Cost-effectiveness of screening and treatment using direct-acting antivirals for chronic Hepatitis C virus in a primary care setting in Karachi, Pakistan.

Despite the availability of effective direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatments for Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, many people remain undiagnosed and untreated. We assessed the cost-effectiveness of a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) HCV screening and treatment programme within a primary health clinic in Karachi, Pakistan. A health state transition Markov model was developed to estimate the cost-effectiveness of the MSF programme. Programme cost and outcome data were analysed retrospectively. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was calculated in terms of incremental cost (2016 US$) per disability-adjusted life year (DALY) averted from the provider's perspective over a lifetime horizon. The robustness of the model was evaluated using deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses (PSA). The ICER for implementing testing and treatment compared to no programme was US$450/DALY averted, with 100% of PSA runs falling below the per capita Gross Domestic Product threshold for cost-effective interventions for Pakistan (US$1,422). The ICER increased to US$532/DALY averted assuming national HCV seroprevalence (5.5% versus 33% observed in the intervention). If the cost of liver disease care was included (adapted from resource use data from Cambodia which has similar GDP to Pakistan), the ICER dropped to US$148/DALY, while it became cost-saving if a recently negotiated reduced drug cost of $75/treatment course was assumed (versus $282 in base-case) in addition to cost of liver disease care. In conclusion, screening and DAA treatment for HCV infection are expected to be highly cost-effective in Pakistan, supporting the expansion of similar screening and treatment programmes across Pakistan.

COVID-19 outbreak in Brazil: adherence to national preventive measures and impact on people's lives, an online survey.

BACKGROUND: The first case of COVID-19 infection was diagnosed in Brazil 26th February 2020. By March 16th, physical distancing and confinement measures were implemented by the Brazilian government. Little is known about how these measures were followed up by the Brazilian people and their impact on daily routine. METHODS: In early April 2020, using an online platform, we organized an online survey among adults living in Brazil about their COVID-19 preventive behavior and impact on their daily routine. RESULTS: Data from 23,896 respondents were analyzed (mean age: 47.4 years). Due to COVID-19 restrictions, half (51.1%) of the professionals reported working from home. Regular handwashing was practiced by 98.7% of participants; 92.6% reported adhering to the 1.5-2 m physical distancing rule, but only 45.5% wore a face mask when going outside. While 29.3% of respondents found it relatively easy to stay at home, indoor confinement was extremely difficult for 7.9% of participants. Moreover, 11% of participants were extremely worried about their health during the COVID-19 epidemic. Younger people, male, persons living in a rural area/village or popular neighbourhoods, students and workers reported less preventive behaviour. CONCLUSION: Restrictive measures markedly affected the daily and professional routines of Brazilians. Participants showed a satisfactory level of adherence to national COVID-19 prevention guidelines. Qualitative and follow-up studies are needed to monitor the impact of COVID-19 in the Brazilian society.

Access to healthcare and prevalence of anxiety and depression in persons with epilepsy during the COVID-19 pandemic: A multicountry online survey.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess access to healthcare and to estimate the prevalence of depression and anxiety among persons with epilepsy (PWE) during the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. METHODS: We conducted a multicountry online survey among PWE. Persons with epilepsy were invited to participate through various social media channels. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) scale were used to score anxiety and depression. Logistic regression modeling was used to investigate factors associated with anxiety and depression. RESULTS: Three hundred ninety-nine PWE were included (mean age: 38.22 ±â€¯12.09 years), the majority were female (80.2%) and living in high-income countries (83.2%). Two hundred three PWE reported symptoms of a cold since January 2020. Nine (25%) of the 36 PWE tested for COVID were positive. A total of 72 PWE (19.6%) reported problems to obtain antiseizure medication (ASM), which in 25% of cases was directly COVID-related. Of the 399 PWE, 201 (50.4%) screened positive for anxiety according to the HADS; 159 (39.8%) and 187 (46.9%) PWE screened positive for depression based on the HADS and PHQ-9 scale, respectively. Female gender and financial problems were associated with both depression and anxiety. A planned follow-up consultation with the treating physician was associated with a lower risk of depression, whereas difficulties to access ASM treatment increased the odds of depression. In 65/137 (47.4%) PWE with a planned follow-up visit with the treating physician, this consultation was canceled. CONCLUSIONS: Innovative approaches are needed to ensure continuity in access to ASM treatment. Healthcare workers should ensure continued follow-up, either through inperson or telehealth appointments, to timely identify symptoms of anxiety and depression and act accordingly.

