Maternal Service Coverage and Its Relationship To Health Information System Performance: A Linked Facility and Population-Based Survey in Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Studies in Ethiopia show an increasing trend in maternal health service use, such as having at least 4 visits of antenatal care (ANC4+) and skilled birth attendance (SBA). Improving the health information system (HIS) is an intervention that can improve service uptake and quality. We conducted a baseline study to measure current maternal service coverage, HIS performance status, and their relationship. METHODS: We conducted a linked health facility-level and population-based survey from September 2020 to October 2020. The study covers all regions of Ethiopia. For the population-based survey, 3,016 mothers were included. Overall, 81 health posts, 71 health centers, and 15 hospitals were selected for the facility survey. A two-stage sampling procedure was applied to select target households. The study used modified Performance of Routine Information System Management tools for the facility survey and a structured questionnaire for the household survey. Multilevel logistic regression was employed to account for clustering and control for likely confounders. RESULTS: Maternal service indicators, ANC4+ visits (54.0%), SBA (75.8%), postnatal care (70.6%), and cesarean delivery (9%) showed good service uptake. All data quality and use indicators showed lower performance compared to the national target of 90%. Maternal education and higher levels of wealth index were significantly and positively associated with all selected maternal service indicators. Longer distance from health facilities was significantly and negatively associated with SBA and the maternal care composite indicator. Among HIS-related indicators, availability of electronic HIS tools was significantly associated with maternal care composite indicator and ANC4+. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal service indicators showed promising performance. However, current HIS performance is suboptimal. Both service user and HIS-related factors were associated with maternal service uptake. Conducting similar research outside of the project sites will be helpful to have a wider understanding and better coverage.

Current and Future Needs for Human Resources for Ethiopia's National Health Information System: Survey and Forecasting Study.

BACKGROUND: Strengthening the national health information system is one of Ethiopia's priority transformation agendas. A well-trained and competent workforce is the essential ingredient to a strong health information system. However, this workforce has neither been quantified nor characterized well, and there is no roadmap of required human resources to enhance the national health information system. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine the current state of the health information system workforce and to forecast the human resources needed for the health information system by 2030. METHODS: We conducted a survey to estimate the current number of individuals employed in the health information system unit and the turnover rate. Document review and key-informant interviews were used to collect current human resources and available health information system position data from 110 institutions, including the Ministry of Health, federal agencies, regional health bureaus, zonal health departments, district health offices, and health facilities. The Delphi technique was used to forecast human resources required for the health information system in the next ten years: 3 rounds of workshops with experts from the Ministry of Health, universities, agencies, and regional health bureaus were held. In the first expert meeting, we set criteria, which was followed by expert suggestions and feedback. RESULTS: As of April 2020, there were 10,344 health information system professionals working in the governmental health system. Nearly 95% (20/21) of district health offices and 86.7% (26/30) of health centers reported that the current number of health information system positions was inadequate. In the period from June 2015 to June 2019, health information technicians had high turnover (48/244, 19.7%) at all levels of the health system. In the next ten years, we estimate that 50,656 health information system professionals will be needed to effectively implement the Ethiopia's national health information system. CONCLUSIONS: Current health information system-related staffing levels were found to be inadequate. To meet the estimated need of 50,656 multidisciplinary health information system professionals by 2030, the Ministry of Health and regional health bureaus, in collaboration with partners and academic institutions, need to work on retaining existing and training additional health information system professionals.

Contribution of health information system to child immunization services in Ethiopia: baseline study of 33 woredas.

