Inter-district and Wealth-related Inequalities in Maternal and Child Health Service Coverage and Child Mortality within Addis Ababa City.

In sub-Saharan Africa, urban areas generally have better access to and use of maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) services than rural areas, but previous research indicates that there are significant intra-urban disparities. This study aims to investigate temporal trends and geographic differences in maternal, newborn, and child health service utilization between Addis Ababa's poorest and richest districts and households. A World Bank district-based poverty index was used to classify districts into the top 60% (non-poor) and bottom 40% (poor), and wealth index data from the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) was used to classify households into the top 60% (non-poor) and bottom 40% (poor). Essential maternal, newborn, and child health service coverage was estimated from routine health facility data for 2019-2021, and five rounds of the EDHS (2000-2019) were used to estimate child mortality. The results showed that service coverage was substantially higher in the top 60% than in the bottom 40% of districts. Coverage of four antenatal care visits, skill birth attendance, and postnatal care all exceeded 90% in the non-poor districts but only ranged from 54 to 67% in the poor districts. Inter-district inequalities were less pronounced for childhood vaccinations, with over 90% coverage levels across all districts. Inter-district inequalities in mortality rates were considerable. The neonatal mortality rate was nearly twice as high in the bottom 40% of households' as in the top 60% of households. Similarly, the under-5 mortality rate was three times higher in the bottom 40% compared to the top 60% of households. The substantial inequalities in MNCH service utilization and child mortality in Addis Ababa highlight the need for greater focus on the city's women and children living in the poorest households and districts in maternal, newborn, and child health programs.

Effective coverage of antenatal care services in Ethiopia: a population-based cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Antenatal care (ANC) is a principal component of safe motherhood and reproductive health strategies across the continuum of care. Although the coverage of antenatal care visits has increased in Ethiopia, there needs to be more evidence of effective coverage of antenatal care. The 'effective coverage' concept can pinpoint where action is required to improve high-quality coverage in Ethiopia. Effective coverage indicates a health system's performance by incorporating need, utilization, and quality into a single measurement. The concept includes the number of contacts, facility readiness, interventions received, and components of services received. This study aimed to measure effective antenatal care coverage in Ethiopia. METHODS: A two-stage cluster sampling method was used and included 2714 women aged 15-49 years and 462 health facilities from six Ethiopian regions from October 2019 to January 2020. The effective coverage cascade was analyzed among the targeted women by computing the proportion who received four or more antenatal care visits where the necessary inputs were available, received iron-folate supplementation and two doses of tetanus vaccination according to process quality components of antenatal care services. RESULTS: Of all women, 40% (95%CI; 38, 43) had four or more visits, ranging from 3% in Afar to 74% in Addis Ababa. The overall mean health facility readiness score of the facilities serving these women was 70%, the vaccination and iron-folate supplementation coverage was 26%, and the ANC process quality was 64%. As reported by women, the least score was given to the quality component of discussing birth preparedness and complication readiness with providers. In the effective coverage cascade, the input-adjusted, intervention-adjusted, and quality-adjusted antenatal coverage estimates were 28%, 18%, and 12%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The overall effective ANC coverage was low, primarily due to a considerable drop in the proportion of women who completed four or more ANC visits. Improving quality of services is crucial to increase ANC up take and completion of the recommended visits along with interventions increasing women's awareness.

Measuring people's views on health system performance: Design and development of the People's Voice Survey.

Todd Lewis and co-authors discuss development and use of the People's Voice Survey for health system assessment.

