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Longitudinal analysis of the capacities of community health workers mobilized for seasonal malaria chemoprevention in Burkina Faso.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) relies on community health workers to distribute drugs. This study assessed: (1) the capacity of community-based distributors (CBDs) at the start and end of a campaign and from one campaign to another after training or refresher courses before each round; (2) to what extent CBDs' experience over several campaigns contributed to measurable increase in their capacities; and (3) to what extent the training and experience of committed CBDs helped the less productive to catch up. METHODS:A longitudinal analysis was conducted in one Burkina Faso health district during the 2017 and 2018 campaigns. A panel including all CBDs was created. Their capacities were observed after: (1) initial training for the 2017 season; (2) refresher training for that year's fourth round; and (3) initial training for the 2018 season. All were invited to complete a questionnaire at the end of training with 27 multiple-choice questions on their main tasks. Observers noted content coverage and conditions under which training sessions were conducted. RESULTS:The 612 CBDs showed, on average, high understanding of their tasks from the start of the annual campaigns. Tasks related to communicating with parents and reporting were best mastered. Their capacities grew from round to round and campaign to campaign, after most had undergone training and been supervised by head nurses. The greatest progress was in the technical components, considered more complex, which involved selecting eligible children, choosing the correct drug packet, and referring children to health professionals. Retaining CBDs from one round to the next benefited everyone, whatever their starting level. Groups that initially obtained the lowest scores (women, illiterates, youngest/oldest) progressed the most. CONCLUSION:These results confirm the potential of using CBDs under routine programme implementation. Mandating CBDs with targeted tasks is a functional model, as they achieve mastery in this context where investments are made in training and supervision. Losing this specificity by extending CBDs' mandates beyond SMC could have undesirable consequences. The added value of retaining committed CBDs is high. It is suggested that motivation and commitment be considered in recruitment, and that a supportive climate be created to foster retention.

SUBMITTER: Bicaba A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7082958 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundSince 2014, the Burkina Faso government has made Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) a priority in its strategic plan to fight against malaria among children aged from 3 to 59 months. Very few studies have examined the care provided by community health workers in the framework of this strategy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the level of quality of care provided by the latter.MethodsThis was a mixed study. The quantitative component consisted of a non-participant observation of community health workers during the administration of care. The qualitative component consisted of one-on-one interviews with community health workers, child caregivers and head nurses. Five dimensions (organizational accessibility, interpersonal relationship, technical competence, safety of care and satisfaction of child caregivers) adapted from the Donabedian quality of care model were used to assess the quality level of care. The Corlien et al. Health Systems Research Program Implementation Scale was used to establish quality scores for each of the five dimensions. The study sites were the health centers located in the administrative centers of the 4 communes of the health district of Boulsa. The data were collected during the first cycle of the 2017 SMC campaign.ResultsA total of 14 active pairs (28 CHWs) were observed and 40 in-depth interviews with community health workers, Head nurses in duty and community leaders were conducted. The results show that community health workers worked in pairs. They had all received SMC training and possessed equipment to do their job. The dimensions of organizational accessibility and satisfaction of the caregivers were rated as good. The dimensions of interpersonal relationship and technical competence were judged to be of an acceptable score. Safety of care was judged to be of a low-level score. The overall quality of care was considered acceptable.ConclusionThe results of this study have shown that despite the difficulties faced by community health workers, they manage to deliver acceptable quality of care. Their use would be an asset for SMC in particular and for the health system in general.

Project description:Burkina Faso implemented the seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) in 2014 in seven pilot health districts, following the new recommendation by the WHO in 2012 for the prevention of the disease in children under five years old, for areas of highly seasonal malaria transmission.The objective of this study was to assess the implementation fidelity of the seasonal malaria chemoprevention strategy in one of the districts, Kaya Health District.We conducted a case study, with a quantitative and qualitative mixed methods. Data were collected after two campaigns of implementation of the intervention, in 2014 and 2015, through a review of specific documents of SMC intervention, and individual interview with key informants (n = 21) involved at various levels in the implementation of the strategy and a household survey with the parents (n = 284) of eligible children for the SMC strategy in 2015 in the Kaya health district. The analysis framework focused on the fidelity of the intervention's content, its coverage, and its schedule, as well as the potential moderating factors, using the model proposed by Hasson, originally from Carroll.All components of the intervention were implemented. Villages and sectors were covered at 100%. In terms of intervention doses received, less than one-third of eligible children (32.3%) received the recommended four doses in 2015. Implementation of the strategy faced some difficulties due to insufficient training of community distributors, inadequate supply of inputs and insufficient financial resources for remuneration, advocacy and supervision, but also because of the contextual constraints due to the rainy season. Moreover, an interaction between the different moderating factors, influencing the degree of implementation of the strategy was noted.Taking into account the moderating factors of the implementation is necessary for achieving the highest possible degree of implementation fidelity and then, reach the expected beneficial effects.

