Leveraging Africa's preparedness towards the next phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Senghore M
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7255144 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Leveraging Africa's preparedness towards the next phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Senghore Madikay M Savi Merveille K MK Gnangnon Bénédicte B Hanage William P WP Okeke Iruka N IN
The Lancet. Global health 20200514 7
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Project description:Worldwide, COVID-19 has decimated healthcare systems and highlighted the pressing need to ensure resilience for future pandemics. Given the almost 30% likelihood of another respiratory disease similar to COVID-19 manifesting in the next 10 years, it is imperative to prioritize pandemic preparedness in the immediate future. To this end, tuberculosis (TB) and its management share many similarities to respiratory disease protection, offering an opportunity to dually strengthen TB programs and protect against future pandemics. Looking at data from the World Health Organization (WHO), Global Fund, Our World in Data, and domestic health ministries, it was hypothesized that countries that had better TB program strength going into the pandemic fared better with COVID-19 than those with poorer TB treatment. It was found that countries that recovered their TB program strength (as measured by TB treatment coverage percentages) to or above pre-pandemic levels fared better in terms of COVID-19 pandemic incidence and death. Case studies helped identify common factors across resilient TB platforms in dually successful COVID-19 and TB countries, including community trust, co-epidemic responses that were able to maintain continuity of care, sustained innovation, comprehensive communication across public and private sectors, and maintenance of donor support for TB programs through the pandemic.
| S-EPMC11376540 | biostudies-literature
Project description:COVID-19 is now established in Africa, and requires appropriate prioritization of resources and customized control measures. Although there have been lower than predicted number of COVID-19 cases (6,839,159 (3.4% of global cases)) and fatalities (172,413 (4.1% of cases in Africa)) compared to global estimates from other regions, as of 3rd August 2021. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that poor mitigation strategies could worsen the current situation in African countries. Several aspects have been attributed to the lower COVID-19 magnitude observed in Africa that include: warmer climate, a youthful population, and previous experience in managing infectious diseases. However, the level of COVID-19 risk of exposure and vulnerability to develop complications varies greatly across the continent. At present, most COVID-19 disease trajectories have been predicted using mathematical models focused solely on demographic factors. We compared the global health security and governance indices in forty-one African countries, with a population of more than 2.5 million, and matched these to the magnitude of COVID-19 burden, to establish whether there is correlation. These findings suggests that more accurate comparisons of responses to COVID-19 can only be made within clusters of African countries that share similar governance and preparedness standards. We conclude that proper implementation of the continental framework on disaster preparedness and management is required for management of the COVID-19 pandemic.
| S-EPMC8380308 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in China and transmission to more than 80 territories worldwide, including nine countries in Africa, presents a delicate situation for low-resource settings. Countries in Eastern and Central Africa have been on high alert since mid-2018 in anticipation of regional spread of the Ebola virus from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Significant investment has been made to support enhanced surveillance at point of entry and hospitals, infection control practices, clinical case management, and clinical research. With a new threat on the horizon, African countries have an opportunity to leverage the existing capacities for Ebola preparedness to brace for the imminent threat.
| S-EPMC7236423 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundEfficient control and management in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic needs to carefully balance economical and realizable interventions. Simulation models can play a cardinal role in forecasting possible scenarios to sustain decision support.MethodsWe present a sophisticated extension of a classical SEIR model. The simulation tool CovidSIM Version 1.0 is an openly accessible web interface to interactively conduct simulations of this model. The simulation tool is used to assess the effects of various interventions, assuming parameters that reflect the situation in Austria as an example.ResultsStrict contact reduction including isolation of infected persons in quarantine wards and at home can substantially delay the peak of the epidemic. Home isolation of infected individuals effectively reduces the height of the peak. Contact reduction by social distancing, e.g., by curfews, sanitary behavior, etc. are also effective in delaying the epidemic peak.ConclusionsContact-reducing mechanisms are efficient to delay the peak of the epidemic. They might also be effective in decreasing the peak number of infections depending on seasonal fluctuations in the transmissibility of the disease.
| S-EPMC7675392 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundCommunity pharmacies provide an important healthcare service, which is broadly established, and constitutes the preferred and initial contact for members of the community. The significant value of community pharmacies was further highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.ObjectiveThe assessment of community pharmacies preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsA cross-sectional interview survey of 1018 community pharmacies working in four regions of Egypt (South, East, Centre, and North). Data collection was conducted from 8-19 April 2020.ResultsAvailability of personal protective equipment (PPE) and medication was better than alcohol (70% conc.). Home delivery services were available in 49.1% of pharmacies. Infection control measures covering interactions between staff were in place in up to 99.5% of pharmacies. Conversely, there was less frequent availability of contactless payment (29.1%), hand sanitizers (62.1%) or masks (86.5%) for customer use, or a separate area for patients with suspected COVID-19 (64%). Verbal customer education (90.4%) was used preferably to written (81.3%). Despite high clinical knowledge and awareness (97.6%-99.2%), only 8.8% of pharmacists had reported suspected COVID-19 cases, however this varied significantly with pharmacist demographics (geographic region P < 0.001; pandemic training p < 0.001; position p = 0.019; age p = 0.046).ConclusionsGovernment and policymakers strive to mitigate the shortage of PPE and medication. More attention should be given to infection control measures around interactions between staff and customers to ensure community pharmacists are fit and able to provide continuity in their important role. Educating customers using regularly-updated posters, banners or signs will contribute to decreasing contact with patients, and reducing the number and duration of visits to the pharmacy. Pandemic preparedness of community pharmacists must also extend to reporting procedures. By avoiding under-reporting or over-reporting, community pharmacists will contribute to accurate monitoring of the national spread of infection.
