Post-Ebola Community Health Worker programme performance in Kenema District, Sierra Leone: A long way to go!

Abstract

Background: The devastating 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone could erode the gains of the health system including the Community Health Worker (CHW) programme. We conducted a study to ascertain if the positive trend in reporting cases of malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea treated by CHWs in the post-Ebola period has been sustained 18 months post-Ebola. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study using aggregated CHW programme data (2013-2017) from all Primary Health Units in Kenema district. Data was extracted from the District Health Information System and analysed using STATA. Data in the pre- (June 2013-April 2014), during- (June 2014-April 2015) and post-Ebola recovery (June 2016-April 2017) periods was compared and analysed for reporting completeness; Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) performed and cases of malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia treated per month. Differences across periods were tested using two-sample t-test with significance set at 0.05. Results: CHW reporting increased from pre-Ebola by 8% (p-value=0.29) intra-Ebola and 19% (p-value=0.012) post-Ebola. Compared to the pre-Ebola period, in the post-Ebola recovery period, there was a significant increase in the mean monthly reported RDTs of 35% (p-value=0.020); malaria treatments 66% (p-value<0.001); and pneumonia treatments increased by 80% (p-value=0.004). Conversely, the mean monthly diarrhoea cases treated decreased by 20% (p-value=0.16) in the post-Ebola period. Conclusion: The resiliency demonstrated by the CHW programme during and immediately after the Ebola outbreak has been sustained in the post-Ebola recovery period. Continued programme investments in supportive supervision and financial incentives for CHWs will be critical to ensure uninterrupted contribution towards Sustainable Development Goal 3.