative Demographic and Health Surveys and AIDS Indicator Surveys across all sub-Saharan African countries in which the surveys included data on both male circumcision and HIV status.

Assessing heat exposure and its effects on farmer health, harvest yields, and nutrition: a study protocol for Burkina Faso and Kenya.

Rising temperatures in Africa present an increasing threat to agricultural productivity and public health, particularly among subsistence farming communities reliant on rain-fed agriculture. Heat exposure can impair farmers' work capacity, disrupt harvests, and heighten health risks, especially for young children vulnerable to undernutrition. The Heat to Harvest (H2H) study investigates how environmental heat exposure influences farmers' physiological and behavioral responses, and how these in turn affect harvest yields and child nutrition.

Examining the association between toilet access and major depression among older adults in India: a cross-sectional analysis of the Longitudinal Aging Study in India from 2017 to 2018.

Inadequate access to toilets, which often results in open defecation, could be a risk factor for depression among India's older and ageing population. Using cross-sectional data from the Longitudinal Aging Study in India from 2017 to 2018, we assessed associations between the lack of a toilet and major depression among 64 082 women and men above the age of 45. In our adjusted multilevel model, we found no association between the lack of a household toilet and the risk of major depression (OR = 0.

Heritability of sleep architecture based on home polysomnography.

We aimed to establish the heritability of polysomnography measures through the analysis of home polysomnography recordings from 648 participants in the Baependi Heart Study, a rural, family-based, genetically admixed cohort based in the southeast of Brazil. Sleep polysomnography staging variables were computed, and narrow-sense heritability values were derived. The heritability (h) of polysomnography total sleep time was 0.

The impact of a participatory learning and action intervention on unmet need for contraception: a cluster-randomized controlled trial in rural Bihar, India.

Background: Unmet need for contraception is a persistent issue in rural India. This work evaluates the impact of Gram Varta - a participatory learning and action intervention employed in women's self-help groups in rural Bihar, India - on women's contraceptive behavior and unmet need for contraception. Trained facilitators used an active and participatory communication approach in 20 group meetings to discuss health-related topics focusing on the improvement of communities' knowledge and practice related to health, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene.

Geographic variation in women's empowerment: a multilevel analysis of India's National Family Health Survey 2021.

Background: Women's empowerment is vital for sustainable development, yet gender inequality persists across India's sociocultural and geographic landscape. Most initiatives in India focus on state- and district-level frameworks, failing to address the localised challenges at smaller geographic levels.

Methods: This study quantified and visualised community variation in women's empowerment using the fifth National Family Health Survey (2019-2021).

Effects of pension eligibility expansion on men's memory decline and dementia probability: Findings from the HAALSI cohort in rural South Africa, 2014-2021.

Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) are a growing global health concern, with burdens projected to expand rapidly in the coming decades. Since cognitive decline typically precedes ADRD, it is crucial to identify interventions that may help slow cognitive decline and reduce ADRD risk. We used a quasi-experimental design, exploiting exogenous expansions of South Africa's Older Persons Grant for men, to estimate its impact on memory decline and ADRD risk in the rural Mpumalanga province of South Africa.

Prevalence and burden of no-toilet households in India: an analysis of 261,746 households in 36 states/Union Territories in 2022-2023.

India's Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was a nation-wide program aimed at providing households with toilets to eliminate open defecation. Between 2016 and 2021, millions of households gained access to a toilet. However, as of 2021, over 238 million people still did not have a toilet, and there was considerable variation in this outcome between India's states and Union Territories.

The role of education composition in shaping the burden of obesity and diabetes in Indonesia: a microsimulation-based projection study.

Background: Diabetes prevalence is increasing worldwide, particularly in developing countries and disadvantaged groups. Alongside this phenomenon, the expansion of educational attainment has led to changes in population educational composition, which can significantly influence social disparities in diabetes and its risk factors, including obesity. This paper explores the role of changing educational composition in shaping the future burden of excess body weight and diabetes in Indonesia, a country with a rapidly growing prevalence of both diabetes and obesity.

Trends in low birth weight across 36 states and union territories in India, 1993-2021.

Introduction: Low birth weight is an important measure of the health of pregnant women and newborns. We investigated the prevalence of low birth weights in India over nearly three decades to assess trends and convergence across states.

Methods: Data came from five waves of the National Family Health Survey (1992-93 to 2019-21).

Exploring the relationship between pain, cognition, and chronic conditions: insights from the HAALSI study in rural South Africa.

Background: Research on cognition and pain is limited in Low and Middle-income Countries (LMICs) and understanding how chronic conditions and pain treatment may moderate this association is underexplored. This study aimed to explore the relationship between pain and cognition and the moderating effect of hypertension, diabetes, HIV, pain treatment, and depressive symptoms.

Methods: We analyzed data from 3803 individuals enrolled in the HAALSI study, a longitudinal population study of older adults in Agincourt, South Africa.

The potential of nighttime urine samples for epidemiologic research on sodium intake: Evidence from a population-based cohort study in Switzerland.

Background: The gold standard for measuring sodium intake is based on multiple 24-h urine sodium (UNa) collections, which are logistically complex and pose a high burden on study participants. Its major alternative, spot urine sampling, has been shown to lead to systematic bias in sodium intake estimation. Nighttime urine collections are a potential alternative, as they place a substantially lower burden on participants and are thus less likely to lead to underestimation of UNa compared with 24-h urinary collections.

India Policy Insights: A geospatial and temporal data science and visualization platform and architecture.

The Geographic Insights Lab at Harvard University developed India Policy Insights (IPI), a spatio-temporal visualization platform for policymakers. IPI provides insights from 122 indicators across population, health, and socioeconomic metrics spanning 720 districts, 543 parliamentary constituencies, and 600,000 villages in India. Its applications include breastfeeding campaigns,policy development, and government reporting.

Changes in prevalence of alcohol and tobacco consumption across districts of India, 2016 and 2021.

Background: India witnessed a rise in alcohol and tobacco consumption in the last few decades. However, the burden varies because of the huge population, diverse socioeconomic, cultural, and geographical characteristics, and different liquor policies across states. To understand the burden and progress, it is crucial to examine the consumption patterns at smaller geographical units.

The Unequal Geography of Recreational Cannabis Retailers in the U.S.

Introduction: Although more U.S. states continue to legalize the sale of cannabis for recreational adult-use, little is known about the spatial distribution of cannabis retailers in relation to neighborhood characteristics.

Association between risk of mortality among children and twin birth in India: an econometric analysis of live births between 1993-2021.

Background: Twin births present unique challenges for child survival, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Despite the high burden of global child mortality, there has been no comprehensive assessment of twin births and deaths in India. We analysed the trends and patterns in twin births and deaths in India between 1993 and 2021, examining mortality risks across different phases of early childhood, including the late neonatal phase.