"If we miss this chance, it's futile later on" - late antenatal booking and its determinants in Bhutan: a mixed-methods study.

BACKGROUND: To achieve the Sustainable Development Goal related to maternal and neonatal outcomes, the World Health Organization advocates for a first antenatal care (ANC) contact before 12 weeks of gestation. In order to guide interventions to achieve early ANC in the lower middle-income setting of Bhutan, we conducted an assessment of the magnitude and determinants of late ANC in this context. METHODS: This was a mixed-methods study with quantitative (cross-sectional study) and qualitative (in-depth interviews with pregnant women and ANC providers) component in a concurrent triangulation design. The quantitative component retrospectively analysed the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, and the gestational age at booking of women who were provided care for delivery or miscarriages at the three tertiary hospitals in Bhutan from May-August 2018. The qualitative component involved thematic analysis of in-depth interviews with ten women attending ANC visits and four healthcare workers involved in ANC provision. RESULTS: Among 868 women studied, 67% (n = 584) had a late booking (after 12 weeks), and 1% (n = 13) had no booking. Women with only primary education and those residing in rural areas were more likely to have a late first ANC booking. While many women achieved the recommended eight ANC visits, this did not necessarily reflect early booking. Late booking was common among multigravida women. The interviews illustrated a general understanding and recognition of the importance of early ANC. Support from peers, family and co-workers, and male participation in accessing ANC were seen as enablers. The outreach clinics (ORCs) at the primary healthcare level were an important means of reaching the ANC services to women in rural areas where geographical accessibility was a barrier. Specific barriers to early ANC were gender insensitivity in providing care through male health workers, cost/time in ANC visits, and the inability to produce the documents of the father for booking ANC. CONCLUSION: Late ANC booking was common in Bhutan, and appeared to be associated with educational, geographic, socio-cultural and administrative characteristics. A comprehensive information package on ANC needs to be developed for pregnant mothers, and the quality of ANC coverage needs to be measured in terms of early ANC booking.

Better care for babies: the added value of a modified reverse syphilis testing algorithm for the treatment of congenital syphilis in a maternity Hospital in Central African Republic.

BACKGROUND: In high syphilis prevalence settings, the syphilis testing and treatment strategy for mothers and newborns must be tailored to balance the risk of over treatment against the risk of missing infants at high-risk for congenital syphilis. Adding a non-treponemal test (Rapid Plasma Reagin - RPR) to a routine rapid treponemal test (SD Bioline Syphilis 3.0) for women giving birth can help distinguish between neonates at high and low-risk for congenital syphilis to tailor their treatment. Treatment for neonates born to RPR-reactive mothers (high-risk) is 10 days of intravenous penicillin, while one dose of intramuscular penicillin is sufficient for those born to RPR non-reactive mothers (low-risk). This strategy was adopted in March 2017 in a Médecins Sans Frontières supported hospital in Bangui, Central African Republic. This study examined the operational consequences of this algorithm on the treatment of newborns. METHODS: The study was a retrospective cohort study. Routine programmatic data were analysed. Descriptive statistical analysis was done. Total antibiotic days, hospitalization days and estimated costs were compared to scenarios without RPR testing and another where syphilis treatment was the sole reason for hospitalization. RESULTS: Of 202 babies born to SD Bioline positive mothers 89 (44%) and 111(55%) were RPR-reactive and non-reactive respectively (2 were unrecorded) of whom 80% and 88% of the neonates received appropriate antibiotic treatment respectively. Neonates born to RPR non-reactive mothers were 80% less likely to have sepsis [Relative risk (RR) = 0.20; 95% Confidence interval (CI) = 0.04-0.92] and 9% more likely to be discharged [RR = 1.09; 95% CI = 1.00-1.18] compared to those of RPR-reactive mothers. There was a 52%, and 49% reduction in antibiotic and hospitalization days respectively compared to a scenario with SD-Bioline testing only. Total hospitalization costs were also 52% lower compared to a scenario without RPR testing. CONCLUSIONS: This testing strategy can help identify infants at high and low risk for congenital syphilis and treat them accordingly at substantial cost savings. It is especially appropriate for settings with high syphilis endemicity, limited resources and overcrowded maternities. The babies additionally benefit from lower risks of exposure to unnecessary antibiotics and nosocomial infections.

