Job satisfaction among community drug distributors in the Mass Drug Administration programme in Nigeria: a cross-sectional study

Background: Despite having one of the largest human resources for health in Africa, the delivery of neglected tropical disease (NTD) health interventions in Nigeria has been hampered by health worker shortages. This study assessed factors associated with job satisfaction among community drug distributors (CDDs) supporting the Nigerian NTD programme, with the goal of identifying opportunities to improve job satisfaction in support of NTD control and elimination efforts in Nigeria. Methods: A health facility-based cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2019 among CDDs in two states with sharply contrasting NTD programme support, Kaduna and Ogun. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to determine the association between respondent characteristics, programme delivery modalities and job satisfaction. Results: Overall, 75.3% and 74.0% of CDDs were categorised as being satisfied with their job in Kaduna and Ogun states, respectively. The component with the highest reported satisfaction was motivation, where 98.9% and 98.6% of CDDs were satisfied, in Kaduna and Ogun, respectively. Participants were least satisfied with remuneration, communication, supplies and materials, as well as workload. Location (rural/urban) and state, years of experience, who delivers training and reimbursement of transport fare during medicine distribution were significantly associated with job satisfaction. Conclusions: Including multiple health staff and NTD programme cadres in CDD training and providing remuneration to cover transport fares spent during MDA delivery may improve CDDs’ job satisfaction both in Ogun and Kaduna states. Given these two states are at opposite ends of the programme support spectrum, such adaptative measures might help improve CDD job satisfaction in the wider Nigerian NTD programme context

Implementation of test-and-treat with doxycycline and temephos ground larviciding as alternative strategies for accelerating onchocerciasis elimination in an area of loiasis co-endemicity: the COUNTDOWN consortium multi-disciplinary study protocol

Background Onchocerciasis is a priority neglected tropical disease targeted for elimination by 2025. The standard strategy to combat onchocerciasis is annual Community-Directed Treatment with ivermectin (CDTi). Yet, high prevalence rates and transmission persist following > 12 rounds in South-West Cameroon. Challenges include programme coverage, adherence to, and acceptability of ivermectin in an area of Loa loa co-endemicity. Loiasis patients harbouring heavy infections are at risk of potentially fatal serious adverse events following CDTi. Alternative strategies are therefore needed to achieve onchocerciasis elimination where CDTi effectiveness is suboptimal. Methods/design We designed an implementation study to evaluate integrating World Health Organisation-endorsed alternative strategies for the elimination of onchocerciasis, namely test-and-treat with the macrofilaricide, doxycycline (TTd), and ground larviciding for suppression of blackfly vectors with the organophosphate temephos. A community-based controlled before-after intervention study will be conducted among > 2000 participants in 20 intervention (Meme River Basin) and 10 control (Indian River Basin) communities. The primary outcome measure is O. volvulus prevalence at follow-up 18-months post-treatment. The study involves four inter-disciplinary components: parasitology, entomology, applied social sciences and health economics. Onchocerciasis skin infection will be diagnosed by skin biopsy and Loa loa infection will be diagnosed by parasitological examination of finger-prick blood samples. A simultaneous clinical skin disease assessment will be made. Eligible skin-snip-positive individuals will be offered directly-observed treatment for 5 weeks with 100 mg/day doxycycline. Transmission assessments of onchocerciasis in the communities will be collected post-human landing catch of the local biting blackfly vector prior to ground larviciding with temephos every week (0.3 l/m3) until biting rate falls below 5/person/day. Qualitative research, including in-depth interviews and focus-group discussions will be used to assess acceptability and feasibility of the implemented alternative strategies among intervention recipients and providers. Health economics will assess the cost-effectiveness of the implemented interventions. Conclusions Using a multidisciplinary approach, we aim to assess the effectiveness of TTd, alone or in combination with ground larviciding, following a single intervention round and scrutinise the acceptability and feasibility of implementing at scale in similar hotspots of onchocerciasis infection, to accelerate onchocerciasis elimination

Parental health shocks and schooling: The impact of mutual health insurance in Rwanda

International audienceThe goal of this study was to look at the educational spill-over effects of health insurance on schooling with a focus on the Rwandan Community Based Health Insurance Programme, the Mutual Health Insurance scheme. Using a two-person general equilibrium overlapping generations model, this paper theoretically analyses the possible effect of health insurance on the relationship between parental health shocks and child schooling. Individuals choose whether or not they want to incur a medical cost by seeking care in order to reduce the effect of health shocks on their labour market availability and productivity. The theoretical results show that, health shocks negatively affect schooling irrespective of insurance status. However, if the health shock is severe (incapacitating) or sudden in nature, there is a discernible mitigating effect of health insurance on the negative impact of parental ill health on child schooling. The results are tested empirically using secondary data from the third Integrated Household Living Conditions Survey (EICV) for Rwanda, collected in 2011. A total of 2401 children between the ages of 13 and 18 are used for the analysis. This age group is selected due to the age of compulsory education in Rwanda. Based on average treatment effect on treated we find a statistically significant difference in attendance between children with MHI affiliated parents and those with uninsured parents of about 0.044. The negative effect of a father being severely ill is significant only for uninsured household. For the case of the mother, this effect is felt by female children with uninsured parents only when the illness is sudden. The observed effects are more pronounced for older children. While the father's ill health (sever or sudden) significantly and negatively affects their working hours, health insurance plays appears to increase their working hours. The effects of health insurance extend beyond health outcomes

