Healthcare system's preparedness to provide cardiovascular and diabetes-specific care in the context of geopolitical crises in Burkina Faso: a trend analysis from 2012 to 2018.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the trends of the availability and readiness of the healthcare system to provide cardiometabolic (cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and diabetes) services in Burkina Faso in multiple political and insecurity crises context. DESIGN: We performed a secondary analysis of repeated nationwide cross-sectional studies in Burkina Faso. DATA SOURCE: Four national health facility survey data (using WHO Service Availability and Readiness Assessment (SARA) tool) conducted between 2012 and 2018 were used. PARTICIPANTS: In 2012, 686 health facilities were surveyed, 766 in 2014, 677 in 2016 and 794 in 2018. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The main outcomes were the availability and readiness services indicators defined according to the SARA manual. RESULTS: Between 2012 and 2018, the availability of CVD and diabetes services significantly increased (67.3% to 92.7% for CVD and 42.5% to 54.0% for diabetes). However, the mean readiness index of the healthcare system to manage CVD decreased from 26.8% to 24.1% (p for trend <0.001). This trend was observed mainly at the primary healthcare level (from 26.0% to 21.6%, p<0.001). For diabetes, the readiness index increased (from 35.4% to 41.1%, p for trend=0.07) during 2012-2018. However, during the crisis period (2014-2018), both CVD (27.9% to 24.1%, p<0.001) and diabetes (45.8% to 41.1%, p<0.001) service readiness decreased. At the subnational level, the readiness index for CVD significantly decreased in all regions but predominantly in the Sahel region, which is the main insecure region (from 32.2% to 22.6%, p<0.001). CONCLUSION: In this first monitoring study, we found a low level and decreased trend of readiness of the healthcare system for delivering cardiometabolic care, particularly during the crisis period and in conflicted regions. Policymakers should pay more attention to the impact of crises on the healthcare system to mitigate the rising burden of cardiometabolic diseases.

Seasonal and Temporal Trends in Childhood Conjunctivitis in Burkina Faso.

Acute conjunctivitis follows a seasonal pattern. Although its clinical course is typically self-limited, conjunctivitis epidemics incur a substantial economic burden because of missed school and work days. This study investigated seasonal and temporal trends of childhood conjunctivitis in the entire country of Burkina Faso from 2013 to 2016, using routine monthly surveillance from 2,444 government health facilities. A total of 783,314 cases were reported over the 4-year period. Conjunctivitis followed a seasonal pattern throughout the country, with a peak in April. A nationwide conjunctivitis outbreak with a peak in September 2016 was noted (P < 0.001), with an excess number of cases first detected in June 2016. Nationwide passive surveillance was able to detect an epidemic 3 months before its peak, which may aide in allocation of resources for containment and mitigation of transmission in future outbreaks.

Effect of maternal death reviews and training on maternal mortality among cesarean delivery: post-hoc analysis of a cluster-randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the differential effect of a multifaceted intervention on hospital-based maternal mortality between patients with cesarean and vaginal delivery in low-resource settings. STUDY DESIGN: We reanalyzed the data from a major cluster-randomized controlled trial, QUARITE (Quality of care, Risk management and technology in obstetrics). These subgroup analyses were not pre-specified and were treated as exploratory. The intervention consisted of an initial interactive workshop and quarterly educational clinically oriented and evidence-based outreach visits focused on maternal death reviews (MDR) and best practices implementation. The trial originally recruited 191,167 patients who delivered in each of the 46 participating hospitals in Mali and Senegal, between 2007 and 2011. The primary endpoint was hospital-based maternal mortality. Subgroup-specific Odds Ratios (ORs) of maternal mortality were computed and tested for differential intervention effect using generalized linear mixed model between two subgroups (cesarean: 40,975; and vaginal delivery: 150,192). RESULTS: The test for homogeneity of intervention effects on hospital-based maternal mortality among the two delivery mode subgroups was statistically significant (p-value: 0.0201). Compared to the control, the adjusted OR of maternal mortality was 0.71 (95% CI: 0.58-0.82, p=0.0034) among women with cesarean delivery. The intervention had no significant effect among women with vaginal delivery (adjusted OR 0.87, 95% CI 0.69-1.11, p=0.6213). This differential effect was particularly marked for district hospitals. CONCLUSION: Maternal deaths reviews and on-site training on emergency obstetric care may be more effective in reducing maternal mortality among high-risk women who need a cesarean section than among low-risk women with vaginal delivery.