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In children, acute respiratory distress (ARD) is a clinical presentation requiring emergency management, including mechanical ventilation. Mechanical ventilators are lacking in sub-Saharan Africa. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) is an alternative form of non-invasive respiratory support that has been used in high-income countries for over four decades. Its use in sub-Saharan Africa is, however, limited and often restricted to neonates. Controlled trials in Ghana have shown that the use of CPAP in children younger aged 1-12 months reduces 2-week all-cause mortality from ARD by 60% (RR 0·40, 0·19-0·82; p=0·01). The absolute reduction in mortality of 4% implies one infant life saved for every 25 children treated with CPAP. This paper reviews the findings of the trials in Ghana and contrasts the findings with those of trials in Bangladesh and Malawi. It makes the case that implementation research (rather than more controlled trials) is now needed to support the routine, safe and effective use of CPAP in managing ARD in older infants in district hospitals in Ghana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe a pragmatic training-of-trainers program for the use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) for neonatal and pediatric patients. The program is designed for medical professionals working in low- and middle-income countries and involves 2 days of in-class training followed by 1 day of in-service training. The program was created after training in Cambodia, Ghana, Honduras, Kenya and Rwanda and addresses the issues of resource availability, cultural context and local buy-in and partnership in low- and middle-income countries. We hope others will use the training program to increase knowledge and use of CPAP with the ultimate goal of improving neonatal and pediatric survival globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]