Availability and readiness of health facilities providing services for other infectious diseases to treat neglected tropical diseases in Ethiopia: implications for service integration in high burden areas.

BACKGROUND: The burden of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria pose significant public health challenges in Ethiopia. This study aimed to the explore service availability and readiness for NTD care among Ethiopian health facilities treating tuberculosis (TB), HIV/AIDS, and/or malaria. METHODS: This study utilized secondary data from the Ethiopian Service Provision Assessment 2021-22 survey. The availability of services was calculated as the percentage of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, or malaria facilities providing NTD services. Facilities were considered highly prepared to manage any type of NTD if they scored at least half (> 50%) of the tracer items listed in each of the three domains (staff training and guidelines, equipment, and essential medicines). Descriptive statistics and logistic regression models were employed to present the study findings and analyze factors influencing facility readiness, respectively. RESULTS: Out of 403 health facilities providing NTD care nationally, 179, 183, and 197 also offer TB, HIV/AIDS, and malaria services, respectively. The majority of TB (90.1%), HIV/AIDS (89.6%), and malaria (90.9%) facilities offer soil-transmitted helminth services, followed by trachoma (range 87-90%). The percentages of the aforementioned facilities with at least one trained staff member for any type of NTD were 87.2%, 88.4%, and 82.1%, respectively. The percentage of facilities with guidelines for any type of NTD was relatively low (range 3.7-4.1%). Mebendazole was the most widely available essential medicine, ranging from 69 to 70%. The overall readiness analysis indicated that none of the included facilities (TB = 11.9%; HIV/AIDS = 11.6%; and malaria = 10.6%) were ready to offer NTD care. Specifically, a higher level of readiness was observed only in the domain of medicines across these facilities. Hospitals had better readiness to offer NTD care than did health centers and clinics. Furthermore, a significant associations were observed between facility readiness and factors such as facility type, region, presence of routine management meetings, types of NTD services provided, and fixed costs for services. CONCLUSIONS: Ethiopian health facilities treating TB, HIV/AIDS, and malaria had an unsatisfactory overall service availability and a lack of readiness to provide NTD care. Given the existing epidemiological risks and high burden of TB, HIV/AIDS, malaria, and NTDs in Ethiopia, there is an urgent need to consider preparing and implementing a collaborative infectious disease care plan to integrate NTD services in these facilities.

Readiness of and barriers for community pharmacy professionals in providing and implementing vaccination services.

BACKGROUND: Community pharmacy professionals are essential for healthcare delivery, particularly for administering vaccination services. However, there is a lack of substantial evidence documenting their role in vaccination within Ethiopia. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess community pharmacy professionals' readiness to provide vaccination services, identify barriers hindering the implementation of these services, and determine factors influencing the provision of vaccination services by community pharmacy professionals. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among community pharmacy professionals in Debre Markos and Injibara Town from April 15 to May 13, 2024. The data were collected using a structured questionnaire, and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the findings. RESULTS: The study revealed that a significant majority of community pharmacy professionals perceived that they had adequate vaccine knowledge and were easily accessible to the community. However, barriers such as lack of regulation, time constraints, workload concerns, patient trust issues, and infrastructure challenges hinder the implementation of vaccination services. Factors influencing the provision of vaccination services included the need for enhanced education and training, financial reimbursement, patient demand, infrastructure improvements, collaboration with other healthcare providers, and pharmacists' special interest in vaccination. CONCLUSIONS: Community pharmacy professionals exhibit readiness to provide vaccination services. However, significant barriers such as regulatory constraints, time pressures, workload concerns, patient trust issues, and infrastructure challenges hinder their full participation. Addressing these barriers and leveraging pharmacists' expertise is essential for optimizing service delivery and improving public health outcomes. Advocating for policy changes, developing comprehensive training programs, establishing clear guidelines, investing in infrastructure improvements, conducting public awareness campaigns, and fostering collaboration with other healthcare providers are recommended to facilitate the provision and implementation of vaccination services by community pharmacy professionals in Ethiopia.

Are Ethiopian health facilities providing diabetes services capable of managing tuberculosis? Policy implications for introducing diabetes and tuberculosis collaborative care.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the availability and preparedness of health facilities offering diabetes mellitus (DM) to manage tuberculosis (TB) in Ethiopia. DESIGN: Secondary data analysis of institution-based cross-sectional national survey data. SETTING: Data were obtained from the 2021-2022 Ethiopian Service Provision Assessment (ESPA) survey which includes all active health facilities in Ethiopia. PARTICIPANTS: This study included all health facilities that provide DM services (both diagnosis and treatment) and recently collected DM data during the 2021-2022 ESPA survey. OUTCOME MEASURES: The service availability was computed as the percentage of facilities offering DM services to provide TB management. The preparedness of these facilities for managing TB was measured using three service tracer indicators (staff training and guidelines, diagnostics and essential medicines used in TB management) defined by the WHO Service Availability and Readiness Assessment Manual. The extent of preparedness was categorised as low level (<50%), moderate level (≥50% to 75%) and high level (≥75%). A descriptive statistic was employed to present the study findings. RESULTS: Only 170 out of 338 facilities were reported to provide DM services across the country, with 136 (70%) also offering TB management services. Among these facilities, the majority were health centres (n=82; 60.1%), publicly owned (n=98; 72.0%), rural (n=83; 60.7%) and located in the Oromia region (n=53; 39.0%). Regarding preparedness, facilities offering DM services had an overall moderate to high preparedness for managing TB, with 47 (27.5%), 53 (31.1%) and 70 (41.3%) facilities classified as low-level, moderate-level and high-level preparedness, respectively. Specifically, these facilities were less prepared in the domains of 'trained staff and guidelines' and 'diagnostics', but had better preparedness in providing first-line TB drugs, with an overall score of 79.7%. CONCLUSIONS: Although the percentage availability of TB services in facilities offering DM services and their preparedness was unsatisfactory compared with WHO standards, Ethiopia has a greater capacity to implement WHO strategies to reduce the burden of TB-DM comorbidity. However, given the high epidemiological risk and the high burden of both diseases in the country, our findings emphasise the urgent necessity to establish and implement a collaborative TB-DM care plan to integrate TB services within facilities providing DM care.