Access to childbirth care services in the interior of Pernambuco, Northeast region of Brazil / Acesso aos serviços de atenção ao parto no interior de Pernambuco, Nordeste do Brasil

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To analyze the access of women to the public health system network to childbirth care, highlighting the barriers related to the "availability and accommodation" dimension in a health macroregion of Pernambuco. METHODS Ecological study, conducted based on hospital birth records from the Hospital Information System of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS), and information from the state's Hospital Beds Regulation Center, about women residing in health macroregion II, in 2018. Displacements were reviewed considering the geographic distance between the municipality of residence and that of the childbirth; estimated time of displacement of pregnant women; ratio of shifts blocked for admission of pregnant women for delivery; and the reason for unavailability. RESULTS In 2018, health macroregion II performed 84% of usual risk childbirths, and 46.9% of high-risk childbirths. The remaining high-risk childbirths (51.1%) occurred in macroregion I, especially in Recife. The reference maternity for high-risk childbirths in that macroregion had 30.4% of the days of day shifts and 38.9% of the night shifts blocked for admission of childbirths; the main reason was the difficulty in maintaining the full team in service. CONCLUSIONS Women residing in the health macroregion II of Pernambuco face great barriers of access in search of hospital care for childbirth, traveling great distances even when pregnant women of usual risk, leading to pilgrimage in search of this care. There is difficulty regarding availability and accommodation in high-risk services and obstetric emergencies, with shortage of physical and human resources. The obstetric care network in macroregion II of Pernambuco is not structured to ensure equitable access to care for pregnant women at the time of childbirth. This highlights the need for restructuring this healthcare services pursuant to what is recommended by the Cegonha Network.

RESUMO OBJETIVO Analisar o acesso de mulheres atendidas na rede pública aos serviços de atenção ao parto, destacando-se as barreiras relacionadas à dimensão "disponibilidade e acomodação" em uma macrorregião de saúde de Pernambuco. MÉTODOS Estudo ecológico, realizado a partir dos registros de partos hospitalares do Sistema de Informação Hospitalar e de informações da Central de Regulação de Leitos do estado sobre mulheres residentes na macrorregião de saúde II, em 2018. Analisou-se os deslocamentos, considerando a distância geográfica entre o município de residência e o de ocorrência do parto, o tempo estimado do deslocamento das gestantes, a proporção de plantões bloqueados para admissão das gestantes para o parto e o motivo da indisponibilidade. RESULTADOS Em 2018, a macrorregião de saúde II realizou 84% dos partos de risco habitual e 46,9% de alto risco. Os demais partos de alto risco (51,1%) ocorreram na macrorregião I, sobretudo no Recife. A maternidade de referência para partos de alto risco dessa macrorregião teve 30,4% dos dias de plantões diurnos bloqueados para admissão de partos e 38,9% dos noturnos; o principal motivo foi a dificuldade em manter a equipe completa no serviço. CONCLUSÕES Mulheres residentes na macrorregião de saúde II de Pernambuco enfrentam grandes barreiras de acesso em busca de atendimento hospitalar para o parto, percorrendo grandes distâncias, mesmo quando gestantes de risco habitual, levando à peregrinação em busca dessa assistência. Há dificuldade de disponibilidade e acomodação nos serviços de alto risco e de emergências obstétricas, com insuficiente capacidade física e de recursos humanos. A rede de atenção obstétrica na macrorregião II de Pernambuco não está estruturada para garantir um acesso equânime à assistência das gestantes no momento do parto, o que evidencia a necessidade de sua reestruturação em aproximação ao preconizado pela Rede Cegonha.

Participation in microfinance based Self Help Groups in India: Who becomes a member and for how long?

