Melisa Martinez-Alvarez
Biographic Data
| ID | 1739692 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Melisa Martinez-Alvarez |
| GIVEN NAMES | Melisa |
| FAMILY NAME | Martinez-Alvarez |
| SIGNATURE | MARTINEZ-ALVAREZ M |
| AFFILIATIONS | London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4020-7527 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 7 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2011 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
“Now that the baby is out, I can be vaccinated”
COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective in pregnancy, but vaccine hesitancy limits uptake and effectiveness. This study explored COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in pregnancy in Kilifi, coastal Kenya, to elicit reasons for vaccine hesitancy and acceptance, and to compile misconceptions around vaccination in pregnancy. Twenty-three in-depth interviews were conducted with pregnant women, mothers who had given birth in the previous 2 years and health wor…
Development partner influence on domestic health financing contributions in Senegal
Sustainable and equitably contributed domestic health financing is essential for improving health and making progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in low- and middle-income countries. In this study, we explore the pathways through which development partners influence the combination of domestic health financing sources in Senegal. We performed a qualitative case study that comprised 32 key stakeholder interviews and a purposive documen…
How to (or how not to) implement crowdsourcing for the development of health interventions
Crowdsourcing strategies are useful in the development of public health interventions. Crowdsourcing engages end users in a co-creation process through challenge contests, designathons or online collaborations. Drawing on our experience of crowdsourcing in four African countries, we provide guidance on designing crowdsourcing strategies across seven steps: deciding on the type of crowdsourcing strategy, convening a steering committee, developing …
Partnership preferences, economic drivers, and health consequences of Gambian men’s interactions with foreign tourists
The Gambia has a thriving tourist industry, but in recent decades has developed a reputation as a destination for older, female tourists to seek sexual relationships with young Gambian men. During partnerships or in return for sex, Gambian men may receive financial support or in some cases the opportunity to travel to Europe with a partner. There has been little previous research among these men on sexual risk behaviours, physical and mental heal…
Stress and coping in the face of Covid-19
COVID-19 represented an unprecedented challenge for health workers around the world, resulting in strong concerns about impacts on their psychological well-being. To inform on-going support and future preparedness activities, this study documented health workers’ experiences, well-being and coping throughout the first wave of the pandemic, in Burkina Faso, Senegal and The Gambia. We collected data from 68 primarily clinical staff from the COVID-1…
Assessing equity and efficiency of health financing towards universal health coverage between regions in Tanzania
Clinical research on Covid-19
INTRODUCTION: The need to rapidly identify safe and efficacious drug therapies for COVID-19 has resulted in the implementation of multiple clinical trials investigating potential treatment options. These are being undertaken in an unprecedented research environment and at a higher speed than ever before. It is unclear how West African communities perceive such activities and how such perceptions influence participation in COVID-19 clinical trials…
Growing debt burden in low- and middle-income countries during Covid-19 may constrain health financing
Debt burdens are growing steadily in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), compounded by the COVID-19 economic recession, threatening to crowd out essential health spending. In 2019, 54 LMICs spent more on servicing their debt to foreign creditors than on financing their health services. While development loans may have positive effects on population health, the ensuing debt servicing requirements may have detrimental effects on health throug…
Falling aid for reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health in the lead-up to the Covid-19 pandemic
box Greater investment in reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) is needed to mitigate the negative effects of COVID-19 and avoid a reversal of recent gains in RMNCH coverage and outcomes. Aid for RMNCH as a whole fell by 6% between 2017 and 2018 and only increased by 2% in 2019; over the same 2-year period, aid for the reproductive health of non-pregnant women fell by 25%. Volatile and falling aid for RMNCH may have rendered RM…
What the percentage of births in facilities does not measure
Introduction: Increases in facility deliveries in sub-Saharan Africa have not yielded expected declines in maternal mortality, raising concerns about the quality of care provided in facilities. The readiness of facilities at different health system levels to provide both emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC) as well as referral is unknown. We describe this combined readiness by facility level and region in Senegal. Methods: For this cross-…
Health system reforms in China a half century apart
Barriers to accessing maternal healthcare among ethnic minority women in Western China
