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Innovative approaches to reducing financial barriers to obstetric care in low-income countries
No full textLack of access to quality care is the main obstacle to reducing maternal mortality in low-income countries. In many settings, women must pay out-of-pocket fees, resulting in delays, some of them fatal, and catastrophic expenditure that push households into poverty. Various innovative approaches have targeted the poor or exempted specific services, such as cesarean deliveries. We analyzed 8 case studies to better understand current experiments in reducing financial barriers to maternal care. Although service utilization increased in most of the settings, concerns remain about quality of care, equity between rich and poor patients and between urban and rural residents, and financial sustainability to support these new strategies. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print August 19, 2010: e1-e8.doi:10.2105/AJPH.2009.179689
The national free delivery and caesarean policy in Senegal: evaluating process and outcomes
No full textThis article presents the results of an evaluation of the free delivery and caesarean policy (FDCP) in Senegal. The policy was introduced into five poor regions in 2005 and in 2006 was extended at regional hospital level to all regions apart from the capital (Dakar). The evaluation was carried out in 2006-7. There were four research components, all focused on selected facilities and districts within the five FDCP regions: a financial analysis of expenditure on the policy and wider health financing in the five regions and nationally; 54 key informant interviews from national down to facility level; 10 focus group discussions and 8 in-depth interviews; and analysis based on clinical record extraction of 761 major obstetric interventions. The evaluation found significant implementation difficulties, especially related to the allocation of funds and kits and the adequacy of their contents. Despite that, significant increases in utilization in normal deliveries (from 40% to 44% of expected deliveries in FDCP areas over 2004-5) and in caesarean rates (rising from 4.2% to 5.6% in FDCP areas) were recorded. National data suggested that these trends were not found in non-FDCP regions. Using the evaluation data, the cost per additional caesarean under the policy was US21. The article concludes that, in order to achieve its full potential, the FDCP requires improved systems for planning and allocating resources, and new channels to reimburse lower level facilities. It is also important that all complicated deliveries (not just caesareans) are included in the package. In the case of Senegal, a complementary strategy of investment in facilities, transportation and staffing is required to bring greater geographical access and upgrade services. These findings are likely to be relevant to other countries currently experimenting with similar approaches to reducing financial barriers to skilled attendance at deliver
OIE Collaborating Centre for Integrating Training in Livestock and Wildlife Health and Management
No full textDeterminants of bednet ownership and use in visceral leishmaniasis-endemic areas of the Indian subcontinent
No full textObjective To document ownership and use of bednets with its determinants in the visceral
leishmaniasis (VL)-endemic region where mainly non-insecticide impregnated nets are available through commercial channels, and bednets are being considered as a leishmaniasis vector control measure.
methods In August–September 2006, semi-structured household (HH) questionnaires and observation guides were used in a random sample of 1330 HHs in VL-endemic districts of India and Nepal to collect data on VL knowledge, HH socio-economic status, bednet ownership and use patterns. An asset index
was constructed to allow wealth ranking of the HH. A binary logistic response General Estimating Equations model was fitted to evaluate the determinants of bednet ownership and use.
