Author:
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Salzberg, Navit T.; Sivalogan, Kasthuri; Bassat Orellana, Quique; Taylor, Allan W.; Adedini, Sunday; El Arifeen, Shams; Assefa, Nega; Blau, Dianna M.; Chawana, Richard; Cain, Carrie Jo; Cain, Kevin P.; Caneer, J. Patrick; Garel, Mischka; Gurley, Emily S.; Kaiser, Reinhard; Kotloff, Karen L.; Mandomando, Inácio; Morris, T; Nyamthimba Onyango, Peter; Sazzad, Hossain M. S.; Scott, J. Anthony G.; Seale, Anna C.; Sitoe, Antonio; Sow, Samba O.; Tapia, Milagritos D.; Whitney, Ellen A.; Worrell, Mary Claire; Zielinski-Gutierrez, Emily; Madhi, Shabir A.; Raghunathan, Pratima L.; Koplan, Jeffrey P.; Breiman, Robert F.; Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) Methods Consortium
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Abstract:
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Despite reductions over the past 2 decades, childhood
mortality remains high in low- and middle-income countries in
sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. In these settings, children
often die at home, without contact with the health system, and
are neither accounted for, nor attributed with a cause of death.
In addition, when cause of death determinations occur, they
often use nonspecific methods. Consequently, findings from
models currently utilized to build national and global estimates
of causes of death are associated with substantial uncertainty.
Higher-quality data would enable stakeholders to effectively
target interventions for the leading causes of childhood
mortality, a critical component to achieving the Sustainable
Development Goals by eliminating preventable perinatal and
childhood deaths. The Child Health and Mortality Prevention
Surveillance (CHAMPS) Network tracks the causes of under-5
mortality and stillbirths at sites in sub-Saharan Africa and
South Asia through comprehensive mortality surveillance,
utilizing minimally invasive tissue sampling (MITS), postmortem
laboratory and pathology testing, verbal autopsy, and clinical
and demographic data. CHAMPS sites have established facility-
and community-based mortality notification systems, which aim to
report potentially eligible deaths, defined as under-5 deaths
and stillbirths within a defined catchment area, within 24-36
hours so that MITS can be conducted quickly after death. Where
MITS has been conducted, a final cause of death is determined by
an expert review panel. Data on cause of death will be provided
to local, national, and global stakeholders to inform strategies
to reduce perinatal and childhood mortality in sub-Saharan
Africa and South Asia. |