Bernadette Ann-Marie O'Hare

Income and child mortality in developing countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis:

Objective We aimed to quantify the relationship between national income and infant and under-five mortality in developing countries. Design We conducted a systematic literature search of studies that examined the relationship between income and child mortality (infant and/or under-five mortality) and meta-analysed their results. Setting Developing countries. Main outcome measures Child mortality (infant and /or under-five mortality). Results The systematic literature search identified 24 studies, which produced 38 estimates that examined the impact of income on the mortality rates. Using meta-analysis, we produced pooled estimates of the relationship between income and mortality. The pooled estimate of the relationship between income and infant mortality before adjusting for covariates is −0.95 (95% CI −1.34 to −0.57) and that for under-five mortality is −0.45 (95% CI −0.79 to −0.11). After adjusting for covariates, pooled estimate of the relationship between income and infant mortality is −0.33 (−0.39 to −0.26) while the estimate for under-five mortality is −0.28 (−0.37 to −0.19). If a country has an infant mortality of 50 per 1000 live births and the gross domestic product per capita purchasing power parity increases by 10%, the infant mortality will decrease to 45 per 1000 live births. Conclusion Income is an important determinant of child survival and this work provides a pooled estimate for the relationship.

Weak health systems and Ebola

The response to the Ebola crisis in west Africa is shining light on the weak health systems in these countries, which have been crippled by years of underinvestment. 1 Sierra Leone, one of the three countries at the epicentre of the Ebola outbreak, is a small country with a population of 6 million and an average income of US

Clinical Characteristics and Lung Function in Older Children Vertically Infected With Human Immunodeficiency Virus in Malawi.

513. As of Dec 13, 2014, Sierra Leone had recorded 6638 confi rmed cases of Ebola and 2033 deaths. The weak health infrastructure is generally explained in the media as resulting from the civil war which ended in 2002. However other factors, including those that precipitated the civil war, need to be considered, such as structural adjustment which caused the collapse of the education system. The combination of jobless youths and income from diamonds provided fertile ground for the formation of the Revolutionary United Front, a group that claimed to be on the side of the population against the government. 2 To pay for health systems, governments need to raise revenue. The most predictable and sustainable way to do this is through taxes, and both the UN and west African heads of state have agreed that governments need to raise 20% of their gross domestic product (GDP) in tax to meet their development needs. 3 However, although the economy has been growing at 6% per year, Sierra Leone currently only raises 11% of its GDP in taxes. 4 The three main categories of tax are customs duty, goods and services tax, and corporate income tax. Waivers and special deals are given to foreign mining and agribusiness companies to attract foreign investment into the country, despite little evidence to suggest that such incentives attract investment or promote economic growth. 5 When several countries provide widespread tax incentives at the same time, there may be a race to the bottom, with multinational companies being the benefi ciaries and the population being the losers, in the form of lost potential revenues that could fund public services. Individualised tax arrangements reached between a small number of government offi cials and companies, with lack of transparency , also increases the likelihood of corruption. Looking at just fi ve mining companies in Sierra Leone, one recent study 6 found that the country will lose

The effect of illicit financial flows on time to reach the fourth Millennium Development Goal in Sub-Saharan Africa: a quantitative analysis

44 million per year simply from corporate income tax exemptions, nearly all from two UK companies. Losses from exemptions on customs duties and taxes …

Using international human rights law to improve child health in low-income countries: a framework for healthcare professionals

Background Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has led to increased survival of children with vertically acquired human immunodeficiency virus infection. Significant morbidity arises from respiratory symptoms, but aetiology and pulmonary function abnormalities have not been systematically studied. Methods Human immunodeficiency virus-positive children aged 8–16 years were systematically recruited within clinics in Blantyre, Malawi. Clinical review, quality of life assessment, spirometry, and chest radiography were performed. Results One hundred sixty participants had a mean of age 11.1 (range, 8–16) years and 50.0% were female. Cough was present in 60 (37.5%) participants, and 55 (34.4%) had moderate or severe dyspnoea. Thirty-four (22.1%) participants had digital clubbing. Thirty-three (20.6%) participants were hypoxic at rest. One hundred eighteen (73.8%) of the children were receiving ART; median CD4 count was 698 cells/µL in these compared with 406 cells/µL in ART-naive individuals (P < .001). From 145 spirometry traces (90.6%), mean forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) were 1.06 and 0.89 standard deviations below predicted mean, respectively. Twenty-one (14.5%) traces demonstrated obstructive defects and 26 (17.9%) reduced FVC. Lung function abnormality was not associated with any clinical findings. Of the 51 individuals with abnormal lung function, the mean increase in FEV1 after salbutamol was 3.8% (95% confidence interval, 0.02–7.53). “Tramlines” and ring shadows were seen on chest radiographs in over half of cases. Conclusions Symptoms of chronic lung disease were highly prevalent with 2 main clinical phenotypes: “cough” and “hypoxia”. Lung function abnormalities are common, poorly responsive to bronchodilators, and apparent throughout the age range of our cohort. Pathological causes remain to be elucidated. Cough and hypoxic phenotypes could be a useful part of diagnostic algorithms if further validated.

Tax, aid, and health expenditure.

