The 2014 –2015 Ebola virus disease outbreak and primary healthcare delivery in Liberia: Time-series analyses for 2010–2016

by Bradley H. Wagenaar, Orvalho Augusto, Jason Beste, Stephen J. Toomay, Eugene Wickett, Nelson Dunbar, Luke Bawo, Chea Sanford Wesseh BackgroundThe aim of this study is to estimate the immediate and lasting effects of the 2014 –2015 Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak on public-sector primary healthcare delivery in Liberia using 7 years of comprehensive routine health information system data. Methods and findingsWe analyzed 10 key primary healthcare indicators before, during, and after the EVD outbreak using 31,836 facility-month service outputs from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2016 across a census of 379 public-sector health facilities in Liberia (excluding Montserrado County). All indicators had statistically significant decreases during the first 4 months of the EVD outbreak, with all indicators having their lowest raw mean outputs in August 2014. Decreases in outputs comparing the end of the initial EVD period (September 2014) to May 2014 (pre-EVD) ranged in magnitude from a 67.3% decrease in measles vaccinations (95% CI: −77.9%, −56.8%,p
Source: PLoS Medicine - Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Source Type: research