Effectiveness of peer supervision on appropriate treatment of
pneumonia symptoms
Examination of health system effects due to peer supervision at district
level revealed that appropriate treatment of pneumonia symptoms using
antibiotics may be achieved on a long term rather than short term basis.
These results are in agreement with those obtained by Li Zhen and
colleagues while looking at the impact of prescription audit and
feedback for antibiotic use in rural
clinics36. The
difference is that while Li Zhen and colleagues used a single group
comparison, the investigators of this study used a reference group which
may have strengthened the validity of the findings. Evidence from
different settings shows that even among trained community health
workers, diagnosis and rightful classification of children with
pneumonia symptoms remains a
challenge37-39. As
such, several studies emphasize the importance of supervision in
improving appropriate treatment of acute respiratory tract infections
which are associated with community pneumonia in children under five
years of age40,41.
This further strengthens the importance of peer supervision among drug
sellers in rural settings where supervision has been inadequate. Thus,
even though drug sellers in both districts were trained prior to
introduction of peer supervision, the continuous professional
development received through peer supervision improved diagnosis of
pneumonia symptoms