{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,13]],"date-time":"2026-10-13T11:40:37Z","timestamp":1791891637975,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":13,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,15]],"date-time":"2021-03-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1615766400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,15]],"date-time":"2021-03-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1615766400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Int J Equity Health"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,12]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Global response to COVID-19 pandemic has inadvertently undermined the achievement of existing public health priorities and laregely\u00a0overlooked local context. Recent evidence suggests that this will cause additional maternal and childhood mortality and morbidity especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Here we have explored the contextual factors influencing maternal, neonatal and children health (MNCH) care in Bangladesh, Nigeria and South Africa amidst the pandemic. Our findings suggest that between March and May 2020, there was a reduction in utilisation of basic essential MNCH services such as antenatal care, family planning and immunization due to: a) the implementation of lockdown which triggered fear of contracting the COVID-19 and deterred people from accessing basic MNCH care, and b) a shift of focus towards pandemic, causing the detriment to other health services, and c) resource constraints. Taken together these issues have resulted in compromised provision of basic general healthcare. Given the likelihood of recurrent waves of the pandemic globally, COVID-19 mitigation plans therefore\u00a0should be integrated with standard care provision to enhance system resilience to cope with all health needs. This commentary suggests a four-point contextualised mitigation plan to safeguard MNCH care during the pandemic using the observed countries as exemplars for LMIC health system adaptations to maintain the trajectory of progress regarding sustainable development goals (SDGs).<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1186\/s12939-021-01414-5","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,15]],"date-time":"2021-03-15T07:04:18Z","timestamp":1615791858000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":121,"title":["The effect of COVID-19 on maternal newborn and child health (MNCH) services in Bangladesh, Nigeria and South Africa: call for a contextualised pandemic response in LMICs"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"20","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8147-5136","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tanvir","family":"Ahmed","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ahmed Ehsanur","family":"Rahman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Taiwo Gboluwaga","family":"Amole","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hadiza","family":"Galadanci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mushi","family":"Matjila","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Priya","family":"Soma-Pillay","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bronwen M.","family":"Gillespie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shams","family":"El Arifeen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dilly O. C.","family":"Anumba","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"1414_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1596\/1813-9450-9260","volume-title":"COVID-19 mortality in rich and poor countries a tale of two pandemics?","author":"P Schellekens","year":"2020","unstructured":"Schellekens P, Sourrouille D. COVID-19 mortality in rich and poor countries a tale of two pandemics?. 2020 [cited 2020 Jul 6]. Available from: http:\/\/www.worldbank.org\/"},{"issue":"0","key":"1414_CR2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1687","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(20)31089-8","volume":"0","author":"R Cash","year":"2020","unstructured":"Cash R, Patel V. Has COVID-19 subverted global health? Lancet. 2020;0(0):1687 [cited 2020 May 13]. Available from: https:\/\/linkinghub.elsevier.com\/retrieve\/pii\/S0140673620310898.","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"1414_CR3","first-page":"222","volume":"4","author":"KB Ribacke","year":"2016","unstructured":"Ribacke KB, Saulnier D, Eriksson A, von Schreeb J. Effects of the west Africa Ebola virus disease on health-care utilization\u2014a systematic review. Front Public Health. 2016;4:222.","journal-title":"Front Public Health"},{"key":"1414_CR4","unstructured":"Stein D, Ward K, Cantelmo C. Estimating the potential impact of COVID-19 on mothers and newborns in low- and middle-income countries. Health Policy Plus. 2020; [cited 2020 Jul 7]. Available from: https:\/\/medium.com\/@HealthPolicyPlus\/estimating-the-potential-impact-of-covid-19-on-mothers-and-newborns-in-low-and-middle-income-3a7887e4a0ff."},{"issue":"7","key":"1414_CR5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e901","DOI":"10.1016\/S2214-109X(20)30229-1","volume":"8","author":"T Roberton","year":"2020","unstructured":"Roberton T, Carter ED, Chou VB, Stegmuller AR, Jackson BD, Tam Y, et al. Early estimates of the indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal and child mortality in low-income and middle-income countries: a modelling study. Lancet Glob Health. 