Mary Nimwaka Mwangome

• Researcher at University of California, San Francisco

Introduction: Using peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) measurement is a cost-effective and reliable approach to assess the need for oxygen supplementation in patients admitted with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Patients who have a SpO2 level of <95% are considered hypoxic and, per COVID-19 management guidelines, should receive oxygen supple...

Background Lack of dependable morbidity and mortality data complicates efforts to measure the demographic or population-level impact of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. Mortuary-based mortality surveillance can address gaps in vital statistics in low-resource settings by improving accuracy of measuring HIV-associated mortality and indicators of access...

Background: Estimating cause-related mortality among the dead is not common, yet for clinical and public health purposes, a lot can be learnt from the dead. HIV/AIDS accounted for the third most frequent cause of deaths in Kenya; 39.7 deaths per 100,000 population in 2019. OraQuick® has previously been validated on oral fluid and implemented as a...

Background Accurate data on HIV-related mortality are necessary to evaluate the impact of HIV interventions. In low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), mortality data obtained through civil registration are often of poor quality. Though not commonly conducted, mortuary surveillance is a potential complementary source of data on HIV-associated mort...

Background: Global evidence shows that sexually transmitted infections (STIs) prevalence and sexual risk behaviours are high among youth, and knowledge about STIs is low. In Tanzania, there is limited recent evidence regarding these issues. The aim of this study was to describe the health seeking behaviour of youth reporting STI symptoms in semi-r...

Most HIV research in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) ignores persons aged 50 years and above, though a few studies have reported a high HIV prevalence among older people. This study aimed to estimate socio-demographic inequalities in HIV testing behaviour and HIV prevalence among adults aged 50+ years, living in Ifakara town, Tanzania. This cross-sectiona...

Current HIV policies in Tanzania have adopted the three long-term impact results of zero new infections, zero HIV deaths and zero stigma and discrimination. Strategies to reach these results include scaling-up HIV Testing and Counselling (HTC); Preventing Mother-To-Child Transmission (PMTCT); and strengthening Care and Treatment Clinic (CTC) servic...

Introduction: Despite the rollout of antiretroviral therapy (ART), challenges remain in ensuring timely access to care and treatment for people living with HIV. As part of a multi-country study to investigate HIV mortality, we conducted health facility surveys within 10 health and demographic surveillance system sites across six countries in Easter...

Diabetes prevalence in Tanzania was estimated at 9.1% in 2012 among adults aged 24-65 years - higher than the HIV prevalence in the general population at that time. Health systems in lower- and middle-income countries are not designed for chronic health care, yet the rising burden of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes demands chronic care s...

Background: The high prevalence of chronic diseases in Tanzania is putting a strain on the already stretched health care services, patients and their families. This study sought to find out how health care for diabetes and HIV is perceived, practiced and experienced by patients and family caregivers, to inform strategies to improve continuity of c...

To compare national human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) policies influencing access to HIV testing and treatment services in six sub-Saharan African countries. We reviewed HIV policies as part of a multi-country study on adult mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. A policy extraction tool was developed and used to review national HIV policy documents and...

Background: Most low-and middle-income countries are facing a rise of the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) alongside the persistent burden of infectious diseases. This narrative review aims to provide an inventory of how the existing policy environment, health system, and communities are addressing the NCDs situation in Tanzania and ident...

Background Most low- and middle- income countries are facing a rise of the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) alongside the persistent burden of infectious diseases. This narrative review aims to provide an inventory of how the existing policy environment, health system, and communities are addressing the NCDs situation in Tanzania and iden...