Midline survey among public sector medical facilities and health care providers to understand diagnosis, prevalence, and treatment for childhood pneumonia in Madhya Pradesh
Each year, approximately 65,700 children die in Madhya Pradesh due to pneumonia and diarrhea, representing 11% of the national burden. Difficulties with accurately diagnosing pneumonia in children, including identifying malnutrition as a risk factor for severe disease, exacerbate this challenge. To address this issue, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) received a four-year grant from the IKEA Foundation to continue its project in Madhya Pradesh and address the top two causes of death in children under five– diarrhea and pneumonia.
Sambodhi was engaged in the project to conduct a midline study to measure progress against the established baseline for specific indicators related to diagnosing and treating children with pneumonia and pneumonia-like symptoms.
The primary objective of the midline study was to measure and evaluate the program-specific indicators against the 2017 baseline. The midline study was supposed to comment on progress made so far, highlight goals on track, and provide actionable recommendations for improvement and/or course corrections. The specific objectives of the midline study were:
- recognizing the proportion of children with respiratory distress, lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI), severe pneumonia, bronchopneumonia, or pneumonia who had their blood oxygen saturation checked,
- recognizing the different treatments administered to children with bronchopneumonia, LRTI, pneumonia, or severe pneumonia,
- evaluating the level of understanding and knowledge of pneumonia, severe pneumonia, bronchopneumonia, LRTI, respiratory distress, symptoms, and treatment among medical practitioners, and
- gaining knowledge of oxygen therapy’s application, administration, and capabilities in medical facilities.
This study also explored the infrastructure, energy usage, and staffing to support oxygen use within facilities.