Identifying priority challenges and solutions for COVID-19 vaccine delivery in low- and middle-income countries: A modified Delphi study

Background The rapid implementation of global COVID-19 vaccination programs has surfaced many challenges and inequities, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, there continues to be a lack of consensus on which challenges are global priorities for action, and how to best respond to them. This study uses consensus-based methods to identify and rank the most important challenges and solutions for implementation of COVID-19 vaccination programs in LMICs. Methods We conducted a three-round modified Delphi study with a global panel of vaccine delivery experts. In Round I, panelists identified broad topical challenges and solutions. Responses were collated and coded into distinct items. Through two further rounds of structured, iterative surveys panelists reviewed and ranked the identified items. Responses were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively to achieve consensus on the most important COVID-19 vaccine delivery challenges and solutions. Results Of the 426 invited panelists, 96 completed Round I, 56 completed Round II, and 39 completed Round III. Across all three rounds there was equal representation by gender, and panelists reported work experience in all World Bank regions and across a variety of content areas and organizations. Of the 64 initially identified items, the panel achieved consensus on three challenges and 10 solutions. Challenges fell under themes of structural factors and infrastructure and human and material resources, while solutions also included items within themes of communication, community engagement, and access and planning, processes, and operations. Conclusion COVID-19 vaccine delivery is challenged by long-standing and structural inequities that disadvantage health service delivery in LMICs. These findings can, and should, be used by global health organizations to efficiently and optimally direct resources to respond to these key challenges and solutions.

Implementation Science Perspectives on Implementing Telemedicine Interventions for Hypertension or Diabetes Management: Scoping Review.

BACKGROUND: Hypertension and diabetes are becoming increasingly prevalent worldwide. Telemedicine is an accessible and cost-effective means of supporting hypertension and diabetes management, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of technological solutions for care. However, to date, no review has examined the contextual factors that influence the implementation of telemedicine interventions for hypertension or diabetes worldwide. OBJECTIVE: We adopted a comprehensive implementation research perspective to synthesize the barriers to and facilitators of implementing telemedicine interventions for the management of hypertension, diabetes, or both. METHODS: We performed a scoping review involving searches in Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Google Scholar to identify studies published in English from 2017 to 2022 describing barriers and facilitators related to the implementation of telemedicine interventions for hypertension and diabetes management. The coding and synthesis of barriers and facilitators were guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. RESULTS: Of the 17,687 records identified, 35 (0.2%) studies were included in our scoping review. We found that facilitators of and barriers to implementation were dispersed across the constructs of the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. Barriers related to cost, patient needs and resources (eg, lack of consideration of language needs, culture, and rural residency), and personal attributes of patients (eg, demographics and priorities) were the most common. Facilitators related to the design and packaging of the intervention (eg, user-friendliness), patient needs and resources (eg, personalized information that leveraged existing strengths), implementation climate (eg, intervention embedded into existing infrastructure), knowledge of and beliefs about the intervention (eg, convenience of telemedicine), and other personal attributes (eg, technical literacy) were the most common. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the successful implementation of telemedicine interventions for hypertension and diabetes requires comprehensive efforts at the planning, execution, engagement, and reflection and evaluation stages of intervention implementation to address challenges at the individual, interpersonal, organizational, and environmental levels.

Global inequity creates local insufficiency: A qualitative study of COVID-19 vaccine implementation challenges in low-and-middle-income countries

Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified pre-existing challenges to health promotion and care across the world, and particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This qualitative study draws on data from a panel of immunisation experts and uses a novel framework of vaccine delivery domains to explore perspectives from those who live and work in these settings on the challenges to implementing COVID-19 vaccine programs in LMICs. Methods We conducted a thematic content analysis of 96 participant free text replies to questions from Round I of a three-round Delphi consensus study amongst global experts on COVID-19 vaccine implementation. Results Participant responses highlighted challenges to vaccine program implementation including issues related to equity;governance, decision-making, and financing;regulatory structures, planning, and coordination;prioritisation, demand generation, and communication;vaccine, cold chain, logistics, and infrastructure;service delivery, human resources, and supplies;and surveillance, monitoring, and evaluation. Conclusion We reflect on our findings in light of global efforts to address vaccine inequity and emphasise three key areas salient to improving vaccination efforts during novel infectious disease outbreaks: 1) Ensuring safe and sustainable service delivery in communities and at points of care;2) Strengthening systems for end-to-end delivery of vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics, and essential supplies;3) Transforming structural paradigms towards vaccine equity.

Global inequity creates local insufficiency: A qualitative study of COVID-19 vaccine implementation challenges in low-and-middle-income countries.