INTRODUCTION: Microfinance is a widely promoted developmental initiative to provide poor women with affordable financial services for poverty alleviation. One popular adaption in South Asia is the Self-Help Group (SHG) model that India adopted in 2011 as part of a federal poverty alleviation program and as a secondary approach of integrating health literacy services for rural women. However, the evidence is limited on who joins and continues in SHG programs. This paper examines the determinants of membership and staying members (outcomes) in an integrated microfinance and health literacy program from one of India's poorest and most populated states, Uttar Pradesh across a range of explanatory variables related to economic, socio-demographic and area-level characteristics. METHOD: Using secondary survey data from the Uttar Pradesh Community Mobilization project comprising of 15,300 women from SHGs and Non-SHG households in rural India, we performed multivariate logistic and hurdle negative binomial regression analyses to model SHG membership and duration. RESULTS: While in general poor women are more likely to be SHG members based on an income threshold limit (government-sponsored BPL cards), women from poorest households are more likely to become members, but less likely to stay members, when further classified using asset-based wealth quintiles. Additionally, poorer households compared to the marginally poor are less likely to become SHG members when borrowing for any reason, including health reasons. Only women from moderately poor households are more likely to continue as members if borrowing for health and non-income-generating reasons. The study found that an increasing number of previous pregnancies is associated with a higher membership likelihood in contrast to another study from India reporting a negative association. CONCLUSION: The study supports the view that microfinance programs need to examine their inclusion and retention strategies in favour of poorest household using multidimensional indicators that can capture poverty in its myriad forms.

Effect and feasibility of district level scale up of maternal, newborn and child health interventions in Pakistan: a quasi-experimental study.

INTRODUCTION: Pakistan has a high burden of maternal, newborn and child morbidity and mortality. Several factors including weak scale-up of evidence-based interventions within the existing health system; lack of community awareness regarding health conditions; and poverty contribute to poor outcomes. Deaths and morbidity are largely preventable if a combination of community and facility-based interventions are rolled out at scale. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Umeed-e-Nau (UeN) (New Hope) project aims is to improve maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) in eight high-burden districts of Pakistan by scaling up of evidence-based interventions. The project will assess interventions focused on, first, improving the quality of MNCH care at primary level and secondary level. Second, interventions targeting demand generation such as community mobilisation, creating awareness of healthy practices and expanding coverage of outreach services will be evaluated. Third, we will also evaluate interventions targeting the improvement in quality of routine health information and promotion of use of the data for decision-making. Hypothesis of the project is that roll out of evidence-based interventions at scale will lead to at least 20% reduction in perinatal mortality and 30% decrease in diarrhoea and pneumonia case fatality in the target districts whereas two intervention groups will serve as internal controls. Monitoring and evaluation of the programme will be undertaken through conducting periodical population level surveys and quality of care assessments. Descriptive and multivariate analytical methods will be used for assessing the association between different factors, and difference in difference estimates will be used to assess the impact of the intervention on outcomes. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The ethics approval was obtained from the Aga Khan University Ethics Review Committee. The findings of the project will be shared with relevant stakeholders and disseminated through open access peer-reviewed journal articles. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT04184544; Pre-results.

Maternal characteristics and type of prenatal care associated with peregrination before childbirth.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the maternal characteristics and type of prenatal care associated with peregrination before childbirth among pregnant women in a northeastern Brazilian state. METHODS: Quantitative and transversal study, with descriptive and analytical approaches, part of the Nascer em Sergipe research held between June 2015 and April 2016. A total of 768 puerperal women proportionally distributed across all maternities of the state (n = 11) were evaluated. Data were collected in interviews and from prenatal records. The associations between antepartum peregrination and the exposure variables were described in absolute and relative frequencies, crude and adjusted odds ratios and their respective confidence intervals. RESULTS: Antepartum peregrination was reported by 29.4% (n = 226) of the interviewees, most of whom sought care in a single service before the current one (87.6%; n = 198). It should be noted that antepartum peregrination was less frequent among women aged ≥ 20 years old (OR = 0.50; 95%CI 0.34-0.71), with high education level (OR = 0.42; 95%CI 0.31-0.59) and a paid job (adjusted OR = 0.59; 95%CI 0.41-0.82), who had been instructed during prenatal care about the referral maternity for childbirth (adjusted OR = 0.88; 95%CI 0.42-0.92), and who used the private service to receive prenatal (adjusted OR = 0.44; 95%CI 0.18-0.86) or childbirth (adjusted OR = 0.96; 95%CI 0.66-0.98) care. No statistical evidence of associations between gestational characteristics and the occurrence of peregrination was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Antepartum peregrination suffers interference from the mother's socioeconomic characteristics, the type of prenatal care received and the source of funding for childbirth.