Introduction of a standardised protocol, including systematic use of tranexamic acid, for management of severe adult trauma patients in a low-resource setting: the MSF experience from Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

BACKGROUND: Bleeding is an important cause of death in trauma victims. In 2010, the CRASH-2 study, a multicentre randomized control trial on the effect of tranexamic acid (TXA) administration to trauma patients with suspected significant bleeding, reported a decreased mortality in randomized patients compared to placebo. Currently, no evidence on the use of TXA in humanitarian, low-resource settings is available. We aimed to measure the hospital outcomes of adult patients with severe traumatic bleeding in the Médecins Sans Frontières Tabarre Trauma Centre in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, before and after the implementation of a Massive Haemorrhage protocol including systematic early administration of TXA. METHODS: Patients admitted over comparable periods of four months (December2015- March2016 and December2016 - March2017) before and after the implementation of the Massive Haemorrhage protocol were investigated. Included patients had blunt or penetrating trauma, a South Africa Triage Score ≥ 7, were aged 18-65 years and were admitted within 3 h from the traumatic event. Measured outcomes were hospital mortality and early mortality rates, in-hospital time to discharge and time to discharge from intensive care unit. RESULTS: One-hundred and sixteen patients met inclusion criteria. Patients treated after the introduction of the Massive Haemorrhage protocol had about 70% less chance of death during hospitalization compared to the group "before" (adjusted odds ratio 0.3, 95%confidence interval 0.1-0.8). They also had a significantly shorter hospital length of stay (p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Implementing a Massive Haemorrhage protocol including early administration of TXA was associated with the reduced mortality and hospital stay of severe adult blunt and penetrating trauma patients in a context with poor resources and limited availability of blood products.

Adapting Reactive Case Detection Strategies for falciparum Malaria in a Low-Transmission Area in Cambodia.

Reactive case detection around falciparum malaria cases in Cambodia presents a low output. We improved it by including individuals occupationally coexposed with index case patients and using polymerase chain reaction-based diagnosis. The positivity rate increased from 0.16% to 3.9%.

Closing in on the Reservoir: Proactive Case Detection in High-Risk Groups as a Strategy to Detect Plasmodium falciparum Asymptomatic Carriers in Cambodia.

