Stated job preferences of three health worker cadres in Ethiopia: a discrete choice experiment.

Attracting, training and retaining high-quality health workers are critical for a health system to function well, and it is important to know what health workers value in their roles. Many studies eliciting the labour market preferences of health workers have interviewed doctors or medical students, and there has been little research on the job preferences of lower-skilled cadres such as community health workers, mid-skilled clinical care staff such as nurses and midwives, or non-patient facing staff who manage health facilities. This study estimated the job preferences of public health sector community health extension workers (HEWs), care providers including nurses and midwives, and non-patient-facing administrative and managerial staff in Ethiopia. We used a discrete choice experiment to estimate which aspects of a job are most influential to health worker choices. A multinomial logistic regression model estimated the importance of six attributes to respondents: salary, training, workload, facility quality, management and opportunities to improve patient outcomes. We found that non-financial factors were important to respondents from all three cadres: e.g., supportive management [odds ratio (OR) = 2.96, P-value = 0.001] was the only attribute that influenced the job choices of non-patient-facing administrative and managerial staff. Training opportunities (OR = 3.45, P-value < 0.001), supportive management (OR = 3.26, P-value < 0.001) and good facility quality (OR = 2.42, P-value < 0.001) were valued the most amongst HEWs. Similarly, supportive management (OR = 3.22, P-value < 0.001), good facility quality (OR = 2.69, P-value < 0.001) and training opportunities (OR = 2.67, P-value < 0.001) influenced the job choices of care providers the most. Earning an average salary also influenced the jobs choices of HEWs (OR = 1.43, P-value = 0.02) and care providers (OR = 2.00, P-value < 0.001), which shows that a combination of financial and non-financial incentives should be considered to motivate health workers in Ethiopia

Setting up child health and mortality prevention surveillance in Ethiopia

Background: Mortality rates for children under five years of age, and stillbirth risks, remain high in parts of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) network aims to ascertain causes of child death in high child mortality settings (>50 deaths/1000 live-births). We aimed to develop a “greenfield” site for CHAMPS, based in Harar and Kersa, in Eastern Ethiopia. This very high mortality setting (>100 deaths/1000 live-births in Kersa) had limited previous surveillance capacity, weak infrastructure and political instability. Here we describe site development, from conception in 2015 to the end of the first year of recruitment. Methods: We formed a collaboration between Haramaya University and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and engaged community, national and international partners to support a new CHAMPS programme. We developed laboratory infrastructure and recruited and trained staff. We established project specific procedures to implement CHAMPS network protocols including; death notifications, clinical and demographic data collection, post-mortem minimally invasive tissue sampling, microbiology and pathology testing, and verbal autopsy. We convened an expert local panel to determine cause-of-death. In partnership with the Ethiopian Public Health Institute we developed strategies to improve child and maternal health. Results: Despite considerable challenge, with financial support, personal commitment and effective partnership, we successfully initiated CHAMPS. One year into recruitment (February 2020), we had received 1173 unique death notifications, investigated 59/99 MITS-eligible cases within the demographic surveillance site, and assigned an underlying and immediate cause of death to 53 children. Conclusions: The most valuable data for global health policy are from high mortality settings, but initiating CHAMPS has required considerable resource. To further leverage this investment, we need strong local research capacity and to broaden the scientific remit. To support this, we have set up a new collaboration, the “Hararghe Health Research Partnership”

Causes of stillbirth and death among children younger than 5 years in eastern Hararghe, Ethiopia: a population-based post-mortem study

BACKGROUND: Child mortality is high in Ethiopia, but reliable data on the causes of death are scarce. We aimed to gather data for the contributory causes of stillbirth and child deaths in eastern Ethiopia. METHODS: In this population-based post-mortem study, we established a death-notification system in health facilities and in the community in Kersa (rural), Haramaya (rural) and Harar (urban) in eastern Ethiopia, at a new site of the Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) network. We collected ante-mortem data, did verbal autopsies, and collected post-mortem samples via minimally invasive tissue sampling from stillbirths (weighing at least 1000 g or with an estimated gestational age of at least 28 weeks) and children who died younger than 5 years. Children-or their mothers, in the case of stillbirths and deaths in children younger than 6 months-had to have lived in the catchment area for the past 6 months to be included. Molecular, microbiological, and histopathological analyses were done in collected samples. Cause of death was established by an expert panel on the basis of these data and classified as underlying, comorbid, or immediate separately for stillbirths, neonatal deaths (deaths aged 0-27 days), and child deaths (aged 28 days to <5 years). FINDINGS: Between Feb 4, 2019, and Feb 3, 2021, 312 deaths were eligible for inclusion, and the families gave consent in 195 (63%) cases. Cause of death was established in 193 (99%) cases. Among 114 stillbirths, the underlying cause of death was perinatal asphyxia or hypoxia in 60 (53%) and birth defects in 24 (21%). Among 59 neonatal deaths, the most common underlying cause was perinatal asphyxia or hypoxia (17 [29%]) and the most common immediate cause of death was neonatal sepsis, which occurred in 27 (60%). Among 20 deaths in children aged 28 days to 59 months, malnutrition was the leading underlying cause (15 [75%]) and infections were common immediate and comorbid causes. Pathogens were identified in 19 (95%) child deaths, most commonly Klebsiella pneumoniae and Streptococcus pneumoniae. INTERPRETATION: Perinatal asphyxia or hypoxia, infections, and birth defects accounted for most stillbirths and child deaths. Most deaths could have been prevented with feasible interventions, such as improved maternity services, folate supplementation, and improved vaccine uptake. FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Setting up child health and mortality prevention surveillance in Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Mortality rates for children under five years of age, and stillbirth risks, remain high in parts of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) network aims to ascertain causes of child death in high child mortality settings (>50 deaths/1000 live-births). We aimed to develop a “greenfield” site for CHAMPS, based in Harar and Kersa, in Eastern Ethiopia. This very high mortality setting (>100 deaths/1000 live-births in Kersa) had limited previous surveillance capacity, weak infrastructure and political instability. Here we describe site development, from conception in 2015 to the end of the first year of recruitment. METHODS: We formed a collaboration between Haramaya University and the London School of Hygiene &amp; Tropical Medicine and engaged community, national and international partners to support a new CHAMPS programme. We developed laboratory infrastructure and recruited and trained staff. We established project specific procedures to implement CHAMPS network protocols including; death notifications, clinical and demographic data collection, post-mortem minimally invasive tissue sampling, microbiology and pathology testing, and verbal autopsy. We convened an expert local panel to determine cause-of-death. In partnership with the Ethiopian Public Health Institute we developed strategies to improve child and maternal health. RESULTS: Despite considerable challenge, with financial support, personal commitment and effective partnership, we successfully initiated CHAMPS. One year into recruitment (February 2020), we had received 1173 unique death notifications, investigated 59/99 MITS-eligible cases within the demographic surveillance site, and assigned an underlying and immediate cause of death to 53 children. CONCLUSIONS: The most valuable data for global health policy are from high mortality settings, but initiating CHAMPS has required considerable resource. To further leverage this investment, we need strong local research capacity and to broaden the scientific remit. To support this, we have set up a new collaboration, the “Hararghe Health Research Partnership”