Impact of the free healthcare initiative on wealth-related inequity in the utilization of maternal & child health services in Sierra Leone.

BACKGROUND: As a result of financial barriers to the utilization of Maternal and Child Health (MCH) services, the Government of Sierra Leone launched the Free Health Care Initiative (FHCI) in 2010. This study aimed to examine the impact of the FHCI on wealth related inequity in the utilization of three MCH services. METHODS: We analysed data from 2008 to 2013 Sierra Leone Demographic Health Surveys (SLDHS) using 2008 SLDHS as a baseline. Seven thousand three hundred seventy-four and 16,658 women of reproductive age were interviewed in the 2008 and 2013 SLDHS respectively. We employed a binomial logistic regression to evaluate wealth related inequity in the utilization of institutional delivery. Concentration curves and indices were used to measure the inequity in the utilization of antenatal care (ANC) visits and postnatal care (PNC) reviews. Test of significance was performed for the difference in odds and concentration indexes obtained for the 2008 and 2013 SLDHS. RESULTS: There was an overall improvement in the utilization of MCH services following the FHCI with a 30% increase in institutional delivery rate, 24% increment in more than four focused ANC visits and 33% increment in complete PNC reviews. Wealth related inequity in institutional delivery has increased but to the advantage of the rich, highly educated, and urban residents. Results of the inequity statistics demonstrate that PNC reviews were more equally distributed in 2008 than ANC visits, and, in 2013, the poorest respondents ranked by wealth index utilized more PNC reviews than their richest counterparts. For ANC visits, the change in concentration index was from 0.008331[95% CI (0.008188, 0.008474)] in 2008 to - 0.002263 [95% CI (- 0.002322, - 0.002204)] in 2013. The change in concentration index for PNC reviews was from - 0.001732 [95% CI (- 0.001746, - 0.001718)] in 2008 to - 0.001771 [95% CI (- 0.001779, - 0.001763)] in 2013. All changes were significant (p value < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The FHCI appears to be improving access to and utilization of MCH services, narrowing the inequity in ANC visits and PNC reviews, but is insufficient in addressing wealth- related inequity that exists for institutional deliveries. If Sierra Leone is to realize a significant reduction in maternal and child mortality rates, it needs to strengthen the effective implementation of FHCI considering incorporating a sector wide approach (SWAp) or a "Health in all Policy" framework to reach the less educated, rural residents and ensuring culturally sensitive quality services.

Exploratory study on development challenges of maternal and child healthcare institutions in China: a qualitative study combining interviews and focus groups.

OBJECTIVES: To manage the development of the maternal and child healthcare institution (MCHI) in China, it is important to understand the key challenges and the influencing factors for sustainable development of MCHIs. However, these areas have not been fully investigated previously. This qualitative study aims to systematically explore the perceived development challenges for MCHIs from the perspectives of MCHI staff and government officials. DESIGN: Qualitative approaches, including focus group, semistructured interview and documentary analysis, were employed to identify development challenges encountered by the MCHIs in Chengdu city, China. PARTICIPANTS: Totally 16 medical staff of MCHIs and officials from local government. MEASURES: Participants' opinions about the development challenges for MCHI. RESULTS: The study revealed the main development challenges for MCHIs included: (1) incapability to provide differentiated medical service (including differentiated maternal and child health maintenance, integrative model of health maintenance and disease treatment, lack of innovation capability); (2) insufficient financial support; (3) shortage of gynaecologists and paediatricians; (4) insufficient facilities and medical equipment; (5) weakness in adopting information technology and (6) constraints of law and regulations. CONCLUSIONS: The study recommends that MCHI should take governance reform to promote healthcare innovation to ensure the sustainable development of MCHI. Public-private partnership needs to be considered for the sustainable development of MCHIs.

