Community engagement has emerged as a critical component in the effective control and elimination of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), particularly in regions with persistent stigma and limited healthcare access. Drawing on case studies from Brazil, India, and Nigeria, this opinion piece explores how community-driven initiatives have successfully improved leprosy awareness, reduced stigma, and fostered early case detection and treatment adherence. The importance of culturally sensitive, inclusive approaches in health education and stigma reduction campaigns is highlighted, emphasizing the potential for community engagement to enhance national leprosy programs and contribute to the World Health Organization’s Zero Leprosy Strategy. By examining these examples, this article illustrates how integrating community participation into leprosy control and elimination programs can drive sustainable outcomes for achieving Zero Leprosy, even in resource-limited settings.

Declared as one of the ten most pressing threats to global health in 2019, the complexity around vaccine acceptance and hesitancy has once again gained great momentum following the COVID-19 pandemic. Lack of vaccine acceptance may endanger the mission of improving vaccine uptake globally to tackle pandemics, reduce morbidity and mortality of preventable diseases and to prevent antibiotic resistance worldwide. Countries of the global south, including South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries are especially affected by the dangers of low vaccination uptake and continue to show decreases in coverage in recent years. This paper examines factors contributing to vaccine hesitancy in south Asia and the extent to which they are context and disease specific, guided by a modified version of the WHO SAGE 5 C model by Razai et al. Three databases were searched for peer-reviewed articles by using a comprehensive search strategy. Results from 44 quantitative, qualitative and mixed-method studies were included in the systematic review and appraised for quality, thematically analyzed and mapped onto the 5 C model. findings from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Afghanistan showed vaccine hesitancy to be context and vaccine-specific within different settings of the countries. The main factors contributing to vaccine hesitancy can be identified as narrow confidence in vaccines, miscommunication, and lack of knowledge embedded into overarching constraints and contexts. To tackle vaccine hesitancy in SAARC countries, interventions need to be co-created by communities and mutual trust needs to be ensured, for instance through increased equity in knowledge distribution.

Worldwide, attempted suicide and suicide death are one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Women in South-East Asia are especially vulnerable, as almost 50% of all global female suicides occur in the 11 countries of the WHO South-East Asia Region. This scoping literature analysis aimed to identify and analyze the predictors or risk factors for attempted suicide and suicide death among South-East Asian women. A scoping literature review was conducted. Five databases—PubMed, MEDLINE, EBSCOhost, PsycINFO, and EMBASE—were searched. Forty studies and twelve literature reviews were eligible for inclusion. Women in South-East Asia, particularly those who are young and married, living in poverty, with low or no education, living in rural areas, with no employment outside the home, with lower socioeconomic position, and living within joint families are highly vulnerable to suicidality. This review identified gender disadvantage, infertility, domestic abuse, intimate partner violence, family conflicts, husband’s alcohol misuse, child marriage, forced marriages, and dowry disputes as the most significant predictors of attempted suicide and suicide death among South-East Asian women. A better understanding of the phenomenon is essential to develop effective gender-specific and culturally appropriate suicide prevention strategies or interventions.

Background: Pediatric tuberculosis (TB) is a significant public health concern in India, contributing to 28% of the global pediatric TB burden. Despite its impact on child health, strategies to control TB have inadequately addressed pediatric cases, resulting in suboptimal management. Understanding the barriers and facilitators influencing the management of pediatric TB in India is crucial for improving healthcare practices and outcomes for affected children. Methods: This systematic review aims to analyze existing literature to identify barriers and facilitators to the management of pediatric TB in India. A search of three databases; Embase, PubMed and Web of Science, was conducted to identify relevant studies published from 01/01/2012 to 07/09/2024. Studies focusing on barriers and facilitators in pediatric TB management were included in this review. Results: The search strategy yielded 1132 original articles, with 24 articles meeting the selection criteria for inclusion. In this review, the prevalent barrier at the individual level encompasses parental knowledge gaps, financial constraints, and the preference for private healthcare services. At the community level, barriers included gender inequality, stigmatization and discrimination, interconnected living environment, and traditional practices. At the health system level, the most significant barriers included the insufficient knowledge and training among healthcare providers, diagnostic complexities, non-child-friendly tools and techniques, limited availability and accessibility of resources, inadequate monitoring, and practices in the private healthcare sector. The facilitators identified in this review included the collaboration between different sectors and the utilization of the Xpert MTB/RIF diagnostic test. Discussion: This systematic review provides a comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted challenges influencing the management of pediatric TB in India. By identifying the barriers and facilitators at different levels, the review offers valuable insights into the complexities of the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of pediatric TB. A better understanding of these complexities is essential for improving pediatric TB management in India and worldwide.