Optimizing Highly Infectious Disease Isolation Unit Management: Experiences From the Infectious Diseases Isolation and Research Unit, Fort Portal, Uganda.

Infectious disease outbreaks on the scale of the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic are a new phenomenon in many parts of the world. Many isolation unit designs with corresponding workflow dynamics and personal protective equipment postures have been proposed for each emerging disease at the health facility level, depending on the mode of transmission. However, personnel and resource management at the isolation units for a resilient response will vary by human resource capacity, reporting requirements, and practice setting. This study describes an approach to isolation unit management at a rural Uganda Hospital and shares lessons from the Uganda experience for isolation unit managers in low- and middle-income settings.

Support for the response to COVID-19 in Uganda: contribution of the global health security program at Makerere University's Infectious Diseases Institute.

Background: Outbreaks are occurring at increasing frequency and they require multisectoral and multi-stakeholder involvement for optimal response. The Global Health Security Agenda is a framework that governments and other stakeholders can use to strengthen countries' capacities to prevent, detect and respond to outbreaks but there are few examples of academic programs using this approach. Methods: This is a narrative review of contributions of Makerere University through the Global Health Security Program at the Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI). Information was sourced from peer-reviewed publications and grey literature highlighting work done between 2017 - 2021. Results: Aligned to GHSA, IDI made contributions to strengthen national and subnational capacities for biosafety and biosecurity, sample collection and transportation, electronic disease surveillance, infection prevention and control, case management prior to COVID-19 that were subsequently used to support response efforts for COVID-19 in Uganda. Conclusion: The IDI Global Health Security program provides a model that can be used by institutions to deliberately develop capacities relevant to outbreak preparedness and response.

Leveraging investments in Ebola preparedness for COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa.

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.