Rede Mãe Paranaense

Técnicos apostam no reforço da APS para conter o aumento das mortes maternas e na infância

Para Thereza de Lamare, diretora do Departamento de Ações Programáticas Estratégicas (Dapes), do Ministério da Saúde, Thereza de Lamare, disse que o encontro possibilitou identificar a importância de continuar essa discussão com o aprofundamentos que tem sido feito em relação à regionalização. “Precisamos aprofundar todo esse processo da linha de cuidado materno infantil, desde a Atenção Básica até a chegada na maternidade até, após o nascimento, quando o recém-nascido passa a ser cuidado e até o seu retorno à Atenção Básica. Todo esse cuidado com a gestante e com a criança está sendo discutido nas redes, então é todo um conjunto interligado que é fundamental" – Matéria completa em: https://bit.ly/2DVGAJX

Programa Nacional de Qualificação da Gestão e da Atenção ao Parto e Nascimento (PMAQ-Maternidades)

7º CONASS Debate: PPT Governança da Rede Mãe Paranaense

CONASS Debate – Governança Regional das Redes de Atenção à Saúde

Antenatal care for uncomplicated pregnancies

This guideline covers the care that healthy women and their babies should be offered during pregnancy. It aims to ensure that pregnant women are offered regular check-ups, information and support.

Percepção dos profissionais para implantação do teste rápido para HIV e Sífilis na Rede Cegonha / The professional's perception for the implantation of the rapid test for HIV and Syphilis in Rede Cegonha / La percepción de los profesionales para la implantación de la prueba rápida para VIH y Sífilis en la Rede Cegonha

O artigo investiga a avaliação dos profissionais da Atenção Primária (AP) sobre a implantação do aconselhamento e do teste rápido de HIV e Sífilis na Rede Cegonha (RC). Trata-se de um estudo qualitativo, descritivo e exploratório, no qual foram realizadas 13 entrevistas semiestruturadas com profissionais da AP, analisadas a partir da análise temática. Os resultados apontam a falta de conhecimento dos profissionais em relação às inovações da RC na AP. Os profissionais receberam capacitações referentes à testagem rápida, porém o matriciamento foi considerado inexistente. A solicitação do teste rápido das gestantes é realizada de forma compulsória. O aconselhamento, quando presente, é restrito ao pré-teste de HIV e outras Infecções Sexualmente Transmissíveis (IST), tendo caráter informativo, desconsiderando as especificidades da gestação. Indica-se a necessidade de se refletir sobre a autonomia das mulheres durante o pré-natal e o aconselhamento, espaço este que pode ser repensado como um momento de fortalecimento e acolhimento.

The article investigates the evaluation of the Primary Health Care (PHC) professionals about the implementation of the HIV and Syphilis rapid test in the care policy for pregnant women (CPPW). This is a qualitative, descriptive and exploratory study, which were conducted 13 semi-structured interviews with professionals, and analyzed from the thematic analysis. The results show a lack of knowledge of professionals about the innovations of CPPW in PHC. The professional received trainings for the rapid test, but the matricial support, with longitudinal supervision with specialized professionals, was considered inexistent. The test request of the pregnant women is released of compulsory form. Counseling is restricted to the pre-test of HIV and other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), and just informative, disregarding the specifics of pregnancy. It is necessary to rethink the women's autonomy during the prenatal care and counseling and to construction these spaces as a moment of empowerment and welcoming.

El artículo investiga la evaluación de los profesionales de la Atención Primaria (AP) en relación a la implantación del asesoramiento y prueba rápida del VIH y Sífilis en la red de atención a las gestantes. El presente estudio es cualitativo, descriptivo y exploratorio, en el cual se realizaron 13 entrevitas semiestructuradas con los profesionales de la AP, analizadas a partir del análisis temático. Los resultados señalan la falta de conocimiento de los profesionales en relación a las innovaciones del RC en la AP. Los profesionales recibieron capacitaciones referentas a la prueba rápida del VIH, pero la supervisión longitudinal de los casos fue considerado inexistente. La solicitud de la prueba rápida de VIH y otras Infecciones Sexualmente Transmissibles (ISTs) a las gestantes se realiza de forma obligatoria. El asesoramiento, cuando presente, se limita al pre-test del VIH y otras ISTs, teniendo carácter informativo, desconsiderando las especificidades de la gestación. Se indica que es necesario repensar la autonomía de las mujeres durante el prenatal y el asesoramiento, para que este sea un espacio de empoderamiento y acogida para las mujeres.

Association Of Different Risk Factors In Prevalence Of Cerebral Infaraction.

