Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is highly endemic in West Africa and immigration from this region to the United States has greatly increased over the past quarter century. Using the Andersen Model as a conceptual framework, this study qualitatively examines francophone West African immigrants' perceptions of factors affecting access to HBV screening and linkage-to-care in New York City. Four focus groups were conducted with 39 purposefully selected participants. The focus groups were conducted in French, audio-recorded, translated into English, transcribed, analyzed, and coded for major themes. Participants identified increasing knowledge of HBV and opportunities to access care in a culturally-sensitive manner that decreases fatalism and avoids generating stigma as priorities. They also emphasized the importance of engaging religious establishments and social networks and employing the Internet to disseminate HBV-relevant information. Cost and health insurance are identified as future challenges that will need to be addressed in a health care environment in which undocumented immigrants are ineligible for health insurance. The qualitative analysis in this study highlights the recursive and interdependent nature of the Andersen Model, and a modification of the model is proposed that is intended to inform examinations of other minority communities' access to health care.

Iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) constitute a severe public health problem in Sudan. IDD affects children and women throughout life. More than 2 out of 10 school age children have goiter. The prevalence reaches 40% in some regions of the country. Several interventional measures were introduced to control the IDD problem. While the situation with regard to production and supply of iodized salt was thus deteriorating, an Emergency Food Security and Nutrition Assessment Survey (EFSNA) revealed that the prevalence of IDD among adult women, as reflected in the presence of visible goiter, was as high as 25.5%. We have conducted a situation analysis survey in the Republic of Sudan to review the prevailing situation and suggest a benchmark that would help in developing effective control measures and in monitoring their implementations. SWOT analysis, questionnaire, focus groups discussion beside a combination of rapid assessment approach and qualitative method were used to critically evaluate the salt iodization situation in the country and assess the prevailing IDD situation in and propose a plan of action to overcome the bottlenecks. The survey concluded that Iodine deficiency affects children and women all through Sudan. The prevalence is even greater in some regions of the country and there is no supportive policy environment for successful universal salt iodization. To overcome this aggravated situation Sudan will need to conduct a baseline study to provide data on the prevalence of IDD, geographic distribution, knowledge, attitudes and practices relating to iodine deficiency. This will provide a benchmark that will help in developing effective control measures and in monitoring their implementation. The study recommended a set of actions to the government to overcome the prevailing situation and strengthening the current policy and implementation.

CORRECTION: The following authors were added to this paper on 11/10/2013: Grace Milad; Saria Izzeldin; Tahmeed Ahmed; William A. Petri.The author Mohammad Ibrahim Khalil was changed to Ibrahim KhalilBackground: Maternal depression has been found to be associated with increased diarrheal incidence and childhood malnutrition. Objective: The purpose of the present study was to observe whether the Self- Reporting Qustinative (SRQ-20) questionnaire was sensitive enough to pick-up the depressive symptoms of mothers in the urban slum community. Methodology: This was a pilot study in a Dhaka Shantytown and women were interviewed to examine the relationship between maternal depression and their children's diarrheal morbidity. In addition to other socio-demographic information, the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) was used to screen for maternal depression. Result: A total number of 55 women were interviewed to examine fifty-one percent of mothers scored within the high-risk psycho-morbidity group, suggesting depression. High SRQ scores significantly correlated with poor marital relationships (Regression coefficient ± standard error =-0.624+0.225, p=0.008; 95%CI:-1.076, -0.172). High-risk mothers breastfed for a shorter duration than low-risk mothers (3.4 vs. 4.4 months, p=0.35) and their children had more diarrheal episodes (2 episodes vs. 1, p=0.18), although these differences did not show statistical significance. Conclusion: Depression is common among mothers in urban slums and that a well-designed large study is required to further explore the provocative relationship between maternal depression and child diarrhea with subsequent malnutrition to improve the quality of life of those at risk. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jssmc.v5i1.16199 J Shaheed Suhrawardy Med Coll, 2013;5(1):14-20

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