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The coronavirus outbreaks and the measures taken to control their spread negatively impacted the global economy. This study aims to provide insights into the socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19 in Sudan, using data from the Sudan High-Frequency Survey on COVID-19 conducted by phone. The study used descriptive and analytical statistical analysis. The results revealed that about 98 % of the population heard about the coronavirus. However, the measures taken to limit the spread of the virus were more practiced in Khartoum than in other regions. An estimate of about 1.7 million households (47 %) lost income from any source due to COVID-19. Accordingly, around 25 %- 30 % of households could not access staple foods and medicine. More than 90 % of school- children in all regions, except Khartoum (76 %), were not engaged in any education activity during school closures. Adopted coping strategies were living on previous savings in 1.3 million households (22 %), reducing food consumption in 2.8 million households (48 %), reducing non-food consumption in 1.4 million households (23 %), relying on credit purchasing in 873,362 households (15 %), and engaging in additional income-generating activities in 389,003 households (7 %) while 7 % received assistance from friends and relatives. These results will enable policymakers to design result-based policies to mitigate the socioeconomic impacts of coronavirus in Sudan and to learn lessons for future precautions.

Despite the efforts exerted by the NGOs and the social activists to eradicate Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), it is still prevalent in Sudanese communities, especially in rural and remote areas. This paper aims to examine the factors behind Sudanese women support for the discontinuation of FGM/C using socio-economic and demographic data collected by Multiple Indicator Cluster Sample (MICS, 2014) and a logistic regression model. The findings showed that the factors found to be significantly associated with Sudanese women support for its discontinuation include: age, education, marital status, place of residence, region, wealth index quintiles, women's ability to make decisions, being circumcised, and being aware of HIV/AIDS. The study recommended, among others, to conduct further qualitative research to enhance our understanding of the factors behind the perpetuation of the practice.

Background. Poor access to diagnosis stymies control of visceral leishmaniasis (VL). Antibody-detecting rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) can be performed in peripheral health settings. However, there are many brands available and published reports of variable accuracy. Methods. Commercial VL RDTs containing bound rK39 or rKE16 antigen were evaluated using archived human sera from confirmed VL cases (n = 750) and endemic non-VL controls (n = 754) in the Indian subcontinent (ISC), Brazil, and East Africa to assess sensitivity and specificity with 95% confidence intervals. A subset of RDTs were also evaluated after 60 days' heat incubation (37°C, 45°C). Interlot and interobserver variability was assessed. Results. All test brands performed well against ISC panels (sensitivity range, 92.8%–100%; specificity range, 96%–100%); however, sensitivity was lower against Brazil and East African panels (61.5%–91% -and 36.8%–87.2%, respectively). Specificity was consistently >95% in Brazil and ranged between 90.8% and 98% in East Africa. Performance of some products was adversely affected by high temperatures. Agreement between lots and readers was good to excellent (κ > 0.73–0.99). Conclusions. Diagnostic accuracy of VL RDTs varies between the major endemic regions. Many tests performed well and showed good heat stability in the ISC; however, reduced sensitivity against Brazilian and East African panels suggests that in these regions, used alone, several RDTs are inadequate for excluding a VL diagnosis. More research is needed to assess ease of use and to compare performance using whole blood instead of serum and in patients coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus.