Background: In sub-Saharan Africa, malaria is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, which, during pregnancy, is associated with adverse health outcomes for both mother and foetus. Utilization of Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs) and Intermittent Preventive Therapy (IPTp) is advocated to prevent malaria during pregnancy. Objective: To examine factors which influence the use of different types of malaria prevention methods among pregnant women in Kenya. Methods: This study used 2008-09 Kenya Demographic and Health survey. Pregnant women aged 15-49 years were included (622 women). Distribution of the study population was assessed in frequency tables. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was employed. Results: Fifty-two percent of women used ITNs and 38.5% reported uptake of IPTp. In multivariate analysis age, malaria risk areas, religion, education and income influenced ITN usage, whereas only age, malaria risk areas and marital status were found to influence IPTP uptake. Conclusions: ITN use and IPTp uptake were well below the 80% Kenya Malaria Strategy 2006 target. In an effort to increase uptake it is vital for future research to understand reasons for low usage and uptake of malaria prevention programmes so as to enable policy-makers to make informed decisions.

Background Despite the benefits of cervical cancer (CC) screening to reduce the disease burden, uptake remains limited in developing countries. This study aims to assess the individual and community-level determinants of cervical cancer screening among women of reproductive age in Zimbabwe. Methods We analyzed data collected from 400 communities from the 2015 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey with a sample size of 9955 women aged 15–49 years. The descriptive statistics and multi-level regression models adjusted for potential covariates were performed to examine the association between individual, household and community-level factors and the uptake of cervical cancer screening in women. Results The mean (SD) age of women in Zimbabwe using cervical cancer screening was 27.9 (9.9) years. A relatively small proportion of women, i.e., only 13.4% had ever screened for cervical cancer, with higher screening rates observed in the following sub-groups: middle aged women 31–49 years (odds ratio (OR) = 2.01; 95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.72–2.34), and currently working (OR = 1.35; 95% CI 1.17–1.55), those with health insurance (OR = 1.95; 95% CI 1.63–2.34), used modern contraceptives (OR = 1.51; 95% CI 1.22–1.86), exposed to multiple media (OR = 1.27; 95% CI 1.03–1.58), those living in communities that had a high predominance of women with favorable attitude towards Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) against women (OR = 1.21; 95% CI 1.04–1.41) and a non-poor wealth index (OR = 1.54; 95% CI 1.14–2.05). Conclusions Our data shows a significantly low prevalence of cervical cancer screening among reproductive age women in Zimbabwe. To increase the uptake of cervical cancer screening, there is an urgent need both to implement behavioral interventions targeted at women from low socio-economic groups and to advocate for universal health coverage that includes financial risk protection to help all women realize their right to health.