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[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0252863.].

Background Despite increasing recognition that health-systems constraints are the fundamental barrier to attaining anti-retroviral therapy (ART) scale-up targets in Sub-Saharan Africa, current discourses are dominated by a focus on financial sustainability. Utilizing the health system dynamics framework, this study aimed to explore the interactions in health system components and their influence on the sustainability of ART scale-up implementation in Uganda. Methods This study entailed qualitative organizational case-studies within a two-phased mixed-methods sequential explanatory research design. In Phase One, a survey of 195 health facilities across Uganda which commenced ART services between 2004 and 2009 was conducted. In Phase Two, six health facilities were purposively selected for in-depth examination involving i) In-depth interviews (n = 44) ii) and semi-structured interviews ( n = 35 ). Qualitative data was analyzed by coding and thematic analysis. Descriptive statistics were managed in STATA (v 13). Results Five dynamic interactions in ART program sustainability drivers were identified; i) Failure to update basic ART program records contributed to chronic ART medicines stock-outs ii) Health workforce shortages and escalating patient volumes prompted adaptations in ART service delivery models iii) Broader governance issues manifested in poor road networks undermined ART medicines supply chains iv) Sustained financing for ART programs was influenced by external donors v) The values associated with the ownership-type of a health facility affected ART service delivery and coverage. Conclusion The sustainability of ART programs at the facility-level in Uganda is a function of a complex interaction in elements of the health system and must be understood beyond sustaining international funding for ART scale-up .

Caregivers hold different attitudes and feelings towards their children. Consequently, interactions between caregivers and their children differ from child to child, thereby perpetuating differential parenting. The act of favouring one child over the other is regarded as differential parenting, and it causes animosity between siblings, parents and within the entire family. This study explored the views of caregivers concerning factors that instigate differential parenting in Katlehong, Johannesburg. The study was qualitative in nature and an exploratory design was employed in the study. A snowball sampling technique was utilised and one-onone interviews were conducted to gather data. A semi-structured interview schedule was used to guide the interviews. Findings indicated that differential parenting is an unequal treatment of children, and that, it is perpetuated by a number of factors including behaviours of children and the socio-economic status of the family. The study proved that differential parenting has more negative effects than positive, as such caregivers need to be equipped with skills on parenting.

Informal social security, particularly Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (ROSCAs), popularly known as stokvels in South Africa, are widely used within the developing world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa due to the weak and/or non-existence of formal social security. These stokvels remain a major form of social protection for the poor, and their continued existence is a reflection of the absence of a comprehensive formal social security. The study explored the views of stokvel members on how stokvels, as a form of informal social security, can be strengthened to provide meaningful social protection. The study adopted a case study research design, located within a qualitative paradigm. The study population consisted of women members of stokvels with a minimum of five years in the stokvel. All participants were South African citizens residing in Johannesburg's Soweto Township, and were drawn from two different categories of stokvels, namely burial and accumulating savings and grocery stokvels. A key informant holding a strategic position in the National Stokvels Association of South Africa (NASASA) was recruited to be part of the study.. Regulation and integration of stokvels with formal institutions, provision of financial support to stokvels through subsidies, and training of stokvel members on financial management skills emerged as part of strategies to be considered in order to strengthen the social protection provisioning of stokvels. It was clear that formalizing stokvels might be one ofthe possible avenues that could be explored in order to strengthen their social protection provision.

Teenage girls who conceive while in school are often confronted with a number of health, social and economic hardships. As a result of the pregnancy related hardships, some of the teenagers drop out of school and fail to re-enter the school system after giving birth. However, a growing body of literature show some of these teenagers re-enter the school system after giving birth to continue with their studies. We employed qualitative approach to explore the coping strategies by teenage mothers’ when they returned to school following childbirth and the support mechanisms used by the schooling system to meet their learning needs. We adopted a single case study design of a South African township school in Gauteng Province, South Africa. We collected data using in-depth one-on-one interviews involving the teenage mothers. The findings revealed that consultations with educators and participating in after-school programmes, with the aim of catching-up on missed content was some of the coping strategies used by teenage mothers re-engaging with education following childbirth. In addition, sympathetic educators provided extra consultation time slots and also motivated the teenagers to persevere and focus on their studies. A call is made for schools to enhance learner support programmes, especially those aimed at supporting teenage mothers who decide to return to school to complete their studies after giving birth.

Teenage girls who conceive while in school are often confronted with a number of health, social and economic hardships. As a result of the pregnancy related hardships, some of the teenagers drop out of school and fail to re-enter the school system after giving birth. However, a growing body of literature show some of these teenagers re-enter the school system after giving birth to continue with their studies. We employed a qualitative approach to explore the coping strategies by teenage mothers when they returned to school following childbirth and the support mechanisms used by the schooling system to meet their learning needs. We adopted a single case study design of a South African township school in Gauteng Province, South Africa. We collected data using in-depth one-on-one interviews involving teenage mothers. The findings revealed that consultations with educators and participation in after-school programs, with the aim of catchingup on missed content was some of the coping strategies used by teenage mothers re-engaging with education following childbirth. In addition, sympathetic educators provided extra consultation time slots and also motivated the teenagers to persevere and focus on their studies. A call is made for schools to enhance learner support programs, especially those aimed at supporting teenage mothers who decide to return to school to complete their studies after giving birth.

The Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) aims to transform higher education in Africa. One of its main thrusts is supporting promising university faculty (fellows) to obtain high quality doctoral training. CARTA offers fellows robust support which includes funding of their attendance at Joint Advanced Seminars (JASes) throughout the doctoral training period. An evaluation is critical in improving program outcomes. In this study; we, CARTA fellows who attended the fourth JAS in 2018, appraised the CARTA program from our perspective, specifically focusing on the organization of the program and its influence on the fellows' individual and institutional development. Exploratory Qualitative Study Design was used and data was obtained from three focus group discussions among the fellows in March 2018. The data were analyzed using thematic approach within the framework of good practice elements in doctoral training-Formal Research Training, Activities Driven by Doctoral Candidates, Career Development as well as Concepts and Structures. In all, 21 fellows from six African countries participated and all had been in the CARTA program for at least three years. The fellowship has increased fellows research skills and expanded our research capacities. This tremendously improved the quality of our doctoral research and it was also evident in our research outputs, including the number of peer-reviewed publications. The CARTA experience inculcated a multidisciplinary approach to our research and enabled significant improvement in our organizational, teaching, and leadership skills. All these were achieved through the well-organized structures of CARTA and these have transformed us to change agents who are already taking on research and administrative responsibilities in our various home institutions. Unfortunately, during the long break between the second and the third JAS, there was a gap in communication between CARTA and her fellows, which resulted in some transient loss of focus by a few fellows. The CARTA model which builds the research capacity of doctoral fellows through robust support, including intermittent strategic Joint Advanced Seminars has had effective and transformative impacts on our doctoral odyssey. However, there is a need to maintain the momentum through continuous communication between CARTA and the fellows all through this journey.