Contribution of community health workers to the treatment of common illnesses among under 5-year-olds in rural Uganda

Abstract

Background The control of malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhoea is important for the reduction in morbidity and mortality among children under 5 years. Uganda has adopted the Integrated Community Case Management strategy using Community Health Workers (CHWs) to address this challenge. The extent and trend of these three conditions managed by the CHWs are not well documented. This study was done to describe the epidemiology and trends of the three common illnesses treated by the CHWs in Bugoye Sub-County in rural Uganda. Methods A retrospective review of monthly morbidity data for children less than 5 years of age for the period April 2014–December 2018 for CHWs in rural Bugoye Sub-County in Kasese district, Uganda was done. The total number reviewed was 18,430 records. The data were analysed using STATA version 14. Results In total male were 50.2% of the sample, pneumonia was the highest cause of illness among the infants (< 1 year), while malaria was the highest among the children 1 year–59 months. Infection with a single illness was the commonest recorded cause of presentation but there were some children recorded with multiple illnesses. All the CHWs were managing the three common illnesses among children under 5 years. The trend of the three common illnesses was changing from malaria to pneumonia being the commonest. Children aged 12–24 months and 25–59 months were at 2.1 times (95% CI 1.7–2.4) and 5.2 times (95% CI 4.6–5.9), respectively, more likely to get malaria but less likely to get pneumonia and diarrhoea. Conclusion Community Health Workers in rural Uganda are contributing significantly to the management of all the three commonest illnesses among under-5 years-old children. The trend of the commonest illness is changing from malaria to pneumonia. Children under 1 year are at a higher risk of getting pneumonia and diarrhoea and at a lower risk of getting malaria.

Prevalence and Pattern of Morbidity, Febrile Illness, and Treatment-Seeking Behavior in a Tribal-Dominated District in Odisha, India: An Observational Study

“…Against this background, we suggest that an improved implementation strategy be looked into for strengthening the current health system with a multipronged approach covering the training of health workers at the village level, improving awareness through community participation, linking community volunteers, and monitoring logistics flow or supply of diagnostics and drugs. Evidence also supports our proposition for an integrated community case management strategy involving community volunteers, as studied in rural Uganda [ 21 ]. Community volunteers were also shown to be effective in malaria case management in rural Odisha [ 22 ].…”

Management of children with danger signs in integrated community case management care in rural southwestern Uganda (2014–2018)

“…The population of children aged <5 y is 9225 (20%). 18 Many residents rely on subsistence farming and small-scale coffee farming.…”

Kerangka Kerja Pemberdayaan Masyarakat dalam Pemberantasan Malaria di Daerah Terpencil

“…Dibeberapa Negara kader disebut sebagai pekerja suka rela (volunteer workers), yang diperbantukan untuk mempercepat keberhasilan program pemberantasan malaria, sebagaimana di Myanmar, (Win Han Oo et al, 2021a). Pekerja suka rela telah banyak memberikan kontribusi yang besar untuk membantu pengobatan di daerah-daerah pedalaman seperti halnya di Uganda, (Bagenda et al, 2022). Organisasi Kesehatan Dunia (WHO) secara resmi menggambarkan Community Heath Volunteer sebagai pekerja kesehatan awam yang tidak terlatih secara profesional sebagai profesional kesehatan namun telah dilatih untuk meningkatkan kesehatan dalam komunitas di mana mereka tinggal, (Ndu et al, 2022).…”