Margaret Gyapong
Biographic Data
| ID | 1730468 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Margaret Gyapong |
| GIVEN NAMES | Margaret |
| FAMILY NAME | Gyapong |
| SIGNATURE | GYAPONG M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Dodowa Health Research Centre |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4818-3497 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 27 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 9 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 27 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1996 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Opportunities and barriers arising from the Covid-19 pandemic for health campaign integration across immunizations, neglected tropical diseases, insecticide-treated bed nets, and vitamin A supplementa…
In low- and middle-income countries, health campaigns play a crucial role in addressing high-priority health concerns such as neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), malaria, vaccine-preventable diseases and nutrition (vitamin A supplementation). Many health campaigns are conducted throughout the calendar year, resulting in multiple campaigns annually in some communities. Campaign integration offers an opportunity to increase efficiencies across prog…
Current state and future directions of interventions for neglected tropical diseases
A mixed-methods exploration into the resilience of community drug distributors conducting mass drug administration for preventive chemotherapy of lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis in Côte d’Ivoi…
Volunteer community drug distributors (CDDs) have been vital to progress made in the elimination of onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis; two neglected tropical diseases amenable to preventive chemotherapy (PC-NTDs). However, formative work in Côte d’Ivoire and Uganda revealed that CDDs can encounter considerable challenges during mass drug administration (MDA). CDDs must be resilient to overcome these challenges, yet little is known about the…
What Africa can do to accelerate and sustain progress against malaria
After a longstanding global presence, malaria is now largely non-existent or suppressed in most parts of the world. Today, cases and deaths are primarily concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa. According to many experts, this persistence on the African continent reflects factors such as resistance to insecticides and drugs as well as insufficient access to essential commodities such as insecticide-treated nets and effective drugs. Crucially, however,…
Neglected tropical diseases as a barometer for progress in health systems in times of Covid-19
box The year 2020 will be regarded as the year when the SARS-CoV-2 resulted in the COVID-19 pandemic that spread globally, catching most countries unprepared. Amid untold suffering, COVID-19 presents the opportunity to galvanise support for long due social, political and economic reforms to address the root causes of ill-health and inequities, but also to radically transform health and social protection systems to enable more effective performanc…
EMBRACE intervention to improve the continuum of care in maternal and newborn health in Ghana
BACKGROUND: Improving maternal and newborn health remains one of the most critical public health challenges, particularly in low- and lower-middle-income countries. To overcome this challenge, interventions to improve the continuum of care based on real-world settings need to be provided. The Ghana Ensure Mothers and Babies Regular Access to Care (EMBRACE) Implementation Research Team conducted a unique intervention program involving over 21 000 …
Community knowledge and practices regarding antibiotic use in rural Mozambique
There is a broad understanding of the importance of medication compliance but not specifically of antibiotic resistance. In addition, there is a recognized gap between knowledge of responsible drug compliance and actual behaviour. Future qualitative research is required to further explore what determines this behaviour. The existing ability to visually identify amoxicillin by its distinct red and yellow appearance is informative for future awaren…
Implementation research
Secrets, shame and discipline
Women and girls need proper sanitation and hygiene facilities to maintain health and dignity. In this study we show how schoolgirls from a peri-urban community of Ghana, experience severe multidimensional 'hygiene poverty' when attending schools. Hygiene poverty was characterized by poor water and sanitation infrastructures and serious social and emotional challenges, including shaming and disciplining of their sanitation and menstrual practices,…
Determinants of attending antenatal care at least four times in rural Ghana
BACKGROUND: Improving maternal health is a global challenge. In Ghana, maternal morbidity and mortality rates remain high, particularly in rural areas. Antenatal care (ANC) attendance is known to improve maternal health. However, few studies have updated current knowledge regarding determinants of ANC attendance. OBJECTIVE: This study examined factors associated with ANC attendance in predominantly rural Ghana. METHODS: We conducted a cross-secti…
Development of a theory and evidence-based program to promote community treatment of fevers in children under five in a rural district in Southern Ghana
We were able to systematically develop a theory- and evidence-based health promotion program based on the Intervention Mapping protocol. This article contributes to the response to recent calls for a more detailed description of the development of interventions and trials. The intervention mapping approach can serve as a guide for others interested in developing community- based health interventions in similar settings
Effectiveness of two community-based strategies on disease knowledge and health behaviour regarding malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia in Ghana
