Post-partum haemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal death worldwide. Early administration of tranexamic acid reduces deaths due to bleeding in trauma patients. We aimed to assess the effects of early administration of tranexamic acid on death, hysterectomy, and other relevant outcomes in women with post-partum haemorrhage. In this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, we recruited women aged 16 years and older with a clinical diagnosis of post-partum haemorrhage after a vaginal birth or caesarean section from 193 hospitals in 21 countries. We randomly assigned women to receive either 1 g intravenous tranexamic acid or matching placebo in addition to usual care. If bleeding continued after 30 min, or stopped and restarted within 24 h of the first dose, a second dose of 1 g of tranexamic acid or placebo could be given. Patients were assigned by selection of a numbered treatment pack from a box containing eight numbered packs that were identical apart from the pack number. Participants, care givers, and those assessing outcomes were masked to allocation. We originally planned to enrol 15 000 women with a composite primary endpoint of death from all-causes or hysterectomy within 42 days of giving birth. However, during the trial it became apparent that the decision to conduct a hysterectomy was often made at the same time as randomisation. Although tranexamic acid could influence the risk of death in these cases, it could not affect the risk of hysterectomy. We therefore increased the sample size from 15 000 to 20 000 women in order to estimate the effect of tranexamic acid on the risk of death from post-partum haemorrhage. All analyses were done on an intention-to-treat basis. This trial is registered with ISRCTN76912190 (Dec 8, 2008); ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00872469; and PACTR201007000192283. Between March, 2010, and April, 2016, 20 060 women were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive tranexamic acid (n=10 051) or placebo (n=10 009), of whom 10 036 and 9985, respectively, were included in the analysis. Death due to bleeding was significantly reduced in women given tranexamic acid (155 [1·5%] of 10 036 patients vs 191 [1·9%] of 9985 in the placebo group, risk ratio [RR] 0·81, 95% CI 0·65-1·00; p=0·045), especially in women given treatment within 3 h of giving birth (89 [1·2%] in the tranexamic acid group vs 127 [1·7%] in the placebo group, RR 0·69, 95% CI 0·52-0·91; p=0·008). All other causes of death did not differ significantly by group. Hysterectomy was not reduced with tranexamic acid (358 [3·6%] patients in the tranexamic acid group vs 351 [3·5%] in the placebo group, RR 1·02, 95% CI 0·88-1·07; p=0·84). The composite primary endpoint of death from all causes or hysterectomy was not reduced with tranexamic acid (534 [5·3%] deaths or hysterectomies in the tranexamic acid group vs 546 [5·5%] in the placebo group, RR 0·97, 95% CI 0·87-1·09; p=0·65). Adverse events (including thromboembolic events) did not differ significantly in the tranexamic acid versus placebo group. Tranexamic acid reduces death due to bleeding in women with post-partum haemorrhage with no adverse effects. When used as a treatment for postpartum haemorrhage, tranexamic acid should be given as soon as possible after bleeding onset. London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Pfizer, UK Department of Health, Wellcome Trust, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Introduction: The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination is an important preventive measure for HPV-related conditions such as cervical cancer. In 2019, Zambia introduced a free national HPV vaccination program for 14-year-old girls. However, the adolescents’ knowledge and perceptions regarding the HPV vaccine are not well understood. Therefore, this study aimed to understand adolescent girls’ knowledge and perceptions regarding the HPV vaccine and discuss its acceptability and uptake implications.Methods: We conducted a qualitative study in the Lusaka district between June 2021 and November 2021 using semi-structured interviews with adolescent girls aged 15–18 years regardless of their HPV vaccination status. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, and NVIVO 12 was used for data management and analysis. We coded transcripts deductively and inductively based on emerging themes. Perceptions were coded using the health belief model constructs.Results: We interviewed 30 adolescent girls to reach saturation. Seventeen girls reported having received at least one dose of the HPV vaccine. Participants expressed variable knowledge and awareness about HPV and the HPV vaccine. Participants exhibited positive attitudes towards the HPV vaccine and perceived it as beneficial. However, there were multiple perceived barriers to vaccination, such as the need for parental consent, not being in school, concerns about vaccine side effects, and belief in myths and misinformationConclusion: The adolescent girls in this study showed variable knowledge and positive attitudes toward the HPV vaccine despite the many perceived barriers. To support increased HPV vaccine acceptability and uptake among adolescent girls in Zambia, it is critical to actively engage stakeholders involved in HPV vaccination, such as adolescents and their parents, and debunk myths and misconceptions about HPV vaccination. Health education in schools and communities should be implemented to increase knowledge about HPV and HPV vaccination among adolescents and their parents.

