Corrigendum: Interdisciplinary Assessment of Hygiene Practices in Multiple Locations: Implications for COVID-19 Pandemic Preparedness in Vietnam.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.589183.].

Smartphone Use and Willingness to Pay for HIV Treatment-Assisted Smartphone Applications among HIV-Positive Patients in Urban Clinics of Vietnam.

This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-assisted smartphone applications in the treatment of HIV/AIDS patients in Vietnam. A cross-sectional study was performed in two urban outpatient clinics in Hanoi from May to December 2019. A simple random sampling method and a structured questionnaire were used to recruit 495 eligible participants and to collect data. Multivariable modified Poisson regression and multivariable linear regression models were employed to investigate the factors associated with the willingness to pay (WTP) and amount of money patients were willing to pay. Approximately 82.8% of respondents were willing to pay for the hypothetical applications, with the mean amount the participants were willing to pay of Vietnam Dong (VND) 72,100/month. Marital status (separate/divorced/widow: Odds ratio (OR) = 1.28, 95% confidence interval (CI) = (1.09; 1.50) and having spouse/partner: OR = 1.18, 95% CI = (1.03; 1.36)) and using health services (OR = 1.03, 95% CI = (1.01; 1.04)) were positively associated with nominating they would be WTP for the app, whereas the duration of antiretroviral treatment (ART) (OR = 0.98, 95% CI = (0.96; 0.99)) had a negative association. The frequency of using health services (ß = 0.04, 95% CI = (-0.07; -0.01)) was negatively associated with the amount of WTP. High levels of WTP revealed the feasibility of implementing smartphone-based apps for HIV treatment. This study implied the necessity to consider a co-payment system to reach populations who were in need but where such applications may be unaffordable in lieu of other treatment-associated expenses. Developers also need to pay attention to privacy features to attract single people living with HIV/AIDS and additional measures to initiate people with a long duration on ART into using the applications.

Spread of COVID-19 and policy responses in Vietnam: An overview.

OBJECTIVES: Despite the proximity and high travel flows with China, Vietnam has been able to contain the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study describes the characteristics of COVID-19 infections in Vietnam and policy responses to identify potential factors contributing to the relative success of Vietnam in containing this pandemic. METHODS: Narrative analyses were applied to describe the pandemic and policy responses. Descriptive statistics, generalized linear regression, and a susceptible-infected-recovered model were used to explore the effectiveness of Vietnamese policy responses to COVD-19. RESULTS: To date, Vietnam is one of the few countries that have successfully control the spread of COVID-19. As of 26 October 2020, Vietnam has had 1169 cases of COVID-19, of which 1061 people recovered and 35 people died from the disease. COVID-19 infected patients in Vietnam were relatively younger than those in other countries with an average age of 36. Most of the infected cases were from international travels. Policy responses in Vietnam were implemented early and strictly. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the proximity to China, where COVID-19 emerged, Vietnam has experienced a small number of COVID-19 infections and fatalities compared with other countries. Most infected patients were relatively young, and exposure was attributed to international travel. Early policy interventions were the main factors that contributed to the success of Vietnam to date.

Feasibility of Intersectoral Collaboration in Epidemic Preparedness and Response at Grassroots Levels in the Threat of COVID-19 Pandemic in Vietnam.

To effectively control the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) outbreak in later stages in Vietnam requires addressing the existing gaps in the national health emergency framework, consolidate, and inform its structure, we conducted this study to evaluate the importance and collaborative mechanism between health and community service workers with intersectional organizations at grassroots levels in Vietnam. A cross-sectional, web-based survey was conducted from 12/2019 to 02/2020 on 581 participants (37 health workers, 473 medical students, and 71 community service workers). The snowball sampling technique was used to recruit participants. We used exploratory factor analysis to test the construct validity of the questionnaire measuring the perceived efficiency of involving community service workers in health care-related activities and Tobit models to examine its associated factors. The results showed the importance of local organizations in epidemic preparedness and response at grassroots levels, with scores ranging from 6.4 to 7.1, in which the Vietnam Youth Federation played the most important role (mean = 7.1, SD = 2.2). Of note, community service workers were viewed as performing well in health communication and education at agencies, schools, and other localities. Medical students perceived higher efficiency of involving community service workers in health care-related activities at grassroots levels as compared to health workers. We encourage the government to promote intersectoral collaboration in epidemic preparedness and response, giving attention to scale up throughout training as well as interdistrict and interprovincial governance mechanisms.

