Impact of pharmacy worker training and deployment on access to essential medicines for children under five in Malawi: a cluster quasi-experimental evaluation.

Background: Poor access to essential medicines is common in many low- and middle-income countries, partly due to an insufficient and inadequately trained workforce to manage the medicines supply chain. We conducted a prospective impact evaluation of the training and deployment of pharmacy assistants (PAs) to rural health centers in Malawi.

Methods: A quasi-experimental design was used to compare access to medicines in two districts where newly trained PAs were deployed to health centers (intervention) and two districts with no trained PAs at health centers (comparison).

Assessment of the scope and practice of evaluation among medical donation programs.

Background: Medical donation programs for drugs, other medical products, training and other supportive services can improve access to essential medicines in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and provide emergency and disaster relief. The scope and extent to which medical donation programs evaluate their impact on recipients and health systems is not well documented.

Methods: We conducted a survey of the member organizations of the Partnership for Quality Medical Donations (PQMD), a global alliance of non-profit and corporate organizations, to identify evaluations conducted in conjunction with donation programs.

Impact of pharmacy worker training and deployment on access to essential medicines and health outcomes in Malawi: protocol for a cluster quasi-experimental evaluation.

Background: Access to essential medicines is core to saving lives and improving health outcomes of people worldwide, particularly in the low- and middle-income countries. Having a trained pharmacy workforce to manage the supply chain and safely dispense medicines is critical to ensuring timely access to quality pharmaceuticals and improving child health outcomes.

Methods/design: This study measures the impact of an innovative pharmacy assistant training program in the low-income country of Malawi on access to medicines and health outcomes.

Health-related quality of life and social support among women treated for abortion complications in western Uganda.

Background: While the impact of abortion complications on clinical outcomes and healthcare costs has been reported, we found no reports of their impact on Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL), nor the role of social support in moderating such outcomes. In this study, we performed an assessment of the relationship between abortion complications, HRQoL and social support among women in Uganda.

Methods: We interviewed women who were discharged after treatment for abortion complications and, as a comparison, women visiting a regional referral hospital for routine obstetric care.

Capacity building in environmental health research in India and Nepal.

The Fogarty International Training and Research Program in Environmental and Occupational Health at UC Berkeley concentrates on two major environmental health issues in the Indian subcontinent: arsenic in drinking water in West Bengal, India, and indoor air pollution in India and Nepal. Local trainees and researchers have had the opportunity to work on related research. Concerning arsenic in drinking water, projects included studies of skin lesions, pulmonary effects, reproductive outcomes, and child development, as well as mitigation approaches to reduce exposures.