Objectives This paper sets out to estimate the cost of illicit financial flows (IFF) in terms of the amount of time it could take to reach the fourth Millennium Development Goal (MDG) in 34 African countries. Design We have calculated the percentage increase in gross domestic product (GDP) if IFFs were curtailed using IFF/GDP ratios. We applied the income (GDP) elasticity of child mortality to the increase in GDP to estimate the reduction in time to reach the fourth MDG in 34 African countries. Participants children aged under five years. Settings 34 countries in SSA. Main outcome measures Reduction in time to reach the first indicator of the fourth MDG, under-five mortality rate in the absence of IFF. Results We found that in the 34 SSA countries, six countries will achieve their fourth MDG target at the current rates of decline. In the absence of IFF, 16 countries would reach their fourth MDG target by 2015 and there would be large reductions for all other countries. Conclusions This drain on development is facilitated by financial secrecy in other jurisdictions. Rich and poor countries alike must stem the haemorrhage of IFF by taking decisive steps towards improving financial transparency.

Bedside paediatric HIV testing in Malawi Impact on testing rates

BackgroundThe Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights states that the right to health is closely related to, and dependent upon, the realization of other human rights, including the right to food, water, education and shelter which are important determinants of health. Children’s healthcare workers in low income settings may spend the majority of their professional lives trying to mitigate deficiencies of these rights but have little influence over them. In order to advocate successfully at a local level, we should be aware of the proportion of children living in our catchment population who do not have access to their basic rights. In order to carry out a rights audit, a framework within which healthcare workers could play their part is required, as is an agreed minimum core of rights, a timeframe and a set of indicators.DiscussionA framework to assess how well states and their developmental partners are adhering to human rights principles is discussed, including the role that a healthcare worker might optimally play. A minimum core of economic and social rights seeks to establish a legal minimum set of protections, which should be available with immediate effect and applicable to all nations despite very different resources. Minimum core rights and the impact that progressive realisation may have had on the right to health is discussed, including what they should include from the perspective of children’s health. A set of absolute rights are suggested, based on physiological needs and aligned with the corresponding articles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The development indicators which are likely to be used to monitor progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals is suggested as a way to monitor rights. We consider the ways in which the healthcare worker could use a rights audit to advocate with, and for their community.SummaryThese audits could achieve several objectives. They may legitimise healthcare workers’ interests in the determinants of health and, as they are often highly respected by their community, this may facilitate them to be agents for change at a local level. This may raise awareness on basic human rights and their importance to health and contribute to a needed change in mind-set from one of development needs to absolute rights. The results may catalyse colleagues to analyse further the upstream reasons why children, and the families in which they live, are not having their rights met.

Rapid diagnostic testing of hospitalized Malawian children reveals opportunities for improved HIV diagnosis and treatment

1showed that increased tax revenue is associated with an increase in government health expenditure and that there is no association between development assistance and health spending—lending support to the argument that donors should pay tax in recipient countries. Many aid-funded goods and services are exempt from taxation, 2 and weak tax administrations have to deal with individual donor exemptions, resulting in additional costs and increased opportunities for fraud. 3 Recipient countries have been requesting for some time for this policy to be reconsidered. 4

Health spending, illicit financial flows and tax incentives in Malawi

Background Provider initiated testing and counselling (PITC) is recommended for all inpatients in Malawi if they have not been tested in the previous 3 months. However testing rates remain low among children. We audited the effect of implementing a bedside diagnostic HIV testing service to determine if it would improve testing rates amongst paediatric inpatients. Methods We audited the existing HIV testing service to determine the numbers of children being tested for HIV. This was followed by the introduction of a bedside diagnostic service followed by re-audit. Bedside testing was facilitated by health systems strengthening measures including identification of suitable counsellors, appropriate supervision and remuneration. Results In the initial audit in March-April 2014, 85 (63%) of 135 children had documented HIV tests.. Following implementation of the bedside HIV testing service, there was a significant increase in the proportion of children whose HIV status was known. On re-audit in July 2015, 110 (94.8%) of 116 children had documented HIV tests (p<0.001). Of those with documented tests, 94.5% had been tested within the last 3-months compared to 61% in 2014. Following the introduction of the service, the proportion of children tested for HIV during admission increased from 31.9% to 68.1% (p<0.001). Conclusions Implementation of a bedside testing service at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital significantly increased HIV testing among paediatric inpatients. This has important implications in establishing earlier treatment, reducing HIV-associated morbidity and mortality.

View point: Economic growth and child health in Sub Saharan Africa.

Recent World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines recommend antiretroviral therapy (ART) for all HIV-infected people; previously CD4+ T lymphocyte quantification (CD4 count) or clinical staging determined eligibility for children ≥ 5 years old in low- and middle-income countries. We examined positive predictive value (PPV) of a rapid diagnostic test (RDT) algorithm and ART eligibility for hospitalized children with newly diagnosed HIV infection. We enrolled 363 hospitalized Malawian children age 2 months to 16 years with two serial positive HIV RDT from 2013 to 2015. Children aged ≤ 18 months whose nucleic acid testing was negative or unavailable were later excluded from the analysis (N = 16). If RNA PCR was undetectable, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and western blot (WB) were performed. Those with negative or discordant EIA and WB were considered HIV negative and excluded from further analysis (N = 6). ART eligibility was assessed using age, CD4 count, and clinical HIV stage. Among 150 patients with HIV RNA PCR results, 15 had undetectable HIV RNA. Of those, EIA and WB were positive in nine patients and negative or discordant in six patients. PPV of serial RDT was 90% versus RNA PCR alone and 96% versus combined RNA PCR, EIA, and WB. Of all patients aged ≥ 5 years, 8.9% were ineligible for ART under previous WHO guidelines. Improved HIV testing algorithms are needed for accurate diagnosis of HIV infection in children as prevalence of pediatric HIV declines. Universal treatment will significantly increase the numbers of older children who qualify for ART.