A cost-effectiveness analysis of COVID-19 critical care interventions in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: a modeling study.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate and compare the cost-effectiveness of COVID-19 critical care intervention approaches: noninvasive (oxygen without intubation) and invasive (intubation) management in Ethiopia. METHODS: A Markov model is used to compare the costs and outcomes for non-invasive and invasive COVID-19 clinical interventions using both primary and secondary data sources. Healthcare provider costs (recurrent and capital cost) and patient-side costs (direct and indirect) were estimated and reported in United States Dollars (US$), 2021. The outcome measure used in this analysis was DALYs averted. Both the average cost-effectiveness ratio (ACER) and incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) were reported. One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were applied to assess the robustness of the findings. The analysis is conducted using Tree Age pro health care software 2022. RESULT: The average cost per patient per episode for mild/moderate, severe, noninvasive, and invasive critical management was $951, $3449, $5514, and $6500, respectively. According to the average cost-effective ratio (ACER), non-invasive management resulted in $1991 per DALY averted, while invasive management resulted in $3998 per DALY averted. Similarly, the incremental cost-effective ratio (ICER) of invasive compared to noninvasive management was $ 4948 per DALY averted. CONCLUSION: Clinical management of critical COVID-19 cases in Ethiopia is associated with a significant financial burden. Invasive intervention is unlikely to be a cost-effective COVID-19 intervention in Ethiopia compared to noninvasive critical case management using a willingness to pay threshold of three times GDP per capita.

The effect of national antenatal care guidelines and provider training on obstetric danger sign counselling: a propensity score matching analysis of the 2014 Ethiopia service provision assessment plus survey.

BACKGROUND: Most pregnant women in low and lower-middle-income countries do not receive all components of antenatal care (ANC), including counselling on obstetric danger signs. Facility-level ANC guidelines and provider in-service training are major factors influencing ANC counselling. In Ethiopia, little is known about the extent to which guidelines and provider in-service training can increase the quality of ANC counselling. METHODS: We examined the effect of national ANC guidelines and ANC provider in-service training on obstetric danger sign counselling for pregnant women receiving ANC using the 2014 Ethiopian service provision assessment plus (ESPA +) survey data. We created two analysis samples by applying a propensity score matching method. The first sample consisted of women who received ANC at health facilities with guidelines matched with those who received ANC at health facilities without guidelines. The second sample consisted of women who received ANC from the providers who had undertaken in-service training in the last 24 months matched with women who received ANC from untrained providers. The outcome variable was the number of obstetric danger signs described during ANC counselling, ranging from zero to eight. The covariates included women's socio-demographic characteristics, obstetric history, health facility characteristics, and ANC provider characteristics. RESULTS: We found that counselling women about obstetric danger signs during their ANC session varied according to the availability of ANC guidelines (61% to 70%) and provider training (62% to 68%). After matching the study participants by the measured covariates, the availability of ANC guidelines at the facility level significantly increased the average number of obstetric danger signs women received during counselling by 24% (95% CI: 12-35%). Similarly, providing refresher training for ANC providers increased the average number of obstetric danger signs described during counselling by 37% (95% CI: 26-48%). CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that the quality of ANC counselling in Ethiopia needs strengthening by ensuring that ANC guidelines are available at every health facility and that the providers receive regular ANC related in-service training.

Maternal death from preventable pregnancy-related complications remains a global health challenge. In 2017, there were 295,000 maternal deaths worldwide, and about two-thirds of these deaths were from Sub-Saharan Africa. Ethiopia is a Sub-Saharan African country with 401 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2017, and this rate is higher than the target indicated in sustainable development goals. Most maternal deaths are due to obstetric complications and could have been averted through early detection and treatment. Providing antenatal care counselling about obstetric danger signs enhances women's awareness of obstetric complications and encourages women to seek treatment from a skilled care provider. However, most women from low-income settings, including Ethiopia, do not receive counselling about obstetric danger signs. Facility-level antenatal care guidelines and provider in-service training improve antenatal care counselling. In Ethiopia, little is known to what extent antenatal care guidelines and provider training increase counselling on obstetric danger signs. The present study used the 2014 Ethiopian service provision assessment data and estimated the effect of antenatal care guidelines and provider training on counselling about obstetric danger signs. The analysis involved a propensity score matching method and included 1725 pregnant women. The study found that antenatal care guidelines at health facilities and antenatal care provider in-service training significantly increase counselling on obstetric danger signs by 24% and 37%, respectively. The finding suggests improving the quality of antenatal care counselling in Ethiopia needs antenatal care guidelines at each antenatal care clinic and refresher training for the providers.

