Equity in HIV mental health research:a call to action

The brain remains a key reservoir of latent HIV infection, and people living with HIV (PLWH) face a high risk for cognitive impairment and psychiatric disorders. Although the burden of HIV infection and co-morbidities is greatest in the Global South, a large proportion of HIV mental health research is carried out in the Global North. Large, well-funded observational cohort studies exploring HIV-associated psychopathology generally involve participant groups from WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic) settings. The socioeconomic status and institutional access afforded to these participant groups on average does not reflect those of the majority of beneficiaries of HIV mental health research. This misalignment may lead to limitations in generalising findings and developing effective interventions to improve the mental health of PLWH. Here, I offer recommendations to actively cultivate authentic diversity and inclusion in the field, with four focus points: (1) for funding bodies, to actively invest in neuroscientists in the Global South for investigations of HIV-related psychopathology; (2) for scientific publishers, to fund professional support services for researchers in the Global South; (3) for academic institutions, to facilitate meaningful, equitable collaborations with researchers in the Global South and incentivise studies with diverse participant groups; and (4) for individual neuroscientists, to actively cite and converse with colleagues in the Global South, tackle personal biases in those conversations, and avoid overgeneralising findings from primarily WEIRD participant groups

GEOSPATIAL APPROACH FOR LANDSLIDE DISASTER MANAGEMENT: A CASE STUDY FROM INDIA

Landslides of shallow nature but disastrous are very common in the hill ranges of Kerala, the southernmost state of India. The increased frequency of slope failures have been associated with unscientific land use practices and developmental activities in naturally existing landslide hazard area. An assessment of landslide hazards is therefore, a prerequisite for sustainable development of the region. The present study uses Remote Sensing and GIS for finding susceptible zones of landslide hazards in Malappuram District which has an arealextented of 3555 Km2. Nine factor layers responsible for landslide occurrence, such as, relative relief, slope, aspect, curvature, drainage density, drainage frequency, landuse, road buffer and drainage buffer are assigned numerical rating as per earlier workers and used for the purpose of landslide hazard zonation. Map delineates critical risk, high risk, moderate risk, low risk and no risk zones. 11.5% of the district is identified as critical and high risk zones. For the ready use in disaster management a hazard zonation map at the level of lowest administrative unit (Panchayth level) is prepared. Accordingly the Karulaigramapanchayath has maximum area under critical risk zone (17.27 Km2) followed by Chungathara (12.84 Km2) and Karuvarakund (8.21 Km2). The landslide susceptibility assessment will be useful to planners and engineers to know the zones which are more vulnerable to landslide disaster and can evolve strategies for disaster risk reduction

isiXhosa Translation of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9):A Pilot Study of Psychometric Properties [Stage 1]

Depression is a debilitating illness, and stigma associated with it often prevents people from seeking support. Easy-to-administer and culturally-specific diagnostic tools can allow for early screening for depression in primary care clinics, especially in resource-limited settings. In this pilot study, we will produce the first open-access isiXhosa-language version of the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), a well-validated measure of depression incidence and severity, using a transcultural translation framework. We will validate this isiXhosa PHQ-9 in a small sample of adolescents living with HIV in Cape Town, South Africa who speak isiXhosa at home. Participants have previously completed the ASEBA Youth Self Report (YSR) form, and responses from the YSR will be used as a gold standard to validate the isiXhosa PHQ-9. If validated through this Registered Report, this isiXhosa PHQ-9 may be an invaluable culturally-specific tool for clinicians serving Xhosa people in identifying clinical or sub-clinical depression

MATERNAL ANEMIA AS A PREDICTOR OF LOW BIRTH WEIGHT BABIES IN UNDERDEVELOPED RURAL AREA OF SOUTHERN PUNJAB

Objective; To determine the frequency of low birth weight babies born to anemic pregnant ladies of underdeveloped area of Southern Punjab. Subjects and methods; A total 216 pregnant women aged 20 – 40 years, with anemia were included in our study. Anemic pregnant women with gestational age more than 24 weeks having singleton fetus were taken. Five ml of venous blood sample was drawn and sent to the laboratory for estimation hemoglobin levels to diagnose anemia among pregnant women and only anemic women were taken and followed till delivery to diagnose low birth weight. All the data was entered and analyzed by using SPSS version 20.0. Results; A total of 216 pregnant women with anemia were included in this study. Mean age of our study cases was 26.67 ± 4.26 years ranging from 21 – 35 years and 161 (74.5%) were aged up to 30 years. One hundred sixty three (75.5%) were from poor socioeconomic background while 53 (24.5%) were from middle income families. Only 36 (16.7%) were literate and 180 (83.3%) were illiterate. One hundred forty four (66.7%) belonged to joint family system and only 36 (16.7%) had history of using iron supplementation during course of pregnancy. Mean parity was 3.12 ± .93 and 117 (54.2%) had parity up to 3. Mean maternal hemoglobin level was 8.91 ± 1.28 g/dl ranging from 6.5 to 10.8 g/dl. Mean birth weight of our study cases was 2300.97 ± 228.94 grams and low birth weight babies were 120 (55.6%). Conclusion; Very high frequency of low birth weight newborn babies was noted among anemic mothers in our study. Low birth weight was significantly associated with increasing age, illiteracy, lack of use of iron supplementation and increasing parity. Anemic mothers should be counseled for proper dietary uptake during pregnancy so as to avoid adverse pregnancy outcomes. Keywords; Maternal anemia, low birth weight, hemoglobin levels