Maternal mortality is a major public health issue in developing countries due to its shocking magnitude and lower declining pattern. With appropriate strategy and intensive implementation programs, some countries have made remarkable progress, however in developing countries where 99% of maternal death is occurring; little or no progress has been made. Identifying determinants and designing intervention will have important role to overcome the problem. Therefore this study aimed to identify correlates of maternal mortality in developing countries. This study was conducted using international data bases of health metrics from 2008 to 2016 using aggregates of health indicator data from WHO, World Bank, UNDP and UNICEF data bases for 82 developing countries. The dependent variable was the maternal mortality ratio, while the independent variable was socio-economic, health care related and morbidity variables. Data was compiled in excel and analyzed using SPSS version 21. Maternal mortality ratio is very high in developing countries and enormously varies among countries. A significant relationship between the maternal mortality ratio and socio-economic, health care and morbidity indicator variables was observed. There was an inverse and significant correlation of the maternal mortality ratio with Antenatal care coverage, skilled birth attendance, access to an improved water source and sanitation, adult literacy rate, the Gross National Income per capita and positive relation with disease incidence, unmet need and others. Maternal mortality is correlated with multiples of socio-economic factors, health care system associated factors, disease burden and their complex interactions. Therefore Policy and programs targeted to improve maternal health and reduce maternal deaths should consider population dynamics, socio-economic influence and health system factors that impose a major risk on mothers.

HIV infection continues to be epidemic of public health importance with a prevalence of 1.1% and incidence of 0.33/1000 population having low-intensity mixed epidemic. Ethiopia has adopted the 90–90-90 by 2020 target but its progress was not yet assessed. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the trend of HIV infection for the last 26 years and to predict the achievements of the 90–90-90 target. We used aggregates of HIV/AIDS indicator data from 1990 to 2016 of UNAIDS data bases. The data were analyzed with excel and STATA. The trend line that best fits the regression was drawn, annual change was estimated and future values of HIV detection rate, coverage of antiretroviral therapy and viral suppression indicators were predicted and compared with the 90–90-90 targets. Since 1995, new infection has declined by 81% and since 2002; number of HIV cases has declined by 35.5%. However, after remarkable decline for decades, since 2008 HIV incidence rate began to rise by 10% and number of new infection diagnosed each year increased by 36% among all ages and doubled among adults. ART coverage has increased by 90% among all age and tripled among pregnant women within 6 years. Nationally, 67% of people living with HIV know their status, 88% of them are on treatment and 86% of people on treatment have viral suppression. As a result, AIDS-related death declined by 77 and 79% among all age and children respectively. By 2020, 79% of people living with HIV will know their HIV status, of which 96–99% of HIV infected people will be on ART and more than 86% will have viral suppression. After remarkable decline, HIV infection started to increase in the last few years among adults. With the current trend, Ethiopia will achieve the second and third 90% HIV targets, while the first target is not achievable and without achieving this overarching goal control of the epidemic will not be achieved. Therefore due attention is needed to avert the current epidemics and diagnosis of cases.

Introduction: Along with increasing availability and utilization of contraception, it is also important to confirm the effects of contraception use on resumption of fertility after discontinuation. However, current evidence on resumption of fertility after contraception use is inconclusive and practical fertility after termination of contraception remains a big concern for women who are using contraception. This fear poses a negative impact on the utilization and continuation of contraception. Therefore, estimating the rate of pregnancy resumption after contraceptive use from the available reports and identifying the associating factors are important for designing a strategy to overcome the problem. Methods: The review was conducted through a systematic literature search of articles published between 1985 and 2017. Five bibliographic databases and libraries: PubMed/Medline, Global Health Database, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and African Index Medicus were used. After cleaning and sorting, analysis was performed using STATA version 11. The pooled rate of conception was estimated with a random-effects model. Heterogeneity was assessed by the I² and publication bias through funnel plot. Results: Twenty two studies that enrolled a total of 14,884 women who discontinued contraception were retained for final analysis. The pooled rate of pregnancy was 83.1% (95% CI = 78.2-88%) within the first 12 months of contraceptive discontinuation. It was not significantly different for hormonal methods and IUD users. Similarly the type of progesterone in specific contraception option and duration of oral-contraceptive use do not significantly influence the return of fertility following cessation of contraception. However the effect of parity in the resumption of pregnancy following cessation of contraception was inconclusive. Conclusion and recommendation: Contraceptive use regardless of its duration and type does not have a negative effect on the ability of women to conceive following termination of use and it doesn’t significantly delay fertility. Therefore, appropriate counseling is important to assure the women to use the methods as to their interest.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic has been fuelled by gender inequality and disparity resulted in violation of women reproductive right. The “feminization” of the pandemic is more apparent in Sub-Saharan Africa where the larger numbers of HIV infected people are living. Although they carry the higher proportion of HIV cases; access to care and treatment is lower among women. In Ethiopia where HIV is prevalent and gender violence is common, the disparity may be higher. Therefore, this research aimed to assesses trends in gender disparity in the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Ethiopia to bring evidence for action. This study was conducted using aggregates of HIV/AIDS indicator data from 1990 to 2016 of UNAIDS data bases. The data was compiled and analyzed with excel and STATA Version 11. The trend was assessed, gender difference was measured and rate of change was compared between genders and specific age groups. Adult females (age 15+) accounted 61.5% of the HIV cases and new infection among adults. While, adolescent females (age 10-19) and young women (age 15-24) accounted 52.3 and 57.5% of prevalent cases and 74 and 68% of new infection in their age category respectively. HIV is 1.62 times more prevalent among adult women than men. Since 1990, HIV cases among adults has risen markedly in the first decade with 24 and 20%, then declined by 41.5% in the second decade and rose again by 5 and 8.7% among women and men respectively. The overall prevalence is declined by 72.4 and 71.5% from the maximum record. Women and men have equal access for ART; 62% of men and 61% of women from all adults living with HIV were on ART. While 61% of deaths were among adult women and the death rate is similar among adolescent women and men. AIDS- related death has been declined by 76% from the maximum record. HIV/AIDS prevalence, new infection and AIDS-related death are by far higher among adult women than men. While the coverage of treatment and HIV care is equal among both genders. Vulnerable age groups (adolescent females and young women) take the lion’s share of the new infections and prevalent cases. Therefore due attention is needed to avert gender disparity with a particular emphasis for adolescents and young women.

