When the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, Health Affairs was the first to publish on most of the research that impacted global policy and public health responses. To ensure that this vital content was reaching a broader audience, we reengineered our publication process to publish quickly at scale.
Nigeria is a leading contributor to global child deaths, accounting for about 10 percent and 12 percent, respectively, of all neonatal deaths and stillbirths.
Edward Okeke and coauthors present evidence that the COVID-19
pandemic worsened birth outcomes in Nigeria. Studying women who gave birth between August 2019 and November 2020, they find that the pandemic was associated with a22 percent relative increase in stillbirths and a 23 percent relative increase in newborn deaths. Child mortality was essentially flat in the months leading up to the pandemic, but started to increase by May 2020.
"Commentators have noted that low- and middle-income countries such as Nigeria have experienced a relatively low number of COVID-19 deaths, but our findings indicate that there are many more deaths attributable to the pandemic that are not being counted," they write.
This week on Health Affairs Blog, Katie Keith explained the Congressional Budget Office analysis of the coverage provisions in the Build Back Better Act. The CBO estimates federal costs of $553.2 billion over ten years and a drop in the number of uninsured people of about 3.9 million people.
And, as part of the blog series "Value Assessment: Where Do We Go Post-COVID?" Darius Lakdawalla and coauthors discussed the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for how we approach value as a guide for allocating limited health care resources.
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Our October 2021 Lunch and Learn session will feature Health Affairs Director of Health Equity, Vabren Watts, PhD, who will give an update on the journal’s initiative to advance racial equity in scholarly publishing of health services research. He will discuss Health Affairs’ strategy and programming aimed at increasing the quality and quantity of health equity content in all aspects of the journal, and the number of contributors from racially diverse backgrounds.
Date: Tuesday, October 26, 2021 Time: 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. EDT Place: Online details to be shared upon registration
Pathways To Equitable And Antiracist Maternal Mental Health Care
Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil interviews Isabel Morgan, director of the Birth Equity Research Scholars Program at the National Birth Equity
Collaborative, on the effects of structural racism on Black birthing people's mental health and how we can do better.
What's Happening with the FDA Commissioner Appointment? Senior Editors Jessica Bylander and Chris Fleming dive into the potential appointment of Robert Califf as FDA
Commissioner and give an overview of the role FDA plays in regulation outside of drugs and medical devices.
Health Affairs is the leading peer-reviewedjournalat the intersection of health, health care, and policy. Published monthly by Project HOPE, the journal is available in print and online. Late-breaking content is also found through healthaffairs.org, Health Affairs Today, and Health Affairs Sunday Update.
Project HOPE is a global health and humanitarian relief organization that places power in the hands of local health care workers to save lives across the globe. Project HOPE has published Health Affairs since 1981.
