RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Mapping the landscape of global programmes to evaluate health interventions in pregnancy: the need for harmonised approaches, standards and tools
JF BMJ Global Health
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP e001053
DO 10.1136/bmjgh-2018-001053
VO 3
IS 5
A1 Patrick L F Zuber
A1 Allisyn C Moran
A1 Doris Chou
A1 Françoise Renaud
A1 Christine Halleux
A1 Juan Pablo Peña-Rosas
A1 Kavitha Viswanathan
A1 Eve Lackritz
A1 Robert Jakob
A1 Elizabeth Mason
A1 Smaragda Lamprianou
A1 Christine Guillard-Maure
YR 2018
UL http://gh.bmj.com/content/3/5/e001053.abstract
AB Pregnant women and their babies are among the populations most vulnerable to untoward health outcomes. Yet current standards for evaluating health interventions cannot be met during pregnancy because of lack of adequate evidence. The situation is even more concerning in low-income and middle-income countries, where the need for effective interventions is the greatest. Meeting the Sustainable Development Goals for health will require strengthened attention to maternal and child health. In this paper we examine ongoing initiatives aimed at improving the assessment of maternal interventions. We review current methodologies to monitor outcomes of maternal interventions and identify where harmonisation is needed. Based on this analysis we identify settings where different minimal data sets should be considered taking into consideration the clinical realities. Stronger coordination mechanisms and a roadmap to support harmonised monitoring of maternal interventions across programmes and partners, working on improving pregnancy and early childhood health events, will greatly enhance ability to generate evidence-based policies.