Estimation of Ethiopia's immunization coverage - 20 years of discrepancies.

BACKGROUND: Coverage with the third dose of diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus-containing vaccine (DPT3) is a widely used measure of the performance of routine immunization systems. Since 2015, data reported by Ethiopia's health facilities have suggested DPT3 coverage to be greater than 95%. Yet, Demographic and Health Surveys in 2016 and 2019 found DPT3 coverage to be 53 and 61% respectively for years during this period. This case study reviews the last 20 years of administrative (based on facility data), survey and United Nations (UN) estimates of Ethiopia's nationwide immunization coverage to document long-standing discrepancies in these statistics. METHODS: Published estimates were compiled of Ethiopia's nationwide DPT3 coverage from 1999 to 2018. These estimates come from the Joint Reporting Form submitted annually to WHO and UNICEF, a series of 8 population-based surveys and the annual reports of the WHO/UNICEF Estimates of National Immunization Coverage (WUENIC). Possible reasons for variation in survey findings were explored through secondary analysis of data from the 2012 immunization coverage survey. In addition, selected health officials involved with management of the immunization program were interviewed to obtain their perspectives on the reliability of various methods for estimation of immunization coverage. FINDINGS: Comparison of Ethiopia's estimates for the same year from different sources shows major and persistent discrepancies between administrative, survey and WUENIC estimates. Moreover, the estimates from each of these sources have repeatedly shown erratic year-to-year fluctuations. Those who were interviewed expressed scepticism of Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) statistics. Officials of the national immunization programme have repeatedly shown a tendency to overlook all survey statistics when reporting on programme performance. CONCLUSIONS: The present case study raises important questions, not only about the estimation methods of national and UN agencies, but about the reliability and comparability of widely trusted coverage surveys. Ethiopia provides an important example of a country where no data source provides a truly robust "gold standard" for estimation of immunization coverage. It is essential to identify and address the reasons for these discrepancies and arrive at a consensus on how to improve the reliability and acceptability of each data source and how best to "triangulate" between them.

Triangulating data sources for further learning from and about the MDSR in Ethiopia: a cross-sectional review of facility based maternal death data from EmONC assessment and MDSR system.

BACKGROUND: Triangulating findings from MDSR with other sources can better inform maternal health programs. A national Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (EmONC) assessment and the Maternal Death Surveillance and Response (MDSR) system provided data to determine the coverage of MDSR implementation in health facilities, the leading causes and contributing factors to death, and the extent to which life-saving interventions were provided to deceased women. METHODS: This paper is based on triangulation of findings from a descriptive analysis of secondary data extracted from the 2016 EmONC assessment and the MDSR system databases. EmONC assessment was conducted in 3804 health facilities. Data from interview of each facility leader on MDSR implementation, review of 1305 registered maternal deaths and 679 chart reviews of maternal deaths that happened form May 16, 2015 to December 15, 2016 were included from the EmONC assessment. Case summary reports of 601 reviewed maternal deaths were included from the MDSR system. RESULTS: A maternal death review committee was established in 64% of health facilities. 5.5% of facilities had submitted at least one maternal death summary report to the national MDSR database. Postpartum hemorrhage (10-27%) and severe preeclampsia/eclampsia (10-24.1%) were the leading primary causes of maternal death. In MDSR, delay-1 factors contributed to 7-33% of maternal deaths. Delay-2, related to reaching a facility, contributed to 32% & 40% of maternal deaths in the EmONC assessment and MDSR, respectively. Similarly, delay-3 factor due to delayed transfer of mothers to appropriate level of care contributed for 29 and 22% of maternal deaths. From the EmONC data, 72% of the women who died due to severe pre-eclampsia or eclampsia were given anticonvulsants while 48% of those dying of postpartum haemorrhage received uterotonics. CONCLUSION: The facility level implementation coverage of MDSR was sub-optimal. Obstetric hemorrhage and severe preeclampsia or eclampsia were the leading causes of maternal death. Delayed arrival to facility (Delay 2) was the predominant contributing factor to facility-based maternal deaths. The limited EmONC provision should be the focus of quality improvement in health facilities.

