Implementation of community case management of malaria in malaria endemic counties of western Kenya: are community health volunteers up to the task in diagnosing malaria?

Background: Community case management of malaria (CCMm) is an equity-focused strategy that complements and extends the reach of health services by providing timely and effective management of malaria to populations with limited access to facility-based healthcare. In Kenya, CCMm involves the use of malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) and treatment of confirmed uncomplicated malaria cases with artemether lumefantrine (AL) by community health volunteers (CHVs). The test positivity rate (TPR) from CCMm reports collected by the Ministry of Health in 2018 was two-fold compared to facility-based reports for the same period.

Optimizing PMTCT efforts by repeat HIV testing during antenatal and perinatal care in resource-limited settings: A longitudinal assessment of HIV seroconversion.

Background: Mother to child transmission (MTCT) of HIV remains a challenge in resource-limited settings. Central to elimination of MTCT is effective Provider Initiated HIV Counseling and Testing (PICT). Research has shown that conducting PICT only at the initial antenatal care (ANC) visit fails to benefit pregnant women who seroconvert later in their pregnancy.

The impact of "male clinics" on health-seeking behaviors of adult men in rural Kenya.

Background: In most parts of the world, men access health services less frequently than women, and this trend is unrelated to differences in need for services. While male involvement in healthcare as partners or fathers has been extensively studied, less is known about the health-seeking behavior of men as clients themselves. This interventional research study aimed to determine how the introduction of male-friendly clinics impacted male care-seeking behavior and to describe the reasons for accessing services among men in rural Kenya.

Temporal variation in confirmed diagnosis of fever-related malarial cases among children under-5 years by community health workers and in health facilities between years 2013 and 2015 in Siaya County, Kenya.

Background: Malaria case management continues to experience dynamic changes. Building community capacity is instrumental in both prevention and treatment of malaria. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends utilization of well-trained and supervised community health workers (CHWs) to reduce the burden of malaria deaths among children under-5 years of age in Africa.