ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has painfully exposed the constraints of fragile health systems in low- and middle-income countries, where global containment measures largely set by high-income countries resulted in disproportionate collateral damage. In Africa, a shift is urgently needed from emergency response to structural health systems strengthening efforts, which requires coordinated interventions to increase access, efficiency, quality, transparency, equity, and flexibility of health services. We postulate that rapid digitalization of health interventions is a key way forward to increase resilience of African health systems to epidemic challenges. In this paper we describe how PharmAccess' ongoing digital health system interventions in Africa were rapidly customized to respond to COVID-19. We describe how we developed: a COVID-19 App for healthcare providers used by more than 1,000 healthcare facilities in 15 African countries from May–November 2020;digital loans to support private healthcare providers with USD 20 million disbursed to healthcare facilities impacted by COVID-19 in Kenya;a customized Dutch mobile COVID-19 triage App with 4,500 users in Ghana;digital diaries to track COVID-19 impacts on household expenditures and healthcare utilization;a public-private partnership for real-time assessment of COVID-19 diagnostics in West-Kenya;and an expanded mobile phone-based maternal and child-care bundle to include COVID-19 adapted services. We also discuss the challenges we faced, the lessons learned, the impact of these interventions on the local healthcare system, and the implications of our findings for policy-making. Digital interventions bring efficiency due to their flexibility and timeliness, allowing co-creation, targeting, and rapid policy decisions through bottom-up approaches. COVID-19 digital innovations allowed for cross-pollinating the interests of patients, providers, payers, and policy-makers in challenging times, showing how such approaches can pave the way to universal health coverage and resilient healthcare systems in Africa.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has painfully exposed the constraints of fragile health systems in low- and middle-income countries, where global containment measures largely set by high-income countries resulted in disproportionate collateral damage. In Africa, a shift is urgently needed from emergency response to structural health systems strengthening efforts, which requires coordinated interventions to increase access, efficiency, quality, transparency, equity, and flexibility of health services. We postulate that rapid digitalization of health interventions is a key way forward to increase resilience of African health systems to epidemic challenges. In this paper we describe how PharmAccess' ongoing digital health system interventions in Africa were rapidly customized to respond to COVID-19. We describe how we developed: a COVID-19 App for healthcare providers used by more than 1,000 healthcare facilities in 15 African countries from May-November 2020; digital loans to support private healthcare providers with USD 20 million disbursed to healthcare facilities impacted by COVID-19 in Kenya; a customized Dutch mobile COVID-19 triage App with 4,500 users in Ghana; digital diaries to track COVID-19 impacts on household expenditures and healthcare utilization; a public-private partnership for real-time assessment of COVID-19 diagnostics in West-Kenya; and an expanded mobile phone-based maternal and child-care bundle to include COVID-19 adapted services. We also discuss the challenges we faced, the lessons learned, the impact of these interventions on the local healthcare system, and the implications of our findings for policy-making. Digital interventions bring efficiency due to their flexibility and timeliness, allowing co-creation, targeting, and rapid policy decisions through bottom-up approaches. COVID-19 digital innovations allowed for cross-pollinating the interests of patients, providers, payers, and policy-makers in challenging times, showing how such approaches can pave the way to universal health coverage and resilient healthcare systems in Africa.
ABSTRACT
Health-care professionals in Ghana were among the prioritized high-risk groups to be administered with the initial supply of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine procured by the Government of Ghana. This study sought to assess and identify the determinants of COVID-19 vaccine short-term side effects among health-care workers. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 654 Ghanaian healthcare workers between 16th March and 5th May 2021. The study included health-care workers in registered health settings, who had been vaccinated against COVID-19 and consented to participate in the survey. Descriptive statistics, binary and multivariable logistic regression analyses were executed using SPSS version 22 at p < .05. The findings revealed that, 528 (80.7%) of the participants experienced adverse reactions, which lasted between 0 and 2 days among, 347 (53.1%) of the study participants. The most reported adverse reactions were general body weakness, 434 (32.0%), headache 371 (27.3%), and fever, 257 (19.1%). Health workers aged 35-39 and 40-44 years had lower odds of adverse reactions compared with those aged 25-29 years (aOR: 0.34, 95% C.I. 0.186,0.621, p < .001) and (aOR: 0.42, 95% C.I. 0.201,0.890, p = .023). Taking analgesics before vaccination decreased the likelihood of adverse reactions (aOR: 0.28, 95% C.I. 0.185,0.427, p < .001). High prevalence of adverse reactions was found among the healthcare workers, however short-lived. The most reported systemic adverse reactions were general body weakness, headache, and fever. We recommend intensification of campaigns on COVID-19 vaccines and their associated adverse effects to avoid the negative implication on uptake among the healthcare workers and the general population.