BackgroundZinc deficiency is prevalent in low-and middle-income countries, and contributes to significant diarrhoea-, pneumonia-, and malariarelated morbidity and mortality among young children. Zinc deficiency also impairs growth. ObjectivesTo assess the effects of zinc supplementation for preventing mortality and morbidity, and for promoting growth, in children aged six months to 12 years of age.

ObjectiveZinc deficiency is widespread, and preventive supplementation may have benefits in young children. Effects for children over 5 years of age, and effects when coadministered with other micronutrients are uncertain. These are obstacles to scale-up. This review seeks to determine if preventive supplementation reduces mortality and morbidity for children aged 6 months to 12 years.DesignSystematic review conducted with the Cochrane Developmental, Psychosocial and Learning Problems Group. Two reviewers independently assessed studies. Meta-analyses were performed for mortality, illness and side effects.Data sourcesWe searched multiple databases, including CENTRAL and MEDLINE in January 2013. Authors were contacted for missing information.Eligibility criteria for selecting studiesRandomised trials of preventive zinc supplementation. Hospitalised children and children with chronic diseases were excluded.Results80 randomised trials with 205 401 participants were included. There was a small but non-significant effect on all-cause mortality (risk ratio (RR) 0.95 (95% CI 0.86 to 1.05)). Supplementation may reduce incidence of all-cause diarrhoea (RR 0.87 (0.85 to 0.89)), but there was evidence of reporting bias. There was no evidence of an effect of incidence or prevalence of respiratory infections or malaria. There was moderate quality evidence of a very small effect on linear growth (standardised mean difference 0.09 (0.06 to 0.13)) and an increase in vomiting (RR 1.29 (1.14 to 1.46)). There was no evidence of an effect on iron status. Comparing zinc with and without iron cosupplementation and direct comparisons of zinc plus iron versus zinc administered alone favoured cointervention for some outcomes and zinc alone for other outcomes. Effects may be larger for children over 1 year of age, but most differences were not significant.ConclusionsBenefits of preventive zinc supplementation may outweigh any potentially adverse effects in areas where risk of zinc deficiency is high. Further research should determine optimal intervention characteristics and delivery strategies.

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Unconditional cash transfers (UCTs) provide money to eligible individuals, without dictating how they spend the money or tasks they must do to receive it. This study explored how UCTs affected the lives of young, impoverished women in rural western Kenya. Qualitative methods were used, including in‐depth interviews with 30 women: 10 receiving $1,000, 10 receiving $500, and 10 not receiving a UCT. UCTs were positively viewed by interviewees, and had nuanced and varied effects on aspirations, money management, relationships, and subjective well‐being in social context. The perspectives of interviewees offer programmatic suggestions and question major assumptions concerning UCTs. The perspectives of interviewees offer programmatic suggestions and question major assumptions concerning UCTs. This qualitative study augments the primarily quantitative research on UCTs that has been done to date.

The current movement to 'decolonize' global health aims to both dismantle colonial frameworks that perpetuate inequity and racism, as well as to rebuild and uplift structures and systems that celebrate indigeneity. However, it is critical to recognize that teaching decoloniality within global health education is more than just the acknowledgement that there are key paradigms missing from current global health education. It is imperative to have a methodology to hold ourselves and our learners accountable to progress in practices and ideals that promote equity-based praxis. In this paper, we propose the creation of a tool to assess learner levels and their progression over time in both recognizing the impacts of colonialism and acting to transform their own global health praxis towards equity and decoloniality.