Hand hygiene is a simple but often ignored practice in health care systems worldwide, but it is integral for nosocomial infection prevention, with many hospital‐acquired infections being linked to inadequate hand hygiene practice. At the burns unit in Kamuzu Central Hospital, 50% of patients were found to have acquired pseudomonas infections: one of the contributing factors being inadequate hand hygiene. This quality improvement project was part of a course for nurses to introduce change for patient benefit, with the aim of increasing the baseline figures for hand hygiene practices and hand hygiene facilities from 37% and 22%, respectively (baseline collected in November 2019). Using robust, standard quality improvement processes, measures were put in place such as checklists to observe hand hygiene compliance and facilities, appointment of a hand hygiene committee who monitored and sustained activities of the project, procurement and distribution of handrub and placement of hand‐washing buckets and soap at strategic points. The project saw an increase in availability of hand‐washing facilities to 95.6% and hand hygiene practices increase to >80% within 6 months. The project demonstrates that low cost interventions, led by nurses, can make a real difference to practice in resource poor countries.

Background In 2012, more than half a million women (528,000) were diagnosed with cervical cancer around the world. More than 80% of cervical cancer occurs in developing nations, such as Malawi, where estimates of the disease’s burden show an incidence of 75.9 per 100,000 women and a mortality rate of 49.8 per 100,000 women (both age-adjusted). Despite its case fatality rate, cervical cancer can be avoided through immunization, early detection and screening. Malawi however, has low immunization and screening rates with coverage as low as 9% and 15%, respectively. Here our aim is to uncover factors that contribute to low utilization of cervical cancer screening services among women in Lilongwe, a large urban center. Methods This was a qualitative cross-sectional study. Participants were chosen at random from a big metropolitan health center. In-depth interviews and two observations were undertaken by the researchers. Interviews were taped, transcribed verbatim, and content assessed. Results A total of 24 women and 5 health workers, with an average age of 34.8 years, were questioned. 50% of women had completed secondary school, 33.3% had completed primary school, and 4% had completed no formal education. The majority of the women were housewives and entrepreneurs. 62.5% of the respondents had fewer than four children, 25% had four to six children, and 8.3% had more than six children. 91 − 6% of those surveyed were married, with 78% of Christians and 20% of Muslims. The majority of women were unaware of the importance of cervical cancer screening. Some people were concerned about marital troubles, pain during the process, “laziness,“ and the amount of time necessary. The majority of people would come for a test as a result of signs and symptoms. Male health personnel would be unable to screen Muslim women. All of the medical personnel had at least two years of experience. Women’s low involvement in cervical cancer screening has been linked by health workers to a lack of resources and a lack of community awareness. Conclusion Cervical cancer can be prevented by early detection and treatment. Women, on the other hand, are uninformed about cervical cancer. Myths, misconceptions, cultural and religious beliefs, as well as service restrictions and community sensitization, influence the use of cervical cancer screening services. Addressing these issues has the potential to boost cervical cancer screening rates.

Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly infectious disease which has affected almost all countries globally. The disease is caused by the corona virus, transmitted from human to human through droplet infection. The virus was first identified in China in December 2019, and spread worldwide. Despite the virus being highly infectious, there is no cure for coronavirus disease COVID-19. The current global approach in the fight against COVID-19 focuses on travel bans including border closures, restrictions on mass gatherings, and mass vaccination of all adults. However, the travel bans and border closures have shown to negatively affect availability, accessibility, and affordability of basic needs such as food, especially for populations in the low- to middle-income countries. This is so since a good percentage of population in low- to middle-income countries live on hand to mouth, and cannot afford adequate food stock to sustain them for a long period of time. In addition, there is a challenge to afford purchasing storage facilities such as refrigerators for storage of fresh foods. Therefore, the purpose of this narrative literature review is to unveil the impact of government policies on individual choices of food and potential impact on outcomes and nutrition in children, elderly and chronically ill individuals in the COVID-19 pandemic era in low- and middle-income countries from 2020 to 2021.