Both iCCM and CHPS were associated with disease knowledge and health behaviour, but this was more pronounced for iCCM and in the Northern Region. HBC should continue to be considered as the strategy through which community-IMCI is implemented
Community perceptions and practices of treatment seeking for childhood pneumonia
The low awareness and inadequate recognition of pneumonia implies that affected children may not receive prompt and appropriate treatment as their caregivers may misdiagnose the illness. Adequate measures need to be taken to create the needed awareness to improve care seeking behaviour
Sanitation investments in Ghana
The study states that poor land rights, the history of settlements, in-migration and insecure tenancy are key components that are associated with local livelihoods and investments in private sanitation in rapidly changing rural and peri-urban communities of Ghana. Sanitation policy makers and programme managers must acknowledge that these profound local, ethnic and economic forces are shaping people's abilities and motivations for sanitation inve…
Cause-specific childhood mortality in Africa and Asia
BACKGROUND: Childhood mortality, particularly in the first 5 years of life, is a major global concern and the target of Millennium Development Goal 4. Although the majority of childhood deaths occur in Africa and Asia, these are also the regions where such deaths are least likely to be registered. The INDEPTH Network works to alleviate this problem by collating detailed individual data from defined Health and Demographic Surveillance sites. By re…
HIV/Aids-related mortality in Africa and Asia
BACKGROUND: As the HIV/AIDS pandemic has evolved over recent decades, Africa has been the most affected region, even though a large proportion of HIV/AIDS deaths have not been documented at the individual level. Systematic application of verbal autopsy (VA) methods in defined populations provides an opportunity to assess the mortality burden of the pandemic from individual data. OBJECTIVE: To present standardised comparisons of HIV/AIDS-related m…
Pregnancy-related mortality in Africa and Asia
BACKGROUND: Women continue to die in unacceptably large numbers around the world as a result of pregnancy, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Part of the problem is a lack of accurate, population-based information characterising the issues and informing solutions. Population surveillance sites, such as those operated within the INDEPTH Network, have the potential to contribute to bridging the information gaps. OBJECTIVE: To describe pat…
Mortality from external causes in Africa and Asia
BACKGROUND: Mortality from external causes, of all kinds, is an important component of overall mortality on a global basis. However, these deaths, like others in Africa and Asia, are often not counted or documented on an individual basis. Overviews of the state of external cause mortality in Africa and Asia are therefore based on uncertain information. The INDEPTH Network maintains longitudinal surveillance, including cause of death, at populatio…
Adult non-communicable disease mortality in Africa and Asia
BACKGROUND: Mortality from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is a major global issue, as other categories of mortality have diminished and life expectancy has increased. The World Health Organization's Member States have called for a 25% reduction in premature NCD mortality by 2025, which can only be achieved by substantial reductions in risk factors and improvements in the management of chronic conditions. A high burden of NCD mortality among muc…
Malaria mortality in Africa and Asia
BACKGROUND: Malaria continues to be a major cause of infectious disease mortality in tropical regions. However, deaths from malaria are most often not individually documented, and as a result overall understanding of malaria epidemiology is inadequate. INDEPTH Network members maintain population surveillance in Health and Demographic Surveillance System sites across Africa and Asia, in which individual deaths are followed up with verbal autopsies…
Estimating cause of adult (15+ years) death using InterVA-4 in a rural district of southern Ghana
BACKGROUND: Data needed to estimate causes of death and the pattern of these deaths are scarce in sub-Saharan Africa. Such data are very important for targeting, monitoring, and evaluating health interventions. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the mortality rate and determine causes of death among adults (aged 15 years and older) in a rural district of southern Ghana, using the InterVA-4 model. DESIGN: Data used were generated from verbal autopsies conduct…
Cause-specific mortality in Africa and Asia
BACKGROUND: Because most deaths in Africa and Asia are not well documented, estimates of mortality are often made using scanty data. The INDEPTH Network works to alleviate this problem by collating detailed individual data from defined Health and Demographic Surveillance sites. By registering all deaths over time and carrying out verbal autopsies to determine cause of death across many such sites, using standardised methods, the Network seeks to …
The INDEPTH standard population for low- and middle-income countries, 2013
Crude rates such as the crude death rate are functions of both the age-specific rates and the age composition of a population. However, differences in the age structure between two populations or two time periods can result in specious differences in the corresponding crude rates making direct comparisons between populations or across time inappropriate. Therefore, when comparing crude rates between populations, it is desirable to eliminate or mi…
Illness meanings and experiences for pre-ulcer and ulcer conditions of Buruli ulcer in the Ga-West and Ga-South Municipalities of Ghana
