Background: Malaria remains a public health problem in developing countries and Malawi is no different. Although there has been an improvement in reducing malaria in Malawi, it remains a problem, especially in children less than five years old. The primary objective of the study was to assess whether socio-economic, geographic and demographic factors are associated with malaria, using the generalized additive mixed model (GAMM). Data and methodology: The study used a 2017 dataset from the Malawi Malaria Indicator Survey (MMI) with a total number of 2724 children under five years old. The study also utilized the GAMM to analyze data. The outcome was that either the child had malaria or did not, as detected using the malaria Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) (Ayele et al., 2014a). Results: In this study, more than 37 % of the total number of children who were tested showed a positive malaria result. In addition, the results from this study using GAMM indicated that anaemia, mother's education level, wealth index, child's age, the altitude of the place of residence, region, place of residence, toilet facility and electricity were significantly associated with a positive malaria RDT. Conclusion:The study revealed that socio-economic, geographical and demographic variables are the key factors in improving malaria vectors in children. Improving income levels and supporting the poorer rural community mostly from the Central Region would be a great achievement in reducing malaria vectors in Malawi. In addition, improving health care in rural areas, especially at higher altitudes, would contribute to controlling malaria and reducing anaemia.

Background  Anaemia and stunting remain jointly a serious health issue worldwide especially in developing countries. In Lesotho, their prevalence is high, particularly among children less than 5 years of age. Objectives  The primary objective was to determine the association between anaemia and stunting, and identify factors relating to both conditions among children younger than 5 years in Lesotho. Methods  This cross-sectional study used secondary data from 3112 children collected during the 2014 Lesotho Demographic Health Survey (LDHS). Haemoglobin (Hb) levels were adjusted for altitude and a level less than 11 g per deciliters (11 g/dl) was determined as the cutoff for being anaemic. A child with the height-for-age z score (HAZ) below minus two standard deviations (SD) was considered to have stunting. We linked factors relating to anaemia and stunting using a multivariate joint model under the scope of the generalized linear mixed model (GLMM). Results The prevalence of anaemia and stunting in children younger than 5 years were 51% and 43% respectively. The multivariate results revealed a strong association between anaemia and stunting. In addition, maternal education, urban vs. rural residence, wealth index and childbirth weight significantly impacted childhood stunting or malnutrition, while having fever and/or diarrhoea was linked to anaemia. Lastly, age was shown to have a significant effect on both stunting and anaemia. Conclusion Anaemia and stunting or malnutrition showed linked longitudinal trajectories, suggesting both conditions could lead to synergetic improvements in overall child health. Demographic, socio-economic, and geographical characteristics were also important drivers of stunting and anaemia in children younger than 5 years. Thus, children living in similar resources settings as Lesotho could benefit from coordinated programs designed to address both malnutrition and anaemia.

Background Malaria and anaemia jointly remain a public health problem in developing countries of which Malawi is one. Although there is an improvement along with intervention strategies in fighting against malaria and anaemia in Malawi, the two diseases remain significant problems, especially in children 6–59 months of age. The main objective of this study was to examine the association between malaria and anaemia. Moreover, the study investigated whether socio-economic, geographic, and demographic factors had a significant impact on malaria and anaemia. Data and methodology The present study used a secondary cross-sectional data set from the 2017 Malawi Malaria Indicator Survey (MMIS) with a total number of 2 724 children 6–9 months of age. The study utilized a multivariate joint model within the ambit of the generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) to analyse the data. The two response variables for this study were: the child has either malaria or anaemia. Results The prevalence of malaria was 37.2% of the total number of children who were tested using an RDT, while 56.9% were anaemic. The results from the multivariate joint model under GLMM indicated a positive association between anaemia and malaria. Furthermore, the same results showed that mother's education level, child's age, the altitude of the place of residence, place of residence, toilet facility, access to electricity and children who slept under a mosquito bed net the night before the survey had a significant effect on malaria and anaemia. Conclusion The study indicated that there is a strong association between anaemia and malaria. This is interpreted to indicate that controlling for malaria can result in a reduction of anaemia. The socio-economic, geographical and demographic variables have a significant effect on improving malaria and anaemia. Thus, improving health care, toilet facilities, access to electricity, especially in rural areas, educating the mothers of children and increasing mosquito bed nets would contribute in the reduction of malaria and anaemia in Malawi.

Background Anaemia and malnutrition remain jointly a serious health issue worldwide especially in developing countries. In Lesotho, the prevalence of anaemia and malnutrition remains highly significant especially among children less than five years of age. Objectives The primary objective of the present study was to determine the association between anaemia and malnutrition, and identify the associated factors with the two diseases among children less than five years of age in Lesotho. Methods The present study was cross-sectional and used secondary data from the 2014 Lesotho Demographic Health Survey (LDHS). The study considered a total number of 3112 children and utilized a multivariate joint model under the scope of the generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) for the data analysis. Results The prevalence of anaemia and stunting in children less than five years of age were 51% and 43% respectively. The multivariate results revealed that there is a strong relationship between anaemia and malnutrition. In addition, the results indicated that education, residence, wealth index and childbirth weight have a significant effect on stunted or malnourished child, while child with fever and diarrhoea have a significant effect on anaemia. Lastly, child’s age has a significant effect on both stunting and anaemia. Conclusion The study indicated a strong association between anaemia and stunting or malnutrition in the long-term, and controlling one disease should result in reducing the other. The socio-economic, geographical and demographic variables have a significant impact on improving stunting and anaemia. Thus, improving nutrition in children less than five years, especially those from rural area and having a birthweight less than 2500g, and educating the mothers to take their children to the health care facility when they have fever and diarrhoea, especially those from poor background, would contribute immensely to the reduction of malnutrition and anaemia in children from Lesotho.