The Connect Study: A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Impact of Deploying Paid Community Health Workers on Maternal, Newborn, Infant and Childhood Health and Survival in Rural Tanzania: The Baseline Results

Malick Kante, Columbia University
Stephane Helleringer, Columbia University
Amon Exavery, Ifakara Health Institute (IHI)
Kate Ramsey, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Ahmed Hingora, Ifakara Health Institute (IHI)
Elizabeth F. Jackson, Columbia University
James F. Phillips, Columbia University

To test the hypothesis that health community services can accelerate progress on MDG4/5, the Ifakara Health Institute (IHI) and the Tanzania Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW) are developed the Connect Study, an experimental trial of the deployment of a new trained and paid community health workers. A randomized cluster sample of 50 treatment communities and 51 comparison villages has been extracted from the IHI Health and Demographic Surveillance System which established since 1999 and followed approximately 400,000 individuals in Rufiji, Kilombero, and Ulanga Districts. Baseline results show no significant differences in health indicators 5 years before the beginning of the project (2007-2011) between treatment and comparison communities, i.e., 5q0 is of 81.9/1,000 vs 81.8/1,000, 45q15 of 238.7/1,000 vs 237.1/1,000, TFR of 5.4 vs 5.1 children/woman. Our design would allow to detect a 15% decline in under-five mortality with 80% power at the end of the project in 2015.