BackgroundAssessing the Plasmodium vivax burden in India is complicated by the potential threat of an emerging chloroquine (CQ) resistant parasite population from neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia. Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu and an urban setting for P. vivax in southern India, was selected as a sentinel site for investigating CQ efficacy and sensitivity in vivax malaria.MethodsCQ efficacy was evaluated with a 28-day in vivo therapeutic study, while CQ sensitivity was measured with an in vitro drug susceptibility assay. In both studies, isolates also underwent molecular genotyping to investigate correlations between parasite diversity and drug susceptibility to CQ. Molecular genotyping included sequencing a 604 base pair (bp) fragment of the P. vivax multidrug resistant gene-1 (Pvmdr1) for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and also the amplification of eight microsatellite (MS) loci located across the genome on eight different chromosomes.ResultsIn the 28-day in vivo study (N=125), all subjects were aparasitaemic by Day 14. Passive case surveillance continuing beyond Day 28 in 22 subjects exposed 17 recurrent infections, which ranged from 44 to 148 days post-enrollment. Pvmdr1 sequencing of these recurrent infections revealed that 93.3% had identical mutant haplotypes (958M/Y976/1076L) to their baseline Day 0 infection. MS genotyping further revealed that nine infection pairs were related with ≥75% haplotype similarity (same allele at six or more loci). To test the impact of this mutation on CQ efficacy, an in vitro drug assay (N=68) was performed. No correlation between IC50 values and the percentage of ring-stage parasites prior to culture was observed (rsadj: -0.00063, p = 0.3307) and the distribution of alleles among the Pvmdr1 SNPs and MS haplotypes showed no significant associations with IC50 values.ConclusionsPlasmodium vivax was found to be susceptible to CQ drug treatment in both the in vivo therapeutic drug study and the in vitro drug assay. Though the mutant 1076L of Pvmdr1 was found in a majority of isolates tested, this single mutation did not associate with CQ resistance. MS haplotypes revealed strong heterogeneity in this population, indicating a low probability of reinfection with highly related haplotypes.

Adopting an integrated implementation framework that combined training, mentoring, and quality improvement processes to improve the quality, equity, and dignity of care during the intrapartum and immediate postpartum periods, the Care Around Birth approach addressed key drivers of maternal and newborn mortality. nThe approach refocused energy on facility-based quality processes that are currently central to efforts in reducing mortality and achieving Sustainable Development Goal targets.

BackgroundLow/middle-income countries need a large-scale improvement in the quality of care (QoC) around the time of childbirth in order to reduce high maternal, fetal and neonatal mortality. However, there is a paucity of scalable models.MethodsWe conducted a stepped-wedge cluster-randomised trial in 15 primary health centres (PHC) of the state of Haryana in India to test the effectiveness of a multipronged quality management strategy comprising capacity building of providers, periodic assessments of the PHCs to identify quality gaps and undertaking improvement activities for closure of the gaps. The 21-month duration of the study was divided into seven periods (steps) of 3  months each. Starting from the second period, a set of randomly selected three PHCs (cluster) crossed over to the intervention arm for rest of the period of the study. The primary outcomes included the number of women approaching the PHCs for childbirth and 12 directly observed essential practices related to the childbirth. Outcomes were adjusted with random effect for cluster (PHC) and fixed effect for ‘months of intervention’.ResultsThe intervention strategy led to increase in the number of women approaching PHCs for childbirth (26 vs 21 women per PHC-month, adjusted incidence rate ratio: 1.22; 95% CI 1.17 to 1.28). Of the 12 practices, 6 improved modestly, 2 remained near universal during both intervention and control periods, 3 did not change and 1 worsened. There was no evidence of change in mortality with a majority of deaths occurring either during referral transport or at the referral facilities.ConclusionA multipronged quality management strategy enhanced utilisation of services and modestly improved key practices around the time of childbirth in PHCs in India.Trial registration numberCTRI/2016/05/006963.

Introduction: Newborn vaccination is an integral part of routine immunization program in India, but program implementation gaps exist. The focus of this article is to identify and describe an implementation strategy which could improve the newborn vaccination at the facility level. Materials and Methods: A situation analysis was conducted through a mixed-methods approach to identify the lacunae in the health system and the same was used to develop an implementation strategy to improve newborn vaccination coverage across the six priority states. Results: Issues in stewardship and human resource, vaccine-related stock-outs, and poor service delivery were some of the reasons for low facility-level vaccination coverage. After implementation of a health system–based strategy, the new born vaccination improved from 55% to 88% across 10 quarters of program implementation. Factors such as sensitization of stakeholders, vaccination on holidays, rigorous documentation, and supportive supervision of health staff were primary reasons for improvement in service delivery. Conclusion: Importance of newborn immunization at birth is well established. The results from six states prove that “health systems approach” as an implementation strategy is a viable tool to improve newborn immunization at birth.

Background: The effective implementation of evidence-based practices including the use of partograph to improve maternal and newborn outcomes is critical on account of increased institutional delivery. However, despite clear guidelines, partograph use in India is not widely practiced. Materials and Methods: Quality improvement (QI) efforts along with training and mentoring were operationalized in a total of 141 facilities across 26 high priority districts of India. Assessments were conducted across baseline, intervention period, and end line. These included reviewing the availability of partograph and staff competency in filling them at baseline and end line, as well as reviewing monthly data for use and completeness of filling. The monthly data were tabulated quarter wise to study trends. Competency scores were tabulated to show the difference across assessments. Results: An overall upward trend from 29% to 61% was seen in the practice of partograph use. Simultaneously, completeness in filling up the partograph increased from 32% to 81%. Staff competency in filling partograph improved considerably: proportion of staff scoring low decreased over the intervention period from 63% to 2.5% ( P < 0.0001), and the proportion scoring high increased from 13% to 72% ( P < 0.0001) from baseline to end line. Conclusion: The integrated approach of training, mentoring, and QI can be used in similar settings to strengthen partograph use.