Understanding Gender-Based Violence Service Delivery in CDC-Supported Health Facilities: 15 Sub-Saharan African Countries, 2017-2021.

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a complex issue deeply rooted in social structures, making its eradication challenging. GBV increases the risk of HIV transmission and is a barrier to HIV testing, care, and treatment. Quality clinical services for GBV, which includes the provision of HIV postexposure prophylaxis (PEP), vary, and service delivery data are lacking. We describe GBV clinical service delivery in 15 countries supported by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Through a descriptive statistical analysis of PEPFAR Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting (MER) data, we found a 252% increase in individuals receiving GBV clinical services, from 158,691 in 2017 to 558,251 in 2021. PEP completion was lowest (15%) among 15-19-year-olds. Understanding GBV service delivery is important for policy makers, program managers, and providers to guide interventions to improve the quality of service delivery and contribute to HIV epidemic control.

The aggregate effect of implementation strength of family planning programs on modern contraceptive use at the health systems level in rural Malawi.

To explore the association between the strength of implementation of family planning (FP) programs on the use of modern contraceptives. Specifically, how strongly these programs are being implemented across a health facility's catchment area in Malawi and the odds of a woman in that catchment area is using modern contraceptives. This information can be used to assess whether the combined impact of multiple large-scale FP programs is leading to change in the health outcomes they aim to improve. We used data from the 2017 Implementation Strength Assessment (ISA) that quantified how much of family planning programs at the health facility and community health worker levels were being implemented across every district of Malawi. We used a summary measure developed in a previous study that employs quantitative methods to combine data across FP domains and health system levels. We tested the association of this summary measure for implementation strength with household data from the 2015 Malawi Demographic Health Survey (DHS). We found that areas with stronger implementation of FP programs had higher odds of women using modern contraceptives compared with areas with weaker implementation. The association of ISA with use of modern contraception was different by education, marital status, and geography. After controlling for these factors, we found that the adjusted odds of using a modern contraceptive was three times higher in catchment areas with high implementation strength compared to those with lower strength. Metrics that summarize how strongly FP programs are being implemented were used to show a statistically significantly positive relationship between increasing implementation strength and higher rates of modern contraceptive use. Decisionmakers at the various levels of health authority can use this type of summary measure to better understand the combined impact of their diverse FP programming and inform future programmatic and policy decisions. The findings also reinforce the idea that having a well-supported and supplied cadre of community health workers supplementing FP provision at the health facility can be an important health systems mechanism, especially in rural settings and to target youth populations.

Testing the validity and feasibility of using a mobile phone-based method to assess the strength of implementation of family planning programs in Malawi.

BACKGROUND: To effectively deliver on proposed objectives, it is vital that practitioners, policymakers, and other stakeholders are able to clearly understand how strongly their large-scale program is being implemented. This study sought to test the feasibility, cost-effectiveness, and validity of a phone-based method as an innovative and cost-efficient approach to assessing program implementation strength (through an Implementation Strength Assessment - ISA), alternative to the traditional in-person field methods. METHODS: We conducted 701 mobile phone and 356 in-person interviews with facility in-Charges and two types of community health workers who provide family planning services in the Dowa and Ntcheu districts in Malawi. Responses received via the phone interview were validated through in-person review of records and inspections. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated to determine validity. RESULTS: Most indicators at the health facility and community health worker levels were above a 70% threshold for sensitivity. However, there were fewer indicators that met this threshold for specificity. The primary reason for lower specificity was due to poor recordkeeping. Collecting data via mobile phone was found to be feasible and twice as cost-efficient as collecting the same data via in-person inspections. CONCLUSIONS: The rapid increase in mobile phone ownership and network availability in lower income countries could offer an alternative, cost-effective avenue to collect data for a better understanding of program implementation. Through rigorous assessment, this study found that using mobile phones could be a low-cost alternative to collect data on health system delivery of services, especially in places where routine data quality is poor and traditional, in-person methods are costly.

The incidence of induced abortion in Malawi.

CONTEXT: Abortion is legally restricted in Malawi, and no data are available on the incidence of the procedure. METHODS: The Abortion Incidence Complications Methodology was used to estimate levels of induced abortion in Malawi in 2009. Data on provision of postabortion care were collected from 166 public, nongovernmental and private health facilities, and estimates of the likelihood that women who have abortions experience complications and seek care were obtained from 56 key informants. Data from these surveys and from the 2010 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey were used to calculate abortion rates and ratios, and rates of pregnancy and unintended pregnancy. RESULTS: Approximately 18,700 women in Malawi were treated in health facilities for complications of induced abortion in 2009. An estimated 67,300 induced abortions were performed, equivalent to a rate of 23 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44 and an abortion ratio of 12 per 100 live births. The abortion rate was higher in the North (35 per 1,000) than in the Central region or the South (20-23 per 1,000). The unintended pregnancy rate in 2010 was 139 per 1,000 women aged 15-44, and an estimated 52% of all pregnancies were unintended. CONCLUSIONS: Unsafe abortion is common in Malawi. Interventions are needed to help women and couples avoid unwanted pregnancy, reduce the need for unsafe abortion and decrease maternal mortality.

Reproductive health characteristics of young Malawian women seeking post-abortion care.

Abortion is illegal in Malawi except when the pregnancy endangers the mother's life, yet complications of abortion account for the majority of admissions to gynecological wards. This study collected data on all post-abortion care (PAC) cases reporting to all PAC-providing health facilities in Malawi over a 30-day period. Of a total of 2,028 PAC clients, 20.9% were adolescents (age 10-19) and 29.6% were young adults (age 20-24). More than half of adolescents and almost 80% of young adults were married. Less than 5% of adolescents and 22.5% of young adults reported using contraception when they became pregnant. Being unmarried was associated with previous abortion and contraceptive use among young adults. These statistics indicate a high proportion of unwanted pregnancy and lack of access to modern contraception among young women. Programs to increase access to pregnancy prevention services and protect young women from unsafe abortions are greatly needed.