results The proportion of HHs with at least one bednet purchased on the commercial market was 81.5% in India and 70.2% in Nepal. The bednets were used in all seasons by 50.6% and 54.1% of the Indian and Nepalese HH owning a bed net. There was striking inequity in bednet ownership: only
38.3% of the poorest quintile in Nepal owned at least one net, compared to 89.7% of the wealthiest quintile. In India, the same trend was observed though somewhat less pronounced (73.6% vs. 93.7%). Multivariate analysis showed that poverty was an important independent predictor for not having a bednet in the HH [OR 5.39 (2.90–10.03)]. Conclusion Given the inequity in commercial bednet ownership, free distribution of insecticide treated bednets to the general population seems imperative to achieve a mass effect on vector density
Using targeted vouchers and health equity funds to improve access to skilled birth attendants for poor women: a case study in three rural health districts in Cambodia
No full textBACKGROUND: In many developing countries, the maternal mortality ratio remains high with huge poor-rich inequalities. Programmes aimed at improving maternal health and preventing maternal mortality often fail to reach poor women. Vouchers in health and Health Equity Funds (HEFs) constitute a financial mechanism to improve access to priority health services for the poor. We assess their effectiveness in improving access to skilled birth attendants for poor women in three rural health districts in Cambodia and draw lessons for further improvement and scaling-up. METHODS: Data on utilisation of voucher and HEF schemes and on deliveries in public health facilities between 2006 and 2008 were extracted from the available database, reports and the routine health information system. Qualitative data were collected through focus group discussions and key informant interviews. We examined the trend of facility deliveries between 2006 and 2008 in the three health districts and compared this with the situation in other rural districts without voucher and HEF schemes. An operational analysis of the voucher scheme was carried out to assess its effectiveness at different stages of operation. RESULTS: Facility deliveries increased sharply from 16.3% of the expected number of births in 2006 to 44.9% in 2008 after the introduction of voucher and HEF schemes, not only for voucher and HEF beneficiaries, but also for self-paid deliveries. The increase was much more substantial than in comparable districts lacking voucher and HEF schemes. In 2008, voucher and HEF beneficiaries accounted for 40.6% of the expected number of births among the poor. We also outline several limitations of the voucher scheme. CONCLUSIONS: Vouchers plus HEFs, if carefully designed and implemented, have a strong potential for reducing financial barriers and hence improving access to skilled birth attendants for poor women. To achieve their full potential, vouchers and HEFs require other interventions to ensure the supply of sufficient quality maternity services and to address other non-financial barriers to demand. If these conditions are met, voucher and HEF schemes can be further scaled up under close monitoring and evaluation
Low perception of malaria risk among the Ra-glai ethnic minority in south-central Vietnam: implications for forest malaria control
No full textBACKGROUND: Despite Vietnam's success in reducing malaria mortality and morbidity over the last decade, malaria persists in the forested and mountainous areas of the central and southern provinces, where more than 50% of the clinical cases and 90% of severe cases and malaria deaths occur. METHODS: Between July 2005 and September 2006, a multi-method study, triangulating a malariometric cross-sectional survey and qualitative data from focused ethnography, was carried out among the Ra-glai ethnic minority in the hilly forested areas of south-central Vietnam. RESULTS: Despite the relatively high malaria burden among the Ra-glai and their general awareness that mosquitoes can transmit an unspecific kind of fever (84.2%), the use of bed nets, distributed free of charge by the national malaria control programme, remains low at the farmers' forest fields where the malaria risk is the highest. However, to meet work requirements during the labour intensive malaria transmission and rainy season, Ra-glai farmers combine living in government supported villages along the road with a second home or shelter at their slash and burn fields located in the forest. Bed net use was 84.6% in the villages but only 52.9% at the forest fields; 20.6% of the respondents slept unprotected in both places. Such low use may be explained by the low perception of the risk for malaria, decreasing the perceived need to sleep protected. Several reasons may account for this: (1) only 15.6% acknowledged the higher risk of contracting malaria in the forest than in the village; (2) perceived mosquito biting times only partially coincided with Anopheles dirus ss and Anopheles minimus A true biting times; (3) the disease locally identified as 'malaria' was hardly perceived as having an impact on forest farmers' daily lives as they were unaware of the specific kind of fevers from which they had suffered even after being diagnosed with malaria at the health centre (20.9%). CONCLUSIONS: The progressive confinement of malaria to minority groups and settings in the Greater Mekong sub-region implies that further success in malaria control will be linked to research into these specific socio-cultural contexts. Findings highlight the need for context sensitive malaria control policies; not only to reduce the local malaria burden but also to minimize the risk of malaria spreading to other areas where transmission has virtually ceased
