Optimized supply chain model reduces health system costs in DRC.

Objective: In 2017, an optimized immunization supply chain (iSC) model was implemented in Equateur Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The optimized model aimed to address iSC challenges and featured direct deliveries to service delivery points (SDPs), longer replenishment intervals and increased cold chain capacity. This assessment examines iSC costs before and 5 months after implementing the optimized model.

Prioritising the role of community health workers in the COVID-19 response.

COVID-19 disproportionately affects the poor and vulnerable. Community health workers are poised to play a pivotal role in fighting the pandemic, especially in countries with less resilient health systems. Drawing from practitioner expertise across four WHO regions, this article outlines the targeted actions needed at different stages of the pandemic to achieve the following goals: (1) PROTECT healthcare workers, (2) INTERRUPT the virus, (3) MAINTAIN existing healthcare services while surging their capacity, and (4) SHIELD the most vulnerable from socioeconomic shocks.

The economic and operational value of using drones to transport vaccines.

Background: Immunization programs in low and middle income countries (LMICs) face numerous challenges in getting life-saving vaccines to the people who need them. As unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology has progressed in recent years, potential use cases for UAVs have proliferated due to their ability to traverse difficult terrains, reduce labor, and replace fleets of vehicles that require costly maintenance.

Methods: Using a HERMES-generated simulation model, we performed sensitivity analyses to assess the impact of using an unmanned aerial system (UAS) for routine vaccine distribution under a range of circumstances reflecting variations in geography, population, road conditions, and vaccine schedules.

Scale Matters: A Cost-Outcome Analysis of an m-Health Intervention in Malawi.

Background: The primary objectives of this study are to determine cost per user and cost per contact with users of a mobile health (m-health) intervention. The secondary objectives are to map costs to changes in maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) and to estimate costs of alternate implementation and usage scenarios.

Materials And Methods: A base cost model, constructed from recurrent costs and selected capital costs, was used to estimate average cost per user and per contact of an m-health intervention.

SMS versus voice messaging to deliver MNCH communication in rural Malawi: assessment of delivery success and user experience.

Objective: To determine the difference in delivery success of health messages delivered through pushed SMS, pushed voice messages sent to personal phones, and voice messages retrieved from a community phone ("retrieved voice messaging"), as well as the difference in quality of the user experience.

Methods: We analyzed the project's electronic monitoring data between September 2011 and June 2013, including demographics, enrollment data, and messages sent and successfully delivered. We also collected and analyzed information from quarterly phone-based surveys with users to assess quality of the user experience, including acceptability, comprehension, new information learned, and reported behavior change.

Satisfaction, motivation, and intent to stay among Ugandan physicians: a survey from 18 national hospitals.

Objective: Uganda faces a colossal shortages of human resources for health. Previous literature has largely focused on those who leave. This paper reports on a study of physicians working in 18 public and private facilities in Uganda as part of a larger study of more than 641 hospital-based health workers in Uganda.