Background: In the frame of elimination strategies of Plasmodium falciparum (Pf), active case detection has been recommended as complementary approach to the existing passive case detection programs. We trialed a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based active detection strategy targeting asymptomatic individuals, named proactive case detection (PACD), with the aim of assessing its feasibility, the extra yield of Pf infections, and the at-risk population for Pf carriage status. Methods: A pilot of PACD was conducted in 3 villages in Chey Saen district (Preah Vihear province, Cambodia), from December 2015 to March 2016. Voluntary screening and treatment, following health promotion sensitization, was used as mobilization strategy. Results: A total of 2802 persons were tested, representing 54% of the population. PACD (n = 30) and the respective reactive case detection (RACD) (n = 3) identified 33 Pf carriers, approximately twice as many as the Pf infections (n = 17) diagnosed in passive case detection and respective RACD, by health centers and village malaria workers using PCR, in the same villages/period. Final positivity rate was 1.07% (30/2802). People spending nighttime in forests and plantations were found to be at increased risk for Pf infection (odds ratio [OR], 3.4 [95% CI, 1.6-7.2], P = .002 and OR, 2.3 [95% CI, 1.1-4.9], P = .03, respectively). Conclusions: We demonstrated the usefulness of the PACD component in identifying Pf asymptomatic carriers. Social mobilization and promotion led to good attendance of specific risk groups, identified to be, in the Cambodian context, individuals spending nighttime in forest and plantations.

Operational Research during the Ebola Emergency.

Operational research aims to identify interventions, strategies, or tools that can enhance the quality, effectiveness, or coverage of programs where the research is taking place. Médecins Sans Frontières admitted ≈5,200 patients with confirmed Ebola virus disease during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and from the beginning nested operational research within its emergency response. This research covered critical areas, such as understanding how the virus spreads, clinical trials, community perceptions, challenges within Ebola treatment centers, and negative effects on non-Ebola healthcare. Importantly, operational research questions were decided to a large extent by returning volunteers who had first-hand knowledge of the immediate issues facing teams in the field. Such a method is appropriate for an emergency medical organization. Many challenges were also identified while carrying out operational research across 3 different countries, including the basic need for collecting data in standardized format to enable comparison of findings among treatment centers.

The modified south African triage scale system for mortality prediction in resource-constrained emergency surgical centers: a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The South African Triage Scale (SATS) was developed to facilitate patient triage in emergency departments (EDs) and is used by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in low-resource environments. The aim was to determine if SATS data, reason for admission, and patient age can be used to develop and validate a model predicting the in-hospital risk of death in emergency surgical centers and to compare the model's discriminative power with that of the four SATS categories alone. METHODS: We used data from a cohort hospitalized at the Nap Kenbe Surgical Hospital in Haiti from January 2013 to June 2015. We based our analysis on a multivariate logistic regression of the probability of death. Age cutoff, reason for admission categorized into nine groups according to MSF classifications, and SATS triage category (red, orange, yellow, and green) were used as candidate parameters for the analysis of factors associated with mortality. Stepwise backward elimination was performed for the selection of risk factors with retention of predictors with P < 0.05, and bootstrapping was used for internal validation. The likelihood ratio test was used to compare the combined and restricted models. These models were also applied to data from a cohort of patients from the Kunduz Trauma Center, Afghanistan, to validate mortality prediction in an external trauma patients population. RESULTS: A total of 7618 consecutive hospitalized patients from the Nap Kenbe Hospital were analyzed. Variables independently associated with in-hospital mortality were age > 45 and < = 65 years (odds ratio, 2.04), age > 65 years (odds ratio, 5.15) and the red (odds ratio, 65.08), orange (odds ratio, 3.5), and non-trauma (odds ratio, 3.15) categories. The combined model had an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of 0.8723 and an AUROC corrected for optimism of 0.8601. The AUROC of the model run on the external data-set was 0.8340. The likelihood ratio test was highly significant in favor of the combined model for both the original and external data-sets. CONCLUSIONS: SATS category, patient age, and reason for admission can be used to predict in-hospital mortality. This predictive model had good discriminative ability to identify ED patients at a high risk of death and performed better than the SATS alone.

Environmental Contamination and Persistence of Ebola Virus RNA in an Ebola Treatment Center.

