Implementing community-based minimally invasive tissue sampling for mortality surveillance in rural South Africa: A process evaluation of the Vukamberi project

Accurate cause-of-death data are limited in rural low- and middle-income settings, where most deaths occur at home without medical certification. Minimally invasive tissue sampling (MITS) is a culturally acceptable alternative to complete autopsy but has largely been applied to stillbirths and child deaths. We evaluated the process and implementation of a community-based, all-age MITS study in rural South Africa. The Vukamberi project ("to examine" in Xitsonga) is a prospective study in rural Bushbuckridge sub-district, Mpumalanga Province. Guided by the Medical Research Council Framework for

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