Browsing by Author "Mårtensson, Andreas"

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    ‘I know those people will be approachable and not mistreat us’: a qualitative study of inspectors and private drug sellers’ views on peer supervision in rural Uganda
    (Globalization and Health, 2020) Bagonza, Arthur; Peterson, Stefan; Mårtensson, Andreas; Mutto, Milton; Awor , Phllis; Kitutu, Freddy Eric; Linda, Gibson; Wamani, Henry
    Peer supervision improves health care delivery by health workers. However, in rural Uganda, self supervision is what is prescribed for licensed private drug sellers by statutory guidelines. Evidence shows that self-supervision encourages inappropriate treatment of children less than ve years of age by private drug sellers. This study constructed a model for an appropriate peer supervisor to augment the self supervision currently practiced by drug sellers at district level in rural Uganda. In this qualitative study, six Key informant interviews were held with inspectors while ten focus group discussions were conducted with one hundred and thirty drug sellers. Data analysis was informed by the Kathy Charmaz constructive approach to grounded theory. Atlas ti.7 software package was used for data management.
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    Point-of-Care Approaches for Meningitis Diagnosis in a Low-Resource Setting (Southwestern Uganda): Observational Cohort Study Protocol of the “PI-POC” Trial
    (JMIR research protocols, 2020) Gaudenzi, Giulia; Kumbakumba, Elias; Rasti, Reza; Nanjebe, Deborah; Réu, Pedro; Nyehangane, Dan; Mårtensson, Andreas; Nassejje, Milly; Karlsson, Jens; Mzee, John; Nilsson, Peter; Businge, Stephen; Loh, Edmund; Boum, Yap; Andersson-Svahn, Helene; Gantelius, Jesper; Mwanga-Amumpaire, Juliet; Alfvén, Tobias
    A timely differential diagnostic is essential to identify the etiology of central nervous system (CNS) infections in children, in order to facilitate targeted treatment, manage patients, and improve clinical outcome. Objective: The Pediatric Infection-Point-of-Care (PI-POC) trial is investigating novel methods to improve and strengthen the differential diagnostics of suspected childhood CNS infections in low-income health systems such as those in Southwestern Uganda. This will be achieved by evaluating (1) a novel DNA-based diagnostic assay for CNS infections, (2) a commercially available multiplex PCR-based meningitis/encephalitis (ME) panel for clinical use in a facility-limited laboratory setting, (3) proteomics profiling of blood from children with severe CNS infection as compared to outpatient controls with fever yet not severely ill, and (4) Myxovirus resistance protein A (MxA) as a biomarker in blood for viral CNS infection. Further changes in the etiology of childhood CNS infections after the introduction of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine against Streptococcus pneumoniae will be investigated. In addition, the carriage and invasive rate of Neisseria meningitidis will be recorded and serotyped, and the expression of its major virulence factor (polysaccharide capsule) will be investigated. Methods: The PI-POC trial is a prospective observational study of children including newborns up to 12 years of age with clinical features of CNS infection, and age-/sex-matched outpatient controls with fever yet not severely ill. Participants are recruited at 2 Pediatric clinics in Mbarara, Uganda. Cerebrospinal fluid (for cases only), blood, and nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs (for both cases and controls) sampled at both clinics are analyzed at the Epicentre Research Laboratory through gold-standard methods for CNS infection diagnosis (microscopy, biochemistry, and culture) and a commercially available ME panel for multiplex PCR analyses of the cerebrospinal fluid. An additional blood sample from cases is collected on day 3 after admission. After initial clinical analyses in Mbarara, samples will be transported to Stockholm, Sweden for (1) validation analyses of a novel nucleic acid–based POC test, (2) biomarker research, and (3) serotyping and molecular characterization of S. pneumoniae and N. meningitidis. Results: A pilot study was performed from January to April 2019. The PI-POC trial enrollment of patients begun in April 2019 and will continue until September 2020, to include up to 300 cases and controls. Preliminary results from the PI-POC study are expected by the end of 2020. Conclusions: The findings from the PI-POC study can potentially facilitate rapid etiological diagnosis of CNS infections in low-resource settings and allow for novel methods for determination of the severity of CNS infection in such environment.