Evaluating Training Need for Epidemic Control in Three Metropolitans: Implications for COVID-19 Preparedness in Vietnam.

Upon the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, countries worldwide face a critical shortage of human resources in the health sector. Medical students are a potential task force with the capability to support the stretched health sector. This study aims to evaluate their training need for epidemic control in order to employ them effectively. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a web-based survey from December 2019 to February 2020. There were 5,786 observations collected using the snowball sampling technique. Logistic regression was applied to identify factors associated with training participation in epidemic prevention and disaster prevention. Multiple Poisson regression model was constructed to examine factors associated with the number of times they participated in sanitation training and disaster prevention activities in the previous 12 months. Sanitation and health education communication activities had the highest proportion of participants, with 76.5 and 38.4%, followed by examining and treating diseases in the community (13.4%). Those who participated in community activities had a higher number of times to participate in epidemic sanitation training and be involved in disaster prevention. This study informed the need for training programs to prepare medical students for COVID-19 epidemic responses. The training curriculum should include both theoretical approaches and contextual approaches to achieve efficient epidemic control.

Coverage of Health Information by Different Sources in Communities: Implication for COVID-19 Epidemic Response.

Health personnel and community workers are at the front line of the COVID-19 emergency response and need to be equipped with adequate knowledge related to epidemics for an effective response. This study aimed to identify the coverage of COVID-19 health information via different sources accessed by health workers and community workers in Vietnam. A cross-sectional study using a web-based survey was carried out from January to February 2020 in Vietnam. Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) was used for recruiting participants. We utilized the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to examine the construct validity of the questionnaire. A higher percentage of participants knew about "Clinical and pathogen characteristics of COVID-19", compared to "Regulations and policies related to COVID-19". The percentage of participants accessing the information on "Guidelines and policies on prevention and control of COVID-19" was the lowest, especially among medical students. "Mass media and peer-educators" channels had a higher score of accessing COVID-19 information, compared to "Organizations/ agencies/ associations" sources. Participants consumed most of their COVID-19 information via "Internet, online newspapers, social networks". Our findings indicate an urgency to re-design training programs and communication activities for a more effective dissemination of information related to the COVID-19 epidemic or epidemics in general.

Interdisciplinary Assessment of Hygiene Practices in Multiple Locations: Implications for COVID-19 Pandemic Preparedness in Vietnam.

Due to the shared border with China, Vietnam faced risks from the COVID-19 pandemic at the early stages of the outbreak. Good hygiene practices were considered an effective prevention method, but there were only minimal data on the effectiveness of hygiene practices against the pandemic at the community level. Thus, this study aims to assess hygiene practices in society by using a community-based survey. A cross-sectional study using survey monkey was conducted from December 2019 to February 2020. The Snowball sampling technique was used to recruit participants and exploratory factor analysis was applied to scrutinize the construct validity of the measurement. We used the Tobit regression model to assess the association. Hygiene in a high-risk environment and hygiene in the social and educational environment were two main factors after applying the EFA method. Participants grade community sanitation quite low (around 6 out of 10). Furthermore, the mean score of hygiene practice at a local level in a high-risk environment was slightly low at 6.0. The score of sanitation in the Central region (5.3) was quite low compared to the North (5.8) and the South (6.2). The most high-risk environment was construction, industrial zone and food safety. Moreover, younger respondents were more likely to report poorer hygiene practices in high-risk environments (Coefficient = -1.67; 95% CI = -3.03; -0.32) and social and educational environment (Coefficient = -1.29; 95% CI = -2.54; -0.04). Our study gives an insight into pandemic preparedness at the grassroots level. The findings suggest the necessity of specific communication education for society to improve the compliance of hygiene practices to prevent the spreading of COVID-19.

Convergence and determinants of health expenditures in OECD countries.

This study examines the trend and determinants of health expenditures in OECD countries over the 1975-2004 period. Based on recent developments in the economic growth literature we propose and test the hypothesis that health care expenditures in countries of similar economic development level may converge. We hypothesise that the main drivers for growth in health care costs include: aging population, technological progress and health insurance. The results reveal no evidence that health expenditures among OECD countries converge. Nevertheless, there is evidence of convergence among three sub-groups of countries. We found that the main driver of health expenditure is technological progress. Our results also suggest that health care is a (national) necessity, not a luxury good as some other studies in this field have found.