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Hadera Belay,1 Fessahaye Alemseged,2 Teklit Angesom,1 Solomon Hintsa,1 Mebrahtu Abay1 1Department of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Aksum University, Aksum, Ethiopia; 2Department of Epidemiology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia Background: The global incidence of HIV infection is not significantly decreasing, especially in sub-Saharan African countries, including Ethiopia. Though there is availability and accessibility of free HIV services, people are not being diagnosed early for HIV, and hence patients are still dying of HIV-related causes. This research is aimed at verifying the effect of late diagnosis of HIV on HIV-related mortality in Central Zone Tigray, Ethiopia. Methods: A retrospective cohort study among adult (≥15 years old) HIV patients in three general hospitals of Tigray was conducted. Record reviews were carried out retrospectively from 2010 to 2015. Sample size was determined using stpower Cox in Stata software. Data were entered into EpiData version 3.1 software and transferred to Stata version 12 for analysis. Both bivariable and multivariable analyses were performed using Cox regression model to compare the HIV-related mortality of exposed (cluster of differentiation 4 cells count

• Following a national policy reform of early childhood education in Ethiopia, the enrolment rate increased from 5 percent in 2010 to 46 percent in 2016. • Following this large-scale expansion of early childhood education, we find that inequalities in preschool access persisted with respect to a child's geographical location, gender, age. • Parental literacy plays a significant role in determining preschool participation in both 2010 and 2016. • After the expansion, preschool participation is significantly and positively associated with children's early reading skills in primary schools. In Ethiopia, major policy reforms to increase equitable access to pre-primary education were instigated in 2010, leading to a surge in pre-primary school enrolment. This paper investigates the effects of the expansion on who gets access to pre-primary education and on readiness for primary school. We find that inequalities in pre-primary access between advantaged and disadvantaged regions of the country persist following the reforms, with girls less likely to attend school, particularly in more disadvantaged regions. More than half of children enrolled in pre-primary classrooms are below the official age of 6 years. Children from more advantaged backgrounds (those whose parents are literate, have reading materials at home, and live in urban areas) are more likely to participate in pre-primary schools both before and after the reform. Yet pre-primary education could play a role in equalizing opportunities in primary school: we find pre-primary participation to be positively associated with children's reading skills in Grades 2 and 3 of primary school after the expansion. These findings highlight the need to focus policy attention on efforts to reduce barriers to pre-primary access for children in disadvantaged circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]