BACKGROUND: Monitoring progress using appropriate data, with a functional health information system (HIS), believed to be very crucial for success of immunization program. Baseline study was conducted to assess, immunization service coverage, HIS performance status, and their relationships. METHODS: A linked facility and population-based survey was conducted concurrently from September 21 to October 15, 2020. A total of 3016 households were reached to interview mothers having children aged 12-23 months in the 33 woredas. Overall 81 health posts, 71 health centers, and 15 hospitals were selected for the facility survey. The study used modified Performance of Routine Information System Management (PRISM) tools for the facility survey and a structured questionnaire for the household survey. Using STATA 14.0 software, mixed effect modeling was employed to control the effect of clustering and potential confounders. RESULTS: The proportion of fully immunized children was 58%. Coverages of measles (at least one dose) and penta3 immunization (received all 3 doses of DPT-HepB-Hib vaccine) were 86%, and 85% respectively. About 27% of mothers had missed their child immunization card mainly due to misplacing or lost. Except 'source document completeness' (85%) and 'use of data for planning and target setting' (84%), other data quality and use indicators like 'data accuracy' (63%), 'data use for performance review and evidence-based decision making' (50%), and 'data use to produce analytical reports' (31%) show low performance. The odds of fully immunized children is 37% lower in Muslims compared with Orthodox Christians (AOR, 0.63; 95%CI: 0.46, 0.88), higher by 42% with father's secondary education compared with no education (AOR, 1.42; 95%CI: 1.05, 1.92), and highest wealth quintile compared with lowest quintile (AOR, 2.49; 95%CI: 1.54, 4.03). For each additional score of HIS infrastructure availability, the odds of fully immunized children increased by 22% (AOR:1.22; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.44). CONCLUSIONS: Child immunization coverages are promising However, the current HIS performance is suboptimal. Both service user and HIS related factors are important for immunization service uptake. Documenting required information and advising mothers to keep immunization cards by health workers, and working to have functional HIS are recommended.

Strengthening the national health information system through a capacity-building and mentorship partnership (CBMP) programme: a health system and university partnership initiative in Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: A strong health information system (HIS) is one of the essential building blocks for a resilient health system. The Ministry of Health (MOH) of Ethiopia is working on different initiatives to strengthen the national HIS. Among these is the Capacity-Building and Mentorship Partnership (CBMP) Programme in collaboration with public universities in Ethiopia since November 2017. This study aims to evaluate the outcomes and share experiences of the country in working with universities to strengthen the national HIS. METHODS: The study employed a mixed-methods approach that included 247 health organizations (health offices and facilities) of CBMP-implementing woredas (districts) and 23 key informant interviews. The programme focused on capacity-building and mentoring facilities and woreda health offices. The status of HIS was measured using a connected woreda checklist before and after the intervention. The checklist consists of items related to HIS infrastructure, data quality and administrative use. The organizations were classified as emerging, candidate or model based on the score. The findings were triangulated with qualitative data collected through key informant interviews. RESULTS: The results showed that the overall score of the HIS implementation was 46.3 before and 74.2 after implementation of the programme. The proportion of model organizations increased from 1.2% before to 31.8% after the programme implementation. The health system-university partnership has provided an opportunity for higher education institutions to understand the health system and tune their curricula to address real-world challenges. The partnership brought opportunities to conduct and produce local- and national-level evidence to improve the HIS. Weak ownership, poor responsiveness and poor perceptions of the programme were mentioned as major challenges in programme implementation. CONCLUSION: The overall HIS has shown substantial progress in CBMP implementation woredas. A number of facilities became models in a short period of time after the implementation of the programme. The health system-university partnership was found to be a promising approach to improve the national HIS and to share the on-the-ground experiences with the university academicians. However, weak ownership and poor responsiveness to feedback were the major challenges identified as needing more attention in future programme implementation.

Level and contributing factors of health data quality and information use in two districts in Northwest Ethiopia: social-ecological perspective.

BACKGROUND: The health management information system has been implemented at all levels of healthcare delivery to ensure quality data production and information use in Ethiopia. Including the capacity-building activities and provision of infrastructure, various efforts have been made to improve the production and use of quality health data though the result is still unsatisfactory. This study aimed to examine the quality of health data and use in Wogera and Tach-Armacheho districts and understand its barriers and facilitators. METHODS: The study utilized a mixed-method; for the quantitative approach, institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the quality of health data and use by 95 departments in the two districts. The qualitative approach involved 16 in-depth interviewees from Wogera district. A descriptive Phenomenological design was used to explore factors influencing the quality and use of health data. The quantitative data were expressed descriptively with tables, graphs, and percent whereas the qualitative data were analyzed with content analysis guided by the social-ecological model framework. RESULT: The average levels of information use for Wogera and Tach-Armacheho districts were estimated at 29 and 35.9, respectively. The overall average level of accuracy of reports for six different health services in the HCs of Wogera and Tach Armacheho districts were 0.95 and 0.86, respectively. The qualitatively identified factors that influence the production and use of quality health data include valuing data, getting staff training, being a patriotic staff, and getting supportive supervision, were identified from individual-level characteristics; similarly, coaching, supportive supervision, and peer-to-peer learning from relational/interpersonal level characteristics, and organizational culture, incentive, infrastructure establishing accountability, and staff turnover, were identified from organizational level characteristics. CONCLUSION: The quality of data and routine information utilization was low and were influenced by a number of actors presented in and around the health system including individual, interpersonal, and organizational characteristics. Incentive affects data quality and information use directly or indirectly after modifying factors at all levels of the social-ecological model. Therefore, interventions should gear towards addressing multiple social-ecological factors of the health system concomitantly or intervene on incentive which has a multifaceted effect on the outcome.

National disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for 257 diseases and injuries in Ethiopia, 1990-2015: findings from the global burden of disease study 2015.

BACKGROUND: Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) provide a summary measure of health and can be a critical input to guide health systems, investments, and priority-setting in Ethiopia. We aimed to determine the leading causes of premature mortality and disability using DALYs and describe the relative burden of disease and injuries in Ethiopia. METHODS: We used results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015 (GBD 2015) for non-fatal disease burden, cause-specific mortality, and all-cause mortality to derive age-standardized DALYs by sex for Ethiopia for each year. We calculated DALYs by summing years of life lost due to premature mortality (YLLs) and years lived with disability (YLDs) for each age group and sex. Causes of death by age, sex, and year were measured mainly using Causes of Death Ensemble modeling. To estimate YLDs, a Bayesian meta-regression method was used. We reported DALY rates per 100,000 for communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional (CMNN) disorders, non-communicable diseases, and injuries, with 95% uncertainty intervals (UI) for Ethiopia. RESULTS: Non-communicable diseases caused 23,118.1 (95% UI, 17,124.4-30,579.6), CMNN disorders resulted in 20,200.7 (95% UI, 16,532.2-24,917.9), and injuries caused 3781 (95% UI, 2642.9-5500.6) age-standardized DALYs per 100,000 in Ethiopia in 2015. Lower respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, and tuberculosis were the top three leading causes of DALYs in 2015, accounting for 2998 (95% UI, 2173.7-4029), 2592.5 (95% UI, 1850.7-3495.1), and 2562.9 (95% UI, 1466.1-4220.7) DALYs per 100,000, respectively. Ischemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease were the fourth and fifth leading causes of age-standardized DALYs, with rates of 2535.7 (95% UI, 1603.7-3843.2) and 2159.9 (95% UI, 1369.7-3216.3) per 100,000, respectively. The following causes showed a reduction of 60% or more over the last 25 years: lower respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, tuberculosis, neonatal encephalopathy, preterm birth complications, meningitis, malaria, protein-energy malnutrition, iron-deficiency anemia, measles, war and legal intervention, and maternal hemorrhage. CONCLUSIONS: Ethiopia has been successful in reducing age-standardized DALYs related to most communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional deficiency diseases in the last 25 years, causing a major ranking shift to types of non-communicable disease. Lower respiratory infections, diarrheal disease, and tuberculosis continue to be leading causes of premature death, despite major declines in burden. Non-communicable diseases also showed reductions as premature mortality declined; however, disability outcomes for these causes did not show declines. Recently developed non-communicable disease strategies may need to be amended to focus on cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and major depressive disorders. Increasing trends of disabilities due to neonatal encephalopathy, preterm birth complications, and neonatal disorders should be emphasized in the national newborn survival strategy. Generating quality data should be a priority through the development of new initiatives such as vital events registration, surveillance programs, and surveys to address gaps in data. Measuring disease burden at subnational regional state levels and identifying variations with urban and rural population health should be conducted to support health policy in Ethiopia.

National mortality burden due to communicable, non-communicable, and other diseases in Ethiopia, 1990-2015: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015.

