Background Integrated cardiovascular disease (CVD) and HIV (CVD-HIV) care interventions are being adopted to tackle the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) but there is a paucity of studies on the feasibility of these interventions in LMICs. This scoping review aims to present evidence of the feasibility of integrated CVD-HIV care in LMICs, and the alignment of feasibility reporting in LMICs with the existing implementation science methodology. Methods A systematic search of published articles including systematic and narrative reviews that reported on integrated CVD-HIV care was conducted, using multiple search engines including PubMed/Medline, Global Health, and Web of Science. We examined the articles for evidence of feasibility reporting. Adopting the definition of Proctor and colleagues (2011), feasibility was defined as the extent to which an intervention was plausible in a given agency or setting. Evidence from the articles was synthesized by level of integration, the chronic care continuum, and stages of intervention development. Results Twenty studies, reported in 18 articles and 3 conferences abstracts, reported on feasibility of integrated CVD-HIV care interventions. These studies were conducted in Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia and South America. Four of these studies were conducted as feasibility studies. Eighty percent of the studies reported feasibility, using descriptive sentences that included words synonymous with feasibility terminologies in existing definition recommended by Proctor and colleagues. There was also an overlap in the use of descriptive phrases for feasibility amongst the selected studies. Conclusions Integrating CVD and HIV care is feasible in LMICs, although methodology for reporting feasibility is inconsistent. Assessing feasibility based on settings and integration goals will provide a unique perspective of the implementation landscape in LMICs. There is a need for consistency in measures in order to accurately assess the feasibility of integrated CVD-HIV care in LMICs.

To estimate the annual rate of obstetric and gynecologic (ObGyn) operations performed in Ghana and establish a baseline for tracking expansion of Ghana's surgical capacity.Methods: Data were obtained for ObGyn operations performed in Ghana between 2014 and 2015 from a nationally representative sample of hospitals and scaled-up for national estimates. Operations were classified as "essential" or "other" according to The World Bank's Disease Control Priorities Project. Data were used to calculate Cesarean section (C-section)-to-totaloperation-ratio (CTR) and estimate the C-section rate based on the number of live births in 2014.Results: 90,044 (95%UI: 69,461-110,628) ObGyn operations were performed nationally over the one-year period, yielding an annual national ObGyn operation rate of 881/100,000 females aged ≥12 years (95%UI: 679-1,082). 87% were essential procedures, 80% of which were Csections. District hospitals performed 71% of ObGyn operations. The national C-section rate was 7.2% and the CTR was 0.27. Conclusions:The C-section rate of 7.2% suggests inadequate access to obstetric care. The CTR of 0.27 suggests inadequate overall surgical capacity. These measures, along with estimates of distribution of procedures by hospital level, provide useful baseline data to support surgical capacity building efforts in Ghana and similar countries.

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