RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Proposing standardised geographical indicators of physical access to emergency obstetric and newborn care in low-income and middle-income countries
JF BMJ Global Health
JO BMJ Global Health
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP e000778
DO 10.1136/bmjgh-2018-000778
VO 4
IS Suppl 5
A1 Steeve Ebener
A1 Karin Stenberg
A1 Michel Brun
A1 Jean-Pierre Monet
A1 Nicolas Ray
A1 Howard Lawrence Sobel
A1 Nathalie Roos
A1 Patrick Gault
A1 Claudia Morrissey Conlon
A1 Patsy Bailey
A1 Allisyn C Moran
A1 Leopold Ouedraogo
A1 Jacqueline F Kitong
A1 Eunyoung Ko
A1 Djenaba Sanon
A1 Farouk M Jega
A1 Olajumoke Azogu
A1 Boureima Ouedraogo
A1 Chidude Osakwe
A1 Harriet Chimwemwe Chanza
A1 Mona Steffen
A1 Imed Ben Hamadi
A1 Hayat Tib
A1 Ahmed Haj Asaad
A1 Tessa Tan Torres
YR 2019
UL http://gh.bmj.com/content/4/Suppl_5/e000778.abstract
AB Emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC) can be life-saving in managing well-known complications during childbirth. However, suboptimal availability, accessibility, quality and utilisation of EmONC services hampered meeting Millennium Development Goal target 5A. Evaluation and modelling tools of health system performance and future potential can help countries to optimise their strategies towards reaching Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3: ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. The standard set of indicators for monitoring EmONC has been found useful for assessing quality and utilisation but does not account for travel time required to physically access health services. The increased use of geographical information systems, availability of free geographical modelling tools such as AccessMod and the quality of geographical data provide opportunities to complement the existing EmONC indicators by adding geographically explicit measurements. This paper proposes three additional EmONC indicators to the standard set for monitoring EmONC; two consider physical accessibility and a third addresses referral time from basic to comprehensive EmONC services. We provide examples to illustrate how the AccessMod tool can be used to measure these indicators, analyse service utilisation and propose options for the scaling-up of EmONC services. The additional indicators and analysis methods can supplement traditional EmONC assessments by informing approaches to improve timely access to achieve Universal Health Coverage and reach SDG 3.