Data for health system comparison and assessment in the African Region: A review of 63 indicators available in international databases.

Background: Achieving universal health coverage in the African region requires health systems strengthening. Assessing and comparing health systems contributes to this process, but requires internationally comparable data. The European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies has produced Health Systems in Transition (HiT) reviews in Europe, Asia, North America and the Caribbean with a standardised template. This study explores data availability in international databases for the quantitative health and health system indicators in the HiT template for the WHO African region. Methods: We identified ten databases which contained data for 40 of the 80 original HiT indicators and an additional 23 proxy indicators to fill some gaps. We then assessed data availability for the resulting 63 indicators by country and time, i.e. first/last year of data, years of data available overall and since 2000, and we explored for each indicator (1) against the country with the greatest availability overall and (2) against annual availability for all years since 2000. Results: Overall data availability was greatest in South Africa (93.0% of possible total points) and least in South Sudan (59.5%). Since 2000, Uganda (60.4%) has had the highest data availability and South Sudan (37.2%) the lowest. By topic, data availability was the highest for health financing (91.4%; median start/end date 2000/2019) and background characteristics (88.5%; 1990/2020) and was considerably lower for health system performance (54.5%; 2000/2018) and physical and human resources (44.8%; 2004/2013). Data are available for different years in different countries, and at irregular intervals, complicating time series analysis. No data are available for service provision indicators. Conclusions: Gaps in data in international databases across time, countries, and topics undermine systematic health systems comparisons and assessments, regional health systems strengthening, and efforts to achieve universal health coverage. More efforts are needed to strengthen national data collection and management and integrate national data into international databases to support cross-country assessments, peer learning, and planning. In tandem, more research is needed to understand the specific historical, cultural, administrative, and technological determinants influencing country data availability, as well as the facilitators and barriers of data sharing between countries and international databases, and the potential of new technologies to increase timeliness of data.

Digital technologies for health financing in low-income and middle-income countries: a scoping review protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Universal health coverage (UHC) is a global priority, ensuring equitable access to quality healthcare services without financial hardship. Many countries face challenges in progressing towards UHC. Health financing is pivotal for advancing UHC by raising revenues, enabling risk-sharing through pooling of funds and allocating resources. Digital technologies in the healthcare sector offer promising opportunities for health systems. In low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), digital technologies for health financing (DTHF) have gained traction, supporting these three main functions of health financing for UHC. As existing information on DTHF in LMICs is limited, our scoping review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of DTHF in LMICs. Our objectives include identifying and describing existing DTHF, exploring evaluation approaches, examining their positive and negative effects, and investigating facilitating factors and barriers to implementation at the national level. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Our scoping review follows the six stages proposed by Arksey and O'Malley, further developed by Levac et al and the Joanna Briggs Institute. The reporting adheres to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews framework. Eligibility criteria for studies reflect the three core elements of the search: (1) health financing, (2) digital technologies and (3) LMICs. We search multiple databases, including Medline via PubMed, EMBASE via Ovid, the Web of Science Core Collection, CENTRAL via Cochrane and the Global Index Medicus by the WHO. The extracted information is synthesised from both quantitative and qualitative studies. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: As our scoping review is based solely on information gathered from previously published studies, documents and publicly available scientific literature, ethical clearance is not required for its conduct. The findings are presented and discussed in a peer-reviewed article, as well as shared at conferences relevant to the topic.

Strategies to foster community engagement for epidemic and pandemic preparedness and response in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review protocol.

INTRODUCTION: The surge of public health emergencies over the past decade has disproportionately affected sub-Saharan Africa. These include outbreaks of infectious diseases such as Ebola, Monkeypox and COVID-19. Experience has shown that community participation is key to the successful implementation of infection control activities. Despite the pivotal role community engagement plays in epidemic and pandemic preparedness and response activities, strategies to engage communities have been underexplored to date, particularly in sub-Sahara Africa. Furthermore, reviews conducted have not included evidence from the latest pandemic, COVID-19. This scoping review aims to address these gaps by documenting through available literature, the strategies for community engagement for epidemic and pandemic preparedness and response in sub-Sahara Africa. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will use the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews and the methodological framework for scoping reviews from Arksey and O'Malley to guide the review. Two reviewers will develop a systematic search strategy to identify articles published from January 2014 to date. We will retrieve peer-reviewed research published in the English language from databases including Embase, EBSCO-host, PubMed, Global Health, CINAHL, Google Scholar and Web of Science. Additionally, we will search for relevant grey literature from the websites of specific international organisations, public health institutes and Government Ministries of Health in African countries. After the removal of duplicates, the two reviewers will independently screen all titles, abstracts and full articles to establish the relevance of each study for inclusion in the review. We will extract data from the included articles using a data extraction tool and present the findings in tabular form with an accompanying narrative to aid comprehension. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval is not required for the conduct of scoping reviews. We plan to disseminate the findings from this review through publications in a peer-reviewed journal, presentations at conferences and meetings with policy-makers.

