BackgroundNearly all newborn deaths occur in low- or middle-income countries. Many of these deaths could be prevented through promotion and provision of newborn care practices such as thermal care, early and exclusive breastfeeding, and hygienic cord care. Home visit programmes promoting these practices were piloted in Malawi, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Uganda.ObjectiveThis study assessed changes in selected newborn care practices over time in pilot programme areas in four countries and evaluated whether women who received home visits during pregnancy were more likely to report use of three key practices.DesignUsing data from cross-sectional surveys of women with live births at baseline and endline, the Pearson chi-squared test was used to assess changes over time. Generalised linear models were used to assess the relationship between the main independent variable – home visit from a community health worker (CHW) during pregnancy (0, 1–2, 3+) – and use of selected practices while controlling for antenatal care, place of delivery, and maternal age and education.ResultsThere were statistically significant improvements in practices, except applying nothing to the cord in Malawi and early initiation of breastfeeding in Bangladesh. In Malawi, Nepal, and Bangladesh, women who were visited by a CHW three or more times during pregnancy were more likely to report use of selected practices. Women who delivered in a facility were also more likely to report use of selected practices in Malawi, Nepal, and Uganda; association with place of birth was not examined in Bangladesh because only women who delivered outside a facility were asked about these practices.ConclusionHome visits can play a role in improving practices in different settings. Multiple interactions are needed, so programmes need to investigate the most appropriate and efficient ways to reach families and promote newborn care practices. Meanwhile, programmes must take advantage of increasing facility delivery rates to ensure that all babies benefit from these practices.

Background: The Urban Primary Health Care Project (UPHCP) was implemented by the Government of Bangladesh in response to rapid urbanization and growing inequalities in access to and quality of primary health care. The goal of the project was to improve health status of the urban poor living in city corporations and municipalities through the provision of health care services by NGOs that are contracted through public-private partnership. The first phase of the project started in 1998 and the project is currently in its fourth phase covering more urban areas than the first three phases. This study evaluates the impact of the second phase project (UPHCP-II) on health outcomes, mainly child diarrhea, acute respiratory infection, antenatal and postnatal care, skilled birth attendance, breastfeeding prevalence, contraceptive prevalence, sexually transmitted infections, and HIV/AIDS awareness. Methods: The effect of the project was estimated through propensity score matching between project and nonproject areas comparing baseline and endline surveys over a six-year period from 2006 to 2012. An innovation of this study is the recalibration of the sampling weights that allows the use of these two independent surveys in impact evaluation. Results: Over the six-year period, UPHCP-II improved the health status of the population in project areas compared to non-project areas. The study found significant improvement in health outcomes in terms of reduced diarrhea and acute respiratory infection in children, which explains the downward trend in child mortality rate. Moreover, the project also improved antenatal care and skilled birth attendance. Contraceptive prevalence and HIV/AIDS awareness and avoidance increased, and sexually transmitted infections decreased. Conclusions: UPHCP-II was effective in achieving its health outcome targets, while previous studies show that it was efficient in the delivery of health care and clients were highly satisfied because health facilities were in close proximity, and doctors and staff were perceived as responsive in delivering high quality of care. The results of this study could help inform future design and implementation of urban health interventions that involve contracting primary health care service delivery in Bangladesh and other similar settings.

A simple, precise, specific, and accurate reversed phase high performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) method was developed and validated for determination of vinpocetine in pure and pharmaceutical dosage forms. The different analytical performance parameters such as linearity, accuracy, specificity, precision, and sensitivity (limit of detection and limit of quantitation) were determined according to International Conference on Harmonization ICH Q2 (R1) guidelines. RP-HPLC was conducted on Zorbax C18 (150 mm length × 4.6 mm ID, 5 μm) column. The mobile phase was consisting of buffer (containing 1.54% w/v ammonium acetate solution) and acetonitrile in the ratio (40 : 60, v/v), and the flow rate was maintained at 1.0 mLmin−1. Vinpocetine was monitored using Agilent 1200 series equipped with photo diode array detector (λ = 280 nm). Linearity was observed in concentration range of 160–240 μgmL−1, and correlation coefficient was found excellent (R2 = 0.999). All the system suitability parameters were found within the range. The proposed method is rapid, cost-effective and can be used as a quality-control tool for routine quantitative analysis of vinpocetine in pure and pharmaceutical dosage forms.

This study describes a validated assay method to determine caffeine, benzoic acid, methylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben, butylatedhydroxyanisole, and butylatedhydroxytoluene simultaneously by reversed phase high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method. The separation of compounds was achieved on a C18 column in a gradient of acetonitrile and diluted sulfuric acid (pH=2.3) and quantification was performed by using a UV-detector set at 265 nm. The method was found to be linear over the concentration range of 60-90 ppm (R2=0.995), 200-300 ppm (R2=0.993), 16-24 ppm (R2=0.990), 16-24 ppm (R2=0.994), 16-24 ppm (R2=0.997), 48-72 ppm (R2=0.993), and 32-48 ppm (R2=0.994) for caffeine, benzoic acid, methylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben, butylatedhydroxyanisole, and butylatedhydroxytoluene, respectively. Sixty energy- and soft-drink samples were analyzed where about 53% were found to contain caffeine among which 16% exceeded the tolerance limit (>200 ppm) set by USFDA. Moreover, 65% of analyzed samples contained benzoic acid and 10% of those samples exceeded the maximum allowable limit (>600 ppm) set by joint expert committee for food additives (JECFA).Dhaka Univ. J. Pharm. Sci. 15(1): 97-108, 2016 (June)

DOI: 10.3329/bmrcb.v34i2.1178Bangladesh Med Res Counc Bull 2008; 34: 64-66