June 2019

In recent decades, donor-supported programs have contributed to substantial health gains in low- and middle-income countries, ranging from vaccination initiatives to the HIV/AIDS response. In this month's Editorial, Gavin Yamey and co-authors discuss approaches to providing support for middle-income countries transitioning away from health aid, aiming to ensure that domestic resources, leadership and health systems support continuing progress in population health.

Image Credit: Moving Mountains Trust, Pixabay

Editorial

Middle-income countries graduating from health aid: Transforming daunting challenges into smooth transitions

Gavin Yamey, Osondu Ogbuoji, Justice Nonvignon

PLOS Medicine: published June 25, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002837

Policy Forum

Treatment of latent infection to achieve tuberculosis elimination in low-incidence countries

Jonathon R. Campbell, David Dowdy, Kevin Schwartzman

PLOS Medicine: published June 6, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002824

Research Articles

Effects of a large-scale distribution of water filters and natural draft rocket-style cookstoves on diarrhea and acute respiratory infection: A cluster-randomized controlled trial in Western Province, Rwanda

Miles A. Kirby, Corey L. Nagel, Ghislaine Rosa, Laura D. Zambrano, Sanctus Musafiri, Jean de Dieu Ngirabega, Evan A. Thomas, Thomas Clasen

PLOS Medicine: published June 3, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002812

Validation of IMPROD biparametric MRI in men with clinically suspected prostate cancer: A prospective multi-institutional trial

Ivan Jambor, Janne Verho, Otto Ettala, Juha Knaapila, Pekka Taimen, Kari T. Syvänen, Aida Kiviniemi, Esa Kähkönen, Ileana Montoya Perez, Marjo Seppänen, Antti Rannikko, Outi Oksanen, Jarno Riikonen, Sanna Mari Vimpeli, Tommi Kauko, Harri Merisaari, Markku Kallajoki, Tuomas Mirtti, Tarja Lamminen, Jani Saunavaara, Hannu J. Aronen, Peter J. Boström

PLOS Medicine: published June 3, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002813

Cancer therapy and risk of congenital malformations in children fathered by men treated for testicular germ-cell cancer: A nationwide register study

Yahia Al-Jebari, Ingrid Glimelius, Carina Berglund Nord, Gabriella Cohn-Cedermark, Olof Ståhl, Torgrim Tandstad, Allan Jensen, Hege Sagstuen Haugnes, Gedske Daugaard, Lars Rylander, Aleksander Giwercman

PLOS Medicine: published June 4, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002816

Iron deficiency, elevated erythropoietin, fibroblast growth factor 23, and mortality in the general population of the Netherlands: A cohort study

Michele F. Eisenga, Maarten A. De Jong, Peter Van der Meer, David E. Leaf, Gerwin Huls, Ilja M. Nolte, Carlo A. J. M. Gaillard, Stephan J. L. Bakker, Martin H. De Borst

PLOS Medicine: published June 6, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002818

Changes in resistance among coliform bacteraemia associated with a primary care antimicrobial stewardship intervention: A population-based interrupted time series study

Virginia Hernandez-Santiago, Peter G. Davey, Dilip Nathwani, Charis A. Marwick, Bruce Guthrie

PLOS Medicine: published June 7, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002825

Changes in rapid HIV treatment initiation after national “treat all” policy adoption in 6 sub-Saharan African countries: Regression discontinuity analysis

Olga Tymejczyk, Ellen Brazier, Constantin T. Yiannoutsos, Michael Vinikoor, Monique van Lettow, Fred Nalugoda, Mark Urassa, Jean d’Amour Sinayobye, Peter F. Rebeiro, Kara Wools-Kaloustian, Mary-Ann Davies, Elizabeth Zaniewski, Nanina Anderegg, Grace Liu, Nathan Ford, Denis Nash, on behalf of the IeDEA consortium

PLOS Medicine: published June 10, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002822

The association between maternal body mass index and child obesity: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Nicola Heslehurst, Rute Vieira, Zainab Akhter, Hayley Bailey, Emma Slack, Lem Ngongalah, Augustina Pemu, Judith Rankin

PLOS Medicine: published June 11, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002817

Government policy interventions to reduce human antimicrobial use: A systematic review and evidence map

Susan Rogers Van Katwyk, Jeremy M. Grimshaw, Miriam Nkangu, Ranjana Nagi, Marc Mendelson, Monica Taljaard, Steven J. Hoffman

PLOS Medicine: published June 11, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002819

Evaluating the impact of community health volunteer home visits on child diarrhea and fever in the Volta Region, Ghana: A cluster-randomized controlled trial

Yeunji Ma, Christopher R. Sudfeld, Heunghee Kim, Jaeeun Lee, Yinseo Cho, John Koku Awoonor-Williams, Joseph Kwami Degley, Seungman Cha

PLOS Medicine: published June 14, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002830

Mediating roles of preterm birth and restricted fetal growth in the relationship between maternal education and infant mortality: A Danish population-based cohort study

Yongfu Yu, Zeyan Liew, Aolin Wang, Onyebuchi A. Arah, Jialiang Li, Jørn Olsen, Sven Cnattingius, Guoyou Qin, Carsten Obel, Bo Fu, Jiong Li

PLOS Medicine: published June 14, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002831

College affirmative action bans and smoking and alcohol use among underrepresented minority adolescents in the United States: A difference-in-differences study

Atheendar S. Venkataramani, Erin Cook, Rourke L. O’Brien, Ichiro Kawachi, Anupam B. Jena, Alexander C. Tsai