Mhealth tools for community-based infectious disease surveillance in Africa: a scoping review protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Countries in the WHO's African region have found community-based surveillance useful in ensuring the effectiveness of the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response strategy. This approach encourages community participation in the surveillance system, in addition to early detection of outbreaks and other health threats. Thus, advancements in mobile health have the potential to improve community-based surveillance in Africa. The purpose of this review is to map evidence on available mhealth tools for community-based infectious disease surveillance in Africa. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The scoping review will follow a mixed-methods approach in line with the framework of Arksey and O'Malley amended by Levac and colleagues and the Joanna Briggs Institute. To retrieve published literature, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar and Google databases will be explored. Websites of organisations involved in surveillance activities across the African region will also be explored. Authors will be interested in published literature between 2000 and 2022 in any language. The primary investigator and a second author will independently review the retrieved titles according to the inclusion criteria, while a third reviewer will resolve conflicts that may arise. The review will map evidence according to the key concepts (mhealth, community-based surveillance and Africa) to inform stakeholders and mhealth designers on best practices to adopt involving mhealth approaches at the community level and mhealth tool designs, respectively. Results following the review will be presented according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: Extension for Scoping Review Guidelines. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval is not required for scoping reviews as it does not involve the use of human subjects. This review is the first phase in an overall project on digital health. The findings of the review will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and disseminated at suitable forums and conferences.

Impact of COVID-19 on health service utilisation in sub-Saharan Africa: protocol for a scoping review.

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed weaknesses in health systems of many countries, including those in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite comparatively low rates of COVID-19 admissions and deaths in sub-Saharan Africa, the pandemic still had a significant impact by disrupting health service utilisation (HSU). The aim of this scoping review is to synthesise the available evidence on HSU in sub-Saharan Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially focusing on (1) changes in HSU compared with the prepandemic period, (2) changes in HSU among particular patient groups studied and (3) identifying factors determining changes in HSU as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD AND ANALYSIS: The scoping review will be guided by the methodological framework for conducting scoping reviews developed by Arskey and O'Malley. We will identify relevant studies on HSU in sub-Saharan Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic using PubMed (MEDLINE), Embase, Scopus and Web of Science databases from 1 December, 2019 to 31 March 2023. We will search grey literature, government and organisational websites for reports and conference proceedings. Included studies will be restricted to those reported in English or French. Two reviewers will independently screen articles at the title and abstract stage for inclusion into full text screening. We will provide a general descriptive overview, tabular summaries and content analysis for the extracted data. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval is not required for the conduct of the scoping review. We will disseminate our findings via open access peer-reviewed journals and scientific presentations. Our scoping review findings will help to determine the feasibility of a subsequent systematic review (and meta-analysis) on HSU during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The effect of the capitation policy withdrawal on maternal health service provision in Ashanti Region, Ghana: an interrupted time series analysis.

BACKGROUND: Payment methods are known to influence maternal care delivery in health systems. Ghana suspended a piloted capitation provider payment system after nearly five years of implementation. This study aimed to examine the effects of Ghana's capitation policy on maternal health care provision as part of lesson learning and bridging this critical literature gap. METHODS: We used secondary data in the District Health Information Management System-2 and an interrupted time series design to assess changes in level and trend in the provision of ANC4+ (visits of pregnant women making at least the fourth antenatal care attendance per month), HB36 (number of hemoglobin tests conducted for pregnant women who are at the 36th week of gestation) and vaginal delivery in capitated facilities-CHPS (Community-based Health Planning and Services) facilities and hospitals. RESULTS: The results show that the capitation policy withdrawal was associated with a statistically significant trend increase in the provision of ANC4+ in hospitals (coefficient 70.99 p < 0. 001) but no effect in CHPS facilities. Also, the policy withdrawal resulted in contrasting effects in hospitals and CHPS in the trend of provision of Hb36; a statistically significant decline was observed in CHPS (coefficient - 7.01, p < 0.05) while that of hospitals showed a statistically significant trend increase (coefficient 32.87, p < 0.001). Finally, the policy withdrawal did not affect trends of vaginal delivery rates in both CHPS and hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: The capitation policy in Ghana appeared to have had a differential effect on the provision of maternal services in both CHPS and hospitals; repressing maternal care provision in hospitals and promoting adherence to anemia testing at term for pregnant women in CHPS facilities. Policy makers and stakeholders should consider the possible detrimental effects on maternal care provision and quality in the design and implementation of per capita primary care systems as they can potentially impact the achievement of SDG 3.

