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Objective. The objective of the study is to describe trends in selected services offered at public health facilities and utilization patterns during the Covid-19 epidemic in Mexico. Materials and methods. We used administrative data and the National Health and Nutrition Survey Covid-19, 2020. Results. We found a reduction in the rates of diabetes and detection screening during 2020 compared to 2014-2019. From the demand side, we found that 18.6% of the population reported health needs, and only 34% of them received care in public health facilities. The use of private health services was extensive even among the population with social security. The uninsured and the population with high and medium socioeconomic status had a lower probability of receiving care in public health facilities. Conclusion. We document trends in selected services, as well as the cascade of care during the Covid-19 epidemic in Mexico and its potential impact on displaced health care.

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Background Identifying approaches to improve levels of health care provider knowledge in resource-poor settings is critical. We assessed level of provider knowledge for HIV testing and counseling (HTC), prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT), and voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC). We also explored the association between HTC, PMTCT, and VMMC provider knowledge and provider and facility characteristics. Methods We used data collected in 2012 and 2013. Vignettes were administered to physicians, nurses, and counselors in facilities in Kenya (66), Rwanda (67), South Africa (57), and Zambia (58). The analytic sample consisted of providers of HTC (755), PMTCT (709), and VMMC (332). HTC, PMTCT, and VMMC provider knowledge scores were constructed using item response theory (IRT). We used GLM regressions to examine associations between provider knowledge and provider and facility characteristics focusing on average patient load, provider years in position, provider working in another facility, senior staff in facility, program age, proportion of intervention exclusive staff, person-days of training in facility, and management score. We estimated three models: Model 1 estimated standard errors without clustering, Model 2 estimated robust standard errors, and Model 3 estimated standard errors clustering by facility. Results The mean knowledge score was 36 for all three interventions. In Model 1, we found that provider knowledge scores were higher among providers in facilities with senior staff and among providers in facilities with higher proportions of intervention exclusive staff. We also found negative relationships between the outcome and provider years in position, average program age, provider working in another facility, person-days of training, and management score. In Model 3, only the coefficients for provider years in position, average program age, and management score remained statistically significant at conventional levels. Conclusions HTC, PMTCT, and VMMC provider knowledge was low in Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, and Zambia. Our study suggests that unobservable organizational factors may facilitate communication, learning, and knowledge. On the one hand, our study shows that the presence of senior staff and staff dedication may enable knowledge acquisition. On the other hand, our study provides a note of caution on the potential knowledge depreciation correlated with the time staff spend in a position and program age.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the alignment of supply and demand for antenatal care (ANC) in Mexico based on the definition of access provided by Donabedian: the “degree of adjustment” between resources and needs. Alignment was studied in the teenage and adult population of Mexico that lacked conventional social security between 2008 and 2015, a period of expanding financial resources for health and public health insurance coverage. Spatial econometric methods were used to analyze data from the Ministry of Health on the supply and demand for ANC in 2,314 municipalities (94% of all municipalities in Mexico). During this period, the relative weight of ANC demand among adolescents increased 37% while the production of antenatal consultations for adolescent and adult women remained unchanged. Bivariate spatial analyses of correlation between supply and demand for ANC services yielded a minimal spatial correlation, or lack of territorial correspondence, between supply and demand among women in both age groups. Spatial econometric analysis confirmed a non-significant association between supply and demand for ANC services. Our findings suggest the existence of misalignment between supply and demand for these services. This requires a reassessment of the management and delivery of ANC services at the local level in order to increase effective coverage and improve the overall performance of the health system.