Quantitative evidence suggests that ethnic disparities in maternal healthcare use are substantial in Western China, but the reasons for these remain under-researched. We undertook a systematic review of English and Chinese databases between January 1, 1990 and February 23, 2018 to synthesize qualitative evidence on barriers faced by ethnic minority women in accessing maternal healthcare in Western China. Four English and 6 Chinese language studie…
Health financing at district level in Malawi
There is growing attention to tracking country level resource flows to health, but limited evidence on the sub-national allocation of funds. We examined district health financing in Malawi in 2006 and 2011, and equity in the allocation of funding, together with the association between financing and under five and neonatal mortality. We explored the process for receiving and allocating different funding sources at district level. We obtained domes…
Donor funding for family planning
The International Conference on Population and Development in 1994 set targets for donor funding to support family planning programmes, and recent initiatives such as FP2020 have renewed focus on the need for adequate funding to rights-based family planning. Disbursements supporting family planning disaggregated by donor, recipient country and year are not available for recent years. We estimate international donor funding for family planning in …
Extending access to essential services against constraints
China's 60 year experience in establishing a de-professionalized, community-based, health service delivery model that is economically feasible, institutionally and culturally appropriate mechanism can be useful to other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) seeking to extend essential services. Lessons can be drawn from both reform content and from its implementation pathway, identifying the political, institutional and contextual factors shap…
Countdown to 2015 country case studies
Increases in health and RMNCH funding accompanied improvements in outcomes, though low-income countries are still very reliant on external financing, and out-of-pocket comprising a growing share of funds in middle-income settings. Enhancements in tracking RMNCH expenditures across countries are still needed to better understand whether domestic and global health financing initiatives lead to improved outcomes as RMNCH continues to be a priority u…
Subnational variation for care at birth in Tanzania
No region meets the benchmarks for the four health systems building blocks including health finance, health workforce, health facilities, and commodities. Strategies for addressing health system inequities, including overall increases in health expenditure, are needed in rural populations and areas of highest unmet need for family planning to improve coverage of care at birth for rural women in Tanzania
Is Development Assistance for Health fungible? Findings from a mixed methods case study in Tanzania
The amount of Development Assistance for Health (DAH) available to low- and middle-income countries has increased exponentially over the past decade. However, there are concerns that DAH increases have not resulted in increased spending on health at the country level. This is because DAH may be fungible, resulting from the recipient government decreasing its contribution to the health sector as a result of external funding. The aim of this resear…
Tanzania's Countdown to 2015
BACKGROUND: Tanzania is on track to meet Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4 for child survival, but is making insufficient progress for newborn survival and maternal health (MDG 5) and family planning. To understand this mixed progress and to identify priorities for the post-2015 era, Tanzania was selected as a Countdown to 2015 case study. METHODS: We analysed progress made in Tanzania between 1990 and 2014 in maternal, newborn, and child morta…
How is Telemedicine perceived? A qualitative study of perspectives from the UK and India
BACKGROUND: Improvements in communication and information technologies have allowed for the globalisation of health services, especially the provision of health services from other countries, such as the use of telemedicine. This has led countries to evaluate their position on whether and to what extent they should open their health systems to trade. This often takes place from the context of multi-lateral trade agreements (under the auspices of …
The potential for bi-lateral agreements in medical tourism
BACKGROUND: Globalisation has prompted countries to evaluate their position on trade in health services. However, this is often done from a multi-lateral, rather than a regional or bi-lateral perspective. In a previous review, we concluded that most of the issues raised could be better addressed from a bi-lateral relationship. We report here the results of a qualitative exercise to assess stakeholders' perceptions on the prospects for such a bi-l…
Is Development Assistance for Health fungible? Findings from a mixed methods case study in Tanzania
The amount of Development Assistance for Health (DAH) available to low- and middle-income countries has increased exponentially over the past decade. However, there are concerns that DAH increases have not resulted in increased spending on health at the country level. This is because DAH may be fungible, resulting from the recipient government decreasing its contribution to the health sector as a result of external funding. The aim of this resear…
Donor funding for family planning