Determining the potential of mobilephone-based health interventions in Kumasi, Ghana.

BACKGROUND: Numerous reviews have reported generally positive outcomes of mobile phone-based health (mHealth) interventions in the sub-Saharan African countries, especially for people with non-communicable diseases. At the same time, the mHealth landscape is burdened by a lack of sustainability. A recently published review has identified several context factors that influence the successful implementation of mHealth. Therefore, the aim is to use these contextual factors to assess the potential for mHealth in a particular clinical setting. DESIGN: The study used a cross-sectional, descriptive design. SETTING: The clinical setting of the study was the 'Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital' in Kumasi, Ghana. PARTICIPANTS: 150 patients attending the diabetes clinic were surveyed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Context factors that influence the perceived usefulness and ease of use of mHealth. RESULTS: The survey revealed that patients at the diabetes centre had a positive attitude towards mobile phones, but also a low familiarity. Whereas patients faced several access barriers to care, most enabling resources for the successful and sustainable implementation of mHealth interventions such as access to mobile phones and electricity were available. CONCLUSIONS: There is a high potential for mHealth in the setting of the diabetes clinic in Kumasi, Ghana. FUNDING: None Declared.

Achieving Sustainability and Scale-Up of Mobile Health Noncommunicable Disease Interventions in Sub-Saharan Africa: Views of Policy Makers in Ghana.

BACKGROUND: A growing body of evidence shows that mobile health (mHealth) interventions may improve treatment and care for the rapidly rising number of patients with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). A recent realist review developed a framework highlighting the influence of context factors, including predisposing characteristics, needs, and enabling resources (PNE), for the long-term success of mHealth interventions. The views of policy makers will ultimately determine implementation and scale-up of mHealth interventions in SSA. However, their views about necessary conditions for sustainability and scale-up remain unexplored. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to understand the views of policy makers in Ghana with regard to the most important factors for successful implementation, sustainability, and scale-up of mHealth NCD interventions. METHODS: Members of the technical working group responsible for Ghana's national NCD policy were interviewed about their knowledge of and attitude toward mHealth and about the most important factors contributing to long-term intervention success. Using qualitative methods and applying a qualitative content analysis approach, answers were categorized according to the PNE framework. RESULTS: A total of 19 policy makers were contacted and 13 were interviewed. Interviewees had long-standing work experience of an average of 26 years and were actively involved in health policy making in Ghana. They were well-informed about the potential of mHealth, and they strongly supported mHealth expansion in the country. Guided by the PNE framework's categories, the policy makers ascertained which critical factors would support the successful implementation of mHealth interventions in Ghana. The policy makers mentioned many factors described in the literature as important for mHealth implementation, sustainability, and scale-up, but they focused more on enabling resources than on predisposing characteristics and need. Furthermore, they mentioned several factors that have been rather unexplored in the literature. CONCLUSIONS: The study shows that the PNE framework is useful to guide policy makers toward a more systematic assessment of context factors that support intervention implementation, sustainability, and scale-up. Furthermore, the framework was refined by adding additional factors. Policy makers may benefit from using the PNE framework at the various stages of mHealth implementation. Researchers may (and should) use the framework when investigating reasons for success (or failure) of interventions.

Self-management of diabetes in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa has increased rapidly over the last years. Self-management is a key element for the proper management, but strategies are currently lacking in this context. This systematic review aims to describe the level of self-management among persons living with type 2 diabetes mellitus in sub-Saharan Africa. METHOD: Relevant databases including PubMed, Web of Science and Google Scholar were searched up to September 2016. Studies reporting self-management behavior of people with type 2 diabetes mellitus and living in sub-Saharan Africa were included. RESULTS: A total of 550 abstracts and 109 full-text articles were assessed. Forty-three studies, mainly observational, met the inclusion criteria. The studies showed that patients rarely self-monitored their glucose levels, had low frequency/duration of physical activity, moderately adhered to recommended dietary and medication behavior, had poor level of knowledge regarding diabetes related complications and sought traditional or herbal medicines beside of their biomedical treatment. The analysis also revealed a lack of studies on psychosocial aspects. CONCLUSION: Except for the psychosocial area, there is a good amount of recent studies on self-management behavior of type 2 diabetes mellitus sub-Saharan Africa. These studies indicate that self-management in sub-Saharan Africa is poor and therefore a serious threat to the health of individuals and the health systems capacity.

A realist review of mobile phone-based health interventions for non-communicable disease management in sub-Saharan Africa.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is increasing in sub-Saharan Africa. At the same time, the use of mobile phones is rising, expanding the opportunities for the implementation of mobile phone-based health (mHealth) interventions. This review aims to understand how, why, for whom, and in what circumstances mHealth interventions against NCDs improve treatment and care in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS: Four main databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Google Scholar) and references of included articles were searched for studies reporting effects of mHealth interventions on patients with NCDs in sub-Saharan Africa. All studies published up until May 2015 were included in the review. Following a realist review approach, middle-range theories were identified and integrated into a Framework for Understanding the Contribution of mHealth Interventions to Improved Access to Care for patients with NCDs in sub-Saharan Africa. The main indicators of the framework consist of predisposing characteristics, needs, enabling resources, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use. Studies were analyzed in depth to populate the framework. RESULTS: The search identified 6137 titles for screening, of which 20 were retained for the realist synthesis. The contribution of mHealth interventions to improved treatment and care is that they facilitate (remote) access to previously unavailable (specialized) services. Three contextual factors (predisposing characteristics, needs, and enabling resources) influence if patients and providers believe that mHealth interventions are useful and easy to use. Only if they believe mHealth to be useful and easy to use, will mHealth ultimately contribute to improved access to care. The analysis of included studies showed that the most important predisposing characteristics are a positive attitude and a common language of communication. The most relevant needs are a high burden of disease and a lack of capacity of first-contact providers. Essential enabling resources are the availability of a stable communications network, accessible maintenance services, and regulatory policies. CONCLUSIONS: Policy makers and program managers should consider predisposing characteristics and needs of patients and providers as well as the necessary enabling resources prior to the introduction of an mHealth intervention. Researchers would benefit from placing greater attention on the context in which mHealth interventions are being implemented instead of focusing (too strongly) on the technical aspects of these interventions.

A systematic review of randomized controlled trials of mHealth interventions against non-communicable diseases in developing countries.

BACKGROUND: The reasons of deaths in developing countries are shifting from communicable diseases towards non-communicable diseases (NCDs). At the same time the number of health care interventions using mobile phones (mHealth interventions) is growing rapidly. We review studies assessing the health-related impacts of mHealth on NCDs in low- and middle-income countries (LAMICs). METHODS: A systematic literature search of three major databases was performed in order to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of mHealth interventions. Identified studies were reviewed concerning key characteristics of the trial and the intervention; and the relationship between intervention characteristics and outcomes was qualitatively assessed. RESULTS: The search algorithms retrieved 994 titles. 8 RCTs were included in the review, including a total of 4375 participants. Trials took place mostly in urban areas, tested different interventions (ranging from health promotion over appointment reminders and medication adjustments to clinical decision support systems), and included patients with different diseases (diabetes, asthma, hypertension). Except for one study all showed rather positive effects of mHealth interventions on reported outcome measures. Furthermore, our results suggest that particular types of mHealth interventions that were found to have positive effects on patients with communicable diseases and for improving maternal care are likely to be effective also for NCDs. CONCLUSIONS: Despite rather positive results of included RCTs, a firm conclusion about the effectiveness of mHealth interventions against NCDs is not yet possible because of the limited number of studies, the heterogeneity of evaluated mHealth interventions and the wide variety of reported outcome measures. More research is needed to better understand the specific effects of different types of mHealth interventions on different types of patients with NCDs in LaMICs.

Healthcare Professionals' Perceptions of the Benefits and Challenges of a Teleconsultation Service in the Amansie-West District of Ghana.

OBJECTIVES: A teleconsultation service was introduced in the Amansie-West District, Ghana, in 2010 linking health center-based community health nurses (CHNs) with a teleconsultation center (TCC) at the district hospital. This study aimed to assess healthcare professionals' perceptions of the benefits and challenges of this service and to identify possible areas for improvement. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Qualitative semistructured interviews were conducted with eight CHNs and three TCC healthcare professionals to find their views on the benefits, challenges, and recommendations for improving the service. The data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: Interviewees were generally positive when describing the use of the teleconsultation service. They were of the opinion that the service had improved the quality of care at health centers, thus reducing the need to refer patients to the district hospital. Practical problems, such as inadequate information provided over the phone, delays in responding to calls, and the additional workload for teleconsultation staff, were viewed as important challenges to the success of the project. Interviewees identified several possible options for improving the service through extension to other levels of the healthcare system or by adding additional functionalities to their phones. CONCLUSIONS: Teleconsultation services have the potential to improve quality of care in rural communities. However, practical problems in the operation of the service have to be taken seriously as they threaten sustainability of the intervention. Adequate training in phone-based clinical reporting appears to be essential. Teleconsultation staff should be compensated for additional workload through a reduction of other work-related tasks.