Resources

PATH, in collaboration with the Zambia Ministry of Health, conducted a biomedical equipment survey (BMES) in health facilities across the country in November and December 2023.This report analyzes data collected during facility assessments of 91 health facilities in ten provinces across Zambia, by service ward type, to provide a snapshot of the country’s medical oxygen ecosystem. The purpose of this work is to quantify existing oxygen delivery and production equipment, consumables for administering oxygen therapy, and bed capacity, and to understand facility infrastructure characteristics. The BMES included a mix of public health facilities that represent the multiple hospital levels: first-level (district), second-level (provincial), and third- level (national) hospitals, as well as specialized hospitals (fourth level).The results demonstrated that the availability of oxygen services and respiratory care equipment is highly variable across health facilities. For example, 12% of facilities lack pulse oximeters altogether, and 12 facilities (13%) reported possession of an on-site pressure swing adsorption plant for continuous, reliable oxygen delivery to patients. Most facilities that provide services with high demand for oxygen (e.g., maternity and surgical wards and intensive care units [ICUs]) also possess oxygen concentrators and cylinders to ensure a reliable supply. The availability of small equipment and delivery devices, such as flowmeters and cannulas, varies considerably, which can limit the ability to access available oxygen supplies.

This document summarizes a monograph by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute on the latest state of the science around single-dose HPV vaccination. It includes follow-up from studies that informed WHO’s 2022 endorsement of a single-dose schedule for HPV vaccines, as well as new studies on topics such as durability of protection, effectiveness and health impact across diverse socioeconomic contexts, implementation, and cervical cancer screening integration.Taken together, the papers in this monograph add to and reinforce earlier findings: across multiple geographies, single-dose HPV vaccination provides strong protection against cancer-causing HPV infection, while also providing opportunities to reduce ongoing program costs and expand coverage.

Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) are the most effective treatment for Plasmodium falciparum infections—the deadliest form of malaria responsible for the vast majority of the estimated 608,000 malaria deaths reported in 2022.Reliable access to ACTs is critical for malaria patients, but the key starting material for ACTs, artemisinin, is vulnerable to multiple market and supply chain risks, casting doubt over long-term affordable access to these lifesaving antimalarial treatments.Developed more than a decade ago, semi-synthetic artemisinin (SSA) has great potential to address these market and supply chain risks but faces multiple barriers that prevent its wide adoption in ACT production. This brief highlights SSA’s critical role in stabilizing the ACT market, barriers to SSA adoption and the actions that needs to be taken by stakeholders to remove these adoption barriers.

Low adoption of piped oxygen infrastructure in health facilities in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) may be related to countries’ reliance on predominant, globally recognized standards. Many of these standards were not created with the operational limitations of those countries in mind, such as supplies, access to labor, and financial resources. National medical gas pipeline standards can be ambiguous or nonexistent in LMIC. PATH and Build Health International (BHI) investigated five innovative technical options spanning facility design, material, and component sourcing, and installation that could help alleviate barriers to install piping.The goal of this investigation is to prompt global discussion on increased adoption of high-quality medical gas pipeline systems, and address the unmet need for sustainable and uninterrupted lifesaving oxygen in LMIC.

Integrated antenatal care eLearning courseTo address the critical challenges of neonatal and maternal mortality, Ghana Health Service and PATH expanded infectious disease screening and treatment among pregnant women through the Integrated Antenatal Care project (2022‒2024).One key output of this project is an eLearning course designed to build health care providers' capacity to improve the overall quality of care, including diagnosis, prevention, and management of maternal infections in pregnant women during antenatal care visits. It also fosters demand creation for intervention and services available in health facilities. The course's overall goal is to contribute to the reduction of morbidity and mortality attributable to infections in newborns by improving the diagnosis and management of maternal infections during antenatal care.The course includes the following modules:1. Infection prevention and control2. Point of care and other diagnostics3. Clinical features and management of selected infections in pregnant women4. Antimicrobial resistance and stewardship5. Standard operating procedures for infection control and management during antenatal careThe document linked below provides a course overview. For more information, please contact Gideon Sarpong Nyamekye.