ABSTRACT
Background/Aim: The world has witnessed several disease outbreaks both in the past and in recent times. Apart from loss of lives as a result of such outbreaks, there are also disruptions in health care provision and utilization due to certain measures aimed at curtailing the spread of such outbreaks. This study aimed to seek evidence from existing literature on the effects of disease outbreaks on maternal, newborn and child health care in Global South.Methods: A Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) was used and 14 literatures met the inclusion criteria Results: HIV/AIDS pandemic affected the Maternal Newborn and Child Health since increased cases of anaemia, hospital admissions, still births in HIV positive pregnant and cases of foetal anaemia reported in infants born from HIV positive pregnant women were reported. No COVID-19 pandemic related-effects on MNCH observed since no maternal deaths and transmission from infected pregnant women to their newborns reported. Indirect effects of pandemics on MNHC include reduced service delivery and demand/utilization as well as inaccessibility due to diverse reasons.Discussion: The Government should put in place palliative measures for low-income citizens; engage and sensitize women, pregnant women and their children on available health care services and mitigation measures in place to access with minimal or no risk of being infected in a secure environment.
ABSTRACT
Background & Aim: Maternal mortality ratio for sub-Saharan Africa in 2010 was estimated to be about 600 per 100,000 live births, which is approximately higher than what is obtainable in advanced countries. Tothis end, several community-based interventions have been put in place by governments and developmental partners in the region to address the situation. This review aimed to seek evidence from existing literature on the level of effectiveness of these interventions in improving maternal health outcomes in the region. The literature search process resulted in retrieval of six full text studies that were written in English, published between 2000 and 2019 and were focused on intervention based at the community level which resulted in the reduction of maternal deaths in some sub-Saharan African countries. The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) tool was used to critically review retrieved literature.Findings: Findings from the articles reviewed show that community based interventions with direct reduction on maternal mortality were implemented in Ethiopia and Nigeria and were effective since maternal mortality declined by 64% and 43.5% respectively. Other community based interventions did not directly address reduction in maternal mortality but rather addressed leading causes of maternal mortality such as home and unskilled birth attendance, low Ante-Natal Care (ANC) & Post-Natal Care (PNC) services utilization,Eclampsia, delay in accessing care and Postpartum Hemorrhage (PPH). Such interventions were implemented in Nigeria, Zambia, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo and were proved to be effective in reducing maternal mortality.Conclusions and Recommendations: Based on the literatures reviewed, it was concluded that community based interventions were effective in reducing maternal mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa. The following recommendations were made based on gaps observed in the implementation ofsome interventions. Introduction of emergency transport scheme in countries where they do not exist as despite the existence of maternity waiting homes and dedicated maternity ambulances in Zambia, many expectant mothers still had difficulty reaching the health facilities in time to deliver, Engagement and training of more health workers so as to avoid human resources challenges that may be associated with increased demand for health facility deliveries