BACKGROUND: Ethiopia lacks a complete vital registration system that would assist in measuring disease burden and risk factors. We used the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015 (GBD 2015) estimates to describe the mortality burden from communicable, non-communicable, and other diseases in Ethiopia over the last 25 years. METHODS: GBD 2015 mainly used cause of death ensemble modeling to measure causes of death by age, sex, and year for 195 countries. We report numbers of deaths and rates of years of life lost (YLL) for communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional (CMNN) disorders, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and injuries with 95% uncertainty intervals (UI) for Ethiopia from 1990 to 2015. RESULTS: CMNN causes of death have declined by 65% in the last two-and-a-half decades. Injury-related causes of death have also decreased by 70%. Deaths due to NCDs declined by 37% during the same period. Ethiopia showed a faster decline in the burden of four out of the five leading causes of age-standardized premature mortality rates when compared to the overall sub-Saharan African region and the Eastern sub-Saharan African region: lower respiratory infections, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and diarrheal diseases; however, the same could not be said for ischemic heart disease and other NCDs. Non-communicable diseases, together, were the leading causes of age-standardized mortality rates, whereas CMNN diseases were leading causes of premature mortality in 2015. Although lower respiratory infections, tuberculosis, and diarrheal disease were the leading causes of age-standardized death rates, they showed major declines from 1990 to 2015. Neonatal encephalopathy, iron-deficiency anemia, protein-energy malnutrition, and preterm birth complications also showed more than a 50% reduction in burden. HIV/AIDS-related deaths have also decreased by 70% since 2005. Ischemic heart disease, hemorrhagic stroke, and ischemic stroke were among the top causes of premature mortality and age-standardized death rates in Ethiopia in 2015. CONCLUSIONS: Ethiopia has been successful in reducing deaths related to communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional deficiency diseases and injuries by 65%, despite unacceptably high maternal and neonatal mortality rates. However, the country's performance regarding non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and chronic respiratory disease, was minimal, causing these diseases to join the leading causes of premature mortality and death rates in 2015. While the country is progressing toward universal health coverage, prevention and control strategies in Ethiopia should consider the double burden of common infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases: lower respiratory infections, diarrhea, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes. Prevention and control strategies should also pay special attention to the leading causes of premature mortality and death rates caused by non-communicable diseases: cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes. Measuring further progress requires a data revolution in generating, managing, analyzing, and using data for decision-making and the creation of a full vital registration system in the country.

Trends, causes, and risk factors of mortality among children under 5 in Ethiopia, 1990-2013: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013.

BACKGROUND: Ethiopia has made remarkable progress in reducing child mortality over the last two decades. However, the under-5 mortality rate in Ethiopia is still higher than the under-5 mortality rates of several low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). On the other hand, the patterns and causes of child mortality have not been well investigated in Ethiopia. The objective of this study was to investigate the mortality trend, causes of death, and risk factors among children under 5 in Ethiopia during 1990-2013. METHODS: We used Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2013 data. Spatiotemporal Gaussian Process Regression (GPR) was applied to generate best estimates of child mortality with 95% uncertainty intervals (UI). Causes of death by age groups, sex, and year were measured using Cause of Death Ensemble modeling (CODEm). For estimation of HIV/AIDS mortality rate, the modified UNAIDS EPP-SPECTRUM suite model was used. RESULTS: Between 1990 and 2013 the under-5 mortality rate declined from 203.9 deaths/1000 live births to 74.4 deaths/1000 live births with an annual rate of change of 4.6%, yielding a total reduction of 64%. Similarly, child (1-4 years), post-neonatal, and neonatal mortality rates declined by 75%, 64%, and 52%, respectively, between 1990 and 2013. Lower respiratory tract infection (LRI), diarrheal diseases, and neonatal syndromes (preterm birth complications, neonatal encephalopathy, neonatal sepsis, and other neonatal disorders) accounted for 54% of the total under-5 deaths in 2013. Under-5 mortality rates due to measles, diarrhea, malaria, protein-energy malnutrition, and iron-deficiency anemia declined by more than two-thirds between 1990 and 2013. Among the causes of under-5 deaths, neonatal syndromes such as sepsis, preterm birth complications, and birth asphyxia ranked third to fifth in 2013. Of all risk-attributable deaths in 1990, 25% of the total under-5 deaths (112,288/435,962) and 48% (112,288/232,199) of the deaths due to diarrhea, LRI, and other common infections were attributable to childhood wasting. Similarly, 19% (43,759/229,333) of the total under-5 deaths and 45% (43,759/97,963) of the deaths due to diarrhea and LRI were attributable to wasting in 2013. Of the total diarrheal disease- and LRI-related deaths (n = 97,963) in 2013, 59% (57,923/97,963) of them were attributable to unsafe water supply, unsafe sanitation, household air pollution, and no handwashing with soap. CONCLUSIONS: LRI, diarrheal diseases, and neonatal syndromes remain the major causes of under-5 deaths in Ethiopia. These findings call for better-integrated newborn and child survival interventions focusing on the main risk factors.