Background It is well documented that treatment for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is effective. However, little is known about the long-term outcomes for children treated for SAM. We sought to trace former SAM patients 11 to 30 years after their discharge from hospital, and to describe their longer-term survival and their growth to adulthood. Methods A total of 1,981 records of subjects admitted for SAM between 1988 and 2007 were taken from the archives of Lwiro hospital, in South Kivu, DRC. The median age on admission was 41 months. Between December 2017 and June 2018, we set about identifying these subjects (cases) in the health zones of Miti-Murhesa and Katana. For deceased subjects, the cause and year of death were collected. A Cox proportional hazards multivariate regression analysis was used to identify the death-related factors. For the cases seen, age-and gender-matched community controls were selected for a comparison of anthropometric indicators. Results A total of 600 subjects were traced, and 201 subjects were deceased. Of the deceased subjects, 65�6% were under 10 years old at the time of their death. Of the deaths, 59�2% occurred within 5 years of discharge from hospital. The main causes of death were malaria (14�9%), kwashiorkor (13�9%), respiratory infections (10�4%), and diarrhoeal diseases (8�9%). The risk of death was higher in subjects with SAM, MAM combined with CM, and in male subjects, with HRs* of 1�83 (p = 0�043), 2.35 (p = 0�030) and 1.44 (p = 0�013) respectively. Compared with their controls, the cases had a low weight (-1�7 kg, p = 0�001), short

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Introduction Little is known about the outcomes of subjects with a history of severe acute malnutrition (SAM). We therefore sought to explore the long-term effects of SAM during childhood on human capital in adulthood in terms of education, cognition, self-esteem and health-related disabilities in daily living. Methodology We traced 524 adults (median age of 22) in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, who were treated for SAM during childhood at Lwiro hospital between 1988 and 2007 (median age 41 months). We compared them with 407 community controls of comparable age and sex. Our outcomes of interest were education, cognitive function [assessed using the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) for literate participants, or its modified version created by Ertan et al. (MMSE-I) for uneducated participants], self-esteem (measured using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale) and health-related social and functional disabilities measured using the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS). For comparison, we used the Chi-squared test along with the Student’s t-test for the proportions and means respectively. Results Compared with the community controls, malnutrition survivors had a lower probability of attaining a high level of education (p < 0.001), of reporting a high academic performance (p = 0.014) or of having high self-esteem (p = 0.003). In addition, malnutrition survivors had an overall mean score in the cognitive test that was lower compared with the community controls [25.6 compared with 27.8, p = 0.001 (MMSE) and 22.8 compared with 26.3, p < 0.001(MMSE-I)] and a lower proportion of subjects with a normal result in this test (78.0% compared with 90.1%, p < 0.001). Lastly, in terms of health-related disabilities, unlike the community controls, malnutrition survivors had less social disability (p = 0.034), but no difference was observed as regards activities of daily living (p = 0.322). Conclusion SAM during childhood exposes survivors to low human capital as regards education, cognition and behaviour in adulthood. Policy-deciders seeking to promote economic growth and to address various psychological and medico-social disorders must take into consideration the fact that appropriate investment in child health as regards SAM is an essential means to achieve this.

Background Little is known about the long-term outcome of children treated for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) after nutritional rehabilitation. Objectives To explore the association between SAM in childhood, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), and low human capital in adulthood. Methods We identified 524 adults (median age: 22 y) who were treated for SAM during childhood in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo between 1988 and 2007. They were compared with 407 community unexposed age- and sex-matched subjects with no history of SAM. The variables of interest were cardiometabolic risk markers for NCDs and human capital. For the comparison, we used linear and logistic regressions to estimate the association between SAM in childhood and the risk of NCDs and ordinal logistic regression for the human capital. Results Compared with unexposed subjects, the exposed participants had a higher waist circumference [1.2 (0.02, 2.3) cm; P = 0.015], and a larger waist-to-height ratio [0.01 (0.01, 0.02) cm; P &lt; 0.001]. On the other hand, they had a smaller hip circumference [−1.5 (−2.6, −0.5) cm; P = 0.021]. Regarding cardiometabolic markers for NCDs, apart from a higher glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) [0.4 (0.2, 0.6); P &lt; 0.001], no difference was observed in other cardiometabolic markers for NCD between the 2 groups. Compared with unexposed participants, exposed participants had a higher risk of metabolic syndrome (crude OR: 2.35; 95% CI: 1.22, 4.54; P = 0.010) and visceral obesity [adjusted OR: 1.44 (1.09, 1.89); P = 0.001]. The prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, overweight, and dyslipidaemia was similar in both groups. Last, the proportion of malnutrition survivors with higher socioeconomic status level was lower. Conclusion SAM during childhood was associated with a high risk of NCDs and lower human capital in adulthood. Thus, policymakers and funders seeking to fight the global spread of NCDs in adults in low-resource settings should consider the long-term benefit of reducing childhood SAM as a preventive measure to reduce the socioeconomic burden attributable to NCDs.

