Kathryn Falb, Sheree Kullenberg, Christina T Yuan, Alexandra Blackwell
{"title":"Five recommendations to advance implementation science for humanitarian settings: the next frontier of humanitarian research.","authors":"Kathryn Falb, Sheree Kullenberg, Christina T Yuan, Alexandra Blackwell","doi":"10.1186/s13031-024-00597-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13031-024-00597-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Challenges in delivering evidence-based programming in humanitarian crises require new strategies to enhance implementation science for better decision-making. A recent scoping review highlights the scarcity of peer-reviewed studies on implementation in conflict zones. In this commentary, we build on this scoping review and make five recommendations for advancing implementation science for humanitarian settings. These include (1) expanding existing frameworks and tailoring them to humanitarian dynamics, (2) utilizing hybrid study designs for effectiveness-implementation studies, (3) testing implementation strategies, (4) leveraging recent methodological advancements in social and data science, and (5) enhancing training and community engagement. These approaches aim to address gaps in understanding intervention effectiveness, scale, sustainability, and equity in humanitarian settings. Integrating implementation science into humanitarian research is essential for informed decision-making and improving outcomes for affected populations.</p>","PeriodicalId":54287,"journal":{"name":"Conflict and Health","volume":"18 1","pages":"41"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2024-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11134721/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141161629","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The impact of armed conflicts on HIV treatment outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.","authors":"Hafte Kahsay Kebede, Hailay Abrha Gesesew, Amanuel Tesfay Gebremedhin, Paul Ward","doi":"10.1186/s13031-024-00591-8","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s13031-024-00591-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Despite the fact that Sub-Saharan Africa bears a disproportionate burden of armed conflicts and HIV infection, there has been inadequate synthesis of the impact of armed conflict on HIV treatment outcomes. We summarized the available evidence on the impact of armed conflicts on HIV treatment outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa from 2002 to 2022.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We searched four databases; MEDLINE, PubMed, CINHAL, and Scopus. We also explored grey literature sources and reviewed the bibliographies of all articles to identify any additional relevant studies. We included quantitative studies published in English from January 1, 2002 to December 30, 2022 that reported on HIV treatment outcomes for patients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) in conflict and post-conflict areas, IDP centers, or refugee camps, and reported on their treatment outcomes from sub-Saharan Africa. Studies published in languages other than English, reporting on non-ART patients and reporting on current or former military populations were excluded. We used EndNote X9 and Covidence to remove duplicates, extracted data using JBI-MAStARI, assessed risk of bias using AHRQ criteria, reported results using PRISMA checklist, and determined Statistical heterogeneity using Cochran Q test and Higgins I<sup>2</sup>, R- and RevMan-5 software were used for meta-analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The review included 16 studies with participant numbers ranging from 102 to 2572. Lost To Follow-Up (LTFU) percentages varied between 5.4% and 43.5%, virologic non-suppression rates ranged from 25 to 33%, adherence rates were over 88%, and mortality rates were between 4.2% and 13%. A pooled meta-analysis of virologic non-suppression rates from active conflict settings revealed a non-suppression rate of 30% (0.30 (0.26-0.33), I2 = 0.00%, p = 0.000). In contrast, a pooled meta-analysis of predictors of loss to follow-up (LTFU) from post-conflict settings identified a higher odds ratio for females compared to males (1.51 (1.05, 2.17), I2 = 0%, p = 0.03).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The review highlights a lack of research on the relationship between armed conflicts and HIV care outcomes in SSA. The available documents lack quality of designs and data sources, and the depth and diversity of subjects covered.</p>","PeriodicalId":54287,"journal":{"name":"Conflict and Health","volume":"18 1","pages":"40"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2024-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11100029/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140960478","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mohamed Mostafa Tahoun, Mohammad Nadir Sahak, Muzhgan Habibi, Mohamad Jamaluddin Ahadi, Bahara Rasoly, Sabrina Shivji, Ahmed Taha Aboushady, Pierre Nabeth, Mahmoud Sadek, Alaa Abouzeid
{"title":"Strengthening event-based surveillance (EBS): a case study from Afghanistan","authors":"Mohamed Mostafa Tahoun, Mohammad Nadir Sahak, Muzhgan Habibi, Mohamad Jamaluddin Ahadi, Bahara Rasoly, Sabrina Shivji, Ahmed Taha Aboushady, Pierre Nabeth, Mahmoud Sadek, Alaa Abouzeid","doi":"10.1186/s13031-024-00598-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13031-024-00598-1","url":null,"abstract":"The sustained instability in Afghanistan, along with ongoing disease outbreaks and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, has significantly affected the country. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the country’s detection and response capacities faced challenges. Case identification was done in all health facilities from primary to tertiary levels but neglected cases at the community level, resulting in undetected and uncontrolled transmission from communities. This emphasizes a missed opportunity for early detection that Event-Based Surveillance (EBS) could have facilitated. Therefore, Afghanistan planned to strengthen the EBS component of the national public health surveillance system to enhance the capacity for the rapid detection and response to infectious disease outbreaks, including COVID-19 and other emerging diseases. This effort was undertaken to promptly mitigate the impact of such outbreaks. We conducted a landscape assessment of Afghanistan’s public health surveillance system to identify the best way to enhance EBS, and then we crafted an implementation work plan. The work plan included the following steps: establishing an EBS multisectoral coordination and working group, identifying EBS information sources, prioritizing public health events of importance, defining signals, establishing reporting mechanisms, and developing standard operating procedures and training guides. EBS is currently being piloted in seven provinces in Afghanistan. The lessons learned from the pilot phase will support its overall expansion throughout the country.","PeriodicalId":54287,"journal":{"name":"Conflict and Health","volume":"36 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2024-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140833380","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Susannah H. Mayhew, Kirkley Doyle, Lawrence S. Babawo, Esther Mokuwa, Hana Rohan, Melisa Martinez-Alverez, Josephine Borghi, Catherine Pitt
{"title":"Did aid to the Ebola crisis divert aid for reproductive, maternal, and newborn health? An analysis of donor-reported data in Sierra Leone","authors":"Susannah H. Mayhew, Kirkley Doyle, Lawrence S. Babawo, Esther Mokuwa, Hana Rohan, Melisa Martinez-Alverez, Josephine Borghi, Catherine Pitt","doi":"10.1186/s13031-024-00589-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13031-024-00589-2","url":null,"abstract":"Infectious disease outbreaks like Ebola and Covid-19 are increasing in frequency. They may harm reproductive, maternal and newborn health (RMNH) directly and indirectly. Sierra Leone experienced a sharp deterioration of RMNH during the 2014–16 Ebola epidemic. One possible explanation is that donor funding may have been diverted away from RMNH to the Ebola response. We analysed donor-reported data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)’s Creditor Reported System (CRS) data for Sierra Leone before, during and after the 2014–16 Ebola epidemic to understand whether aid flows for Ebola displaced aid for RMNH. We estimated aid for Ebola using key term searches and manual review of CRS records. We estimated aid for RMNH by applying the Muskoka-2 algorithm to the CRS and analysing CRS purpose codes. We find substantial increases in aid to Sierra Leone (from $484 million in 2013 to $1 billion at the height of the epidemic in 2015), most of which was earmarked for the Ebola response. Overall, Ebola aid was additional to RMNH funding. RMNH aid was sustained during the epidemic (at $42 m per year) and peaked immediately after (at $77 m in 2016). There is some evidence of a small displacement of RMNH aid from the UK during the period when its Ebola funding increased. Modest changes to RMNH donor aid patterns are insufficient to explain the severe decline in RMNH indicators recorded during the outbreak. Our findings therefore suggest the need for substantial increases in routine aid to ensure that basic RMNH services and infrastructure are strong before an epidemic occurs, as well as increased aid for RMNH during epidemics like Ebola and Covid-19, if reproductive, maternal and newborn healthcare is to be maintained at pre-epidemic levels.","PeriodicalId":54287,"journal":{"name":"Conflict and Health","volume":"49 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2024-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140798075","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Martina Valente, Alessandro Lamberti-Castronuovo, Francesca Bocchini, Yasir Shafiq, Monica Trentin, Michela Paschetto, Ghulam Ali Bahdori, Jan Agha Khadem, Mirza Sayed Nadeem, Mohammand Hanif Patmal, Mohammad Tawoos Alizai, Francesco Barone-Adesi, Rossella Miccio, Luca Ragazzoni
{"title":"Access to care in Afghanistan after august 2021: a cross-sectional study exploring Afghans’ perspectives in 10 provinces","authors":"Martina Valente, Alessandro Lamberti-Castronuovo, Francesca Bocchini, Yasir Shafiq, Monica Trentin, Michela Paschetto, Ghulam Ali Bahdori, Jan Agha Khadem, Mirza Sayed Nadeem, Mohammand Hanif Patmal, Mohammad Tawoos Alizai, Francesco Barone-Adesi, Rossella Miccio, Luca Ragazzoni","doi":"10.1186/s13031-024-00594-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13031-024-00594-5","url":null,"abstract":"The Taliban takeover in August 2021 ended a decades-long conflict in Afghanistan. Yet, along with improved security, there have been collateral changes, such as the exacerbation of the economic crisis and brain drain. Although these changes have altered the lives of Afghans in many ways, it is unclear whether they have affected access to care. This study aimed to analyse Afghans’ access to care and how this access has changed after August 2021. The study relied on the collaboration with the non-governmental organisation EMERGENCY, running a network of three hospitals and 41 First Aid Posts in 10 Afghan provinces. A 67-item questionnaire about access to care changes after August 2021 was developed and disseminated at EMERGENCY facilities. Ordinal logistic regression was used to evaluate whether access to care changes were associated with participants’ characteristics. In total, 1807 valid responses were returned. Most respondents (54.34%) reported improved security when visiting healthcare facilities, while the ability to reach facilities has remained stable for the majority of them (50.28%). Care is less affordable for the majority of respondents (45.82%). Female respondents, those who are unmarried and not engaged, and patients in the Panjshir province were less likely to perceive improvements in access to care. Findings outline which dimensions of access to care need resource allocation. The inability to pay for care is the most relevant barrier to access care after August 2021 and must therefore be prioritised. Women and people from the Panjshir province may require ad hoc interventions to improve their access to care.","PeriodicalId":54287,"journal":{"name":"Conflict and Health","volume":"34 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2024-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140635214","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Samuel T. Boland, Alexandria Nylen, Madison Bates, Maria Carinnes Alejandria, Rob Grace, Zein Tayyeb, Adam C. Levine
{"title":"Armed actor interventions in humanitarian and public health crises: examining perspectives of crisis-affected community members","authors":"Samuel T. Boland, Alexandria Nylen, Madison Bates, Maria Carinnes Alejandria, Rob Grace, Zein Tayyeb, Adam C. Levine","doi":"10.1186/s13031-024-00593-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13031-024-00593-6","url":null,"abstract":"Despite frequently providing non-military services in times of crisis, little systematic research has examined the perspectives of crisis-affected community members on the role of armed actors responding to humanitarian crises and public health emergencies. To address this research gap, 175 interviews were conducted (2020–2021) amongst humanitarian and public health practitioners; armed actors; and crisis-affected community members across three country and four crisis contexts. Specifically, this effort included an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; a refugee crisis on the Jordanian-Syrian border; and a volcanic eruption and COVID-19 outbreak in the Philippines. Data was analysed using grounded theory principles. Crisis-affected community members held diverse views. Non-state armed groups (NSAGs) and government armed actors were characterised as antagonists by some but supportive by others; gender issues were central to perceptions of armed actors, in ways that were both prejudicing and favourable. Overall perception was most closely linked to armed actor roles rather than the relative amount of conflict in a given area. Findings nuance the relevant literature characterizing NSAGs as disruptive agents, and also the relevant literature that does not fully consider the nuances of gender and armed actor roles as deeply relevant to crisis-affected community perspectives on armed actors. These findings have important implications for both policy and academic discourse on militarization and localization.","PeriodicalId":54287,"journal":{"name":"Conflict and Health","volume":"85 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2024-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140613357","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Franziska Lechner-Meichsner, Hannah Comtesse, Marie Olk
{"title":"Prevalence, comorbidities, and factors associated with prolonged grief disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder and complex posttraumatic stress disorder in refugees: a systematic review","authors":"Franziska Lechner-Meichsner, Hannah Comtesse, Marie Olk","doi":"10.1186/s13031-024-00586-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13031-024-00586-5","url":null,"abstract":"The number of refugees worldwide is at an all-time high with many being exposed to potentially traumatic events and the loss of loved ones. The 11th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems now includes prolonged grief disorder and complex posttraumatic stress disorder and revised criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder. An overview of these stress-related disorders among people who have become refugees is therefore needed. Consequently, we conducted a systematic review to determine prevalence rates, comorbidities, and associated factors for each of the disorders. We systematically searched PubMed, Web of Science, and PsycArticles to identify studies that reported prevalence rates, predictors or associated factors, and/or comorbid mental disorders for either (1) prolonged grief disorder, (2) posttraumatic stress disorder, or (3) complex posttraumatic stress disorder among refugees. The selection process followed the PRISMA guidelines. A total of 36 studies met the inclusion criteria. Most of the studies were of high quality. There was substantial variation in prevalence rates by disorder, with prolonged grief ranging from 6 to 54%, posttraumatic stress disorder ranging from 0.4 to 80%, and complex posttraumatic stress disorder ranging from 3 to 74.6%. Pooled prevalence for posttraumatic stress disorder was estimated at 29.8% in treatment seeking samples and 9.92% in population samples. For complex posttraumatic stress disorder, it was estimated at 57.4% in treatment seeking samples and 7.8% in population samples. Posttraumatic stress disorder was among the most frequent comorbidities for prolonged grief disorder while depressive symptoms were the most frequently occurring co-morbidity across all three disorders. Sociodemographic variables, trauma exposure, and loss characteristics were associated with higher symptom severity. Postmigration living difficulties played an important role in prolonged grief and complex posttraumatic stress disorder. The review revealed substantial differences in prevalence rates between the three studied disorders but underscored a very high prevalence of ICD-11 stress-related disorders among refugees. The identified associated factors point to subgroups that may be particularly at risk and establishes a foundational basis for targeted interventions and potential policy changes. Future research should incorporate longitudinal investigations and emphasize culturally sensitive assessments.","PeriodicalId":54287,"journal":{"name":"Conflict and Health","volume":"59 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2024-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140592202","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How integration of refugees into national health systems became a global priority: a qualitative policy analysis","authors":"Shatha Elnakib, Caitlin Jackson, Ummekulsoom Lalani, Yusra Ribhi Shawar, Sara Bennett","doi":"10.1186/s13031-024-00587-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13031-024-00587-4","url":null,"abstract":"Despite a long history of political discourse around refugee integration, it wasn’t until 2016 that this issue emerged as a global political priority. Limited research has examined the evolution of policies of global actors around health service provision to refugees and how refugee integration into health systems came onto the global agenda. This study seeks to fill this gap. Drawing on a document review of 20 peer-reviewed articles, 46 global policies and reports, and 18 semi-structured interviews with actors representing various bilateral, multilateral and non-governmental organizations involved with refugee health policy and funding, we analyze factors that have shaped the global policy priority of integration. We use the Shiffman and Smith Policy Framework on determinants of political priority to organize our findings. Several important factors generated global priority for refugee integration into national health systems. Employing the above-mentioned framework, actor power increased due to network expansion through collaborations between humanitarian and development actors. Ideas took hold through the framing of integration as a human rights and responsibility sharing. While political context was influenced through several global movements, it was ultimately the influx of Syrian refugees into Europe and the increasing securitization of the refugee crisis that led to key policies, and critically, global funding to support integration within refugee hosting nations. Finally, issue characteristics, namely the magnitude of the global refugee crisis, its protractedness and the increasing urbanicity of refugee inflows, led integration to emerge as a manageable solution. The past decade has seen a substantial reframing of refugee integration, along with increased financing sources and increased collaboration, explains this shift towards their integration into health systems. However, despite the emergence of integration as a global political priority, the extent to which efforts around integration have translated into action at the national level remains uncertain.","PeriodicalId":54287,"journal":{"name":"Conflict and Health","volume":"59 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2024-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140592424","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shatha Elnakib, Laila Akhu-Zaheya, Wejdan Khater, Lama Bou-Karroum, Gladys Honein-AbouHaidar, Sabine Salameh, Yusra Ribhi Shawar, Paul Spiegel
{"title":"The emergence and regression of political priority for refugee integration into the Jordanian health system: an analysis using the Kingdon’s multiple streams model","authors":"Shatha Elnakib, Laila Akhu-Zaheya, Wejdan Khater, Lama Bou-Karroum, Gladys Honein-AbouHaidar, Sabine Salameh, Yusra Ribhi Shawar, Paul Spiegel","doi":"10.1186/s13031-024-00588-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13031-024-00588-3","url":null,"abstract":"The prolonged presence of Syrian refugees in Jordan has highlighted the need for sustainable health service delivery models for refugees. In 2012, the Jordanian government adopted a policy that granted Syrian refugees access, free of charge, to the national health system. However since 2012, successive policy revisions have limited refugee access. This paper seeks to understand factors that initially put refugee integration into the health system on the policy agenda, as well as how these same factors later affected commitment to sustain the policy. This paper draws on data from a document review of 197 peer-reviewed and grey literature publications, a media analysis of newspaper articles retrieved from four officially recognized newspapers in Jordan, and 33 semi-structured key informant interviews. We used Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Model – a well-established tool for analyzing policy adoption – to understand how political priority developed for integration of refugees into the health system. We find that several factors helped bring attention to the issue, namely concerns over infectious disease transmission to host communities, high rates of chronic conditions among the refugee population and the increasingly urban and dispersed nature of refugees. At the outset of the conflict, the national mood was receptive to refugees. Politicians and government officials quickly recognized the crisis as an opportunity to secure material and technical support from the international humanitarian community. At the same time, global pressures for integrating refugees into national health systems helped move the integration agenda forward in Jordan and the region more broadly. Since 2012, there were several modifications to the policy that signal profound changes in national views around the continued presence of Syrian refugees in the country, as well as reduced external financial support which has undermined the sustainability of the policy. This case study underscores the dynamic nature of policymaking and the challenge of sustaining government commitment to the right to health among refugees. Our analysis has important implications for advocates seeking to advance and maintain momentum for the integration of refugees into national health systems.","PeriodicalId":54287,"journal":{"name":"Conflict and Health","volume":"204 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2024-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140592401","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"War related disruption of clinical tuberculosis services in Tigray, Ethiopia during the recent regional conflict: a mixed sequential method study","authors":"Kibrom Gebreselasie Gebrehiwot, Gebremedhin Berhe Gebregergis, Measho Gebreslasie Gebregziabher, Teklay Gebrecherkos, Wegen Beyene Tesfamariam, Hailay Gebretnsae, Gebregziabher Berihu, Letebrhan Weldemhret, Goyitom Gebremedhn, Tsegay Wellay, Hadish Bekuretsion, Aregay Gebremedhin, Tesfay Gebregzabher Gebrehiwet, Gebretsadik Berhe","doi":"10.1186/s13031-024-00583-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13031-024-00583-8","url":null,"abstract":"More than 70% of the health facilities in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, have been totally or partially destroyed by the recent war in the region. Diagnosis and management of tuberculosis were among many health services that suffered. In this study we assess the status of tuberculosis care in health facilities of Tigray during the recent war and compare it with the immediate pre-war state. Using sequential mixed method, we analyzed and compared the availability of diagnostic services in 69 health facilities and the utilization of tuberculosis care in 50 of them immediately before the war (September-October 2020) and during the war (November-July 2021). TB focal persons in each selected health facility were interviewed to evaluate the status of diagnostic services. Patient service utilization was assessed using health facility registrations. We also compared the average monthly case detection rate of multidrug resistant tuberculosis in the region before and during the war. We computed summary statistics and performed comparisons using t-tests. Finally, existing challenges related to tuberculosis care in the region were explored via in-depth interviews. Two investigators openly coded and analyzed the qualitative data independently via thematic analysis. Among the 69 health facilities randomly selected, the registers of 19 facilities were destroyed by the war; data from the remaining 50 facilities were included in the TB service utilization analysis. In the first month of the war (November 2021) the number of tuberculosis patients visiting health facilities fell 34%. Subsequently the visitation rate improved steadily, but not to pre-war rates. This reduction was significant in northwest, central and eastern zones. Tuberculosis care in rural areas was hit hardest. Prior to the war 60% of tuberculosis patients were served in rural clinics; this number dropped to an average of 17% during the war. Health facilities were systematically looted. Of the 69 institutions assessed, over 69% of the microscopes in health centers, 87.5% of the microscopes in primary hospitals, and 68% of the microscopes in general hospitals were stolen or damaged. Two GeneXpert nucleic acid amplification machines were also taken from general hospitals. Regarding drug resistant TB, the average number of multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) cases detected per month was reduced by 41% during the war with p-value < 0.001. In-depth interviews with eight health care workers indicated that the main factors affecting tuberculosis care in the area were lack of security, health facility destruction, theft of essential equipment, and drug supply disruption. Many tuberculosis patients failed to visit health facilities during the war. There was substantial physical damage to health care facilities and systematic looting of diagnostic equipment. Restoring basic public services and revitalizing clinical care for tuberculosis need urgent consideration.","PeriodicalId":54287,"journal":{"name":"Conflict and Health","volume":"69 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2024-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140592420","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}