Financement de la médecine et la macroéconomie

Cette thèse examine différents aspects du financement de la santé et ses effets sur l'accumulation de variables stratégiques pour le développement. Le deuxième chapitre analyse les effets des risques de maladie sur l'éducation des enfants en utilisant un model théorique et empirique qui lie les risques (pour les parents) de tomber malade et le choix de l'éducation. Nous trouvons que, s'il est impossible pour les parents de demander plus d'argent en cas de maladie, une augmentation de la probabilité de tomber malade implique une réduction de l'éducation des enfants. Le chapitre trois étudie empiriquement l'effet de l'assurance maladie sur l’enfant en employons la méthode de scores de propension pour analyser l'effet moyen du traitement (chef de ménage ayant une assurance santé ou non) sur les traités. Nous trouvons que l'assurance maladie favorise l'éducation des enfants. Le chapitre quatre étudie, en utilisant le modèle de générations imbriquées, les effets du financement de la santé sur la croissance économique. Le gouvernement a deux possibilité: soit de co-financer la santé, soit la financer tout seul en utilisant une taxe sur la production. Nous trouvons que, s'il y a hétérogénéité des préférences des agents, le financement public domine le co-financement public-privé. Le dernier chapitre étudie les effets d’épidémies sur la pauvreté, dans un modèle de générations imbriquées continu. Nous trouvons que l'investissement dans les variables qui réduisent la transmission de la maladie est nécessaire pour pousser d'un état stationnaire avec faible consommation/niveau d'actifs vers un état stationnaire avec un mixe consommation-niveau d'actifs plus élevé.This thesis explores different aspects of the financing of health care and how it affects various facets of the economy. Chapter two we studies the relationships between health risks and education using both a theoretical and an empirical model. We find that considering a child's income as an insurance asset can reverse the usual negative relationship between disease prevalence and educational investment. Chapter three empirically looks at the impact of health insurance on the child using the propensity score matching technique. We find that while the health insurance status of the household has a positive effect on the enrolment of children, its effect on child work is negative. In chapter four we analyse the impact of health care financing on economic growth, focusing on the issue of joint public-private financing of health care using an overlapping-generations model with endogenous growth based on health human capital accumulation, where families pay for childhood preventive care and the government can either fully finance or co-finance adulthood curative care. From a growth maximising perspective, if agents are assumed have heterogeneous preferences, full public financing can become the best option. Finally in chapter five we study how health shocks in the form of epidemics affects the economy in a continuous OLG model by focusing on how the economy could be pushed to a higher consumption-assets combination. We find that it is necessary for the government to invest more in the reduction of transmission rates if its goal is to eradicate the disease from the economy, achieving a higher consumption-assets mix

Equity and efficiency in the scaled-up implementation of integrated neglected tropical disease control: the health economics protocol of the COUNTDOWN multicountry observational study in Ghana, Cameroon and Liberia.

Worldwide, millions of individuals are affected by neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). They are frequently the poorest and most marginalised members of society. Their living conditions, among other things, make them susceptible to such diseases. Historically, several large-scale treatment programmes providing mass drug administrations (MDAs) were carried out per single disease but over the last decade there has been an increasing trend towards co-implementation of MDA activities given the resources used for such programmes are often the same. The COUNTDOWN multicountry studies focus on scaled-up implementation of integrated control strategies against four diseases: lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis. The objective of the COUNTDOWN economic study is to assess the multicountry implementation of control interventions in terms of equity, impact and efficiency. The health economic study uses different analytical methods to assess the relationship between NTDs and poverty and the cost-effectiveness of different large-scale intervention options. Regression analysis will be used to study the determinants of NTD occurrence, the impact of NTDs on poverty, factors that hinder access to MDAs and the effect of NTDs on quality-of-life of those affected, including disability. Cost-effectiveness analyses of various integration methods will be performed using health economic modelling to estimate the cost and programme impact of different integration options. Here, cost-effectiveness ratios will be calculated, including multivariate sensitivity analyses, using Bayesian analysis. Ethics approval has been received both at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and in all participating countries. Results of the various substudies will be presented for publication in peer-reviewed journals. 1 July 2016 to 30 June-October 2019. [Abstract copyright: © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Investigating the Dimensions of Youth Wellbeing: An Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling Approach Applied to Palestine

