In 2017, Guinea launched its National Community Health Policy (NCHP) to align with broader decentralization efforts, delegating 14 key responsibilities to communes. By mid-2022, around 75% of communes had begun implementing the policy, with varying degrees of integration depending on local planning and external support. Previous evaluations revealed that many local actors struggled to understand or fulfill their assigned roles under the policy, exposing a gap between what the policy intends and what is practiced. To explore this discrepancy, the study employs the decision space framework to analyze the implementation of the NCHP in Guinea between 2017 and 2021.

The paper is part of the USAID-funded, Results for Development-led Health Systems Strengthening Accelerator in collaboration with the Centre National de Formation et de Recherche en Santé Rurale, the African Center for Excellence at the Gamal Abdel Nasser University, the Guinean Ministry of Public Health and Hygiene, as well as the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

To read the full article, click here.

The post Bundesgesundheitsblatt: ‘Implementation of the national community health policy in Guinea: a decision space analysis of the roles and responsibilities of community health workers’ appeared first on Results for Development.

Abstract: The overall goal of this study is to explore the rollout of the community health policy in Guinea in the context of decentralization, and the role of decision space (the decision authority, capacities, and accountability of local officials) in explaining gaps between the policy’s conceptualization and actual implementation. The implementation research study will employ a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design. The study will be conducted in 27 communes purposefully selected across the country and include communes where the national community health policy is fully, partially, and not yet being implemented. The quantitative component, based on a survey questionnaire and secondary data, will use ordinary least squares (OLS) multiple regression to compare maternal and child health (MCH) coverage indicators according to the level of policy implementation in the commune. An interrupted time series analysis will be conducted to assess changes in routine MCH service delivery indicators associated with implementation of the community health policy, comparing indicators from one year prior to implementation. OLS regression will be conducted to assess the association between decision space and MCH indicators; all analyses will be carried out in Stata. Findings from the quantitative study will be used to inform the key qualitative questions and areas to explore in greater depth, to develop the interview and focus group guides, and to generate an initial codebook. Qualitative data will be double coded in NVivo by two qualitative analysts, and results generated using thematic analysis. Findings from the quantitative and qualitative components will be integrated and triangulated for interpretation and reporting. Findings and recommendations of this study will inform revisions to the National Community Health Policy to improve its rollout and effectiveness.

To read the full article, click here.

Photo © Results for Development/Lane Goodman

The post PLOS ONE: Implementation research protocol on the national community health policy in Guinea appeared first on Results for Development.

As R4D’s health systems strengthening advisor for the USAID-funded Maternal and Child Survival Project (MCSP), he is based in Conakry and provides technical support to reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health activities within MCSP’s Health Systems Strengthening and Equity cross-cutting technical area.

Before R4D, Dr. Cissé’s career was spent mainly with the WHO. As a WHO consultant for seven years, he developed national strategies for primary health care with the Bamako Initiative. He spent the following 16 years as a WHO officer and principal advisor for health systems strengthening; during this time, he helped implement the first National Health Development Plan, establish National Health Accounts and develop the National Health Information System, all in Guinea. Dr. Cissé has also worked as Guinea’s national consultant for the evaluation of WHO’s Cooperation Strategy, as an organizer of the three-day national vaccination campaign, and as WHO Field Coordinator in the Kindia region in 2014 to support the national response against hemorrhagic fever caused by Ebola. Previously, he was chief medical doctor of Pita, a prefecture of Boké, for four years, and Boké regional health director for 10 years.

Dr. Cissé holds an MD from the Faculty of Medicine in Conakry and an MPH from the University of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp. He speaks French, Malinke, Susu and Pular.

The post Mamadou Cissé appeared first on Results for Development.

This 90-minute webinar was organized by the Health Systems Strengthening Accelerator (a global initiative led by R4D and funded by USAID with co-funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates and Rockefeller Foundations), the Community Health Impact Coalition, and D-Tree, and contributes to advancing knowledge around USAID’s Health Systems Strengthening Learning Agenda as part of the 2024 Health Systems Strengthening Learning Series.

Recording of the webinar: Main recording (video, speakers, slides, main audio channel)

• Audio from English channel
• Audio from French channel
• Audio from Swahili channel

Related Resources:

• Presentation Slides: Institutionalizing Community Health as part of National Health Systems in Africa: Approaches and Lessons to Forge a Sustainable Path
• Webinar Chat Resource Links

Session Overview/Objectives: 

To share valuable insights, identify common challenges, and showcase tangible successes and practical solutions in the institutionalization and financing of community health programs. This webinar aims to foster a deeper understanding among stakeholders of the path forward in enhancing the resilience and effectiveness of community health systems. Specifically:

1. To offer a global perspective on the progress made at the country level concerning the development and implementation of community health policies. 
2. To illustrate successful examples of efforts led by a range of stakeholders, including civil society, the community health workforce, and Ministries of Health, in institutionalizing and sustaining community health programs. Drawing on insights from two country case studies, the webinar will delve into the intricacies of planning for program sustainability, emphasizing aspects such as domestic resource mobilization and financing.
3. To explore the mechanisms that facilitate active stakeholder participation, particularly through effective collaboration between civil society and Ministries of Health, to advocate for policy change and drive effective community health strategies.

Speakers:

• Opening Framing Remarks: Nazo Kureshy, Office of Health Systems, USAID
• Dr. Lennie Kyomuhangi Bazira, Director of Policy, Community Health Impact Coalition
• Dr. Mamady Kourouma, Director, Department of Community Health and Traditional Medicine, Ministry of Health, Guinea
• Luc Innocent Touré, Program Coordinator, Comité Jeunes, Mon Avenir d’Abord, Guinea, Civil Society Representative
• Lubayana Abdurahman Mwarab, Community Health Worker, Zanzibar
• Dr. Salim N. Slim, Director Preventive Services and Health Education, Ministry of Health, Zanzibar
• Moderator: Lior Miller, Health Systems Strengthening Accelerator/Results for Development

The post Webinar: Institutionalizing Community Health as part of National Health Systems in Africa appeared first on Results for Development.

In the past ten years, USAID’s maternal and child survival efforts have helped save the lives of more than five million children and 200,000 women in 25 priority countries.

Despite this progress, more than 15,000 children and 830 women still die every day from preventable causes.

On June 19th from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the George Washington University’s City View Room, health system specialists from two USAID-supported countries, Ghana and Guinea, shared their experiences around how interventions at different levels of the health system are working to address common health system challenges in order to ensure equity, coverage, quality, and efficiency of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health services.

Maternal and Child Survival Program

USAID’s Maternal and Child Survival Program works to strengthen health systems to improve reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health outcomes.

Learn More

Results for Development speakers:

Grace Chee
Results for Development Senior Program Director and Health System Strengthening and Equity Team Leader, MCSP

Cicely Thomas
Results for Development Program Director and Health Systems Strengthening and Equity Technical Officer, MCSP

Yoriko Nakamura
Results for Development Program Officer and Health Systems and Financing Specialist for Ghana, HFG Project

The post Tackling Health System Constraints in Ghana and Guinea appeared first on Results for Development.