PLOS Medicine: published June 18, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002821

Associations of genetics, behaviors, and life course circumstances with a novel aging and healthspan measure: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study

Zuyun Liu, Xi Chen, Thomas M. Gill, Chao Ma, Eileen M. Crimmins, Morgan E. Levine

PLOS Medicine: published June 18, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002827

Association of maternal circulating 25(OH)D and calcium with birth weight: A mendelian randomisation analysis

William D. Thompson, Jessica Tyrrell, Maria-Carolina Borges, Robin N. Beaumont, Bridget A. Knight, Andrew R. Wood, Susan M. Ring, Andrew T. Hattersley, Rachel M. Freathy, Debbie A. Lawlor

PLOS Medicine: published June 18, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002828

Associations of genetically determined iron status across the phenome: A mendelian randomization study

Dipender Gill, Beben Benyamin, Luke S. P. Moore, Grace Monori, Ang Zhou, Fotios Koskeridis, Evangelos Evangelou, Mike Laffan, Ann P. Walker, Konstantinos K. Tsilidis, Abbas Dehghan, Paul Elliott, Elina Hyppönen, Ioanna Tzoulaki

PLOS Medicine: published June 20, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002833

Provision of family planning vouchers and early initiation of postpartum contraceptive use among women living with HIV in southwestern Uganda: A randomized controlled trial

Esther C. Atukunda, Godfrey R. Mugyenyi, Celestino Obua, Elly B. Atuhumuza, Edward J. Lukyamuzi, Angela Kaida, Amon G. Agaba, Lynn T. Matthews

PLOS Medicine: published June 21, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002832

The safety of double- and triple-drug community mass drug administration for lymphatic filariasis: A multicenter, open-label, cluster-randomized study

Gary J. Weil, Joshua Bogus, Michael Christian, Christine Dubray, Yenny Djuardi, Peter U. Fischer, Charles W. Goss, Myra Hardy, Purushothaman Jambulingam, Christopher L. King, Vijesh Sridhar Kuttiat, Kaliannagounder Krishnamoorthy, Moses Laman, Jean Frantz Lemoine, Katiuscia K. O’Brian, Leanne J. Robinson, Josaia Samuela, Kenneth B. Schechtman, Anita Sircar, Adinarayanan Srividya, Andrew C. Steer, Taniawati Supali, Swaminathan Subramanian, the DOLF IDA Safety Study Group

PLOS Medicine: published June 24, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002839

The Flooring for Injury Prevention (FLIP) Study of compliant flooring for the prevention of fall-related injuries in long-term care: A randomized trial

Dawn C. Mackey, Chantelle C. Lachance, Peiwei T. Wang, Fabio Feldman, Andrew C. Laing, Pet M. Leung, X. Joan Hu, Stephen N. Robinovitch

PLOS Medicine: published June 24, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002843

Educational attainment and cardiovascular disease in the United States: A quasi-experimental instrumental variables analysis

Rita Hamad, Thu T. Nguyen, Jay Bhattacharya, M. Maria Glymour, David H. Rehkopf

PLOS Medicine: published June 25, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002834

Biannual mass azithromycin distributions and malaria parasitemia in pre-school children in Niger: A cluster-randomized, placebo-controlled trial

Ahmed M. Arzika, Ramatou Maliki, Nameywa Boubacar, Salissou Kane, Sun Y. Cotter, Elodie Lebas, Catherine Cook, Robin L. Bailey, Sheila K. West, Philip J. Rosenthal, Travis C. Porco, Thomas M. Lietman, Jeremy D. Keenan, for the MORDOR Study Group

PLOS Medicine: published June 25, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002835

Effect of pedometer-based walking interventions on long-term health outcomes: Prospective 4-year follow-up of two randomised controlled trials using routine primary care data

Tess Harris, Elizabeth S. Limb, Fay Hosking, Iain Carey, Steve DeWilde, Cheryl Furness, Charlotte Wahlich, Shaleen Ahmad, Sally Kerry, Peter Whincup, Christina Victor, Michael Ussher, Steve Iliffe, Ulf Ekelund, Julia Fox-Rushby, Judith Ibison, Derek G. Cook

PLOS Medicine: published June 25, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002836

Effects of single and integrated water, sanitation, handwashing, and nutrition interventions on child soil-transmitted helminth and Giardia infections: A cluster-randomized controlled trial in rural Kenya

Amy J. Pickering, Sammy M. Njenga, Lauren Steinbaum, Jenna Swarthout, Audrie Lin, Benjamin F. Arnold, Christine P. Stewart, Holly N. Dentz, MaryAnne Mureithi, Benard Chieng, Marlene Wolfe, Ryan Mahoney, Jimmy Kihara, Kendra Byrd, Gouthami Rao, Theodora Meerkerk, Priscah Cheruiyot, Marina Papaiakovou, Nils Pilotte, Steven A. Williams, John M. Colford Jr., Clair Null

PLOS Medicine: published June 26, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002841

Estimating age-stratified influenza-associated invasive pneumococcal disease in England: A time-series model based on population surveillance data

Chiara Chiavenna, Anne M. Presanis, Andre Charlett, Simon de Lusignan, Shamez Ladhani, Richard G. Pebody, Daniela De Angelis

PLOS Medicine: published June 27, 2019 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002829

Cover

Middle-income countries graduating from health aid: transforming daunting challenges into smooth transitions