Assessing the quality of care in sick child services at health facilities in Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Quality of care depends on system, facility, provider, and client-level factors. We aimed at examining structural and process quality of services for sick children and its association with client satisfaction at health facilities in Ethiopia. METHODS: Data from the Ethiopia Service Provision Assessment Plus (SPA+) survey 2014 were used. Measures of quality were assessed based on the Donabedian framework: structure, process, and outcome. A total of 1908 mothers or caretakers were interviewed and their child consultations were observed. Principal component analysis was used to construct quality of care indices including a structural composite score, a process composite score, and a client satisfaction score. Multilevel mixed linear regression was used to analyze the association between structural and process factors with client satisfaction. RESULT: Among children diagnosed with suspected pneumonia, respiratory rate was counted in 56% and temperature was checked in 77% of the cases. A majority of children (92%) diagnosed with fever had their temperature taken. Only 3% of children with fever were either referred or admitted, and 60% received antibiotics. Among children diagnosed with malaria, 51% were assessed for all three Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses (IMCI) main symptoms, and 4% were assessed for all three general danger signs. Providers assessed dehydration in 54% of children with diarrhea with dehydration, 17% of these children were admitted or referred to another facility, and Oral Rehydration Solution was prescribed for 67% while none received intravenous fluids. The number of basic amenities in the facility was negatively associated with the clients' satisfaction. Private facilities, when the providers had got training for care of sick children in the past 2 years, had higher client satisfaction. There was no statistical association between structure, process composite indicators and client satisfaction. CONCLUSION: The assessment of sick children was of low quality, with many missing procedures when comparing with IMCI guidelines. In spite of this, most clients were satisfied with the services they received. Structural and process composite indicators were not associated with client's satisfaction. These findings highlight the need to assess other dimensions of quality of care besides structure and process that may influence client satisfaction.

Quality antenatal care services delivery at health facilities of Ethiopia, assessment of the structure/input of care setting.

BACKGROUND: According to the Donabedian model, the assessment for the quality of care includes three dimensions. These are structure, process, and outcome. Therefore, the present study aimed at assessing the structural quality of Antenatal care (ANC) service provision in Ethiopian health facilities. METHODS: Data were obtained from the 2018 Ethiopian Service Availability and Readiness Assessment (SARA) survey. The SARA was a cross-sectional facility-based assessment conducted to capture health facility service availability and readiness in Ethiopia. A total of 764 health facilities were sampled in the 9 regions and 2 city administrations of the country. The availability of equipment, supplies, medicine, health worker's training and availability of guidelines were assessed. Data were collected from October-December 2017. We run a multiple linear regression model to identify predictors of health facility readiness for Antenatal care service. The level of significance was determined at a p-value < 0.05. RESULT: Among the selected health facilities, 80.5% of them offered Antenatal care service. However, the availability of specific services was very low. The availability of tetanus toxoid vaccination, folic acid, iron supplementation, and monitoring of hypertension disorder was, 67.7, 65.6, 68.6, and 75.1%, respectively. The overall mean availability among the ten tracer items that are necessary to provide quality Antenatal care services was 50%. In the multiple linear regression model, health centers, health posts and clinics scored lower Antenatal care service readiness compared to hospitals. The overall readiness index score was lower for private health facilities (ß = - 0.047, 95% CI: (- 0.1, - 0.004). The readiness score had no association with the facility settings (Urban/Rural) (p-value > 0.05). Facilities in six regions except Dire Dawa had (ß = 0.067, 95% CI: (0.004, 0.129) lower readiness score than facilities in Tigray region (p-value < 0.015). CONCLUSION: This analysis provides evidence of the gaps in structural readiness of health facilities to provide quality Antenatal care services. Key and essential supplies for quality Antenatal care service provision were missed in many of the health facilities. Guaranteeing properly equipped and staffed facilities shall be a target to improve the quality of Antenatal care services provision.