Affected persons with pre-ulcers are likely to delay treatment because of social and financial constraints and the absence of pain. Scepticism on the role of water in disease contagion and prolonged healing is perceived to make ideas of witchcraft as a PC more credible, among respondents with ulcers. Health messages should address issues of locally perceived risk and vulnerability. Guided by study findings, further research on the role of environ…
Health-related stigma among women with lymphatic filariasis from the Dominican Republic and Ghana
Filariasis in northern Ghana
Strategies to improve adherence to recommended chloroquine treatment regimes
Health-related stigma among women with lymphatic filariasis from the Dominican Republic and Ghana
Illness meanings and experiences for pre-ulcer and ulcer conditions of Buruli ulcer in the Ga-West and Ga-South Municipalities of Ghana
Affected persons with pre-ulcers are likely to delay treatment because of social and financial constraints and the absence of pain. Scepticism on the role of water in disease contagion and prolonged healing is perceived to make ideas of witchcraft as a PC more credible, among respondents with ulcers. Health messages should address issues of locally perceived risk and vulnerability. Guided by study findings, further research on the role of environ…
Cause-specific childhood mortality in Africa and Asia
BACKGROUND: Childhood mortality, particularly in the first 5 years of life, is a major global concern and the target of Millennium Development Goal 4. Although the majority of childhood deaths occur in Africa and Asia, these are also the regions where such deaths are least likely to be registered. The INDEPTH Network works to alleviate this problem by collating detailed individual data from defined Health and Demographic Surveillance sites. By re…
HIV/Aids-related mortality in Africa and Asia
BACKGROUND: As the HIV/AIDS pandemic has evolved over recent decades, Africa has been the most affected region, even though a large proportion of HIV/AIDS deaths have not been documented at the individual level. Systematic application of verbal autopsy (VA) methods in defined populations provides an opportunity to assess the mortality burden of the pandemic from individual data. OBJECTIVE: To present standardised comparisons of HIV/AIDS-related m…
Pregnancy-related mortality in Africa and Asia
BACKGROUND: Women continue to die in unacceptably large numbers around the world as a result of pregnancy, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Part of the problem is a lack of accurate, population-based information characterising the issues and informing solutions. Population surveillance sites, such as those operated within the INDEPTH Network, have the potential to contribute to bridging the information gaps. OBJECTIVE: To describe pat…
Mortality from external causes in Africa and Asia
BACKGROUND: Mortality from external causes, of all kinds, is an important component of overall mortality on a global basis. However, these deaths, like others in Africa and Asia, are often not counted or documented on an individual basis. Overviews of the state of external cause mortality in Africa and Asia are therefore based on uncertain information. The INDEPTH Network maintains longitudinal surveillance, including cause of death, at populatio…
Adult non-communicable disease mortality in Africa and Asia
BACKGROUND: Mortality from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is a major global issue, as other categories of mortality have diminished and life expectancy has increased. The World Health Organization's Member States have called for a 25% reduction in premature NCD mortality by 2025, which can only be achieved by substantial reductions in risk factors and improvements in the management of chronic conditions. A high burden of NCD mortality among muc…
Malaria mortality in Africa and Asia
BACKGROUND: Malaria continues to be a major cause of infectious disease mortality in tropical regions. However, deaths from malaria are most often not individually documented, and as a result overall understanding of malaria epidemiology is inadequate. INDEPTH Network members maintain population surveillance in Health and Demographic Surveillance System sites across Africa and Asia, in which individual deaths are followed up with verbal autopsies…
Estimating cause of adult (15+ years) death using InterVA-4 in a rural district of southern Ghana
BACKGROUND: Data needed to estimate causes of death and the pattern of these deaths are scarce in sub-Saharan Africa. Such data are very important for targeting, monitoring, and evaluating health interventions. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the mortality rate and determine causes of death among adults (aged 15 years and older) in a rural district of southern Ghana, using the InterVA-4 model. DESIGN: Data used were generated from verbal autopsies conduct…
Cause-specific mortality in Africa and Asia
BACKGROUND: Because most deaths in Africa and Asia are not well documented, estimates of mortality are often made using scanty data. The INDEPTH Network works to alleviate this problem by collating detailed individual data from defined Health and Demographic Surveillance sites. By registering all deaths over time and carrying out verbal autopsies to determine cause of death across many such sites, using standardised methods, the Network seeks to …
The INDEPTH standard population for low- and middle-income countries, 2013
Crude rates such as the crude death rate are functions of both the age-specific rates and the age composition of a population. However, differences in the age structure between two populations or two time periods can result in specious differences in the corresponding crude rates making direct comparisons between populations or across time inappropriate. Therefore, when comparing crude rates between populations, it is desirable to eliminate or mi…