| S-EPMC7211678 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly challenged societies and healthcare systems in particular. To prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2, infection prevention and control (IPC) strategies had to be developed on the local, national and international level. The aim of this study is to provide details of the COVID-19 experience at the Vienna General Hospital (VGH) in the context of the national and international COVID-19 response for learning and improvement.MethodsThis is a retrospective report, outlining the evolution of IPC measures and challenges encountered at the health facility (VGH), the national (Austria) and global level between February 2020 and October 2022.ResultsThe IPC strategy at the VGH has been continuously adapted to changes in the epidemiological setting, new legal directives and Austrian by-laws. The current strategy, nationally and internationally, focuses on endemicity rather than maximum transmission risk reduction. For the VGH, this has recently resulted in an increase in COVID-19 clusters. To protect our particularly vulnerable patients, many COVID-19 precautions have been maintained. Barriers to adequate IPC implementation at the VGH and other hospitals include a lack of sufficient isolation options and non-adherence with universal face mask regulations. Globally, misinformation on COVID-19 hampered an effective response.ConclusionsThis retrospective analysis of the COVID-19 response at the VGH and international reports underline the need for pandemic preparedness, readiness and response by improving future hospital design and infrastructure, conducting regular trainings for protective attire and increasing health literacy as now recently published in a concise document by WHO.
| S-EPMC10066952 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, the Lebanese government has taken the proactive anticipatory measure to minimize the infection rates. Despite the pivotal role of the pharmacists working in hospital settings, hospital pharmacists have not been engaged in the emergency preparedness for hospitals. The primary objective of this survey is to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of hospital pharmacists in Lebanon towards COVID-19 pandemic and explore the level of health emergency preparedness of Lebanese hospitals in response to this outbreak.MethodsA standardized English-based, anonymous and online questionnaire was diffused via social media platforms to all Lebanese hospital pharmacists. The questionnaire consisted of 78 questions related to sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge-based, attitude-based, practice questions, and pandemic preparedness. Descriptive statistical analysis was used to summarize data.ResultsA total of 81 questionnaires were completed; the participants were able to know > 90% of the knowledge-based questions regarding COVID-19. Most of the respondents were concerned about getting infected and their families due to their professional exposure. Similarly, around 67% were following the safety recommendations. Most of the participants agreed that they are facing shortages, rising prices, and delays in supply of masks and sanitizers. In terms of COVID-19 readiness, about 50% of hospitals have taken practical steps.ConclusionsOur findings revealed an appropriate level of knowledge and good practice towards COVID-19, among the respondents from Lebanese hospitals. National organizations may benefit in utilizing the expertise of the hospital pharmacists to be able to minimize/avoid future waves of COVID-19 if it emerges.
| S-EPMC7498300 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC7194889 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic strained healthcare systems around the world. This study aims to understand the preparedness of private remote hospitals in Lebanon to respond to the pandemic and evaluate the impact of inter-hospital collaborations on the hospitals' readiness.MethodsA multi-centered study was conducted between August 2020 and June 2021 in ten Lebanese private remote hospitals based on a mixed-methods embedded approach where the quantitative supported the qualitative. Through the AUB-USAID (American University of Beirut-United States Agency for International Development) COVID-19 project, these hospitals received personal protective equipment and medical equipment in addition to COVID-19-related training using the Train-the-Trainer model. The quantitative part used knowledge and evaluation questionnaires and a pre-post-intervention hospital preparedness checklist. The qualitative approach adopted semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample from key hospital personnel. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS version 27, and a p-value of <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. For the qualitative data, a thematic analysis was performed by adopting the six-phase process described by Braun and Clarke.ResultsOf the 393 healthcare workers who attended the training and completed the evaluation questionnaire, 326 completed the pre- and post-training knowledge questionnaire. A significant improvement was observed in mean knowledge scores following training for infection control, nursing, and polymerase chain reaction sampling staff (p-value < 0.001, p-value < 0.001, and p-value = 0.006, respectively), but not for housekeeping staff. More than 93% of the participants showed high trainer and content evaluation scores. As for the hospitals' preparedness assessments, there was a clear improvement in the pre- and post-assessment scores for each hospital, and there was a significant difference in the mean of the total scores of partner hospitals pre- and post-USAID-AUB project (p-value = 0.005). These findings were supported by the qualitative analysis, where nine hospitals expressed the positive impact of the USAID-AUB intervention in improving their preparedness to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic at a critical time when it was highly needed. Despite the intervention, persistent challenges remained.ConclusionsA timely and proactive collaborative program between academic/tertiary care centers and remote community hospitals that includes sharing supplies and expertise is feasible and highly effective during public health emergencies.
| S-EPMC10855495 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-BSST1055 | biostudies-other