Lazarus Obed Livingstone Banda, Jane Thokozani Banda, Chigonjetso Victoria Banda, Eretia Mwaene, Ceasar Heatherwick Msiska
Unraveling substance abuse among Malawian street children: A qualitative exploration
PloS one
covid19 pandemics remain significant threats population health particularly rural settings health systems disproportionately weak lack evidence whether trained equipped deployed community health workers chws lead significant reductions covid19 infections deaths objective measure effectiveness deploying trained equipped chws reducing covid19 infections deaths comparing outcomes two counties rural western kenya setting limited critical care capacity limited access covid19 vaccines oral covid19 antivirals siaya trained chws equipped thermometers pulse oximeters kn95 masks visited households convey health information covid19 prevention screened isolated referred covid19 cases facilities oxygen capacity measured digitally recorded vital signs household level kisii county standard kenya national covid19 protocol implemented performed comparative analysis differences chw skills activity covid19 infections deaths using district health information system dhis2 data trained siaya chws skilled using pulse oximeters digitally reporting vital signs household level mean number oxygen saturation measurements conducted siaya 2419 per covid19 infection mean number temperature measurements per covid19 infection 1708 siaya chws conducted significantly household visits kisii chws mean monthly chw household visits siaya 1466485 standard deviation 110665 versus 426445 kisii standard deviation 8995 p value 001 deploying trained equipped chws rural western kenya associated lower risk ratios covid19 infections deaths 054 95 ci 048061 029 ci 013065 respectively consistent beneficial effect