Management of childhood pneumonia by traditional birth attendants. The SEARCH Team.

In a field trial in Gadchiroli, India, we trained 30 paramedical workers (PMWs), 25 village health workers (VHWs) and 86 traditional birth attendants (TBAs) from 58 villages to diagnose childhood pneumonia and treat it with sulfamethoxazole+trimethoprim. Continued training, the development of a breath counter, and educative supervision progressively reduced errors in case management made by the TBAs. Over the 3.5-year period 1988-91, 2568 attacks of childhood pneumonia were managed and the case fatality rate was 0.9%, compared with a rate of 13.5% in the control area. The case fatality rates for the three types of worker were similar. The TBAs were superior to the other workers in terms of their availability, outreach, access to neonates, and cost. Satisfaction with the VHWs, and PMWs was expressed by 85%, 69% and 18% of users, respectively. In the intervention area the mortality rate attributable to pneumonia among neonates declined by 44% (P < 0.01) while the total neonatal mortality fell by 20%, presumably because of the involvement of TBAs in the control of acute respiratory infections (ARI). If adequately supported by the health system, TBAs can successfully manage childhood pneumonia in villages at the lowest possible cost and with a high degree of community acceptance. TBAs and VHWs are the most suitable community-based health workers for ARI control programmes in developing countries.

Pneumonia in neonates: can it be managed in the community?

Neonatal pneumonia kills about two million children a year worldwide. The World Health Organisation recommends hospitalisation of all cases of pneumonia in the first two months of infancy. In a field trial of community based management of childhood pneumonia in Gadchiroli, India, neonatal pneumonia contributed more than half of the pneumonia deaths. Parents refused referral even when advised therefore community based health workers and traditional birth attendants managed cases of neonatal pneumonia with co-trimoxazole. Case fatality was 15% (10/65) in all cases and 6% (3/52) in cases without high risk or referral indications. Case fatality in 56 babies aged 30-59 days treated for pneumonia was zero. During the two years of the trial, pneumonia specific mortality rate in the intervention area was 40% less in the neonates and about 80% less in the second month and rest of infancy compared with the control area. Pneumonia in the second month of infancy and uncomplicated cases of neonatal pneumonia can be safely and effectively managed in the community using co-trimoxazole.

Reduction in pneumonia mortality and total childhood mortality by means of community-based intervention trial in Gadchiroli, India.

In a community-based intervention trial to reduce childhood mortality from pneumonia the intervention area included 58 villages (6176 children aged 0-4 years) and the control area 44 villages (3947 children) in Gadchiroli, India. The interventions included mass education about childhood pneumonia and case-management of pneumonia by paramedics, village health workers, and traditional birth attendants (TBAs) who were trained to recognise childhood pneumonia and treat it with co-trimoxazole. Parents sought treatment, and coverage was 76% without active case-detection efforts. The case-fatality rate among the 612 cases treated by health workers was 0.8%, compared with 13.5% in the control area. After a year of intervention pneumonia-specific childhood mortality was significantly lower in the intervention than in the control area (8.1 vs 17.5 deaths per 1000 children under 5 years); the difference between the areas was greatest in children under 1 year. The differences in infant mortality (89 vs 121 per 1000) and total under-5 mortality (28.5 vs 40.7 per 1000) were highly significant. Mortality from other causes remained similar in the two areas but neonatal mortality due to birth injury and prematurity was significantly lower in the intervention area, presumably owing to the combination of better maternal and neonatal care by the TBAs trained in the project and the availability of treatment for pneumonia. The cost of co-trimoxazole was US $0.025 per child per year ($2.64 per child saved).