BACKGROUND: Ebola viruses (EBOVs) are primarily transmitted by contact with infected body fluids. Ebola treatment centers (ETCs) contain areas that are exposed to body fluids through the care of patients suspected or confirmed to have EBOV disease. There are limited data documenting which areas/fomites within ETCs pose a risk for potential transmission. This study conducted environmental surveillance in 2 ETCs in Freetown, Sierra Leone, during the 2014-2016 West African Ebola outbreak. METHODS: ETCs were surveyed over a 3-week period. Sites to be swabbed were identified with input from field personnel. Swab samples were collected and tested for the presence of EBOV RNA. Ebola-positive body fluid-impregnated cotton pads were serially sampled. RESULTS: General areas of both ETCs were negative for EBOV RNA. The immediate vicinity of patients was the area most likely to be positive for EBOV RNA. Personal protective equipment became positive during patient care, but chlorine solution washes rendered them negative. CONCLUSIONS: Personal protective equipment and patient environs do become positive for EBOV RNA, but careful attention to decontamination seems to remove it. EBOV RNA was not detected in general ward spaces. Careful attention to decontamination protocols seems to be important in minimizing the presence of EBOV RNA within ETC wards.

Feasibility of Xpert Ebola Assay in Médecins Sans Frontières Ebola Program, Guinea.

Rapid diagnostic methods are essential in control of Ebola outbreaks and lead to timely isolation of cases and improved epidemiologic surveillance. Diagnosis during Ebola outbreaks in West Africa has relied on PCR performed in laboratories outside this region. Because time between sampling and PCR results can be considerable, we assessed the feasibility and added value of using the Xpert Ebola Assay in an Ebola control program in Guinea. A total of 218 samples were collected during diagnosis, treatment, and convalescence of patients. Median time for obtaining results was reduced from 334 min to 165 min. Twenty-six samples were positive for Ebola virus. Xpert cycle thresholds were consistently lower, and 8 (31%) samples were negative by routine PCR. Several logistic and safety issues were identified. We suggest that implementation of the Xpert Ebola Assay under programmatic conditions is feasible and represents a major advance in diagnosis of Ebola virus disease without apparent loss of assay sensitivity.

Assessing the asymptomatic reservoir and dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine effectiveness in a low transmission setting threatened by artemisinin resistant Plasmodium falciparum.

BACKGROUND: In Cambodia, elimination of artemisinin resistance through direct elimination of the Plasmodium falciparum parasite may be the only strategy. Prevalence and incidence at district and village levels were assessed in Chey Saen district, Preah Vihear province, North of Cambodia. Molecular and clinical indicators for artemisinin resistance were documented. METHODS: A cross sectional prevalence survey was conducted at village level in the district of Chey Saen from September to October 2014. Plasmodium spp. was assessed with high volume quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Plasmodium falciparum-positive samples were screened for mutations in the k13-propeller domain gene. Treatment effectiveness was established after 28 days (D28) using the same qPCR technique. Data from the provincial surveillance system targeting symptomatic cases, supported by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), were used to assess incidence. RESULTS: District P. falciparum prevalence was of 0.74 % [0.41; 1.21]; village prevalence ranged from 0 to 4.6 % [1.4; 10.5]. The annual incidence of P. falciparum was 16.8 cases per 1000 inhabitants in the district; village incidence ranged from 1.3 to 54.9 for 1000 inhabitants. Two geographical clusters with high number of cases were identified by both approaches. The marker for artemisinin resistance was found in six samples out of the 11 tested (55 %). 34.9 % of qPCR blood analysis of symptomatic patients were still positive at D28. CONCLUSIONS: The overall low prevalence of P. falciparum was confirmed in Chey Saen district in Cambodia, while there were important variations between villages. Symptomatic cases had a different pattern and were likely acquired outside the villages. It illustrates the importance of prevalence surveys in targeting interventions for elimination. Mutations in the k13-propeller domain gene (C580Y), conferring artemisinin resistance, were highly prevalent in both symptomatic and asymptomatic cases (realizing the absolute figures remain low). Asymptomatic individuals could be an additional reservoir for artemisinin resistance. The low effectiveness of dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DHA-PPQ) for symptomatic cases indicates that PPQ is no longer able to complement the reduced potency of DHA to treat falciparum malaria and highlights the need for an alternative first-line treatment.