Project description:IntroductionSeasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) involves repeated administrations of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine plus amodiaquine to children below the age of 5 years during the peak transmission season in areas of seasonal malaria transmission. While highly impactful in reducing Plasmodium falciparum malaria burden in controlled research settings, the impact of SMC on infection prevalence is moderate in real-life settings. It remains unclear what drives this efficacy decay. Recently, the WHO widened the scope for SMC to target all vulnerable populations. The Ministry of Health (MoH) in Burkina Faso is considering extending SMC to children below 10 years old. We aim to assess the impact of SMC on clinical incidence and parasite prevalence and quantify the human infectious reservoir for malaria in this population.Methods and analysisWe will perform a cluster randomised trial in Saponé Health District, Burkina Faso, with three study arms comprising 62 clusters of three compounds: arm 1 (control): SMC in under 5-year-old children, implemented by the MoH without directly observed treatment (DOT) for the full course of SMC; arm 2 (intervention): SMC in under 5-year-old children, with DOT for the full course of SMC; arm 3 (intervention): SMC in under 10-year-old children, with DOT for the full course of SMC. The primary endpoint is parasite prevalence at the end of the malaria transmission season. Secondary endpoints include the impact of SMC on clinical incidence. Factors affecting SMC uptake, treatment adherence, drug concentrations, parasite resistance markers and transmission of parasites will be determined.Ethics and disseminationThe London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine's Ethics Committee (29193) and the Burkina Faso National Medical Ethics Committee (Deliberation No 2023-05-104) approved this study. The findings will be presented to the community; disease occurrence data and study outcomes will also be shared with the Burkina Faso MoH. Findings will be published irrespective of their results.Trial registration numberNCT05878366.

Project description:BackgroundIn the context of widespread mosquito resistance to currently available pesticides, novel, precise genetic vector control methods aimed at population suppression or trait replacement are a potentially powerful approach that could complement existing malaria elimination interventions. Such methods require knowledge of vector population composition, dynamics, behaviour and role in transmission. Here were characterized these parameters in three representative villages, Bana, Pala and Souroukoudingan, of the Sudano-Sahelian belt of Burkina Faso, a region where bed net campaigns have recently intensified.MethodsFrom July 2012 to November 2015, adult mosquitoes were collected monthly using pyrethroid spray catches (PSC) and human landing catches (HLC) in each village. Larval habitat prospections assessed breeding sites abundance at each site. Mosquitoes collected by PSC were identified morphologically, and then by molecular technique to species where required, to reveal the seasonal dynamics of local vectors. Monthly entomological inoculation rates (EIR) that reflect malaria transmission dynamics were estimated by combining the HLC data with mosquito sporozoite infection rates (SIR) identified through ELISA-CSP. Finally, population and EIR fluctuations were fit to locally-collected rainfall data to highlight the strong seasonal determinants of mosquito abundance and malaria transmission in this region.ResultsThe principal malaria vectors found were in the Anopheles gambiae complex. Mosquito abundance peaked during the rainy season, but there was variation in vector species composition between villages. Mean survey HLC and SIR were similar across villages and ranged from 18 to 48 mosquitoes/person/night and from 3.1 to 6.6% prevalence. The resulting monthly EIRs were extremely high during the rainy season (0.91-2.35 infectious bites/person/day) but decreased substantially in the dry season (0.03-0.22). Vector and malaria transmission dynamics generally tracked seasonal rainfall variations, and the highest mosquito abundances and EIRs occurred in the rainy season. However, despite low residual mosquito populations, mosquitoes infected with malaria parasites remained present in the dry season.ConclusionThese results highlight the important vector control challenge facing countries with high EIR despite the recent campaigns of bed net distribution. As demonstrated in these villages, malaria transmission is sustained for large parts of the year by a very high vector abundance and high sporozoite prevalence, resulting in seasonal patterns of hyper and hypo-endemicity. There is, therefore, an urgent need for additional vector control tools that can target endo and exophillic mosquito populations.

Project description:BackgroundA recent trial in Burkina Faso and Mali showed that combining seasonal RTS,S/AS01E malaria vaccination with seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) substantially reduced the incidence of uncomplicated and severe malaria in young children compared to either intervention alone. Given the possible negative effect of malaria on nutrition, the study investigated whether these children also experienced lower prevalence of acute and chronic malnutrition.MethodsIn Burkina Faso and Mali 5920 children were randomized to receive either SMC alone, RTS,S/AS01E alone, or SMC combined with RTS,S/AS01E for three malaria transmission seasons (2017-2019). After each transmission season, anthropometric measurements were collected from all study children at a cross-sectional survey and used to derive nutritional status indicators, including the binary variables wasted and stunted (weight-for-height and height-for-age z-scores below - 2, respectively). Binary and continuous outcomes between treatment groups were compared by Poisson and linear regression.ResultsIn 2017, compared to SMC alone, the combined intervention reduced the prevalence of wasting by approximately 12% [prevalence ratio (PR) = 0.88 (95% CI 0.75, 1.03)], and approximately 21% in 2018 [PR = 0.79 (95% CI 0.62, 1.01)]. Point estimates were similar for comparisons with RTS,S/AS01E, but there was stronger evidence of a difference. There was at least a 30% reduction in the point estimates for the prevalence of severe wasting in the combined group compared to the other two groups in 2017 and 2018. There was no difference in the prevalence of moderate or severe wasting between the groups in 2019. The prevalence of stunting, low-MUAC-for-age or being underweight did not differ between groups for any of the three years. The prevalence of severe stunting was higher in the combined group compared to both other groups in 2018, and compared to RTS,S/AS01E alone in 2017; this observation does not have an obvious explanation and may be a chance finding. Overall, malnutrition was very common in this cohort, but declined over the study as the children became older.ConclusionsDespite a high burden of malnutrition and malaria in the study populations, and a major reduction in the incidence of malaria in children receiving both interventions, this had only a modest impact on nutritional status. Therefore, other interventions are needed to reduce the high burden of malnutrition in these areas.Trial registrationhttps://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03143218 , registered 8th May 2017.

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Longitudinal analysis of the capacities of community health workers mobilized for seasonal malaria chemoprevention in Burkina Faso.

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