The International Conference on Population and Development in 1994 set targets for donor funding to support family planning programmes, and recent initiatives such as FP2020 have renewed focus on the need for adequate funding to rights-based family planning. Disbursements supporting family planning disaggregated by donor, recipient country and year are not available for recent years. We estimate international donor funding for family planning in …
Health system reforms in China a half century apart
Health financing at district level in Malawi
There is growing attention to tracking country level resource flows to health, but limited evidence on the sub-national allocation of funds. We examined district health financing in Malawi in 2006 and 2011, and equity in the allocation of funding, together with the association between financing and under five and neonatal mortality. We explored the process for receiving and allocating different funding sources at district level. We obtained domes…
How is Telemedicine perceived? A qualitative study of perspectives from the UK and India
BACKGROUND: Improvements in communication and information technologies have allowed for the globalisation of health services, especially the provision of health services from other countries, such as the use of telemedicine. This has led countries to evaluate their position on whether and to what extent they should open their health systems to trade. This often takes place from the context of multi-lateral trade agreements (under the auspices of …
The potential for bi-lateral agreements in medical tourism
BACKGROUND: Globalisation has prompted countries to evaluate their position on trade in health services. However, this is often done from a multi-lateral, rather than a regional or bi-lateral perspective. In a previous review, we concluded that most of the issues raised could be better addressed from a bi-lateral relationship. We report here the results of a qualitative exercise to assess stakeholders' perceptions on the prospects for such a bi-l…
Tanzania's Countdown to 2015
BACKGROUND: Tanzania is on track to meet Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4 for child survival, but is making insufficient progress for newborn survival and maternal health (MDG 5) and family planning. To understand this mixed progress and to identify priorities for the post-2015 era, Tanzania was selected as a Countdown to 2015 case study. METHODS: We analysed progress made in Tanzania between 1990 and 2014 in maternal, newborn, and child morta…
Countdown to 2015 country case studies
Increases in health and RMNCH funding accompanied improvements in outcomes, though low-income countries are still very reliant on external financing, and out-of-pocket comprising a growing share of funds in middle-income settings. Enhancements in tracking RMNCH expenditures across countries are still needed to better understand whether domestic and global health financing initiatives lead to improved outcomes as RMNCH continues to be a priority u…
Subnational variation for care at birth in Tanzania
No region meets the benchmarks for the four health systems building blocks including health finance, health workforce, health facilities, and commodities. Strategies for addressing health system inequities, including overall increases in health expenditure, are needed in rural populations and areas of highest unmet need for family planning to improve coverage of care at birth for rural women in Tanzania
Is Development Assistance for Health fungible? Findings from a mixed methods case study in Tanzania
The amount of Development Assistance for Health (DAH) available to low- and middle-income countries has increased exponentially over the past decade. However, there are concerns that DAH increases have not resulted in increased spending on health at the country level. This is because DAH may be fungible, resulting from the recipient government decreasing its contribution to the health sector as a result of external funding. The aim of this resear…
Extending access to essential services against constraints
China's 60 year experience in establishing a de-professionalized, community-based, health service delivery model that is economically feasible, institutionally and culturally appropriate mechanism can be useful to other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) seeking to extend essential services. Lessons can be drawn from both reform content and from its implementation pathway, identifying the political, institutional and contextual factors shap…
Health financing at district level in Malawi
There is growing attention to tracking country level resource flows to health, but limited evidence on the sub-national allocation of funds. We examined district health financing in Malawi in 2006 and 2011, and equity in the allocation of funding, together with the association between financing and under five and neonatal mortality. We explored the process for receiving and allocating different funding sources at district level. We obtained domes…
Donor funding for family planning
The International Conference on Population and Development in 1994 set targets for donor funding to support family planning programmes, and recent initiatives such as FP2020 have renewed focus on the need for adequate funding to rights-based family planning. Disbursements supporting family planning disaggregated by donor, recipient country and year are not available for recent years. We estimate international donor funding for family planning in …
Barriers to accessing maternal healthcare among ethnic minority women in Western China