Assessment of the MSF triage system, separating patients into different wards pending Ebola virus laboratory confirmation, Kailahun, Sierra Leone, July to September 2014.

Prevention of nosocomial Ebola virus (EBOV) infection among patients admitted to an Ebola management centre (EMC) is paramount. Current Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) guidelines recommend classifying admitted patients at triage into suspect and highly-suspect categories pending laboratory confirmation. We investigated the performance of the MSF triage system to separate patients with subsequent EBOV-positive laboratory test (true-positive admissions) from patients who were initially admitted on clinical grounds but subsequently tested EBOV-negative (false-positive admissions). We calculated standard diagnostic test statistics for triage allocation into suspect or highly-suspect wards (index test) and subsequent positive or negative laboratory results (reference test) among 433 patients admitted into the MSF EMC Kailahun, Sierra Leone, between 1 July and 30 September 2014. 254 (59%) of admissions were classified as highly-suspect, the remaining 179 (41%) as suspect. 276 (64%) were true-positive admissions, leaving 157 (36.3%) false-positive admissions exposed to the risk of nosocomial EBOV infection. The positive predictive value for receiving a positive laboratory result after being allocated to the highly-suspect ward was 76%. The corresponding negative predictive value was 54%. Sensitivity and specificity were 70% and 61%, respectively. Results for accurate patient classification were unconvincing. The current triage system should be changed. Whenever possible, patients should be accommodated in single compartments pending laboratory confirmation. Furthermore, the initial triage step on whether or not to admit a patient in the first place must be improved. What is ultimately needed is a point-of-care EBOV diagnostic test that is reliable, accurate, robust, mobile, affordable, easy to use outside strict biosafety protocols, providing results with quick turnaround time.

Caseload, management and treatment outcomes of patients with hypertension and/or diabetes mellitus in a primary health care programme in an informal setting.

OBJECTIVE: In three primary health care clinics run by Médecins Sans Frontières in the informal settlement of Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya, we describe the caseload, management and treatment outcomes of patients with hypertension (HT) and/or diabetes mellitus (DM) receiving care from January 2010 to June 2012. METHOD: Descriptive study using prospectively collected routine programme data. RESULTS: Overall, 1465 patients were registered in three clinics during the study period, of whom 87% were hypertensive only and 13% had DM with or without HT. Patients were predominantly female (71%) and the median age was 48 years. On admission, 24% of the patients were obese, with a body mass index (BMI) > 30 kg/m2. Overall, 55% of non-diabetic hypertensive patients reached their blood pressure (BP) target at 24 months. Only 28% of diabetic patients reached their BP target at 24 months. For non-diabetic patients, there was a significant decrease in BP between first consultation and 3 months of treatment, maintained over the 18-month period. Only 20% of diabetic patients with or without hypertension achieved glycaemic control. By the end of the study period,1003 (68%) patients were alive and in care, one (<1%) had died, eight (0.5%) had transferred out and 453 (31%) were lost to follow-up. CONCLUSION: Good management of HT and DM can be achieved in a primary care setting within an informal settlement. This model of intervention appears feasible to address the growing burden of non-communicable diseases in developing countries.

Research to policy and practice change: is capacity building in operational research delivering the goods?

