Eleanor Ochodo, a CIDG author based at the Centre for Evidence-based Health Care (CEBHC) at Stellenbosch University, together with CIDG Co-ordinating Editors Paul Garner and Dave Sinclair, recently published an article in the BMJ on ‘Achieving universal testing for malaria’. Eleanor Ochodo conceived this article after discussions at a symposium on overdiagnosis of malaria.

Our 'Meet the Editor' feature continues with Dr. Hasifa Bukirwa from Uganda.Could you describe where you currently work and what you do there? I work with the Field Epidemiology Fellowship Program as Training/Field Coordinator. This is part of the Public Health Fellowship Program within the Uganda National Institutes of Public Health under the Ministry of Health (MoH).

LSTM’s Seminar Series continued on 3 February 2016 with a presentation by Dr Nathan Ford entitled 'Uses and limits of research evidence in shaping global HIV policy and practice'. He was introduced by Dr Miriam Taegtmeyer, Senior Clinical Lecturer in the Department of International and Public Health at LSTM.

Welcome to 2016. It’s going to a big year for us here at the CIDG editorial base as we fully incorporate the HIV reviews and priorities in this area as well as our ongoing work with the World Health Organization (WHO) and others in the fields of malaria and neglected tropical diseases.  To reflect this we have made some adjustments to the CIDG editorial team.

When? Wednesday February 3rd, 5.30 pm to 7.30 pmRefreshments at 5.30 pm, talk begins at 6 pmWhere? Seminar Room 1, Sherrington Building, The University of Liverpool, Ashton Street, L69 3GE

Strongyloides stercoralis is a parasite that lives in the gut of infected people. The infection is not serious for most people, but it can be fatal in people with immune deficiency. People become infected when they come in contact with soil or water contaminated with infectious worms. The chronic infection usually causes skin rash, vomiting, diarrhoea, and constipation, and respiratory problems, such as asthma-like illness.

As the end of the year approaches, the CIDG editorial base in Liverpool thanks all its readers, protocol and review authors, CIDG Editors and Cochrane members for their contributions throughout 2015. Here we all are at our Christmas celebration!

Researchers from Emory University, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and the World Health Organization have carried out an updated Cochrane review to assess the effectiveness of interventions to improve water quality for preventing diarrhoea.

Diarrhoea counts for 1.8 million deaths in children in low- and middle-income countrie (LMICs). One of the identified strategies to prevent diarrhoea is hand washing. This reduces the incidence of diarrhoea by about 30% in child day-care centres in high-income countries and in communities in low- and middle-income countries.This 'hand washing promotion for preventing diarrhoea' review has recently been updated and is available in Issue 9, 2015 of the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews: