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Johnston HB, Footman K, Ali MM, Aly EA, Asmani C, Asrat SG, Atweam DK, Awais S, Ayiasi RM, Boamah MO, Chooye O, Doe R, Droti B, Elamin H, Fofie C, Gholbzouri K, Hadush A, Hemachandra N, Hien Y, Kasolo FC, Kipruto H, Lainez YB, Natseri N, Onyiah PA, Orach CG, Ouangare A, Ouedraogo L, Sentumbwe-Mugisa O, Sheffel A, Siyam A, Ssendyona M, Thom E, Tingueri RK, Traoré S, Uzma Q, Venter W, Ganatra B. Measuring availability of and facility readiness to deliver comprehensive abortion care: experiences and lessons learnt from integrating abortion into WHO's health facility assessments. BMJ Glob Health 2024; 8:e015097. [PMID: 39122445 PMCID: PMC11344866 DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2024-015097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2024] [Accepted: 07/31/2024] [Indexed: 08/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Routine assessment of health facility capacity to provide abortion and post-abortion care can inform policy and programmes to expand access and improve quality. Since 2018, abortion and/or post-abortion care have been integrated into two WHO health facility assessment tools: the Service Availability and Readiness Assessment and the Harmonised Health Facility Assessment. We discuss lessons learnt through experiences integrating abortion into these standardised tools. Our experiences highlight the feasibility of including abortion in health facility assessments across a range of legal contexts. Factors facilitating the integration of abortion include cross-country collaboration and experience sharing, timely inputs into tool adaptations, clear leadership, close relationships among key stakeholders as in assessment coordination groups, use of locally appropriate terminology to refer to abortion and reference to national policies and guidelines. To facilitate high-quality data collection, we identify considerations around question sequencing in tool design, appropriate terminology and the need to balance the normalisation of abortion with adequate sensitisation and education of data collectors. To facilitate appropriate and consistent analysis, future work must ensure adequate disaggregation of recommended and non-recommended abortion methods, alignment with national guidelines and development of a standardised approach for measuring abortion service readiness. Measurement of abortion service availability and readiness should be a routine practice and a standardised component of health facility assessment tools. Evidence generated by health facility assessments that include abortion monitoring can guide efforts to expand access to timely and effective care and help normalise abortion as a core component of sexual and reproductive healthcare.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heidi Bart Johnston
- UNDP-UNFPA-UNICEF-WHO-World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP), Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Katy Footman
- UNDP-UNFPA-UNICEF-WHO-World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP), Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Mohamed Mahmoud Ali
- UNDP-UNFPA-UNICEF-WHO-World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP), Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Eman Abdelkreem Aly
- World Health Organisation Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Chilanga Asmani
- formerly, World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Congo
| | | | | | - Sayema Awais
- Pakistan Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | | | | | | | | | - Benson Droti
- World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Congo
| | - Hayfa Elamin
- World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Congo
| | - Chris Fofie
- Family Health Division, Ghana Health Service, Accra, Ghana
| | - Karima Gholbzouri
- World Health Organisation Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt
| | | | | | - Yelmali Hien
- Burkina Faso, World Health Organization, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
| | | | - Hillary Kipruto
- World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Congo
| | | | | | | | | | - Assane Ouangare
- Directorate of Statistics, Ministry of Health Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
| | - Leopold Ouedraogo
- World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Congo
| | | | - Ashley Sheffel
- Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Amani Siyam
- World Health Organization Regional Office for South-East Asia, New Delhi, New Delhi, India
| | - Martin Ssendyona
- Department for Standards Accreditation and Patient Protection, Republic of Uganda Ministry of Health, Kampala, Uganda
| | - Ellen Thom
- Pakistan, World Health Organization, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | | | - Soumaïla Traoré
- Directorate of Statistics, Ministry of Health Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
| | - Qudsia Uzma
- Pakistan, World Health Organization, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Wendy Venter
- Data and Analytics, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Bela Ganatra
- UNDP-UNFPA-UNICEF-WHO-World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP), Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
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Pasquier E, Owolabi OO, Powell B, Fetters T, Ngbale RN, Lagrou D, Fotheringham C, Schulte-Hillen C, Chen H, Williams T, Moore AM, Adame Gbanzi MC, Debeaudrap P, Filippi V, Benova L, Degomme O. Assessing post-abortion care using the WHO quality of care framework for maternal and newborn health: a cross-sectional study in two African hospitals in humanitarian settings. Reprod Health 2024; 21:114. [PMID: 39103920 DOI: 10.1186/s12978-024-01835-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2023] [Accepted: 06/24/2024] [Indexed: 08/07/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Abortion-related complications remain a main cause of maternal mortality. There is little evidence on the availability and quality of post-abortion care (PAC) in humanitarian settings. We assessed the quality of PAC in two hospitals supported by an international organization in Jigawa State (Nigeria) and Bangui (Central African Republic, CAR). METHODS We mapped indicators corresponding to the eleven domains of the WHO Maternal and Newborn Health quality-of-care framework to assess inputs, processes (provision and experience of care), and outcomes of PAC. We measured these indicators in four components of a cross-sectional multi-methods study: 1) an assessment of the hospitals' PAC signal functions, 2) a survey of the knowledge, attitudes, practices, and behavior of 140 Nigerian and 84 CAR clinicians providing PAC, 3) a prospective review of the medical records of 520 and 548 women presenting for abortion complications and, 4) a survey of 360 and 362 of these women who were hospitalized in the Nigerian and CAR hospitals, respectively. RESULTS Among the total 27 PAC signal functions assessed, 25 were available in the Nigerian hospital and 26 in the CAR hospital. In both hospitals, less than 2.5% were treated with dilatation and sharp curettage. Over 80% of women received blood transfusion or curative antibiotics when indicated. However, antibiotics were given to about 30% of patients with no documented indication. Among discharged women in CAR, 99% received contraceptive counseling but only 39% did in Nigeria. Over 80% of women in Nigeria reported positive experiences of respect and preservation of dignity. Conversely, in CAR, 37% reported that their privacy was always respected during examination and 62% reported short or very short waiting time before seeing a health provider. In terms of communication, only 15% felt able to ask questions during treatment in both hospitals. The risk of abortion-near-miss happening ≥ 24h after presentation was 0.2% in Nigeria and 1.1% in CAR. Only 65% of women in the Nigerian hospital and 34% in the CAR hospital reported that the staff provided them best care all the time. CONCLUSION Our comprehensive assessment identified that these two hospitals in humanitarian settings provided lifesaving PAC. However, hospitals need to strengthen the patient-centered approach engaging patients in their own care and ensuring privacy, short waiting times and quality provider-patient communication. Health professionals would benefit from instituting antibiotic stewardships to prevent antibiotic-resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Estelle Pasquier
- Epicentre - Médecins Sans Frontières, Paris, France.
- Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
- Department of Public Health - Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
| | | | | | | | - Richard Norbert Ngbale
- Ministère de la Santé et de la Population de la République Centrafricaine, Bangui, Central African Republic
| | | | | | | | - Huiwu Chen
- Epicentre - Médecins Sans Frontières, Paris, France
| | - Timothy Williams
- Epicentre - Médecins Sans Frontières, Abuja, Jigawa State, Nigeria
| | | | | | - Pierre Debeaudrap
- CEPED, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Université Paris Descartes, INSERM 1244, Paris, France
| | - Veronique Filippi
- Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health - London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK
| | - Lenka Benova
- Department of Public Health - Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Olivier Degomme
- Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
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Onadja Y, Compaoré R, Yugbaré DB, Thomas HL, Guiella G, Lougué S, Ouedraogo HG, Bazie F, Kouanda S, Moreau C, Bell SO. Postabortion care service availability, readiness, and access in Burkina Faso: results from linked female-facility cross-sectional data. BMC Health Serv Res 2024; 24:84. [PMID: 38233874 PMCID: PMC10792903 DOI: 10.1186/s12913-023-10538-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2023] [Accepted: 12/29/2023] [Indexed: 01/19/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Little is known about postabortion care (PAC) services in Burkina Faso, despite PAC's importance as an essential and life-saving component of emergency obstetric care. This study aims to evaluate PAC service availability, readiness, and accessibility in Burkina Faso. METHODS Data for this study come from the Performance Monitoring for Action (PMA) Burkina Faso project and the Harmonized Health Facility Assessment (HHFA) conducted by the Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé and the Ministry of Health. PMA data from a representative sample of women aged 15-49 (n = 6,385) were linked via GPS coordinates to HHFA facility data (n = 2,757), which included all public and private health facilities in Burkina Faso. We assessed readiness to provide basic and comprehensive PAC using the signal functions framework. We then calculated distance to facilities and examined percent within 5 kms of a facility with any PAC, basic PAC, and comprehensive PAC overall and by women's background characteristics. RESULTS PAC services were available in 46.4% of health facilities nationwide; only 38.3% and 35.0% of eligible facilities had all basic and comprehensive PAC signal functions, respectively. Removal of retained products of conception was the most common missing signal function for both basic and comprehensive PAC, followed by provision of any contraception (basic) or any LARC (comprehensive). Nearly 85% of women lived within 5 km of a facility providing any PAC services, while 50.5% and 17.4% lived within 5 km of a facility providing all basic PAC and all comprehensive PAC signal functions, respectively. Women with more education, greater wealth, and those living in urban areas had greater odds of living within 5 km of a facility with offering PAC, basic PAC, or comprehensive PAC. CONCLUSIONS Results indicate a need for increased PAC availability and readiness, prioritizing basic PAC services at the primary level-the main source of care for many women-which would reduce structural disparities in access. The current deficiencies in PAC signal a need for broader strengthening of the primary healthcare services in Burkina Faso to reduce the burden of unsafe abortion-related morbidity and mortality while improving maternal health outcomes more broadly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yentéma Onadja
- Institut Supérieur des Sciences de la Population (ISSP), Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo, Ouagadougou, 03 BP 7118, Burkina Faso.
| | - Rachidatou Compaoré
- Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé (IRSS), Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
| | | | - Haley L Thomas
- Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Georges Guiella
- Institut Supérieur des Sciences de la Population (ISSP), Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo, Ouagadougou, 03 BP 7118, Burkina Faso
| | - Siaka Lougué
- Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé (IRSS), Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
| | | | - Fiacre Bazie
- Institut Supérieur des Sciences de la Population (ISSP), Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo, Ouagadougou, 03 BP 7118, Burkina Faso
| | - Seni Kouanda
- Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé (IRSS), Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
| | - Caroline Moreau
- Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Soins Primaires et Prévention, CESP Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health, U1018, Inserm, Villejuif, F-94800, France
| | - Suzanne O Bell
- Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
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Thomas HL, Alzouma S, Oumarou S, Moreau C, Bell SO. Postabortion care availability, readiness, and accessibility in Niger in 2022: results from linked facility-female cross-sectional data. BMC Health Serv Res 2023; 23:1171. [PMID: 37891572 PMCID: PMC10612209 DOI: 10.1186/s12913-023-10107-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2023] [Accepted: 10/03/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Postabortion care (PAC), which is an essential element of emergency obstetric care, is underresearched in Niger. The study aims to assess the availability, readiness, and accessibility of facility-based PAC services in Niger. METHODS This study uses female and facility data from Performance Monitoring for Action Niger. The female data include a nationally representative sample of women aged 15-49 (n = 3,696). Using GPS coordinates, these female data were linked to a sample of public and private facilities (n = 258) that are expected to provide PAC. We assessed PAC availability and facility readiness to provide basic and comprehensive PAC using the signal functions framework, overall and by facility type. We then calculated the distance between women and their closest facility and estimated the proportion of women living within five kilometers (5 km) of a facility providing any PAC, basic PAC, and comprehensive PAC, overall and by women's background characteristics. RESULTS Only 36.4% and 14% of eligible facilities had all basic and comprehensive PAC signal functions, respectively. Oxytocics and laparotomy were the most missing signal function for basic and comprehensive PAC, respectively. Private facilities were the least ready to provide the full range of PAC services. While 47% of women lived within 5 km of a facility providing any PAC services, only 33.4% and 7.9% lived within 5 km of a facility providing all basic and all comprehensive PAC signal functions, respectively. Women who were divorced/widowed, had higher levels of education, and were living in urban areas had increased odds of living within 5 km of a facility with any or basic PAC. Women who were never married had increased odds of living within 5 km of a facility with comprehensive PAC, while urban residence was fully predictive of living within 5 km of a facility with comprehensive PAC. CONCLUSIONS This study found PAC availability and readiness to be insufficient in Niger, with inadequate and disparate accessibility to facilities providing PAC services. We recommended stakeholders ensure stock of essential commodities and availability of PAC services at primary facilities in order to mitigate the negative maternal health repercussions of unsafe abortion in this setting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haley L Thomas
- Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street., Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
| | | | - Sani Oumarou
- Institut National de la Statistique du Niger, Niamey, Niger
| | - Caroline Moreau
- Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street., Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
- Soins Primaires et Prévention, CESP Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health, U1018, Inserm, Villejuif, F-94800, France
| | - Suzanne O Bell
- Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street., Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
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Cassinath N, Titulaer P, Läser L, Lavelanet A, Ahsan S, Kwankam Toedtli F, Mawa S, Rehnstrom Loi U. Disruptions to the procurement of medical abortion medicines during COVID-19: a scoping review. BMJ Open 2022; 12:e064848. [PMID: 36302580 PMCID: PMC9621154 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-064848] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES This scoping review aimed to systematically search, retrieve and map the extent and characteristics of available literature on the evidenced disruptions to medical abortion (MA) medicine procurement caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. DESIGN Scoping review using Arksey and O'Malley's methodology and Levac et al's methodological enhancement with adherence to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for scoping reviews. DATA SOURCES PubMed, Embase, PMC, Science Direct, the Cochrane Library and Google Scholar were searched from January 2020 to April 2022. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA We included articles in English that: (1) contained information on MA medicines; (2) included descriptions of procurement disruptions, including those with examples, characteristics and/or statistics; (3) documented events during the COVID-19 pandemic; and (4) presented primary data. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS Two reviewers independently screened search results, performed a full-text review of preliminarily included articles and completed data extraction in a standard Excel spreadsheet. Extracted data from was compared for validation and synthesised qualitatively. RESULTS The two articles included are unpublished grey literature demonstrating evidence of short-lived disruptions in sexual and reproductive health commodity procurement, including MA medicines, in sub-Saharan Africa during the early months of the pandemic. Findings from the two included grey literature articles show that in sub-Saharan contexts, emergency preparedness, stockpiling, adaptations and flexibility of key actors, including donors, alleviated COVID-19 disruptions allowing for resumption of services within weeks. CONCLUSION There is a need for increased empirical evidence of MA procurement challenges to understand which barriers to MA procurement may persist and impact continuity of supply while others can fuel resilience and preparedness efforts at the country and subregional levels. The lack of evidence from social marketing organisations and their networks is a significant gap as these actors constitute a vital artery in the distribution of MA commodities in low-income and middle-income countries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natasha Cassinath
- UNDP-UNFPA-UNICEF-WHO-World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP), Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization, 20 Avenue Appia, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Patricia Titulaer
- UNDP-UNFPA-UNICEF-WHO-World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP), Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization, 20 Avenue Appia, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Laurence Läser
- UNDP-UNFPA-UNICEF-WHO-World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP), Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization, 20 Avenue Appia, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Antonella Lavelanet
- UNDP-UNFPA-UNICEF-WHO-World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP), Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization, 20 Avenue Appia, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Safia Ahsan
- Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition, Washington, DC, USA
| | | | - Stephen Mawa
- Technical Division, United Nations Population Fund, New York, New York, USA
| | - Ulrika Rehnstrom Loi
- UNDP-UNFPA-UNICEF-WHO-World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP), Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization, 20 Avenue Appia, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
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Kouanda S, Qureshi Z. Quality of care for abortion‐related complications: Insights from the WHO Multi‐Country Survey on Abortion‐related Morbidity across 11 African countries. Int J Gynaecol Obstet 2022; 156 Suppl 1:4-6. [DOI: 10.1002/ijgo.14079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Seni Kouanda
- Biomedical and Public Health Department Research Institute of Health Sciences Ouagadougou Burkina Faso
| | - Zahida Qureshi
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Faculty of Health Sciences University of Nairobi Nairobi Kenya
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