Tetanus, pertussis, influenza, and COVID-19 vaccines are recommended for the prevention of related morbidity and mortality during pregnancy and postpartum. Despite the established benefits of vaccination for prenatal and postnatal women, maternal vaccination is not universally included in routine antenatal programs, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Furthermore, the uptake of recommended vaccines among pregnant and postpartum women remains below optimum globally. This review aimed to map the evidence on interventions to improve knowledge, attitudes, and uptake of recommended vaccines among pregnant and postpartum women. We conducted a comprehensive and systematic search for relevant literature in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, EBSCOhost, and Google Scholar. Overall, 29 studies published between 2010 and 2023 were included in this review. The majority (n = 27) of these studies were from high-income countries. A total of 14 studies focused on the influenza vaccine, 6 on the Tdap vaccine, 8 on both influenza and Tdap vaccines, and only one study on the COVID-19 vaccine. Patient-centered interventions predominated the evidence base (66%), followed by provider-focused (7%), health system-focused (10%), and multilevel interventions (17%). Overall, the effect of these interventions on knowledge, attitudes, and uptake of maternal vaccines was variable.

This paper explores the applicability of a new model of information literacy, SCONUL, developed in the global North, to the South African higher education academic library context with all its enormous challenges of accessibility, transformation, basic education and intellectual awareness. Based on a case study of a postgraduate class in a commerce faculty, the paper draws on a survey and focus groups with students and interviews with lecturers to explore perceptions of information literacy and digital literacy as 21st-century skills that students need to be successful in their studies and the world of work. The findings show that whilst students exhibit confidence (through personal internet confidence) in terms of information literacy, they are not as skilled as they believe themselves to be. They also have a narrow notion of the concept. There are also contradictions in the understanding of the concept of information literacy between librarians, students and lecturers.

Background: Migrant populations are commonly under-immunised relative to general populations in host countries. The evidence base on routine vaccination among migrant children suggests higher priority is given to infants and younger children compared to adolescents. Though migrants are often classified as a homogenous group, different sub-populations of migrants exist, including voluntary migrants who choose to move, and involuntary migrants forcibly displaced by humanitarian crises. The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, a relatively recent addition to global routine immunisation schedules for adolescents, is a useful proxy for understanding vaccine equity for this under-prioritised group. This qualitative systematic review explores health system determinants of delivery and uptake of HPV vaccination services among involuntary migrants. Methods: A literature search was conducted across ten electronic databases. An analytical framework tailored to the migrant context aided in capturing the complexity and magnitude of systemic factors that determine vaccine delivery and uptake among involuntary migrants. Of the 676 records retrieved, 27 studies were included in this review. Results: Key determinants of vaccine delivery include adaptation of immunisation policies for migrant inclusiveness, implementation of migrant-targeted interventions, health provider recommendations, electronic health records and free vaccines. Uptake determinants include access dependent on legal status, awareness-related determinants akin to culturally appropriate health messaging, and acceptance-related determinants associated with sociocultural beliefs, misinformation and distrust. Conclusion: Prioritising vaccination programmes linked with non-outbreak-related diseases is challenging in the disruptive context of humanitarian crises given fragile health systems, limited resources, loss of health infrastructure and deployment of health personnel to emergency care. We strongly advocate for global actors at all health systems levels to actively reform national HPV vaccination programs to enhance inclusivity of adolescent girls in crises settings or resettled in host countries.

Background: Migrant populations are commonly under-immunised relative to general populations in host countries. The evidence base on routine vaccination among migrant children suggests that higher priority is given to infants and younger children compared to adolescents. Though migrants are often classified as a homogenous group, different sub-populations of migrants exist, including voluntary migrants who choose to move and involuntary migrants forcibly displaced by humanitarian crises. The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, a relatively recent addition to global routine immunisation schedules for adolescents, is a useful proxy for understanding vaccine equity for this under-prioritised group. This qualitative systematic review explores health system determinants of delivery and uptake of HPV vaccination services among involuntary migrants. Methods: A literature search was conducted across ten electronic databases. An analytical framework tailored to the migrant context aided in capturing the complexity and magnitude of systemic factors that determine vaccine delivery and uptake among involuntary migrants. Of the 676 records retrieved, 27 studies were included in this review. Results: Key determinants of vaccine delivery include adaptation of immunisation policies for migrant inclusiveness, implementation of migrant-targeted interventions, health provider recommendations, electronic health records, and free vaccines. Uptake determinants include access dependent on legal status, awareness-related determinants akin to culturally appropriate health messaging, and acceptance-related determinants associated with sociocultural beliefs, misinformation, and distrust. Conclusions: Prioritising vaccination programmes linked with non-outbreak-related diseases is challenging in the disruptive context of humanitarian crises given fragile health systems, limited resources, loss of health infrastructure and deployment of health personnel to emergency care. We strongly advocate for global actors at all health systems levels to actively reform national HPV vaccination programmes to enhance inclusivity of adolescent girls in crises settings or resettled in host countries.

The purpose of this paper is to report on how a team of librarians from the University of Cape Town (UCT) Libraries introduced and implemented a project involving instructional video tutorials. Faced with a growing number of students, a decline in the number of library staff as well as the limited ability of librarians to reach out to students through traditional means of face-to-face library instruction, the librarians started creating video tutorials using Camtasia Studio. Another impetus for developing video tutorials was the introduction of lecture recording at the university and the need for the library to align itself with these developments at the institution. Through a narrative, the paper outlines the video development process. The challenges encountered are presented and a set of guidelines drawn up to ensure efficient and effective production. The number of videos created grew from one in 2012 to 62 by 2018. An examination of video usage analytics indicates that the average view duration of the videos is between 52 per cent and 71 per cent. The guidelines presented in this paper will provide valuable insights for other librarians to develop video tutorials. The paper is a valuable addition to existing literature on the subject and more importantly addresses a unique South African experience.

Background: Robust evidence that is contextual, relevant, and timely is crucial to the effective functioning of National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups (NITAGs). These groups provide independent advice to their Ministry of Health on issues related to immunization and vaccines, based on evidence and the national context. Similarly, evidence generation is a major hallmark of academic institutions. To ensure national immunization policies benefits from local and contextual evidence, there should be a strong linkage between academic institutions and NITAGs. This study investigated NITAGs and local academic linkage strategies and ways to strengthen such linkages. Methods: The WHO’s quick guide manual on “Performing a landscape analysis: Understanding health product research and development” was adapted and utilized for this landscape analysis which was conducted in two broad phases. The first phase involved the review of published literature, while the second phase entailed key informant interviews (KIIs) with NITAG members and other identified stakeholders in the study countries of Ethiopia and Zambia. The transcripts were transcribed and thematically analyzed. Results: The landscape analysis highlights the paucity of materials focused on documenting the linkage between NITAGs and local academic institutions. The main cross-cutting theme identified from the analysis of the KIIs is the informal and ‘ad hoc’ nature of the linkage, which interviewees described as “working”; was sub-optimal. Conclusion: The overwhelming recommendation calls for the formalization and official recognition of the relationship.