Infant Mortality Reduction by the Mass Administration of Azithromycin
Infant Mortality Reduction by the Mass Administration of Azithromycin
This trial will investigate the supplementation of azithromycin distribution to the "Child
 Health Days" platform in Burkina Faso for child mortality reduction. This distribution will
 pair door-to-door administration of vitamin A and azithromycin or placebo with acute
 malnutrition screening among children 1-11 months old.
The MORDOR clinical trial funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Malawi, Tanzania,
 and Niger demonstrated that biannual oral azithromycin distributions to children aged 1-59
 months significantly reduced child mortality. The investigators hypothesize that biannual
 administration of azithromycin to children aged 1-11 months will reduce mortality in this age
 group. The aim of the project is to demonstrate that this intervention can be scaled up and
 produce the same benefits on mortality as those documented in smaller, more controlled
 studies. Since 1986, to reduce child mortality, Burkina Faso has been administering high-dose
 vitamin A supplementation to children aged 6-59 months on a biannual basis through the "Child
 Health Days" platform. The "Child Health days" are a door-to-door distribution of vitamin A
 coupled with screening for acute malnutrition in children aged 6-59 months and deworming of
 children aged 12-59 months. This approach has been successful but expensive. A new strategy
 implemented since September 2017 relies on community-based health workers (CBHWs) to
 distribute Vitamin A in rural areas, and on community-based distributors (CDs) in urban
 areas. Based on expert opinion and the preliminary findings of formative research conducted
 by the Ministry of Health and Helen Keller International, it was agreed that the Child Health
 Days platform was the most appropriate platform to implement the biannual administration of
 azithromycin to children aged 1 to 11 months.
Inclusion Criteria:

 Community eligibility criteria:

 -  Located in one of the three selected regions: SudOuest, Centre-Ouest, Hauts-Bassins)

 -  Verbal consent of the community leader is obtained

 Inclusion criteria for children:

 -  Aged 1 to 11 months

 -  Living in one of the communities participating in the study

 Exclusion Criteria:

 Community exclusion criteria:

 • Inaccessible or unsafe for the study team

 Exclusion criteria for children:

 • Known allergy to macrolides