BACKGROUND: WHO MCS in 2011 evaluated the incidence and management strategies linked with maternal and neonatal mortality in facilities across 26 countries including Pakistan. This study, a sub-analysis assessed the availability of essential obstetric and newborn care at referral level facilities of Pakistan that were selected for WHO MCS to correlate it with maternal and neonatal outcomes. METHODS: This cross-sectional study assessed the infrastructure, equipment and services in 16 referral level government hospitals participating in WHO MCS from 1st March to 30th May, 2011. The association was found between this data and maternal & neonatal outcomes of each facility using chi square test. RESULTS: The studied facilities had basic infrastructure, most components of Essential Maternal and Neonatal Obstetric Care services with part time/full time availability of obstetricians, anaesthetists and paediatricians. Adult intensive care unit was available in 68%, and neonatal intensive care unit was available in half of the facilities. The incidence of severe maternal outcomes had a positive correlation with presence of adult intensive care unit, mechanical ventilator and twenty-four hours (24/7) availability of anaesthesiologist, nurses & paramedics. The neonatal mortality was also higher in facilities with neonatal intensive care unit facility. CONCLUSIONS: Most components of Essential Maternal and Neonatal Obstetric Care were present in the studied facilities. Tertiary level facilities even with availability of Adult and neonatal intensive care units had more adverse maternal and new-born outcomes perhaps due to more disease burden.

Socially accountable medical education strengthens community health services.

CONTEXT: Socially accountable health professional education (SAHPE) is committed to achieving health equity through training health professionals to meet local health needs and serve disadvantaged populations. This Philippines study investigates the impact of SAHPE students and graduates on child and maternal health services and outcomes. METHODS: This is a non-randomised, controlled study involving a researcher-administered survey to 827 recent mothers (≥1 child aged 0-5 years). Five communities were serviced by SAHPE medical graduates or final-year medical students (interns) in Eastern Visayas and the Zamboanga Peninsula, and five communities in the same regions were serviced by conventionally trained (non-SAHPE) graduates. FINDINGS: Mothers in communities serviced by SAHPE-trained medical graduates and interns were more likely than their counterpart mothers in communities serviced by non-SAPHE trained graduates to: have lower gross family income (p < 0.001); have laboratory results of blood and urine samples taken during pregnancy discussed (p < 0.001, respectively); have first pre-natal check-up before 4th month of pregnancy (p = 0.003); receive their first postnatal check-up <7 days of birth (p < 0.001); and have a youngest child with normal (>2500 g) birthweight (p = 0.003). In addition, mothers from SAHPE-serviced communities were more likely to have a youngest child that: was still breastfed at 6 months of age (p = 0.045); received a vitamin K injection soon after birth (p = 0.026); and was fully immunised against polio (p < 0.001), hepatitis B (p < 0.001), measles (p = 0.008) and diphtheria/pertussis/tetanus (p < 0.001). In communities serviced by conventional medical graduates, mothers from lower socio-economic quartiles (<20 000 Php) were less likely (p < 0.05) than higher socio-economic mothers to: report that their youngest child's delivery was assisted by a doctor; have their weight measured during pregnancy; and receive iron syrups or tablets. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of SAHPE medical graduates or interns in Philippine communities significantly strengthens many recommended core elements of child and maternal health services irrespective of existing income constraints, and is associated with positive child health outcomes.

Using a quality improvement approach to improve maternal and neonatal care in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Providing quality health care services in humanitarian settings is challenging due to population displacement, lack of qualified staff and supervisory oversight, and disruption of supply chains. This study explored whether a participatory quality improvement (QI) intervention could be used in a protracted conflict setting to improve facility-based maternal and newborn care. A longitudinal quasi-experimental design was used to examine delivery of maternal and newborn care components at 12 health facilities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Study facilities were split into two groups, with both groups receiving an initial "standard" intervention of clinical training. The "enhanced" intervention group then applied a QI methodology, which involved QI teams in each facility, supported by coaches, testing small changes to improve care. This paper presents findings on two of the study outcomes: delivery of active management of the third stage of labour (AMTSL) and essential newborn care (ENC). We measured AMTSL and ENC through exit interviews with post-partum women and matched partographs at baseline and endline over a 9-month period. Using generalised equation estimation models, the enhanced intervention group showed a greater rate of change than the control group for AMTSL (aOR 3.47, 95% CI: 1.17-10.23) and ENC (OR: 49.62, 95% CI: 2.79-888.28), and achieved 100% ENC completion at endline. This is one of the first studies where this QI methodology has been used in a protracted conflict setting. A method where health staff take ownership of improving care is of even greater value in a humanitarian context where external resources and support are scarce.

