Cross-Cutting Topics
- The Evolving Landscape of Medical Device Regulation in East, Central, and Southern Africa
Most existing medical devices were not built for the challenges often present in many African countries. Regulatory systems for medical devices are essential to ensuring device safety and efficacy. Yet, currently, most African countries do not have a well-defined regulatory process. This discourages both innovators within Africa and companies outside of Africa from developing quality medical devices suitable for these challenges.
- Pathways to Care for Patients With Type 2 Diabetes and HIV/AIDS Comorbidities in Soweto, South Africa: An Ethnographic Study
Patients with type 2 diabetes are referred to tertiary hospitals in Soweto although their care could be managed at primary health care clinics. Primary health care needs to be strengthened by addressing health systemic challenges to provide integrated care for comorbid type 2 diabetes and HIV/AIDS.
- Human Resources for Health-Related Challenges to Ensuring Quality Newborn Care in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review
We mapped evidence from low- and middle-income countries of the human resources for health-related challenges to providing quality facility-based newborn care into tangible thematic areas. The mapping provides valuable insight that informed new World Health Organization strategies to systematically address the challenges identified and to strengthen human resources for health for newborn care globally and nationally.
- Blended Learning Using Peer Mentoring and WhatsApp for Building Capacity of Health Workers for Strengthening Immunization Services in Kenya
Innovative learning strategies are needed to improve frontline health workers' skills for achieving immunization coverage goals—now even more important with COVID-19. Peer mentoring and WhatsApp networking are low-cost and useful blended learning methods for need-based and individualized capacity building of health workers for improving immunization services that don't disrupt the health care workers' regular work.
- Bugs in the Bed: Addressing the Contradictions of Embedded Science with Agile Implementation Research
Implementation research often fails to have its intended impact on what programs actually do. Embedding research within target organizational systems is an effective response to this problem. We present case examples from Bangladesh, Ghana, and Tanzania that demonstrate challenges associated with embedded science. We propose “agile science” as a means of sustaining scientific rigor while simultaneously catalyzing evidence utilization.
- Strength in Diversity: Integrating Community in Primary Health Care to Advance Universal Health Coverage
The supplement highlights a systems approach that recognizes the communities' roles and their interactions with other health system actors to accelerate outcomes and reflect the diversity of the community health ecosystem. Several cross-cutting priorities emerge from the articles, namely coverage, community health financing, policy change, institutionalization, resilience, accountability, community engagement, and whole-of-society efforts.
- Measuring Knowledge of Community Health Workers at the Last Mile in Liberia: Feasibility and Results of Clinical Vignette Assessments
We integrated clinical vignettes into routine programmatic supervision to assess community health worker knowledge of integrated community case management in rural Liberia. Results included higher rates of correct diagnosis and lifesaving treatment for uncomplicated disease than for more severe cases, with accurate recognition of danger signs posing a challenge.
- Volunteer Community Health and Agriculture Workers Help Reduce Childhood Malnutrition in Tajikistan
Paired agricultural and health interventions led by volunteer community health workers and community agricultural workers through home visits, community events, and peer support groups proved successful in improving nutrition of children and may be applicable in other contexts.
- Using Human-Centered Design to Adapt Supply Chains and Digital Solutions for Community Health Volunteers in Nomadic Communities of Northern Kenya
Investing the time and effort to use human-centered design (HCD) approaches is beneficial to designing supply chains and digital solutions for complex sociocultural settings. HCD enables users to be engaged in cocreating solutions that address their challenges, are appropriate for their context and capacity, and build local ownership.
- Learnings From a Pilot Study to Strengthen Primary Health Care Services: The Community-Clinic-Centered Health Service Model in Barishal District, Bangladesh
The community-clinic-centered health service model piloted in Bangladesh strengthened community and local government engagement, harmonized the work of different community health worker cadres, and improved client satisfaction. The approach has the potential to strengthen the delivery of close-to-community primary health care services and accelerate progress toward achieving universal health coverage.