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified pre-existing challenges to health promotion and care across the world, and particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This qualitative study draws on data from a panel of immunisation experts and uses a novel framework of vaccine delivery domains to explore perspectives from those who live and work in these settings on the challenges to implementing COVID-19 vaccine programs in LMICs. METHODS: We conducted a thematic content analysis of 96 participant free text replies to questions from Round I of a three-round Delphi consensus study amongst global experts on COVID-19 vaccine implementation. RESULTS: Participant responses highlighted challenges to vaccine program implementation including issues related to equity; governance, decision-making, and financing; regulatory structures, planning, and coordination; prioritisation, demand generation, and communication; vaccine, cold chain, logistics, and infrastructure; service delivery, human resources, and supplies; and surveillance, monitoring, and evaluation. CONCLUSION: We reflect on our findings in light of global efforts to address vaccine inequity and emphasise three key areas salient to improving vaccination efforts during novel infectious disease outbreaks: 1) Ensuring safe and sustainable service delivery in communities and at points of care; 2) Strengthening systems for end-to-end delivery of vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics, and essential supplies; 3) Transforming structural paradigms towards vaccine equity.

Learning from the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: Comparing policy responses in Uruguay with 10 other Latin American and Caribbean countries.

A range of public health and social measures have been employed in response to the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Yet, pandemic responses have varied across the region, particularly during the first 6 months of the pandemic, with Uruguay effectively limiting transmission during this crucial phase. This review describes features of pandemic responses which may have contributed to Uruguay's early success relative to 10 other LAC countries - Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, and Trinidad and Tobago. Uruguay differentiated its early response efforts from reviewed countries by foregoing strict border closures and restrictions on movement, and rapidly implementing a suite of economic and social measures. Our findings describe the importance of supporting adherence to public health interventions by ensuring that effective social and economic safety net measures are in place to permit compliance with public health measures.

Extending health systems resilience into communities: a qualitative study with community-based actors providing health services during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines.

BACKGROUND: Amidst ongoing calls for increased health systems resilience, gaps remain in our understanding of how health systems can reach further into communities to ensure resilient service delivery. Indeed, public health emergencies caused by infectious hazards reveal both the value and vulnerability of the workforce delivering health services in communities. This study explores ways in which a non-governmental organization (NGO) in the Philippines protected their frontline workforce during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Guided by a qualitative descriptive approach, 34 in-depth interviews were conducted with community-based health actors employed by the NGO between June 2020 and February 2021. Data analysis was guided by an iterative deductive and inductive approach. RESULTS: We identified four key activities that enabled the NGO and their staff to provide health and social services in communities in a safe and consistent manner as part of the organization's pandemic response. These include (1) ensuring adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) and hygiene supplies; (2) providing contextualized and role-specific infection prevention and control (IPC) training; (3) ensuring access to testing for all staff; and (4) providing support during quarantine or isolation. CONCLUSION: Learning from the implementation of these activities offers a way forward toward health emergency preparedness and response that is crucially needed for NGOs to safely leverage their workforce during pandemics. Further, we describe how community-based health actors employed by NGOs can contribute to broader health systems resilience in the context of health emergency preparedness and response.

COVID-19 public health and social measures: a comprehensive picture of six Asian countries.

The COVID-19 pandemic will not be the last of its kind. As the world charts a way towards an equitable and resilient recovery, Public Health and Social Measures (PHSMs) that were implemented since the beginning of the pandemic need to be made a permanent feature of health systems that can be activated and readily deployed to tackle sudden surges in infections going forward. Although PHSMs aim to blunt the spread of the virus, and in turn protect lives and preserve health system capacity, there are also unintended consequences attributed to them. Importantly, the interactions between PHSMs and their accompanying key indicators that influence the strength and duration of PHSMs are elements that require in-depth exploration. This research employs case studies from six Asian countries, namely Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam, to paint a comprehensive picture of PHSMs that protect the lives and livelihoods of populations. Nine typologies of PHSMs that emerged are as follows: (1) physical distancing, (2) border controls, (3) personal protective equipment requirements, (4) transmission monitoring, (5) surge health infrastructure capacity, (6) surge medical supplies, (7) surge human resources, (8) vaccine availability and roll-out and (9) social and economic support measures. The key indicators that influence the strength and duration of PHSMs are as follows: (1) size of community transmission, (2) number of severe cases and mortality, (3) health system capacity, (4) vaccine coverage, (5) fiscal space and (6) technology. Interactions between PHSMs can be synergistic or inhibiting, depending on various contextual factors. Fundamentally, PHSMs do not operate in silos, and a suite of PHSMs that are complementary is required to ensure that lives and livelihoods are safeguarded with an equity lens. For that to be achieved, strong governance structures and community engagement are also required at all levels of the health system.

Identifying priority challenges and solutions for COVID-19 vaccine delivery in low- and middle-income countries: A modified Delphi study.