The 2018 Inter-agency field manual on reproductive health in humanitarian settings: revising the global standards.

Since the 1990s, the Inter-agency field manual on reproductive health in humanitarian settings (IAFM) has provided authoritative guidance on reproductive health service provision during different phases of complex humanitarian emergencies. In 2018, the Inter-Agency Working Group on Reproductive Health in Crises will release a new edition of this global resource. In this article, we describe the collaborative and inter-sectoral revision process and highlight major changes in the 2018 IAFM. Key revisions to the manual include repositioning unintended pregnancy prevention within and explicitly incorporating safe abortion care into the Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) chapter, which outlines a set of priority activities to be implemented at the outset of a humanitarian crisis; stronger guidance on the transition from the MISP to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services; and the addition of a logistics chapter. In addition, the IAFM now places greater and more consistent emphasis on human rights principles and obligations, gender-based violence, and the linkages between maternal and newborn health, and incorporates a diverse range of field examples. We conclude this article with an outline of plans for releasing the 2018 IAFM and facilitating uptake by those working in refugee, crisis, conflict, and emergency settings.

Geographic Access Modeling of Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care in Kigoma Region, Tanzania: Transportation Schemes and Programmatic Implications.

BACKGROUND: Access to transportation is vital to reducing the travel time to emergency obstetric and neonatal care (EmONC) for managing complications and preventing adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes. This study examines the distribution of travel times to EmONC in Kigoma Region, Tanzania, using various transportation schemes, to estimate the proportion of live births (a proxy indicator of women needing delivery care) with poor geographic access to EmONC services. METHODS: The 2014 Reproductive Health Survey of Kigoma Region identified 4 primary means of transportation used to travel to health facilities: walking, cycling, motorcycle, and 4-wheeled motor vehicle. A raster-based travel time model was used to map the 2-hour travel time catchment for each mode of transportation. Live birth density distributions were aggregated by travel time catchments, and by administrative council, to estimate the proportion of births with poor access. RESULTS: Of all live births in Kigoma Region, 13% occurred in areas where women can reach EmONC facilities within 2 hours on foot, 33% in areas that can be reached within 2 hours only by motorized vehicles, and 32% where it is impossible to reach EmONC facilities within 2 hours. Over 50% of births in 3 of the 8 administrative councils had poor estimated access. In half the councils, births with poor access could be reduced to no higher than 12% if all female residents had access to motorized vehicles. CONCLUSION: Significant differences in geographic access to EmONC in Kigoma Region, Tanzania, were observed both by location and by primary transportation type. As most of the population may only have good EmONC access when using mechanized or motorized vehicles, bicycles and motorcycles should be incorporated into the health transportation strategy. Collaboration between private transportation sectors and obstetric service providers could improve access to EmONC services among most populations. In areas where residents may not access EmONC facilities within 2 hours regardless of the type of transportation used, upgrading EmONC capacity among nearby non-EmONC facilities may be required to improve accessibility.

The MomConnect mHealth initiative in South Africa: Early impact on the supply side of MCH services.

MomConnect is an mHealth initiative giving pregnant women information via SMS. We report on an analysis of the compliments and especially complaints component of the feedback. We scrutinised the electronic databases containing information on the first seventeen months of operation of MomConnect. During this time, 583,929 pregnant women were registered on MomConnect, representing approximately 46 per cent of pregnant women booking their pregnancy in the public sector in South Africa. These women gave feedback on services received: 4173 compliments and 690 complaints. Nearly three quarters (74 per cent) of all complaints were resolved. The complaints were classified into those related to health services (29 per cent), staff (22 per cent), health systems (42 per cent) and other (6 per cent). These complaints were fed back to managers in the health facilities. This has resulted in improvements in the quality of services, e.g. decreased drug stock-outs and change of behaviour of some health workers.