scholarly journals Change in Measles Vaccine Coverage and Estimated Impact on Measles Mortality in Low and Middle Income Countries, 2020: An Investigation into Secondary Public Health Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic Using the Lives Saved Tool

Author(s):  
Lucy Claire Gregory

With the global COVID-19 pandemic, many public health services were severely disrupted. Estimating the overall health effects of this is difficult as most disease surveillance systems have also been substantially affected during the pandemic. For some diseases, this effect is mitigated by the methods enacted to fight the pandemic, such as use of facial coverings, social distancing and quarantine, but measles is infectious to the degree that this mitigation is likely to be limited. Thus, outbreaks and an increase in global measles mortality are expected. However, the severity of this impact is not yet known. In early 2020, a study by Roberton and colleagues predicted an additional 12,360 to 37,920 deaths in children under-five worldwide from measles over the coming year based on three potential levels of vaccine coverage reductions ranging from 18.5 to 51.9%. Our study investigates the magnitude of the increase in measles mortality due to decreased vaccine coverage because of COVID-19, based on official estimates of 2020 measles vaccine coverage from WHO/UNICEF released in July 2021. Using the Lives Saved Tool (LiST), an interventions modeling program, we estimated measles mortality for low/middle income countries (LMICs) based on the 2020 WHO/UNICEF estimates of national immunization coverage (WUENIC). Because these calculations use actual reported vaccine coverage, they provide a more accurate picture of measles mortality related to COVID-19 disruptions in 2020. Using the WUENIC data, LiST predicted fewer additional deaths in 2020 due to decreases in measles vaccine coverage than estimations made by LiST based on Roberton, 2020 due to remarkable recovery efforts by national immunization programmes in the second half of 2020.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ponn P Mahayosnand ◽  
Saman Essa ◽  
ZM Sabra

Similar to how physicians practice evidence-based medicine to treat individual patients, policymakers should govern the public's health according to evidence-based data. Initiated by the World Health Organization's directive to make COVID-19 research open and freely accessible, (1,2) multidisciplinary studies are still published daily. Collectively, policymakers worldwide have not used available data effectively to make noteworthy reductions in the pandemic that is now over a year old. This brief commentary introduces a policy problem, then shares 3 categories of successful case studies as possible solutions: [1] Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC): Vietnam and Iran, (3,4) [2] public health practitioners: social workers in Africa and pharmacists in Zambia, (5,6) and [3] public health programs: a smoking cessation program and inmate health program. (7,8) Examples from LMIC were selected to demonstrate practical, cost-effective and duplicable methods. A collaborative multidisciplinary approach with community health partners is also proposed. (2,9)


BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. e035983
Author(s):  
Rodrigo M Carrillo-Larco ◽  
Lorainne Tudor Car ◽  
Jonathan Pearson-Stuttard ◽  
Trishan Panch ◽  
J Jaime Miranda ◽  
...  

IntroductionMachine learning (ML) has been used in bio-medical research, and recently in clinical and public health research. However, much of the available evidence comes from high-income countries, where different health profiles challenge the application of this research to low/middle-income countries (LMICs). It is largely unknown what ML applications are available for LMICs that can support and advance clinical medicine and public health. We aim to address this gap by conducting a scoping review of health-related ML applications in LMICs.Methods and analysisThis scoping review will follow the methodology proposed by Levac et al. The search strategy is informed by recent systematic reviews of ML health-related applications. We will search Embase, Medline and Global Health (through Ovid), Cochrane and Google Scholar; we will present the date of our searches in the final review. Titles and abstracts will be screened by two reviewers independently; selected reports will be studied by two reviewers independently. Reports will be included if they are primary research where data have been analysed, ML techniques have been used on data from LMICs and they aimed to improve health-related outcomes. We will synthesise the information following evidence mapping recommendations.Ethics and disseminationThe review will provide a comprehensive list of health-related ML applications in LMICs. The results will be disseminated through scientific publications. We also plan to launch a website where ML models can be hosted so that researchers, policymakers and the general public can readily access them.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
J Bauwens ◽  
M Schulze ◽  
S Nocera ◽  
A Flahault ◽  
L Crivelli ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The Swiss School of Public Health's (SSPH+) Global PhD Programme in Public Health Sciences (GlobalP3HS) is a doctoral programme, promoting transnational education and mobility co-funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 801076. Students from abroad absolve a PhD training at one of the 12 SSPH+ partner universities in Switzerland. Objectives and Methods GlobalP3HS aims to train the next generation of public health leaders in both the academic and non-academic sector. Specific attention was given to PhD studies under the “sandwich model” (SM) which fosters research of students from low/middle income countries (LMIC) conducting LMIC-relevant PhD studies in collaboration with an LMIC-based academic institution. The SM targets at increasing chances for LMIC-based postdoctoral careers. The five year programme (October 2018 to September 2023) provides 42-months fellowships to profit from PhD programmes at a Swiss university. Top-scoring candidates were selected in a transparent, merit-based procedure by an international jury, considering students' background and motivation; innovation; methodological quality; public health relevance; and feasibility of the proposed research. Results Out of 342 valid applications, the jury scored 147 as eligible (score 8-10). In total, 53 students (31 women) were successful in matching up with co-funding supervisors. PhD-students from 31 countries representing all global regions, including 21 PhD under the SM, are enrolled at seven Swiss SSPH+ partner universities. Conclusions GlobalP3HS is an innovative solution to strengthen global research collaborations. The SM abates “brain drain” as it clears the path for successful careers in LMICs, where graduates become change makers capitalising on solid academic collaborations with the SSPH+ network. Key messages GlobalP3HS trains PhD fellows in public health sciences to become change-making leaders in academic institutions and public health organisations. GlobalP3HS is an initiative from the Swiss School of Public Health strengthening equitable, fair, balanced, and innovative inter-university and global partnerships.


