Determinants of neonatal mortality among hospitalised neonates with sepsis at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre, Malawi: A mixed-methods study.

Neonatal sepsis-related deaths remain a significant health problem contributing to higher morbidity and mortality rates, particularly in low resource settings, such as Malawi. However, there is limited information to associate risk factors and health system factors with mortality. This study investigated the risk factors associated with mortality and explored health system factors contributing to deaths among neonates with sepsis at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH), Blantyre, Malawi.

Avoid equipment graveyards: rigorous process to improve identification and procurement of effective, affordable, and usable newborn devices in low-resource hospital settings.

Background: Millions of newborns die annually from preventable causes, with the highest rates occurring in Africa. Reducing neonatal mortality requires investment to scale hospital care, which includes providing hospitals with appropriate technology to care for small and sick newborns. Expensive medical devices designed for high-resource settings often fail to withstand conditions in low-resource hospitals, including humidity, dust, frequent user turnover, complex maintenance, lack of stable power, or difficulty sourcing expensive consumables.

Design and field evaluation of a lateral flow cassette device for point-of-care bilirubin measurement.

Neonatal jaundice is an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and neonates born in low and middle-income countries bear a disproportionate burden. We previously developed a low-cost, point-of-care system to measure total serum bilirubin (TSB) in neonates. This device was effective at detecting and monitoring jaundice; however, the disposable strips were difficult to produce at scale.