Antenatal care use in Ethiopia: a spatial and multilevel analysis.

BACKGROUND: Accessibility and utilization of antenatal care (ANC) service varies depending on different geographical locations, sociodemographic characteristics, political and other factors. A geographically linked data analysis using population and health facility data is valuable to map ANC use, and identify inequalities in service access and provision. Thus, this study aimed to assess the spatial patterns of ANC use, and to identify associated factors among pregnant women in Ethiopia. METHOD: A secondary data analysis of the 2016 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey linked with the 2014 Ethiopian Service Provision Assessment was conducted. A multilevel analysis was carried out using the SAS GLIMMIX procedure. Furthermore, hot spot analysis and spatial regressions were carried out to identify the hot spot areas of and factors associated with the spatial variations in ANC use using ArcGIS and R softwares. RESULTS: A one-unit increase in the mean score of ANC service availability in a typical region was associated with a five-fold increase in the odds of having more ANC visits. Moreover, every one-kilometre increase in distance to the nearest ANC facility in a typical region was negatively associated with having at least four ANC visits. Twenty-five percent of the variability in having at least four ANC visits was accounted for by region of living. The spatial analysis found that the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples region had high clusters of at least four ANC visits. Furthermore, the coefficients of having the first ANC visit during the first trimester were estimated to have spatial variations in the use of at least four ANC visits. CONCLUSION: There were significant variations in the use of ANC services across the different regions of Ethiopia. Region of living and distance were key drivers of ANC use underscoring the need for increased ANC availability, particularly in the cold spot regions.

Health Extension Workers' diagnostic accuracy for common childhood illnesses in four regions of Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study.

AIM: The Ethiopian primary care of sick children is provided within the integrated Community Case Management of childhood illnesses by Health Extension Workers (HEW). There is limited knowledge whether this cadre correctly assess and classify common diseases. The aim was to study their ability to correctly classify common childhood illnesses. METHODS: A survey was conducted from December 2016 to February 2017 in four regions of Ethiopia. Observations of the HEWs' assessment and classification of sick children were followed by child re-examination by a trained health officer. RESULTS: The classification by the HEWs of 620 sick children as compared to the re-examiner had a sensitivity of 89% and specificity of 94% for diarrhoea, sensitivity 52% and specificity 91% for febrile disorders, and a sensitivity of 59% and specificity of 94% for acute respiratory tract infection. Malnutrition and ear infection had a sensitivity of 39 and 61%, and a specificity of 99 and 99%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Most cases of diarrhoea were correctly classified, while other illnesses were not frequently identified. The identification of malnutrition was especially at fault. These findings suggest that a significant number of sick children were undiagnosed that could lead to absent or incorrect management and treatment.

Factors associated with health care provider knowledge on abortion care in Ethiopia, a further analysis on emergency obstetric and newborn care assessment 2016 data.