Maternal mortality and morbidity remain unacceptably high in developing countries. Behind every maternal death, many other women suffered from acute and chronic obstetric complications. Women who survive severe acute maternal morbidities/near miss have many characteristics in common with maternal death events particularly on risk factors. Ethiopia is among countries with high maternal mortality and morbidities in sub-Saharan Africa. However there is scarce evidence on risk factors of severe acute maternal morbidities in Ethiopia. Therefore this study aimed to identify predictors of maternal near miss among women admitted in Gurage zone hospitals, south Ethiopia, 2017. Hospital based case control study was conducted to assess predictors of maternal near miss among women admitted in five hospitals of Gurage zone, South Ethiopia. Data of 229 (77 cases and 152 controls) women were included in the analysis. Cases were women admitted due to severe acute maternal morbidity while controls were women admitted for normal labor or women admitted due to mild to moderate obstetric complications. Cases were identified by validated-disease specific criteria. Then, two controls were selected for each verified case using lottery method among eligible women. Data were collected using interviewer administered questionnaire and reviewing patients’ records. Data were entered using Epi Info 7 and analyzed by SPSS 21. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was done to identify independent predictors of maternal near miss. Majority of cases were admitted due to dystocia (57.1%) and obstetric hemorrhage (26%). The median first delay (delay to seek health care) among cases and controls was six and 4 h respectively. Prior history of cesarean section {AOR 7.68, 95%CI, 3.11–18.96}, first delay {AOR 2.79, 95%CI, 1.42–5.50}, and being referred from other health facilities {AOR 7.47, 95% CI, 2.27–24.51} were independent predictors of maternal near miss. Prior history of cesarean section, being referred from other health facilities and first delay were factors associated with maternal near miss. Timely health care seeking behavior of women is uncommon in the study area. Therefore primary health care programs need to enhance the existing efforts to improve timely health care seeking behavior of women.

Exclusive breastfeeding is giving only breast milk to an infant from birth up to six months of age, with the exception of medications and vitamins. For the first six months of life, breast milk alone is the ideal nourishment to meet the nutritional demand of the growing child. Although breastfeeding is a universal practice, in Ethiopia only 52% of children aged less than six months old were exclusively breastfed. The study aimed to investigate the predictors of exclusive breastfeeding duration among women who had children aged between 6–12 months in Gurage zone, South Ethiopia. A mixed method cross-sectional study was conducted to assess predictors of exclusive breastfeeding duration in south Ethiopia. Eight hundred and twenty eight study participants were recruited using a multistage sampling technique for the quantitative survey. Interviewer administered close ended questionnaire was used to collect the quantitative data. Data were entered using Epi Data and analyzed using SPSS version 21. The Kaplan-Meier curve with log rank test was used to compare the survival difference due to the selected covariates. A binary and multivariable Cox regression model was used to identify the independent predictors of exclusive breastfeeding duration. Three focus group discussions were conducted to generate the qualitative data. Qualitative data is transcribed and analyzed by thematic approach using open-code software. The median duration of exclusive breastfeeding was six months. About 21.9% of women introduced complementary food before six months of child age. Women with education status of diploma and above (Adjusted Hazard Ratio [AHR]: 2.89, 95% CI: 1.05, 7.97), perceived inadequate breast milk (AHR: 11, 95% CI: 6.7, 18.0) and cesarean section delivery (AHR: 3.8, 95% CI: 2.0, 7.2) were more likely to cease exclusive breastfeeding before six months of child age; while women who had infant feeding counseling during postnatal care (AHR: 5.1, 95% CI: 2.5, 10.23) were less likely to cease exclusive breastfeeding before the child was six months of age. A significant proportion of women cease exclusive breastfeeding before the recommended six months duration. Maternal education of diploma and above, perceived inadequacy of breast milk, cesarean section delivery, postnatal counseling on child feeding are factors significantly associated with the duration of exclusive breastfeeding. Encouraging behavioral change and improving communication regarding the duration of exclusive breastfeeding, and increasing the utilization of postnatal counseling about exclusive breastfeeding are recommended.