Maternal, Newborn and Child Health

Women’s attitudes toward receiving family planning services from community health workers in rural Western Kenya

In African countries including Kenya, contraceptive use, fertility rates and other reproductive health indicators in rural areas lag behind urban areas. Even though Kenya's fertility rate declined from 8.1 in 1978 to 4.6 in 2008, the figures are much higher in rural areas, 5.2 compared to an urban rate of 2.9. The persistent high fertility rate has been attributed to many … [Read more...] about Women’s attitudes toward receiving family planning services from community health workers in rural Western Kenya

Globally, there is increasing interest in community health worker’s (CHW) performance; however, there are gaps in the evidence with respect to CHWs’ role in community participation and empowerment. Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), whose roles include social activism, are the key cadre in India’s CHW programme which is designed to improve maternal and child … [Read more...] about Community health workers in rural India, analyzing the opportunities and challenges Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) face in realising their multiple roles

Nigeria’s maternal mortality ratio is the tenth highest in the world, with an estimated 630 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, and 40,000 maternal deaths annually. There is now a critical need to support Nigeria’s efforts to make significant progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goal 5 target of reducing maternal mortality by 2015 through the government’s … [Read more...] about Assessment of the quality of antenatal care services provided by health workers using a mobile phone decision support application in northern Nigeria: A pre/post-intervention study

Malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea are among the leading killer diseases among children aged five years and below. Efforts in realizing the Millennium Development Goals are tailored towards tackling the three diseases at community level through integrated community case management (iCCM). iCCM involves diagnosis and treatment of malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea by community … [Read more...] about Estimating the cost of referral and willingness to pay for referral to higher-level health facilities: a case series study from an integrated community case management programme in Uganda

In 2004, the Government of Ethiopia introduced the Health Extension Programme (HEP), a free primary health care package with four components: disease prevention and control, family health, hygiene and environmental sanitation, and health education and communication. A female cadre of salaried community health workers (CHWs) called health extension workers (HEWs) was introduced … [Read more...] about A qualitative assessment of health extension workers’ relationships with the community and health sector in Ethiopia: opportunities for enhancing maternal health performance