BACKGROUND: Abortion is one of the major direct causes of maternal death, accounting for 7.9% globally. In Africa, 5.5 million women have unsafe abortions annually. Although maternal deaths due to complications of abortion have declined in Ethiopia, women still die from complications. Few studies have focused on providers' clinical knowledge. This study investigates the level of health workers' knowledge of comprehensive abortion care and its determinants in Ethiopia. METHODS: Data from the national emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC) assessment was used. A total of 3804 facilities that provided institutional deliveries in the 12 months before the assessment were included. Provider knowledge was assessed by interviewing a single provider from each facility. Criteria for selection included: having attended the largest number of deliveries in the last one or two months. A summary knowledge score was generated based on the responses to three knowledge questions related to immediate complications of unsafe abortion, how a woman should be clinically managed and what the counselling content should contain. The score was classified into two categories (< 50% and > =50%). Logistic regression was used to determine individual and facility-level factors associated with the summary knowledge score. RESULT: A total of 3800 providers participated and the majority were midwives, nurses and health officers. On average, providers identified approximately half or fewer of the expected responses. The multivariate model showed that midwives and nurses (compared to health officers), being female, and absence of training or practice of manual vacuum aspiration were associated with lower knowledge levels. Important facility level factors protective against low knowledge levels included employment in Addis Ababa, being male and having internet access in the facility. CONCLUSION: To increase knowledge levels among providers, pre- and in-service training efforts should be particularly sensitive to female providers who scored lower, ensure that more midlevel providers are capable of performing manual vacuum aspiration as well as provide special attention to providers in the Gambella.

User-reported quality of care: findings from the first round of the People's Voice Survey in 14 countries.

High-quality care is essential for improving health outcomes, although many health systems struggle to maintain good quality. We use data from the People's Voice Survey-a nationally representative survey conducted in 14 high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries-to describe user-reported quality of most recent health care in the past 12 months. We described ratings for 14 measures of care competence, system competence, and user experience and assessed the relationship between visit quality factors and user recommendation of the facility. We disaggregated the data by high-need and underserved groups. The proportion of respondents rating their most recent visit as high quality ranged from 25% in Laos to 74% in the USA. The mean facility recommendation score was 7·7 out of 10. Individuals with high needs or who are underserved reported lower-quality services on average across countries. Countries with high health expenditure per capita tended to have better care ratings than countries with low health expenditure. Visit quality factors explained a high proportion of variation in facility recommendations relative to facility or demographic factors. These results show that user-reported quality is low but increases with high national health expenditure. Elevating care quality will require monitoring and improvements on multiple dimensions of care quality, especially in public systems.

Learning from Ethiopia's success in reducing maternal and neonatal mortality through a health systems lens.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to enhance insights into the key characteristics of maternal and neonatal mortality declines in Ethiopia, conducted as part of a seven-country study on Maternal and Newborn Health (MNH) Exemplars. METHODS: We synthesised key indicators for 2000, 2010 and 2020 and contextualised those with typical country values in a global five-phase model for a maternal, stillbirth and neonatal mortality transition. We reviewed health system changes relevant to MNH over the period 2000-2020, focusing on governance, financing, workforce and infrastructure, and assessed trends in mortality, service coverage and systems by region. We analysed data from five national surveys, health facility assessments, global estimates and government databases and reports on health policies, infrastructure and workforce. RESULTS: Ethiopia progressed from the highest mortality phase to the third phase, accompanied by typical changes in terms of fertility decline and health system strengthening, especially health infrastructure and workforce. For health coverage and financing indicators, Ethiopia progressed but remained lower than typical in the transition model. Maternal and neonatal mortality declines and intervention coverage increases were greater after 2010 than during 2000-2010. Similar patterns were observed in most regions of Ethiopia, though regional gaps persisted for many indicators. Ethiopia's progress is characterised by a well-coordinated and government-led system prioritising first maternal and later neonatal health, resulting major increases in access to services by improving infrastructure and workforce from 2008, combined with widespread community actions to generate service demand. CONCLUSION: Ethiopia has achieved one of the fastest declines in mortality in sub-Saharan Africa, with major intervention coverage increases, especially from 2010. Starting from a weak health infrastructure and low coverage, Ethiopia's comprehensive approach provides valuable lessons for other low-income countries. Major increases towards universal coverage of interventions, including emergency care, are critical to further reduce mortality and advance the mortality transition.