Fitness study of the RDRio lineage and Latin American-Mediterranean family of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the city of Rio Grande, Brazil
No full textRD(Rio) is a novel Mycobacterium tuberculosis lineage of the Latin American-Mediterranean (LAM) family. LAM has been found worldwide but is more predominant in South America. The aim of this study was to assess the presence of the RD(Rio) lineage and LAM family in the city of Rio Grande, Brazil, and to investigate the fitness of these strains based on determination of their growth rate. Fifty clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis were genotyped and 43 different patterns were found by spoligotyping and mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units-variable number of tandem repeats. The predominant genotypes belonged to the LAM family (54% of the strains) followed by clade T (22%) and Haarlem (16%). The RD(Rio) lineage represented 38% of the total strains and 70.4% of the LAM strains found in this study. Strains belonging to the LAM family showed a fitness advantage when comparing their rate of growth with that of non-LAM strains, but a significant difference between RD(Rio) and non-RD(Rio) strains was not confirmed
Effect of village-wide use of long-lasting insecticidal nets on visceral leishmaniasis vectors in India and Nepal: a cluster randomized trial
No full textBACKGROUND: Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) control in the Indian subcontinent is currently based on case detection and treatment, and on vector control using indoor residual spraying (IRS). The use of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LN) has been postulated as an alternative or complement to IRS. Here we tested the impact of comprehensive distribution of LN on the density of Phlebotomus argentipes in VL-endemic villages. METHODS: A cluster-randomized controlled trial with household P. argentipes density as outcome was designed. Twelve clusters from an ongoing LN clinical trial-three intervention and three control clusters in both India and Nepal-were selected on the basis of accessibility and VL incidence. Ten houses per cluster selected on the basis of high pre-intervention P. argentipes density were monitored monthly for 12 months after distribution of LN using CDC light traps (LT) and mouth aspiration methods. Ten cattle sheds per cluster were also monitored by aspiration. FINDINGS: A random effect linear regression model showed that the cluster-wide distribution of LNs significantly reduced the P. argentipes density/house by 24.9% (95% CI 1.80%-42.5%) as measured by means of LTs. INTERPRETATION: The ongoing clinical trial, designed to measure the impact of LNs on VL incidence, will confirm whether LNs should be adopted as a control strategy in the regional VL elimination programs. The entomological evidence described here provides some evidence that LNs could be usefully deployed as part of the VL control program. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov CT-2005-015374
Hantavirus nephropathy as a pseudo-import pathology from Ecuador
No full textWe report a case of hantavirus infection (nephropathia epidemica) diagnosed in a Belgian backpacker returning from a trekking expedition in Ecuador, after likely heavy exposure to rodents. Because of epidemiological inconsistency, molecular investigation was performed and revealed a Puumala infection acquired during very limited exposure in Belgium upon return
Community health insurance in Gudalur, India, increases access to hospital care
No full textBACKGROUND: To reduce the burden of out-of-pocket payments on households in India, the government has introduced community health insurance (CHI) as part of its National Rural Health Mission. Indian CHI schemes have been shown to provide financial protection and have the potential to improve quality of care, but do not seem to improve access. This study examines this dimension of CHI performance and explores conditions under which a CHI scheme can improve access to hospital care for the poor. METHODS: We conducted a panel survey at the ACCORD-AMS-ASHWINI (AAA) CHI scheme in India. The AAA CHI scheme protects the poorest sections of society against hospitalization expenses. 297 insured and 248 matched uninsured households were observed by village volunteers on a weekly basis for 12 months. Any patient presenting with a 'major ailment' in these households was interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Outcomes measured were utilization of hospital services, cost of treatment and quality of treatment received. RESULTS: The two cohorts were similar regarding demographic, social and economic parameters. More insured than uninsured households expressed trust in the CHI scheme organizers. Both groups had similar levels of minor ailments, but the insured had higher incidence of chronic and major ailments. Insured patients had a hospital admission rate 2.2 times higher than uninsured patients, independent of confounding factors. This higher rate among the insured was also found in children and those with pre-existing conditions. Vulnerable sections of the insured population-children, pregnant women, the poorest-had the highest admission rates. Most admissions, in both cohorts, took place in the ASHWINI hospital. Credible and trustworthy organizers, effective providers, low co-payments, and low indirect costs contributed to this result. CONCLUSIONS: A well-designed CHI scheme has the potential to improve access to hospital care, even for vulnerable sections of the community-the poorest, individuals with pre-existing conditions like diabetes and hypertension, and pregnant women