Background In conflict-affected settings, data on reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) are often lacking for priority setting and timely decision-making. We aimed to describe the levels and trends in RMNCH indicators within Kivu provinces between 2015 and 2018, by linking conflict data with health facility (HF) data from the District Health Information System 2 (DHIS2). Methods We used data from the DHIS2 for the period 2015–2018, the 2014 Demographic and Health Survey, the 2018 Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey and the Uppsala Conflict Data Program. Health zones were categorised in low, moderate and high conflict intensity level, based on an annual conflict death rate. We additionally defined a monthly conflict death rate and a conflict event-days rate as measures of conflict intensity and insecurity. Outcomes were completion of four antenatal care visits, health facility deliveries, caesarean sections and pentavalent vaccine coverage. We assessed data quality and analyzed coverage and trends in RMNCH indicators graphically, by conflict categories and using HF data aggregated annually. We used a series of fixed-effect regression models to examine the potential dose-response effect of varying conflict intensity and insecurity on RMNCH. Results The overall HF reporting was good, ranging between 83.3 and 93.2% and tending to be lower in health zones with high conflict intensity in 2016 and 2017 before converging in 2018. Despite the increasing number of conflict-affected health zones over time, more in North-Kivu than in South-Kivu, we could not identify any clear pattern of variation in RMNCH coverage both by conflict intensity and insecurity. North-Kivu province had consistently reported better RMNCH indicators than South-Kivu, despite being more affected by conflict. The Kivu as a whole recorded higher coverage than the national level. Coverage of RMNCH services calculated from HF data was consistent with population-based surveys, despite year-to-year fluctuation among health zones and across conflict-intensity categories. Conclusions Although good in general, the HF reporting rate in the Kivu was negatively impacted by conflict intensity especially at the beginning of the DHIS2’s rolling-up. Routine HF data appeared useful for assessing and monitoring trends in RMNCH service coverage, including in areas with high-intensity conflict.

No significant differences were found between the RUCF and UNIMIX in the reduction of the prevalence of stunting and underweight at 12 mo of age among rural Congolese infants. This trial was registered at controlled-trials.com as ISRCTN20267635.

No differences in breast-milk intake were observed between infants consuming either RUCF or UNIMIX. The deuterium-dose-to-the-mother dilution technique is an affordable technique that we recommend for periodic evaluation of breast-milk intake in resource-poor settings. This trial is registered at controlled-trials.com as ISRCTN20267635.

Background: In the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) programs targeting women are implemented. In the context of the 'Mawe Tatu' program more equitable intra-household decision-making is stipulated by accompanying women's participation in VSLAs with efforts to engage men for more gender equality, expecting a positive effect of this combined intervention on the household economy, on child nutritional status, on the use of reproductive health services including family planning, and on reducing sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). Methods: A longitudinal parallel mixed method study is conducted among women participating in VSLAs in randomly selected project areas and among a control group matched for socioeconomic characteristics. Descriptive statistics will be calculated and differences between intervention and control groups will be assessed by Chi2 tests for different degrees of freedom for categorical data or by t-tests for continuous data. Structural equation modelling (SEM) will be conducted to investigate the complex and multidimensional pathways that will affect household economic status, child nutritional status and use of reproductive health services. Analysis will be conducted with STATA V.15. Concomitantly, qualitative data collection will shed light on the intra-household processes related to gender powerrelations that may be linked to women's participation in economic activities and may lead to improvements of maternal and child health. Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews will be conducted. All narrative data will be coded (open coding) with the help of qualitative data analysis software (Atlas TI). Discussion: Women's empowerment has long been identified as being able to bring about progress in various areas, including health. It has been shown that men's commitment to transforming gender norms is a sinequanone factor for greater equity and better health, especially in terms of reproductive health and child nutrition. This study is one of the first in this genre in DRC and results will serve as a guide for policies aimed at improving the involvement of men in changing attitudes towards gender norms for higher household productivity and better health.