"We don't trust all data coming from all facilities": factors influencing the quality of care network data quality in Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Good quality data are a key to quality health care. In 2017, WHO has launched the Quality of Care Network (QCN) to reduce maternal, newborn and stillbirth mortality via learning and sharing networks. Guided by the principle of equity and dignity, the network members agreed to implement the programme in 2017-2021. OBJECTIVE: This paper seeks to explore how QCN has contributed to improving data quality and to identify factors influencing quality of data in Ethiopia. METHODS: We conducted a qualitative study in selected QCN facilities in Ethiopia using key informant interview and observation methods. We interviewed 40 people at national, sub-national and facility levels. Non-participant observations were carried out in four purposively selected health facilities; we accessed monthly reports from 41 QCN learning facilities. A codebook was prepared following a deductive and inductive analytical approach, coded using Nvivo 12 and thematically analysed. RESULTS: There was a general perception that QCN had improved health data documentation and use in the learning facilities, achieved through coaching, learning and building from pre-existing initiatives. QCN also enhanced the data elements available by introducing a broader set of quality indicators. However, the perception of poor data quality persisted. Factors negatively affecting data quality included a lack of integration of QCN data within routine health system activities, the perception that QCN was a pilot, plus a lack of inclusive engagement at different levels. Both individual and system capabilities needed to be strengthened. CONCLUSION: There is evidence of QCN's contribution to improving data awareness. But a lack of inclusive engagement of actors, alignment and limited skill for data collection and analysis continued to affect data quality and use. In the absence of new resources, integration of new data activities within existing routine health information systems emerged as the most important potential action for positive change.

Health system capacity to manage diabetic ketoacidosis in nine low-income and lower-middle income countries: A cross-sectional analysis of nationally representative survey data.

Background: There has been increasing awareness about the importance of type 1 diabetes (T1D) globally. Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a life-threatening complication of T1D in low-income settings. Little is known about health system capacity to manage DKA in low- and lower-middle income countries (LLMICs). As such, we describe health system capacity to diagnose and manage DKA across nine LLMICs using data from Service Provision Assessments. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we used data from Service Provision Assessment (SPA) surveys, which are part of the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) Program. We defined an item set to diagnose and manage DKA in higher-level (tertiary or secondary) facilities, and a set to assess and refer patients presenting to lower-level (primary) facilities. We quantified each item's availability by service level in Bangladesh (Survey 1: May 22 2014-Jul 20 2014; Survey 2: Jul 2017-Oct 2017), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) (Oct 16 2017-Nov 24 2017 in Kinshasha; Aug 08 2018-Apr 20 2018 in rest of country), Haiti (Survey 1: Mar 05 2013-Jul 2013; Survey 2: Dec 16 2017-May 09 2018), Ethiopia (Feb 06 2014-Mar 09 2014), Malawi (Phase 1: Jun 11 2013-Aug 20 2013; Phase 2: Nov 13 2013-Feb 7 2014), Nepal (Phase 1: Apr 20 2015-Apr 25 2015; Phase 2: Jun 04 2015-Nov 05 2015), Senegal (Survey 1: Jan 2014-Oct 2014; Survey 2: Feb 09 2015-Nov 10 2015; Survey 3: Feb 2016-Nov 2016; Survey 4: Mar 13 2017-Dec 15 2017; Survey 5: Apr 15 2018-Dec 31 2018; Survey 6: Apr 15 2019-Feb 28 2020), Tanzania (Oct 20 2014-Feb 21 2015), and Afghanistan (Nov 1 2018-Jan 20 2019). Variation in secondary facilities' capacity and trends over time were also explored. Findings: We examined data from 2028 higher-level and 7534 lower-level facilities. Of these, 1874 higher-level and 6636 lower-level facilities' data were eligible for analysis. Availability of all item sets were low at higher-level facilities, where less than 50% had the minimal set of supplies, less than 20% had the full minimal set, and less than 15% had the ideal set needed to diagnose and manage DKA. Across countries in lower-level facilities, less than 14% had the minimal set of supplies and less than 9% the full set of supplies for diagnosis and transfer of DKA patients. No country had more than 20% of facilities with the minimal set of items needed to assess or manage DKA. Where data were available for more than one survey (Bangladesh, Senegal, and Haiti), changes in availability of the minimal set and ideal set of items did not exceed 15%. Tertiary facilities performed best in Haiti, Ethiopia, Malawi, Nepal, Senegal, Tanzania, and Afghanistan. Secondary facilities that were rural, public, and had fewer staff had lower capacity. Interpretation: Health system capacity to manage DKA was low across these nine LLMICs. Although efforts are underway to strengthen health systems, a specific focus on DKA management is still needed. Funding: Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Ltd.