Parental consent for adolescent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine uptake is important; however, refusal is prevalent. Therefore, this study aimed to understand factors associated with parental consent for their adolescent daughter’s HPV vaccination. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Lusaka, Zambia, between September and October 2021. We recruited parents from different social settings. The means and standard deviations or median and interquartile ranges were used as appropriate to summarise continuous variables. Simple and multiple logistic regression models were fitted with robust estimation of standard errors. The odds ratios are presented with 95% CI. Mediation analysis was conducted using a generalised structural equation model. The study enrolled 400 parents, mean age 45.7 years [95% CI, 44.3–47.1]. Two hundred and fifteen (53.8%) parents reported consenting to their daughters’ HPV vaccination, and their daughters received it. None of the health belief model (HBM) construct scores showed an independent association with parental consent. Higher, compared to lower wealth index (AOR; 2.32, 95% CI: 1.29–4.16), knowing someone with genital warts (AOR = 2.23, 95 CI: 1.04–4.76), cervical cancer screening uptake (AOR = 1.93, 95% CI: 1.03–3.62) were associated with increased odds of parental consent. This study highlights factors influencing parental consent for their daughters’ HPV vaccination. Ongoing sensitisation programs are important to improve their decision-making.

Introduction: The human papillomavirus (HPV) is sexually transmitted and infects approximately 75% of sexually active people early in their sexual life. Persistent infection with oncogenic HPV types can lead to malignant conditions such as cervical cancer. In 2006, the World Health Organisation approved the use of an efficacious HPV vaccine for girls aged 9 to 14 to prevent HPV-related conditions. Despite the HPV vaccine being available for about 15 years, dose completion remains as low as 20% in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries implementing the vaccination program compared to 77% in Australia and New Zealand. A fraught of barriers to implementation exist which prevent adequate coverage. Achieving success for HPV vaccination in real-world settings requires strategies to overcome implementation bottlenecks. Therefore, a better understanding and mapping of the implementation strategies used in sub-Saharan Africa to increase HPV vaccination uptake is critical. This review aims to identify implementation strategies to increase HPV vaccination uptake for adolescent girls in sub-Saharan Africa and provide a basis for policy and future research, including systematic reviews to evaluate effective strategies as we accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer. Materials and methods: This scoping review will consider studies pertaining to implementation strategies to increase HPV vaccination uptake for adolescent girls in sub-Saharan Africa. Studies targeted at different stakeholders to increase adolescent vaccine uptake will be included. Studies using interventions not fitting the definition of implementation strategies as defined by the refined compilation of implementation strategies from the Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change project will be excluded. MEDLINE (via PubMed), Embase, CINAHL (via EBSCO), Scopus and Google Scholar will be searched. Two independent reviewers will screen titles and abstracts for studies that meet the review’s inclusion criteria, and the full text of eligible studies will be reviewed. Data will be extracted from eligible studies using a structured data charting table developed by this team for inclusion by two independent reviewers and presented in a table and graphical form with a narrative summary.

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a common sexually transmitted disease, characterised by persistent infection with high-risk strains leading to malignant conditions such as cervical cancer. The HPV vaccine is a well-known primary preventive measure for HPV infections. Previous studies have shown that medical doctors’ vaccine recommendation is one of the key strategies in improving HPV vaccine uptake. In 2019, Zambia rolled out the free national HPV vaccination program targeting 14-year-old girls. However, the annual coverage for HPV vaccination is variable, with rates as low as 33% for 2021. Materials and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study between September and December 2020 at the University Teaching Hospitals in Lusaka, Zambia. We used analysis of variance to assess the mean differences in the overall scores for knowledge, attitude and practices towards the HPV vaccine. In addition, we used structural equation modelling (SEM) to test the traditional education theory as medical doctors’ HPV vaccine knowledge, attitude, and practices cover several facets, and SEM can model latent variables. Results: We enrolled 121 medical doctors, of whom 67 (44.6%) were male. The majority, 76 (62.8%), were registrars and 79 (65.3%) had more than ten years of clinical experience. The overall mean knowledge, attitude, and practice score of the HPV vaccine mean (SD) were 70.2 (15.1), 72.1 (18.5) and 77.1 (28.9), respectively. More than half of the medical doctors would advise anyone eligible to take the HPV vaccine 66 (54.6%). There was a positive correlation between attitude and practice towards the HPV vaccine (β = .03, P = .017). Conversely, there was no evidence of a correlation between overall HPV knowledge and attitude (β = .01, P = .670) and rank of the medical doctors (β = −7.87, P = .355). Conclusion: Knowledge was high with good attitudes and practices among medical doctors, which are vital in vaccine recommendation and subsequent uptake.