Table 2.

Reported outcomes of initiatives

Country and Authors	Description of initiative and study aims	Outcome measured	Method of measurement	Finding
Service delivery initiatives
Indonesia Ferdiana et al.	Public Private partnership implemented for antimalarials in Indonesia. Research group analyzed secondary data on malaria cases and the use of antimalarials by drug shops, as well as conducted interviews and focus group discussions on the acceptability of the partnership among key stakeholders	Malaria cases specifically reported by drug shops pre and post intervention as a percentage of malaria cases reported in the district overall	Malaria case reporting data to district health information system	Increase from 6.9 to 30.7% in percentage of overall cases of malaria reported by drug shops
Myanmar Thein et al.	PSI/Myanmar provided training on guidelines and appointed one field supervisor per township to support drug sellers and patients with TB and malaria services. Research group aimed to understand provision of these services and any barriers drug shops currently engaged in the program	Percentage of drug sellers who used correct criteria for determining a client as a presumptive TB case	Quantitative questionnaire developed by PSI/Myanmar	86.4% Referring all symptomatic TB clients using the correct criteria TB
		Percentage of drug sellers using correct definition for suspected malaria cases and referring these according to guidelines		87.7% Using correct definition and referring according to guidelines
Nigeria Oluwasanu et al.	Training on injectable contraception, as well as monitoring and follow-up at 3, 6 and 9 months conducted in Nigeria. Research group aimed to elucidate the processes through which this intervention influenced women’s increased utilization of injectable contraception	Percentage of PMVs knowledge assessed as complete on injectable contraception after participation in training	Quantitative questionnaires of PMVs administered by research group	96% of PMVs for Depo Provera 86.4% of PMVs for Noristerat 83.6% of PMVs for Sayana press
		Percentage of PMVs that perceived training improved knowledge and skills in injectable contraceptive service provision		85.7% Perceived that training improved knowledge and skills
		Percentage of PMVs that perceived training improved knowledge and skills in family planning counselling		85% Perceived that training improved knowledge and skills
Tanzania Shekalaghe et al.	Training initiative to educate each of these groups on the roles and responsibilities of other groups, and informally convene ADDOs, Community health workers and health facilities in Tanzania. Research group aimed to understand relationships and referrals between these three groups, as well as barriers and facilitators to linkage	Whether CHWs refer manageable cases of under five children to ADDO shops	In-depth interviews	25% Pre-training, 95.8% post-training
		Whether CHWs felt to be appreciated by health facility staff		65% Pre-training, 91.7% post-training
		Qualitative assessment of relationships		Relationships did not exist pre-training, therefore, much improved relationships among the three groups post training
Nigeria Uneke et al.	National Drug Policy on family planning services, malaria care and antibiotic dispensing by PPMV was implemented in Nigeria. Research group aimed to understand PPMVs knowledge of this policy and subsequent behaviours, as well as nursing mothers and young people’s access to these services	Mean level of agreement by nursing mothers on various domains of accessibility (1 = Strongly disagree, 2 = disagree 3 = Unsure, 4 = agree 5 strongly agree)	Questionnaire for nursing mothers developed by research group	PPMVs are easily accessible to rural populations—4.2 Sale of medicines without prescription is rampant—3.8
		Mean level of agreement by youth on various domains regarding PPMVs (1 = Strongly disagree, 2 = disagree 3 = Unsure, 4 = agree 5 strongly agree)	Questionnaire for youth developed by research group	PPMV shop owners and operators generally have low health knowledge about proper treatment for common illnesses, such as malaria and diarrhoea and poor health treatment practices—3.1 Dispensing medicines without prescription should not be encouraged—4.0
Policy initiatives
Zambia Zulu et al.	Guidelines on operating Health Shops developed by Zambian Medicines Regulatory authority (ZAMRA). Research group aimed to understand the current acceptability of these guidelines among key stakeholders	Qualitative assessment of acceptability of guidelines	In depth interviews	Facilitators to acceptability: Comprehensive training on guidelines High level buy-in among stakeholders Barriers to acceptability: High cost of implementation Limited infrastructure and capacity to upgrade current shop to fit guidelines
Bangladesh Nizame et al.	Government of Bangladesh developed a National Drug Policy to lay out guidelines for appropriate sale and dispensing of antibiotics. Research group explored knowledge of and attitudes towards this policy	Knowledge of national drug policy and barriers to compliance with appropriate antibiotic stewardship as laid out by this policy	Qualitative assessment from key informant interviews and co-design workshops with drug shop operators	Low awareness of policy among drug shop owners Barriers: Drug shops demanded right to prescribe antibiotics Lack of qualified physicians available to prescribe antibiotics Customer demand for antibiotics