Community perceptions and practices of treatment seeking for childhood pneumonia
The low awareness and inadequate recognition of pneumonia implies that affected children may not receive prompt and appropriate treatment as their caregivers may misdiagnose the illness. Adequate measures need to be taken to create the needed awareness to improve care seeking behaviour
Sanitation investments in Ghana
The study states that poor land rights, the history of settlements, in-migration and insecure tenancy are key components that are associated with local livelihoods and investments in private sanitation in rapidly changing rural and peri-urban communities of Ghana. Sanitation policy makers and programme managers must acknowledge that these profound local, ethnic and economic forces are shaping people's abilities and motivations for sanitation inve…
Determinants of attending antenatal care at least four times in rural Ghana
BACKGROUND: Improving maternal health is a global challenge. In Ghana, maternal morbidity and mortality rates remain high, particularly in rural areas. Antenatal care (ANC) attendance is known to improve maternal health. However, few studies have updated current knowledge regarding determinants of ANC attendance. OBJECTIVE: This study examined factors associated with ANC attendance in predominantly rural Ghana. METHODS: We conducted a cross-secti…
Development of a theory and evidence-based program to promote community treatment of fevers in children under five in a rural district in Southern Ghana
We were able to systematically develop a theory- and evidence-based health promotion program based on the Intervention Mapping protocol. This article contributes to the response to recent calls for a more detailed description of the development of interventions and trials. The intervention mapping approach can serve as a guide for others interested in developing community- based health interventions in similar settings
Effectiveness of two community-based strategies on disease knowledge and health behaviour regarding malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia in Ghana
Both iCCM and CHPS were associated with disease knowledge and health behaviour, but this was more pronounced for iCCM and in the Northern Region. HBC should continue to be considered as the strategy through which community-IMCI is implemented
Implementation research
Secrets, shame and discipline
Women and girls need proper sanitation and hygiene facilities to maintain health and dignity. In this study we show how schoolgirls from a peri-urban community of Ghana, experience severe multidimensional 'hygiene poverty' when attending schools. Hygiene poverty was characterized by poor water and sanitation infrastructures and serious social and emotional challenges, including shaming and disciplining of their sanitation and menstrual practices,…
Community knowledge and practices regarding antibiotic use in rural Mozambique
There is a broad understanding of the importance of medication compliance but not specifically of antibiotic resistance. In addition, there is a recognized gap between knowledge of responsible drug compliance and actual behaviour. Future qualitative research is required to further explore what determines this behaviour. The existing ability to visually identify amoxicillin by its distinct red and yellow appearance is informative for future awaren…
Neglected tropical diseases as a barometer for progress in health systems in times of Covid-19
box The year 2020 will be regarded as the year when the SARS-CoV-2 resulted in the COVID-19 pandemic that spread globally, catching most countries unprepared. Amid untold suffering, COVID-19 presents the opportunity to galvanise support for long due social, political and economic reforms to address the root causes of ill-health and inequities, but also to radically transform health and social protection systems to enable more effective performanc…
EMBRACE intervention to improve the continuum of care in maternal and newborn health in Ghana
BACKGROUND: Improving maternal and newborn health remains one of the most critical public health challenges, particularly in low- and lower-middle-income countries. To overcome this challenge, interventions to improve the continuum of care based on real-world settings need to be provided. The Ghana Ensure Mothers and Babies Regular Access to Care (EMBRACE) Implementation Research Team conducted a unique intervention program involving over 21 000 …
A mixed-methods exploration into the resilience of community drug distributors conducting mass drug administration for preventive chemotherapy of lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis in Côte d’Ivoi…
Volunteer community drug distributors (CDDs) have been vital to progress made in the elimination of onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis; two neglected tropical diseases amenable to preventive chemotherapy (PC-NTDs). However, formative work in Côte d’Ivoire and Uganda revealed that CDDs can encounter considerable challenges during mass drug administration (MDA). CDDs must be resilient to overcome these challenges, yet little is known about the…
What Africa can do to accelerate and sustain progress against malaria
After a longstanding global presence, malaria is now largely non-existent or suppressed in most parts of the world. Today, cases and deaths are primarily concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa. According to many experts, this persistence on the African continent reflects factors such as resistance to insecticides and drugs as well as insufficient access to essential commodities such as insecticide-treated nets and effective drugs. Crucially, however,…
Medicine (26 works) · Environmental health (16 works) · Public health (15 works) · Global Maternal and Child Health (14 works) · Disease (11 works) · Nursing (11 works) · Population (11 works) · Pathology (9 works) · Geography (8 works) · Demography (7 works)