Leveraging mobile phone surveys during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ecuador and Sri Lanka: Methods, timeline and findings.

Effective and rapid decision making during a pandemic requires data not only about infections, but also about human behavior. Mobile phone surveys (MPS) offer the opportunity to collect real-time data on behavior, exposure, knowledge, and perception, as well as care and treatment to inform decision making. The surveys aimed to collect coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) related information in Ecuador and Sri Lanka using mobile phones. In Ecuador, a Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) survey was conducted. In Sri Lanka, an evaluation of a novel medicine delivery system was conducted. Using the established mobile network operator channels and technical assistance provided through The Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative (D4H), Ministries of Health fielded a population-based COVID-19-specific MPS using Surveda, the open source data collection tool developed as part of the initiative. A total of 1,185 adults in Ecuador completed the MPS in 14 days. A total of 5,001 adults over the age of 35 in Sri Lanka completed the MPS in 44 days. Both samples were adjusted to the 2019 United Nations Population Estimates to produce population-based estimates by age and sex. The Ecuador COVID-19 MPS found that there was compliance with the mitigation strategies implemented in that country. Overall, 96.5% of Ecuadorians reported wearing a face mask or face covering when leaving home. Overall, 3.8% of Sri Lankans used the service to receive medicines from a government clinic. Among those who used the medicine delivery service in Sri Lanka, 95.8% of those who used a private pharmacy received their medications within one week, and 69.9% of those using a government clinic reported the same. These studies demonstrate that MPS can be conducted quickly and gather essential data. MPS can help monitor the impact of interventions and programs, and rapidly identify what works in mitigating the impact of COVID-19.

Contextualizing Evidence for Action on Diabetes in Low-Resource Settings-Project CEAD Part I: A Mixed-Methods Study Protocol.

Challenges remain for policy adoption and implementation to tackle the unprecedented and relentless increase in obesity, diabetes and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs), especially in low- and middle-income countries. The aim of this mixed-methods study is to analyse the contextual relevance and applicability to low-resource settings of a sample of evidence-based healthy public policies, using local knowledge, perceptions and pertinent epidemiological data. Firstly, we will identify and prioritise policies that have the potential to reduce the burden of diabetes in low-resource settings with a scoping review and modified Delphi method. In parallel, we will undertake two cross-sectional population surveys on diabetes risk and morbidity in two low-resource settings in Ecuador. Patients, community members, health workers and policy makers will analyse the contextual relevance and applicability of the policy actions and discuss their potential for the reduction in inequities in diabetes risk and morbidity in their population. This study tackles one of the greatest challenges in global health today: how to drive the implementation of population-wide preventative measures to fight NCDs in low resource settings. The findings will demonstrate how local knowledge, perceptions and pertinent epidemiological data can be used to analyse the contextual relevance and applicability of potential policy actions.

Niveles de colesterol-lipoproteína de baja densidad y colesterol-lipoproteína de alta densidad en un grupo de internos hipertensos del Penal García Moreno de Quito / Low density cholesterol lipoproteins and high density cholesterol lipoproteins levels in a group of institutionalized subjects of the Penal García Moreno of Quito

Se determinaron las concentraciones plasmáticas de colesterol-lipoproteina de baja y alta densidad en 17 pacientes hipertensos y 17 controles normotensos recluidos en el Penal García Moreno. No se encontraron diferencias significativas entre los dos grupos. Sin embargo, los niveles de las dos lipoproteinas, en ambos grupos se encontraban dentro de los niveles considerados como de riesgo aterogénico