Access to skilled attendant at birth and the coverage of the third dose of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine across 14 West African countries – An equity analysis
Background: Universal Health Coverage (UHC) remains a critical public health goal that continues to elude many countries of the global south. As countries strive for its attainment, it is important to track progress in various subregions of the world to understand current levels and mechanisms of progress for shared learning. Our aim was to compare […]
Examining inequality of opportunity in the use of maternal and reproductive health interventions in Sierra Leone
Background: Poor countries, such as Sierra Leone, often have poor health outcomes, whereby the majority of the population cannot access lifesaving health services. Access to, and use of, maternal and reproductive health services is crucial for human development, especially in developing regions. However, inequality remains a persistent problem for many developing countries. Moreover, we have […]
Access to health care, reproductive health and disability: A large scale survey in Sierra Leone
This is the first study to compare health status and access to health care services between disabled and non-disabled men and women in urban and peri-urban areas of Sierra Leone. It pays particular attention to access to reproductive health care services and maternal health care for disabled women. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2009 […]
Removing financial barriers to access reproductive, maternal and newborn health services: The challenges and policy implications for human resources for health
Background: The last decade has seen widespread retreat from user fees with the intention to reduce financial constraints to users in accessing health care and in particular improving access to reproductive, maternal and newborn health services. This has had important benefits in reducing financial barriers to access in a number of settings. If the policies […]
Effect of Delays in Maternal Access to Healthcare on Neonatal Mortality in Sierra Leone: A Social Autopsy Case–Control Study at a Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) Site
Introduction: In low-resource settings, a social autopsy tool has been proposed to measure the effect of delays in access to healthcare on deaths, complementing verbal autopsy questionnaires routinely used to determine cause of death. This study estimates the contribution of various delays in maternal healthcare to subsequent neonatal mortality using a social autopsy case–control design. […]