2020;8(7):e901 [cited 2020 May 21]. Available from: https:\/\/linkinghub.elsevier.com\/retrieve\/pii\/S2214109X20302291.","journal-title":"Lancet Glob Health"},{"issue":"4","key":"1414_CR6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"295","DOI":"10.1177\/1744987110370529","volume":"15","author":"J Popay","year":"2010","unstructured":"Popay J. Understanding and tackling social exclusion. J Res Nurs. 2010;15(4):295\u20137 Available from: http:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/1744987110370529.","journal-title":"J Res Nurs"},{"key":"1414_CR7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1910","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(15)60755-3","volume":"385","author":"ME Kruk","year":"2015","unstructured":"Kruk ME, Myers M, Varpilah ST, Dahn BT. What is a resilient health system? Lessons from Ebola. Lancet. 2015;385:1910\u20132 Lancet Publishing Group; [cited 2020 Sep 14]. Available from: http:\/\/apps.who.int\/gho\/data\/node.main.","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"1414_CR8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ozili PK. COVID-19 in Africa: Socioeconomic Impact, Policy Response and Opportunities. SSRN Electron J. 2020; [cited 2020 Sep 16]; Available from: https:\/\/papers.ssrn.com\/abstract=3574767.","DOI":"10.2139\/ssrn.3574767"},{"key":"1414_CR9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"105067","DOI":"10.1016\/j.worlddev.2020.105067","volume":"135","author":"O Okoi","year":"2020","unstructured":"Okoi O, Bwawa T. How health inequality affect responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Sub-Saharan Africa. World Dev. 2020;135:105067 Elsevier Ltd.","journal-title":"World Dev"},{"issue":"8","key":"1414_CR10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e003042","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjgh-2020-003042","volume":"5","author":"SAKS Ahmed","year":"2020","unstructured":"Ahmed SAKS, Ajisola M, Azeem K, Bakibinga P, Chen Y-F, Choudhury NN, et al. Impact of the societal response to COVID-19 on access to healthcare for non-COVID-19 health issues in slum communities of Bangladesh, Kenya, Nigeria and Pakistan: results of pre-COVID and COVID-19 lockdown stakeholder engagements. BMJ Glob Health. 2020;5(8):e003042 [cited 2020 Sep 16]. Available from: http:\/\/gh.bmj.com\/.","journal-title":"BMJ Glob Health"},{"key":"1414_CR11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100","DOI":"10.53986\/ibjm.2020.0018","volume":"2","author":"BJ Alegbeleye","year":"2020","unstructured":"Alegbeleye BJ, Mohammed RK. Challenges of healthcare delivery in the context of COVID-19 pandemic in Sub-Saharan Africa. Iberoam J Med. 2020;2:100\u20139 [cited 2020 Sep 16]. Available from: http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/.","journal-title":"Iberoam J Med"},{"issue":"6502","key":"1414_CR12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"413","DOI":"10.1126\/science.abc0035","volume":"369","author":"PGT Walker","year":"2020","unstructured":"Walker PGT, Whittaker C, Watson OJ, Baguelin M, Winskill P, Hamlet A, et al. The impact of COVID-19 and strategies for mitigation and suppression in low- And middle-income countries. Science (80-). 2020;369(6502):413\u201322 [cited 2020 Sep 16]. Available from: http:\/\/science.sciencemag.org\/.","journal-title":"Science (80-)"},{"issue":"9","key":"1414_CR13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e003886","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjgh-2020-003886","volume":"5","author":"R Loewenson","year":"2020","unstructured":"Loewenson R, Accoe K, Bajpai N, Buse K, Deivanayagam TA, London L, et al. Reclaiming comprehensive public health. BMJ Glob Health. 2020;5(9):e003886 [cited 2020 Sep 29]. Available from: https:\/\/gh.bmj.com\/lookup\/doi\/10.1136\/bmjgh-2020-003886.","journal-title":"BMJ Glob Health"}],"container-title":["International Journal for Equity in Health"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1186\/s12939-021-01414-5.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"http:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1186\/s12939-021-01414-5\/fulltext.html","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"http:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1186\/s12939-021-01414-5.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,21]],"date-time":"2022-12-21T09:06:25Z","timestamp":1671613585000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/equityhealthj.biomedcentral.com\/articles\/10.1186\/s12939-021-01414-5"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,15]]},"references-count":13,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,12]]}},"alternative-id":["1414"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1186\/s12939-021-01414-5","relation":{},"ISSN":["1475-9276"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1475-9276","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,15]]},"assertion":[{"value":"1 November 2020","order":1,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"24 February 2021","order":2,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"15 March 2021","order":3,"name":"first_online","label":"First Online","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"order":1,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"This commentary reflects the view of the authors based on their own experience, observation, published materials and service utilization data which is not linked to any personal information in anyway or form. Therefore, no ethical approval was sought or needed.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Ethics approval and consent to participate"}},{"value":"Not applicable.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Consent for publication"}},{"value":"The authors declare that they have no competing interests.","order":4,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Competing interests"}}],"article-number":"77"}}