A systematic literature review was conducted to assess the effectiveness of strategies to improve community case management (CCM) of malaria. Forty-three studies were included; most (38) reported indicators of community health worker (CHW) performance, 14 reported on malaria CCM integrated with other child health interventions, 16 reported on health system capacity, and 13 reported on referral. The CHWs are able to provide good quality malaria care, including performing procedures such as rapid diagnostic tests. Appropriate training, clear guidelines, and regular supportive supervision are important facilitating factors. Crucial to sustainable success of CHW programs is strengthening health system capacity to support commodity supply, supervision, and appropriate treatment of referred cases. The little evidence available on referral from community to health facility level suggests that this is an area that needs priority attention. The studies of integrated CCM suggest that additional tasks do not reduce the quality of malaria CCM provided sufficient training and supervision is maintained.

Approximately 700,000 children become newly infected with HIV annually, mainly through mother-to-child transmission (MTCT), making paediatric HIV a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The substantial interest in preventing MTCT (PMTCT) has generated information on rates of transmission and associated factors, but there is a lack of information on disease progression and mortality in vertically-infected children, especially from resource-poor settings. Peer-review journals with titles or abstracts containing reference to the review's themes were selected using widely available search engines. We review relevant literature on mortality in children born to HIV infected mothers; morbidity and mortality associated with paediatric HIV infections; eligibility to and efficacy of antiretroviral therapy (ART). Child mortality is independently associated with maternal HIV status and maternal death, with paediatric infection resulting in approximately 4 fold increase in mortality by age 2 years. Morbidities seen in infected children were similar to those seen in uninfected children, although the rates and recurrences of illness were greater. There is some evidence that progression to AIDS may be more rapid in resource poor settings, although data on this are very limited. PMTCT and paediatric ART have been shown to be highly successful in resource-limited settings, but are not universally applied. Further efforts to increase coverage of both PMTCT and paediatric ART could substantially reduce the numbers of children becoming infected and improve survival of those infected. Additionally, improvements in health infrastructures could improve care provision, not only through improved detection and monitoring but also through treatment of co-morbidities and nutritional support.

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BackgroundIn early 2016, we implemented a community-based maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) surveillance using mobile phones to collect, analyze, and use data by village health volunteers (VHV) in Kenge Health Zone (KHZ), in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The objective of this study was to determine the perceptions of households, attitudes of community health volunteers, and opinions of nurses in Health center and administrative authorities towards the use of mobile phones for MNCH surveillance in the rural KHZ in the DRC.MethodsWe used mixed methods combining phenomenological and descriptive cross-sectional study. Between 3 and 24 March 2016, we collected the data through focus group discussions (FGD) with households, and structured interviews with VHV, local health and administrative authority, and nurses to explore the perceptions on MNCH surveillance using mobile phone. Data from the FGD and interviews  were analyzed using thematic analysis techniques and descriptive statistics respectively.ResultsHealth issues and services for under-five children were well known by community; however, beliefs and cultural norms contributed to the practices of seeking behavior for households. Mobile phones were perceived as devices that render quick services for people who needed help; and the community’s attitudes towards the mobile phone use for collection of data, analysis, and use activities were good. Although some of community members did not see a direct linkage between this surveillance approach and health benefits, majority believed that there would be better MNCH services with the use of mobile phone. In addition, VHV will benefit from free healthcare for households and some material benefits and training. The best time to undertake these activities were in the afternoon with mother of the child, being the best respondent at the household.ConclusionHealth issues and services for under-five children are well known and MNCH surveillance using mobile phone by VHV in which the mother can be involved as respondent is accepted.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-018-5186-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

This model is easy to implement and flexible and can be used in ART programmes at national and local level.