Women are normally self-employed in businesses involving buying and selling of goods. Such businesses were severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic lock-down. The researchers explored the impact the of COVID-19 lockdown on selfemployed women. The researchers used a qualitative approach. Interviews were used to collect data. Forty participants took part in the study. The data was thematically analyzed. The researchers found that participants were affected by Inadequate food supplies, Hopelessness to revive business, Poor access to health services, Psychological trauma, Defaulting medications, and Challenges of keeping children indoors. There is need to provide social and economic support to self-employed women.

More than 60,000 deaths from COVID-19 had been confirmed as of the 1st of August 2020. Concerns about physical and psychological wellbeing had increased across the world with women disproportionately being affected. This research was set to explore the triggers of mental health distress among women during COVID-19 lockdown. The research study utilized a qualitative descriptive approach. Forty (N ¼ 40) women were recruited to take part in the research study. A one to one semi structured interview schedule was used to collect data. NVivo Version 11, QSR International Pty was utilized to organize data for analysis. Content analysis was used to identify, describe, and make inferences about the qualitative data generated. Findings from new interviews were compared for consensus and disagreement. Categories were then collapsed and analyzed into clusters from which concepts and themes were developed. The research study found that the triggers for mental health distress among the research participants included domestic violence, loss of employment, stress of managing children indoors, fear of COVID-19 infection, loneliness and poor access to health services. There is need to consider radical sensitive approaches in preventing triggers of mental health distress among women.

Background: Malnutrition prevents children from reaching their full physical and mental potential. Health and physical consequences of prolonged states of malnourishment among children are: delay in their physical growth and motor development; lower intellectual quotient (IQ), greater behavioural problems and deficient social skills; susceptibility to contracting diseases. According to the 2015 Millennium development goal (MDG) report, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) accounts for one third of all undernourished children globally, highlighting that malnutrition still remains a major health concern for children under 5 years in the sub-region, thus buttressing the need for urgent intervention. Aim: The aim of this study is to explore the risk factors of child malnutrition in sub–Saharan Africa through a scoping review. Methods: The scoping review was conducted using the following specific subject databases: EBSCOhost, google scholar, Pub med, demographic research and research gate. Attention was paid to keywords during navigation to ensure consistency of searches in each database. Two limiters were applied in all five databases. These included the use of the English language and articles published on child malnutrition in sub Saharan Africa. Results: The researchers identified eight themes for inclusion in the findings. The themes fell into four major categories being maternal related, family related, child related as well as context related factors. These themes reflect factors associated with child malnutrition. Conclusion: This scoping review revealed that there are quite a number of risk factors that lead to child malnutrition. Therefore, there is an urgency for strategic interventions aimed at improving child nutrition through female education if the 2030 end malnutrition SDG 2.2 are to be achieved.

Background Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is one of the most effective ways of preventing HIV‐related maternal mortality. However, the rates of retention in care and long‐term adherence remain extremely low. Objective The aim of this study was to explore barriers to antiretroviral therapy adherence among pregnant women. Search strategy The search for articles was conducted using EBSCO Host, PubMed, Google scholar, and Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL). Selection criteria The studies included were conducted between 2000 and 2020 and covered barriers to antiretroviral therapy. Data collection and analysis Data was collected from 8 selected articles and analyzed using Arksey and O’Malley five stages framework. Main results Barriers to antiretroviral therapy adherence included side effects of the therapy and financial constraints limiting access to food, transport, and medication. Other barriers included cultural and religious factors, lack of spouse support, stigma, and discrimination. Conclusion There is need to support pregnant women undergoing antiretroviral therapy to mitigate barriers associated with the uptake of the therapy.

Evidence from sub-Saharan Africa indicates that 35 percent of pregnancies among 15-19-year (s)-olds were unplanned, unwanted, or untimed and that the teenagers’ relationships were unstable. Teenage pregnancy is a global problem especially in developing countries. Teenage pregnancy is associated with several social issues: poverty, low education levels, and the lack of awareness about sex and pregnancy prevention. The contributing factors for teenage pregnancy are multiple and complex categorised as socio-demographic, familial, cultural, and reproductive behaviour. Different literature reported that factors associated with teenage pregnancy include living in rural areas, not attending school, early marriage, lack of communication between parents and adolescents about sexual and reproductive health (SRH) issues, educational level of the teenagers and family history of teenage pregnancy. A scoping review was conducted from February 2021 to August 2021 using the following specific subject databases: Google scholar, PubMed, EBSCOhost, and research gate. Special attention was paid to keywords during navigation to ensure consistency of searches in each database. English language, studies conducted in sub-Sahara Africa and articles published in the last 10 years (2011–2021), were the three limiters applied in the four databases. The researchers identified eight themes for inclusion in the findings. The themes fell into three major categories: individual related factors, family related factors and external factors. These themes reflect factors associated with teenage pregnancy. The review revealed that there are several risk factors that lead to teenage pregnancy. Therefore, there is urgency for strategic interventions aimed at improving teenage pregnancy through female education and sexual and reproductive health education must also be introduced or reinforced in schools. Policy makers, community leaders and school curriculum can act towards raising the age for marriage to after 20 years and make the methods of contraception accessible to teenagers. Qualitative techniques like focus group discussions in communities could be helpful in reflecting on the root cause of the problem.