OBJECTIVES: Between 2009 and 2012, eight operational research capacity building courses were completed in Paris (3), Luxembourg (1), India (1), Nepal (1), Kenya (1) and Fiji (1). Courses had strict milestones that were subsequently adopted by the Structured Operational Research and Training InitiaTive (SORT IT) of the World Health Organization. We report on the numbers of enrolled participants who successfully completed courses, the number of papers published and their reported effect on policy and/or practice. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study including a survey. METHODS: Participant selection criteria ensured that only those proposing specific programme-related and relevant operational research questions were selected. Effects on policy and/or practice were assessed in a standardised manner by two independent reviewers. RESULTS: Of 93 enrolled participants from 31 countries (14 in Africa, 13 in Asia, two in Latin America and two in South Pacific), 83 (89%) completed their courses. A total of 96 papers were submitted to scientific journals of which 89 (93%) were published and 88 assessed for effect on policy and practice. There was a reported effect in 65 (74%) studies including changes to programme implementation (27), adaptation of monitoring tools (24) and changes to existing guidelines (20). CONCLUSION: Three quarters of published operational research studies from these structured courses had reported effects on policy and/or practice. It is important that this type of tracking becomes a standard component of operational research and research in general.

Plasmodium prevalence and artemisinin-resistant falciparum malaria in Preah Vihear Province, Cambodia: a cross-sectional population-based study.

BACKGROUND: Intensified efforts are urgently needed to contain and eliminate artemisinin-resistant Plasmodium falciparum in the Greater Mekong subregion. Médecins Sans Frontières plans to support the Ministry of Health in eliminating P. falciparum in an area with artemisinin resistance in the north-east of Cambodia. As a first step, the prevalence of Plasmodium spp. and the presence of mutations associated with artemisinin resistance were evaluated in two districts of Preah Vihear Province. METHODS: A cross-sectional population-based study using a two-stage cluster sampling was conducted in the rural districts of Chhaeb and Chey Saen, from September to October 2013. In each district, 30 clusters of 10 households were randomly selected. In total, blood samples were collected for 1,275 participants in Chhaeb and 1,224 in Chey Saen. Prevalence of Plasmodium spp. was assessed by PCR on dried blood spots. Plasmodium falciparum positive samples were screened for mutations in the K13-propeller domain gene (PF3D7_1343700). RESULT: The prevalence of Plasmodium spp. was estimated at 1.49% (95% CI 0.71-3.11%) in Chhaeb and 2.61% (95% CI 1.45-4.66%) in Chey Saen. Twenty-seven samples were positive for P. falciparum, giving a prevalence of 0.16% (95% CI 0.04-0.65) in Chhaeb and 2.04% (95% CI 1.04-3.99%) in Chey Saen. Only 4.0% of the participants testing positive presented with fever or history of fever. K13-propeller domain mutant type alleles (C580Y and Y493H) were found, only in Chey Saen district, in seven out of 11 P. falciparum positive samples with enough genetic material to allow testing. CONCLUSION: The overall prevalence of P. falciparum was low in both districts but parasites presenting mutations in the K13-propeller domain gene, strongly associated with artemisinin-resistance, are circulating in Chey Saen.The prevalence might be underestimated because of the absentees - mainly forest workers - and the workers of private companies who were not included in the study. These results confirm the need to urgently develop and implement targeted interventions to contain and eliminate P. falciparum malaria in this district before it spreads to other areas.

Picking up the bill - improving health-care utilisation in the Democratic Republic of Congo through user fee subsidisation: a before and after study.

BACKGROUND: User fees have been shown to constitute a major barrier to the utilisation of health-care, particularly in low-income countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Importantly, such barriers can lead to the exclusion of vulnerable individuals from health-care. In 2008, a donor-funded primary health-care programme began implementing user fee subsidisation in 20 health zones of the DRC. In this study, we quantified the short and long-term effects of this policy on health-care utilisation. METHODS: Sixteen health zones were included for analysis. Using routinely collected health-care utilisation data before and after policy implementation, interrupted time series regression was applied to quantify the temporal impact of the user fee policy in the studied health zones. Payment of salary supplements to health-care workers and provision of free drugs - the other components of the programme - were controlled for where possible. RESULTS: Fourteen (88%) health zones showed an immediate positive effect in health-care utilisation rates (overall median increase of 19%, interquartile range 11 to 43) one month after the policy was introduced, and the effect was significant in seven zones (P <0.05). This initial effect was sustained or increased at 24 months in five health zones but was only significant in one health zone at P <0.05. Utilisation reduced over time in the remaining health zones (overall median increase of 4%, interquartile range -10 to 33). The modelled mean health-care utilisation rate initially increased significantly from 43 consultations/1000 population to 51 consultations/1000 population during the first month following implementation (P <0.01). However, the on-going effect was not significant (P =0.69). CONCLUSIONS: Our research brings mixed findings on the effectiveness of user fee subsidisation as a strategy to increase the utilisation of services. Future work should focus on feasibility issues associated with the removal or reduction of user fees and how to sustain its effects on utilisation in the longer term.