Quantitative evidence suggests that ethnic disparities in maternal healthcare use are substantial in Western China, but the reasons for these remain under-researched. We undertook a systematic review of English and Chinese databases between January 1, 1990 and February 23, 2018 to synthesize qualitative evidence on barriers faced by ethnic minority women in accessing maternal healthcare in Western China. Four English and 6 Chinese language studie…
What the percentage of births in facilities does not measure
Introduction: Increases in facility deliveries in sub-Saharan Africa have not yielded expected declines in maternal mortality, raising concerns about the quality of care provided in facilities. The readiness of facilities at different health system levels to provide both emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC) as well as referral is unknown. We describe this combined readiness by facility level and region in Senegal. Methods: For this cross-…
Health system reforms in China a half century apart
Falling aid for reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health in the lead-up to the Covid-19 pandemic
box Greater investment in reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) is needed to mitigate the negative effects of COVID-19 and avoid a reversal of recent gains in RMNCH coverage and outcomes. Aid for RMNCH as a whole fell by 6% between 2017 and 2018 and only increased by 2% in 2019; over the same 2-year period, aid for the reproductive health of non-pregnant women fell by 25%. Volatile and falling aid for RMNCH may have rendered RM…
Clinical research on Covid-19
INTRODUCTION: The need to rapidly identify safe and efficacious drug therapies for COVID-19 has resulted in the implementation of multiple clinical trials investigating potential treatment options. These are being undertaken in an unprecedented research environment and at a higher speed than ever before. It is unclear how West African communities perceive such activities and how such perceptions influence participation in COVID-19 clinical trials…
Growing debt burden in low- and middle-income countries during Covid-19 may constrain health financing
Debt burdens are growing steadily in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), compounded by the COVID-19 economic recession, threatening to crowd out essential health spending. In 2019, 54 LMICs spent more on servicing their debt to foreign creditors than on financing their health services. While development loans may have positive effects on population health, the ensuing debt servicing requirements may have detrimental effects on health throug…
Partnership preferences, economic drivers, and health consequences of Gambian men’s interactions with foreign tourists
The Gambia has a thriving tourist industry, but in recent decades has developed a reputation as a destination for older, female tourists to seek sexual relationships with young Gambian men. During partnerships or in return for sex, Gambian men may receive financial support or in some cases the opportunity to travel to Europe with a partner. There has been little previous research among these men on sexual risk behaviours, physical and mental heal…
Stress and coping in the face of Covid-19
COVID-19 represented an unprecedented challenge for health workers around the world, resulting in strong concerns about impacts on their psychological well-being. To inform on-going support and future preparedness activities, this study documented health workers’ experiences, well-being and coping throughout the first wave of the pandemic, in Burkina Faso, Senegal and The Gambia. We collected data from 68 primarily clinical staff from the COVID-1…
Assessing equity and efficiency of health financing towards universal health coverage between regions in Tanzania
How to (or how not to) implement crowdsourcing for the development of health interventions
Crowdsourcing strategies are useful in the development of public health interventions. Crowdsourcing engages end users in a co-creation process through challenge contests, designathons or online collaborations. Drawing on our experience of crowdsourcing in four African countries, we provide guidance on designing crowdsourcing strategies across seven steps: deciding on the type of crowdsourcing strategy, convening a steering committee, developing …
Development partner influence on domestic health financing contributions in Senegal
Sustainable and equitably contributed domestic health financing is essential for improving health and making progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in low- and middle-income countries. In this study, we explore the pathways through which development partners influence the combination of domestic health financing sources in Senegal. We performed a qualitative case study that comprised 32 key stakeholder interviews and a purposive documen…
“Now that the baby is out, I can be vaccinated”
COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective in pregnancy, but vaccine hesitancy limits uptake and effectiveness. This study explored COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in pregnancy in Kilifi, coastal Kenya, to elicit reasons for vaccine hesitancy and acceptance, and to compile misconceptions around vaccination in pregnancy. Twenty-three in-depth interviews were conducted with pregnant women, mothers who had given birth in the previous 2 years and health wor…
Medicine (18 works) · Economic growth (15 works) · Environmental health (15 works) · Global Maternal and Child Health (15 works) · Economics (13 works) · Population (12 works) · Political science (11 works) · Health care (10 works) · Business (9 works) · Global Health Care Issues (8 works)