International audienceThis paper illustrates the “Sen-Nussbaum-type” capability approach to the measurement of youth wellbeing using the newly developed Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling (ESEM). It offers insights into how the capability to achieve wellbeing can be measured in a conflict-affected and resource-constrained setting. The methodology is applied to nationally representative data taken from the Palestinian Family Survey. The population of interest is youth aged 15 to 29. Three capability dimensions are identified: health awareness, knowledge and living conditions. Results show an interrelation between capability dimensions. It is especially important to note the effect of knowledge capabilities on both health awareness and living conditions indicators. Results also confirm the importance of some (exogenous) factors such as the education of the household head in the conversion of capabilities into achievements. Capabilities are shown to be highest in the West Bank for both knowledge and living conditions compared to the Gaza Strip

Youth wellbeing through the lens of the Senian capability approach: insights from the occupied Palestinian territory: a cross-sectional study

International audienceBackgroundInterest in the Senian capability framework as an alternative approach to wellbeing measurement has increased in recent decades. The aim of this study was to look at the extent to which an individual's capability to achieve wellbeing in one dimension is associated with his or her attempt to achieve wellbeing in another dimension in a fragile setting affected by conflict.MethodsCapability is defined as the ability to achieve health, knowledge, and wealth and is measured as latent variables using a structural equation model. Health capability is identified by self-assessed health, mental health, lifestyle, and knowledge of sexually transmitted diseases. Knowledge capability is captured using school attendance, completion of compulsory education, and media access. Wealth capability is identified using indicators on utilities, asset ownership, and housing conditions. Estimation results are used to derive normalised capability scores with values close to 1 indicating high capabilities. A nationally representative sample of 4329 youth aged 15–29 years was drawn from the 2010 Palestinian Family Survey.FindingsInterpretations are made in terms of standardised units, which measure the change in the explained variable due to a standard deviation's change in the explanatory variable. Achieving good health is associated with knowledge capability (0·125; p=0·098) and vice versa (0·462; p=0·004). Health capability is positively associated with wealth capability (0·109; p=0·021); however, the reverse is not the case (–0·753; p=0·021). Men are more likely than women to have higher health knowledge and living conditions capabilities but lower knowledge capabilities. Results suggest the importance of some exogenous factors in the conversion of capabilities into achievements (eg, location of residence). With the exception of health, the data show higher capabilities in Areas A and B of the West Bank than in Area C and the Gaza Strip (mean 0·71 and 0·69 vs 0·60 and 0·61 vs 0·57 and 0·68 for wealth and knowledge, respectively).InterpretationAlthough achieving good health appears to entail knowledge capabilities, the wealth-health association is blurred by the effect of exogenous factors (eg, health-care access). Capability deprivation in the local context seems to derive from geographical barriers, as is captured by the contribution of location of residence. This reflects the effect of geopolitical segregation that restricts the movement of people.FundingInvestissements d’Avenir French Government programme, managed by the French National Research Agency (ANR)

Child Income as an Insurance Mechanism. Consequences for the Health-Education Relationship

This paper analyzes the relationships between HIV/AIDS and education taking into account the appropriative nature of child income. We first build a simple theoretical model linking parental health risk, educational choice and appropriation of future children's income. We show that considering (remittances from) child's income as an insurance asset can reverse the usual negative relationship between disease prevalence and educational investment. This prediction is tested on data compiled from the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) database for 17 Sub-Sahara African (SSA) countries between the years 2003 to 2010 for children aged between 6 and 22-years-old. To account for the hierarchical nature of the data we employ a multilevel analysis. We find that, in general, the impact of community HIV prevalence on school enrollment is insignificant. Once the data is split to account for differences in appropriation, the effect of community prevalence becomes positive and sometimes significant for highly appropriable groups (rural, girls) and remains either negative for the rest

Child Income as an Insurance Mechanism. Consequences for the Health-Education Relationship

This paper analyzes the relationships between HIV/AIDS and education taking into account the appropriative nature of child income. We first build a simple theoretical model linking parental health risk, educational choice and appropriation of future children's income. We show that considering (remittances from) child's income as an insurance asset can reverse the usual negative relationship between disease prevalence and educational investment. This prediction is tested on data compiled from the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) database for 17 Sub-Sahara African (SSA) countries between the years 2003 to 2010 for children aged between 6 and 22-years-old. To account for the hierarchical nature of the data we employ a multilevel analysis. We find that, in general, the impact of community HIV prevalence on school enrollment is insignificant. Once the data is split to account for differences in appropriation, the effect of community prevalence becomes positive and sometimes significant for highly appropriable groups (rural, girls) and remains either negative for the rest

Childhood preventive care, adult healthcare and economic growth: The role of healthcare financing

ACL-3International audienceWe analyze the impact of healthcare financing on economic growth, focusing on the issue of the joint public-private financing of healthcare (co-payment). We use an overlapping-generations model with endogenous growth based on health human capital accumulation, where families pay for childhood preventive care and the government can either fully finance or co-finance adulthood curative care. From a growth maximizing perspective, distortionary taxes give an advantage to co-financing. Nevertheless, we prove that, if agents are assumed to be heterogeneous in preferences, full financing can become the best option