Providing emergency care and assessing a patient triage system in a referral hospital in Somaliland: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: In resource-poor settings, where health systems are frequently stretched to their capacity, access to emergency care is often limited. Triage systems have been proposed as a tool to ensure efficiency and optimal use of emergency resources in such contexts. However, evidence on the practice of emergency care and the implementation of triage systems in such settings, is scarce. This study aimed to assess emergency care provision in the Burao district hospital in Somaliland, including the application of the South African Triage Scale (SATS) tool. METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was undertaken. Routine programme data of all patients presenting at the Emergency Department (ED) of Burao Hospital during its first year of service (January to December 2012) were analysed. The American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACSCOT) indicators were used as SATS targets for high priority emergency cases ("high acuity" proportion), overtriage and undertriage (with thresholds of >25%, <50% and <10%, respectively). RESULTS: In 2012, among 7212 patients presented to the ED, 41% were female, and 18% were aged less than five. Only 21% of these patients sought care at the ED within 24 hours of developing symptoms. The high acuity proportion was 22.3%, while the overtriage (40%) and undertriage (9%) rates were below the pre-set thresholds. The overall mortality rate was 1.3% and the abandon rate 2.0%. The outcomes of patients corresponds well with the color code assigned using SATS. CONCLUSION: This is the first study assessing the implementation of SATS in a post-conflict and resource-limited African setting showing that most indicators met the expected standards. In particular, specific attention is needed to improve the relatively low rate of true emergency cases, delays in patient presentation and in timely provision of care within the ED. This study also highlights the need for development of emergency care thresholds that are more adapted to resource-poor contexts. These issues are discussed.

Saving life and limb: limb salvage using external fixation, a multi-centre review of orthopaedic surgical activities in Médecins Sans Frontières.

PURPOSE: While the orthopaedic management of open fractures has been well-documented in developed settings, limited evidence exists on the surgical outcomes of open fractures in terms of limb salvage in low- and middle-income countries. We therefore reviewed the Médecins Sans Frontières-Operational Centre Brussels (MSF-OCB) orthopaedic surgical activities in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake and in three non-emergency projects to assess the limb salvage rates in humanitarian contexts in relation to surgical staff skills. METHODS: This was a descriptive retrospective cohort study conducted in the MSF-OCB surgical programmes in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Afghanistan, and Haiti. Routine programme data on surgical procedures were aggregated and analysed through summary statistics. RESULTS: In the emergency post-earthquake response in Haiti, 81% of open fracture cases were treated by amputation. In a non-emergency project in a conflict setting in DRC, relying on non-specialist surgeons receiving on-site supervision and training by experienced orthopaedic surgeons, amputation rates among open fractures decreased by 100 to 21% over seven years of operations. In two trauma centres in Afghanistan (national surgical staff supported from the outset by expatriate orthopaedic surgeons) and Haiti (national musculoskeletal surgeons trained in external fixation), amputation rates among long bone open fracture cases were stable at 20% and <10%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Introduction of and training on the proper use of external fixators reduced the amputation rate for open fractures and consequently increased the limb salvage rates in humanitarian contexts where surgical care was provided.