Author(s):  
Eric Heymann ◽  
Nicholas Banatvala

This chapter looks at the broader determinants of health and current approaches to tackling public health in poorer countries. Reading this chapter will help you understand: the major public health issues in low- and low middle-income countries; the approaches used to tackle them.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ponn P Mahayosnand ◽  
Saman Essa ◽  
ZM Sabra

Similar to how physicians practice evidence-based medicine to treat individual patients, policymakers should govern the public's health according to evidence-based data. Initiated by the World Health Organization's directive to make COVID-19 research open and freely accessible, (1,2) multidisciplinary studies are still published daily. Collectively, policymakers worldwide have not used available data effectively to make noteworthy reductions in the pandemic that is now over a year old. This brief commentary introduces a policy problem, then shares 3 categories of successful case studies as possible solutions: [1] Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC): Vietnam and Iran, (3,4) [2] public health practitioners: social workers in Africa and pharmacists in Zambia, (5,6) and [3] public health programs: a smoking cessation program and inmate health program. (7,8) Examples from LMIC were selected to demonstrate practical, cost-effective and duplicable methods. A collaborative multidisciplinary approach with community health partners is also proposed. (2,9)


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. e001878 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Kuehne ◽  
Patrick Keating ◽  
Jonathan Polonsky ◽  
Christopher Haskew ◽  
Karl Schenkel ◽  
...  

BackgroundThe International Health Regulations require member states to establish “capacity to detect, assess, notify and report events”. Event-based surveillance (EBS) can contribute to rapid detection of acute public health events. This is particularly relevant in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) which may have poor public health infrastructure. To identify best practices, we reviewed the literature on the implementation of EBS in LMICs to describe EBS structures and to evaluate EBS systems.MethodsWe conducted a systematic literature search of six databases to identify articles that evaluated EBS in LMICs and additionally searched for grey literature. We used a framework approach to facilitate qualitative data synthesis and exploration of patterns across and within articles.ResultsWe identified 778 records, of which we included 15 studies concerning 13 different EBS systems. The 13 EBS systems were set up as community-based surveillance, health facility-based surveillance or open surveillance (ie, notification by non-defined individuals and institutions). Four systems were set up in outbreak settings and nine outside outbreaks. All EBS systems were integrated into existing routine surveillance systems and pre-existing response structures to some extent. EBS was described as useful in detecting a large scope of events, reaching remote areas and guiding outbreak response.ConclusionHealth facility and community-based EBS provide valuable information that can strengthen the early warning function of national surveillance systems. Integration into existing early warning and response systems was described as key to generate data for action and to facilitate rapid verification and response. Priority in its implementation should be given to settings that would particularly benefit from EBS strengths. This includes areas most prone to outbreaks and where traditional ‘routine’ surveillance is suboptimal.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL1) ◽  
pp. 1367-1373
Author(s):  
Nikhil Sanjay Mujbaile ◽  
Smita Damke

The Covid illness (COVID-19) pandemic has spread rapidly all through the world and has had a drawn-out impact. The Pandemic has done incredible damage to society and made genuine mental injury to numerous individuals. Mental emergencies frequently cause youngsters to deliver sentiments of relinquishment, despondency, insufficiency, and fatigue and even raise the danger of self-destruction. Youngsters with psychological instabilities are particularly powerless during the isolate and colonial removing period. Convenient and proper assurances are expected to forestall the event of mental and social issues. The rising advanced applications and wellbeing administrations, for example, telehealth, web-based media, versatile wellbeing, and far off intuitive online instruction can connect the social separation and backing mental and conduct wellbeing for youngsters. Because of the mental advancement qualities of youngsters, this investigation additionally outlines intercessions on the mental effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Further difficulties in Low Middle-Income Countries incorporate the failure to actualize successful general wellbeing estimates, for example, social separating, hand cleanliness, definitive distinguishing proof of contaminated individuals with self-disconnection and widespread utilization of covers The aberrant impacts of the Pandemic on youngster wellbeing are of extensive concern, including expanding neediness levels, upset tutoring, absence of admittance to the class taking care of plans, decreased admittance to wellbeing offices and breaks in inoculation and other kid wellbeing programs. Kept tutoring is critical for kids in Low Middle-Income Countries. Arrangement of safe situations is mainly testing in packed asset obliged schools. 


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larrey Kamabu ◽  
Hervé Monka Lekuya ◽  
Bienvenu Muhindo Kasusula ◽  
Nicole Kavugho Mutimani ◽  
Louange Maha Kathaka ◽  
...  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document