Spatial and hierarchical Bayesian analysis to identify factors associated with caesarean delivery use in Ethiopia: Evidence from national population and health facility data.

BACKGROUND: Caesarean section has a significant role in reducing maternal and neonatal mortality. A linked analysis of population and health facility data is valuable to map and identify caesarean section use and associated factors. This study aimed to identify geographic variation and associated factors of caesarean delivery in Ethiopia. METHOD: Linked data analysis of the 2016 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) and the 2014 Ethiopian Service Provision Assessment Plus (ESPA+) survey was performed. Spatial analysis was conducted to identify geographic variations and factors associated with caesarean delivery. Hierarchical Bayesian analysis was also performed to identify factors associated with caesarean delivery using the SAS MCMC procedure. RESULTS: Women's age and education, household wealth, parity, antenatal care (ANC) visits, and distance to caesarean section facility were associated with caesarean delivery use. Women who had ≥4 ANC visits were 4.67 (95% Credible Interval (CrI): 2.17, 9.43) times more likely to have caesarean delivery compared to those who had no ANC visits. Women who had education and were from rich households were also 2.80 (95% CrI: 1.83, 4.19) and 1.80 (95% CrI: 1.08, 2.84) times more likely to have caesarean deliveries relative to women who had no education and were from poor households, respectively. A one-kilometer increase in distance to a caesarean section facility was associated with an 88% reduction in the odds of caesarean delivery (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 0.12, 95% CrI: 0.01, 0.78). Hotspots of high caesarean section rates were observed in Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa, and the Harari region. In addition, women's age at first childbirth and ≥4 ANC visits showed significant spatially varying relations between caesarean delivery use across Ethiopia. CONCLUSION: Caesarean section is a lifesaving procedure, and it is essential to narrow disparities to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality and avoid unnecessary procedures.

Health service utilisation during the COVID-19 pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa in 2020: a multicountry empirical assessment with a focus on maternal, newborn and child health services.

INTRODUCTION: There are concerns about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the continuation of essential health services in sub-Saharan Africa. Through the Countdown to 2030 for Women's, Children's and Adolescents' Health country collaborations, analysts from country and global public health institutions and ministries of health assessed the trends in selected services for maternal, newborn and child health, general service utilisation. METHODS: Monthly routine health facility data by district for the period 2017-2020 were compiled by 12 country teams and adjusted after extensive quality assessments. Mixed effects linear regressions were used to estimate the size of any change in service utilisation for each month from March to December 2020 and for the whole COVID-19 period in 2020. RESULTS: The completeness of reporting of health facilities was high in 2020 (median of 12 countries, 96% national and 91% of districts ≥90%), higher than in the preceding years and extreme outliers were few. The country median reduction in utilisation of nine health services for the whole period March-December 2020 was 3.9% (range: -8.2 to 2.4). The greatest reductions were observed for inpatient admissions (median=-17.0%) and outpatient admissions (median=-7.1%), while antenatal, delivery care and immunisation services generally had smaller reductions (median from -2% to -6%). Eastern African countries had greater reductions than those in West Africa, and rural districts were slightly more affected than urban districts. The greatest drop in services was observed for March-June 2020 for general services, when the response was strongest as measured by a stringency index. CONCLUSION: The district health facility reports provide a solid basis for trend assessment after extensive data quality assessment and adjustment. Even the modest negative impact on service utilisation observed in most countries will require major efforts, supported by the international partners, to maintain progress towards the SDG health targets by 2030.