Newly implemented community CD4 service in Tshwaragano, Northern Cape province, South Africa, positively impacts result turn-around time

Background: The Northern Cape is South Africa's largest province with an HIV prevalence of 7.1% versus a 13.5% national prevalence. CD4 testing is provided at three of five National Health Laboratory Service district laboratories, each covering a 250 km precinct radius. Districts without a local service report prolonged CD4 turn-around times (TAT).Objective: This study documented the impact of a new CD4 laboratory in Tshwaragano in the remote John Taolo Gaetsewe district of the Northern Cape, South Africa.Methods: CD4 test volumes and TAT (total, pre-analytical, analytical, and post-analytical) data for the Northern Cape province were extracted for June 2018 to October 2019. The percentage of CD4 results within the stipulated 40-h TAT cut-off and the median and 75th percentiles of all TAT parameters were calculated. Pre-implementation, samples collected at Tshwaragano were referred to Kimberley or Upington, Northern Cape, South Africa.Results: Pre-implementation, 95.4% of samples at Tshwaragano were referred to Kimberley for CD4 testing (36.3% of Kimberley's test volumes). Only 7.5% of Tshwaragano's total samples were referred post-implementation. The Tshwaragano laboratory's CD4 median total TAT decreased from 24.7 h pre-implementation to 12 h post-implementation (p = 0.003), with >95.0% of results reported within 40 h. The Kimberley laboratory workload decreased by 29.0%, and testing time significantly decreased from 10 h to 4.3 h.Conclusion: The new Tshwaragano CD4 service significantly decreased local TAT. Upgrading existing community laboratories to include CD4 testing can alleviate provincial service load and improve local access, TAT and efficiency in the centralised reference laboratory

Family planning and primary health care by traditional birth attendants: final report; operations research project

The operations research pilot project was implemented in the Dangbe District of the Greater Accra Region. The effort was expanded into a national programme in 1989 with a plan to proceed on a region by region basis starting in Volta Region. This report summarises the training-related activities undertaken within the TBA programme and the results of operations research studies conducted in Dangbe District and Volta Region

Accra Market Operations Research Project : final report June 1990

In February 1989; the National Secretariat of the National Council on Women and Development (NCWD) initiated a pilot project to bring family planning services to the Accra markets. This was an operations research project conducted in co-operation with the Center for Population and Family Health of Columbia University; New York with funds provided by USAID. The objectives of the project were to test the acceptability of sales of contraceptives by the traders in the traditional markets; to determine needs of training of market traders as sources of information and commodities and to test a system for reliable supply of the participating traders

Problems affecting community participation in health related programmes in Ghana

The Primary Health Care Programme in Ghana over the years has made several efforts to get communities to be actively involved in the health care programmes. These efforts; however; have not succeeded in mobilizing communities to effectively participate in health programmes. Weak community involvement for instance; has been identified as a major impediment to Traditional Birth Attendant programmes and other health related programmes. There is the urgent need to address this issue especially if health for all by the year 2000 is to be achieved

The role of district assemblies in intersectoral collaboration for health promotion and development in Ghana

Since the promulgation of the PNDC decentralization policy and the subsequent establishment of the District Assemblies; no in-depth study has been conducted to justify the strengths and/or weaknesses of this notion of improving PHC implementation through the activities of the District Assemblies. A basic concern of this study was to find out activities which the District Assemblies and their sub-structures especially the Town Councils; Village Development Committees or Unit Committees and the district decentralized departments have initiated; completed and/or are still being initiated in support of general mobilization for community health