BACKGROUND: The rapid implementation of global COVID-19 vaccination programs has surfaced many challenges and inequities, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, there continues to be a lack of consensus on which challenges are global priorities for action, and how to best respond to them. This study uses consensus-based methods to identify and rank the most important challenges and solutions for implementation of COVID-19 vaccination programs in LMICs. METHODS: We conducted a three-round modified Delphi study with a global panel of vaccine delivery experts. In Round I, panelists identified broad topical challenges and solutions. Responses were collated and coded into distinct items. Through two further rounds of structured, iterative surveys panelists reviewed and ranked the identified items. Responses were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively to achieve consensus on the most important COVID-19 vaccine delivery challenges and solutions. RESULTS: Of the 426 invited panelists, 96 completed Round I, 56 completed Round II, and 39 completed Round III. Across all three rounds there was equal representation by gender, and panelists reported work experience in all World Bank regions and across a variety of content areas and organizations. Of the 64 initially identified items, the panel achieved consensus on three challenges and 10 solutions. Challenges fell under themes of structural factors and infrastructure and human and material resources, while solutions also included items within themes of communication, community engagement, and access and planning, processes, and operations. CONCLUSION: COVID-19 vaccine delivery is challenged by long-standing and structural inequities that disadvantage health service delivery in LMICs. These findings can, and should, be used by global health organizations to efficiently and optimally direct resources to respond to these key challenges and solutions.

Promoting resilient and sustainable health and food systems

2 Figure 1The five interconnected and interrelated impact pathways through which food systems negatively affect human health. Source: WHO (2021). Executive Summary Food systems delivering better health. WHO: Geneva[Figure omitted. See PDF]Research has shown that there is an appetite to connect and transform food and health systems. For example, hospital settings can consider the use of locally grown foods, offer plant-based meals, use water and energy-saving kitchens and divert food waste from landfill. Realizing these activities can be achieved through policy action by making changes in legislation, by ensuring organisational culture and leadership, and by creating networks and champions for environmentally sustainable practices in health system settings. There is also an opportunity to integrate environmental sustainability in health systems teaching and research.Lessons from fighting the Covid-19 pandemic could be applied towards reducing food and health system impacts on climate, such as i) developing a clear understanding of the problem, of potentially effective solutions and identifying those interests are being prioritised, ii) start tackling the problem from areas making the largest contributions or being affected the most, and iii) knowing that shifting people’s behaviour is at the core of any solution. Transformed food and health systems must be contextually relevant, resilient, regenerative, empowering, and with health at their centre. Bold government, community, and business actions that promote interdisciplinarity, collaboration and capacity building are key aspects to be considered.

Navigating fear and care: The lived experiences of community-based health actors in the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The activities of community-based health actors are widely recognized as critical to pandemic response; yet, there exists a lack of clarity concerning who is included in this ecosystem of actors and how these actors experience the complexity of delivering community-level care in the context of a public health emergency. The objectives of this study were (1) to characterize the lived experiences of community-based health actors during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines; and (2) to identify opportunities for further supporting these critical actors in the health workforce. Virtual semi-structured interviews were conducted (January-February 2021) with 28 workers employed by a Philippines-based non-governmental organization (NGO) to explore their lived experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were analyzed thematically using a hybrid inductive-deductive coding process, informed by Tronto's conceptualization of an ethic of care. Lived experiences among study participants were shaped by discourses of fear and care, and the interaction between these two affects. Participants reported everyday experiences of fear: NGO workers' fears of contracting and transmitting COVID-19 to others; perceived fear among community members where they worked; and fears around COVID-19 testing, recognizing the personal and social implications (e.g. stigma) of a positive test. Amid fear, participants had everyday experiences of care: care was a powerful motivator to continue their work; they felt supported by a caring organization that implemented safety protocols and provided material supports to those in quarantine; and they engaged in self-care practices. These findings contribute to understanding the ecosystem of actors involved in community-based health care and engagement efforts and the challenges they encounter in their work, particularly in a pandemic context. We highlight implications for civil society organizations charged with protecting the mental and physical well-being of their workers and describe how these actions can contribute to local health systems strengthening.

Implementation of a coronavirus disease 2019 infection prevention and control training program in a low-middle income country.

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: The COVID-19 pandemic poses an ongoing risk to health workers globally. This is particularly true in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where resource constraints, ongoing waves of infection, and limited access to vaccines disproportionately burden health systems. Thus, infection prevention and control (IPC) training for COVID-19 remains an important tool to safeguard health workers. We report on the implementation of evidence-based and role-specific COVID-19 IPC training for health workers in a hospital and public health field setting in Sri Lanka. METHODS: We describe the development of training materials, which were contextualized to local needs and targeted to different staffing categories including support staff. We describe development of role- and context-specific IPC guidelines and accompanying training materials and videos during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. We describe in-person training activities and an overview of session leadership and participation. RESULTS: Key to program implementation was the role of champions in facilitating the training, as well as delivery of training sessions featuring multi-media videos and role play to enhance the training experience. A total of 296 health workers participated in the training program sessions. Of these, 198 were hospital staff and 98 were from the public health workforce. Of the 296 health workers who participated in a training session, 277 completed a pre-test questionnaire and 256 completed post-test questionnaires. A significant increase in knowledge score was observed among all categories of staff who participated in training;however, support staff had the lowest pre-test knowledge on IPC practices at 71%, which improved to only 77% after the formal class. CONCLUSION: Implementing an IPC training program during a complex health emergency is a challenging, yet necessary task. Leveraging champions, offering training through multiple modalities including the use of videos and role play, as well as inclusion of all staff categories, is crucial to making training accessible.