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    Regulatory Inspection of Registered Private Drug Shops in East-Central Uganda—What it is Versus what it Should Be: A Qualitative Study
    (Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice, 2020) Bagonza, Arthur; Peterson, Stefan; Mårtensson, Andreas; Wamani, Henry; Awor, Phyllis; Mutto, Milton; Musoke, David; Gibson, Linda; Kitutu, Freddy Eric
    Regulatory inspection of private drug shops in Uganda is a mandate of the Ministry of Health carried out by the National Drug Authority. This study evaluated how this mandate is being carried out at national, district, and drug shop levels. Specifically, perspectives on how the inspection is done, who does it, and challenges faced were sought from inspectors and drug sellers.Six key informant interviews (KIIs) were held with inspectors at the national and district level, while eight focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted among nursing assistants, and two FGDs were held with nurses. The study appraised current methods of inspecting drug sellers against national professional guidelines for licensing and renewal of class C drug shops in Uganda. Transcripts were managed using Atlas ti version 7 (ATLAS.ti GmbH, Berlin) data management software where the thematic content analysis was done.Five themes emerged from the study: authoritarian inspection, delegated inspection, licensing, training, and bribes. Under authoritarian inspection, drug sellers decried the high handedness used by inspectors when found with expired or no license at all. For delegated inspection, drug sellers said that sometimes, inspectors send health assistants and sub-county chiefs for inspection visits. This cadre of people is not recognized by law as inspectors. Inspectors trained drug sellers on how to organize their drug shops better and how to use new technologies such as rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) in diagnosing malaria. Bribes were talked about mostly by nursing assistants who purported that inspectors were not interested in inspection per se but collecting illicit payments from them. Inspectors said that the facilitation they received from the central government were inadequate for a routine inspection.The current method of inspecting drug sellers is harsh and instills fear among drug sellers. There is a need to establish a well-recognized structure of inspection as well as establish channels of dialogue between inspectors and drug sellers if meaningful compliance is to be achieved. The government also needs to enhance both human and financial resources if meaningful inspection of drug sellers is to take place.
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    Regulatory inspection of registered private drug shops in East-Central Uganda—what it is versus what it should be: a qualitative study
    (Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice, 2020) Bagonza, Arthur; Peterson, Stefan; Mårtensson, Andreas; Wamani, Henry; Awor, Phyllis; Mutto, Milton; Musoke, David; Gibson, Linda; Kitutu, Freddy Eric
    Regulatory inspection of private drug shops in Uganda is a mandate of the Ministry of Health carried out by the National Drug Authority. This study evaluated how this mandate is being carried out at national, district, and drug shop levels. Specifically, perspectives on how the inspection is done, who does it, and challenges faced were sought from inspectors and drug sellers. Methods: Six key informant interviews (KIIs) were held with inspectors at the national and district level, while eight focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted among nursing assistants, and two FGDs were held with nurses. The study appraised current methods of inspecting drug sellers against national professional guidelines for licensing and renewal of class C drug shops in Uganda. Transcripts were managed using Atlas ti version 7 (ATLAS.ti GmbH, Berlin) data management software where the thematic content analysis was done. Results: Five themes emerged from the study: authoritarian inspection, delegated inspection, licensing, training, and bribes. Under authoritarian inspection, drug sellers decried the high handedness used by inspectors when found with expired or no license at all. For delegated inspection, drug sellers said that sometimes, inspectors send health assistants and sub-county chiefs for inspection visits. This cadre of people is not recognized by law as inspectors. Inspectors trained drug sellers on how to organize their drug shops better and how to use new technologies such as rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) in diagnosing malaria. Bribes were talked about mostly by nursing assistants who purported that inspectors were not interested in inspection per se but collecting illicit payments from them. Inspectors said that the facilitation they received from the central government were inadequate for a routine inspection. Conclusion: The current method of inspecting drug sellers is harsh and instills fear among drug sellers. There is a need to establish a well-recognized structure of inspection as well as establish channels of dialogue between inspectors and drug sellers if meaningful compliance is to be achieved. The government also needs to enhance both human and financial resources if meaningful inspection of drug sellers is to take place.
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    Trends in reported antibiotic use among children under 5 years of age with fever, diarrhoea, or cough with fast or difficult breathing across low-income and middle-income countries in 2005–17: a systematic analysis of 132 national surveys from 73 countries
    (The Lancet Global Health, 2020) Allwell-Brown, Gbemisola; Hussain-Alkhateeb, Laith; Kitutu, Freddy Eric; Strömdahl, Susanne; Mårtensson, Andreas; JohanssonAllwell-Brown, Emily White
    Global assessments of antibiotic consumption have relied on pharmaceutical sales data that do not measure individual-level use, and are often unreliable or unavailable for low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). To help fill this evidence gap, we compiled data from national surveys in LMICs in 2005–17 reporting antibiotic use for sick children under the age of 5 years. Methods Based on 132 Demographic and Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys from 73 LMICs, we analysed trends in reported antibiotic use among children under 5 years of age with fever, diarrhoea, or cough with fast or difficult breathing by WHO region, World Bank income classification, and symptom complaint. A logit transformation was used to estimate the outcome using a linear Bayesian regression model. The model included country-level socioeconomic, disease incidence, and health system covariates to generate estimates for country-years with missing values. Findings Across LMICs, reported antibiotic use among sick children under 5 years of age increased from 36·8% (uncertainty interval [UI] 28·8–44·7) in 2005 to 43·1% (33·2–50·5) in 2017. Low-income countries had the greatest relative increase; in these countries, reported antibiotic use for sick children under 5 years of age rose 34% during the study period, from 29·6% (21·2–41·1) in 2005 to 39·5% (32·9–47·6) in 2017, although it remained the lowest of any income group throughout the study period. Interpretation We found a limited but steady increase in reported antibiotic use for sick children under 5 years of age across LMICs in 2005–17, although overlapping UIs complicate interpretation. The increase was largely driven by gains in low-income countries. Our study expands the evidence base from LMICs, where strengthening antibiotic consumption and resistance surveillance is a global health priority.