scholarly journals Operational research capacity building through the Structured Operational Research Training Initiative (SORT-IT) in China: implementation, outcomes and challenges

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ning Feng ◽  
Jeffrey Karl Edwards ◽  
Philip Odhiambo Owiti ◽  
Guo-Min Zhang ◽  
Zulma Vanessa Rueda Vallejo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Impact Factor ◽  
Operational Research ◽  
Research Training ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Sort It ◽  
Training Initiative ◽  
Implementation Outcomes ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) introduced the Structured Operational Research Training Initiative (SORT IT) into China to build a special capacity and equip public health professionals with an effective tool to support developing countries in strengthening their operational research. The paper aims to investigate and analyze the implementation, outcomes and challenges of the first cycle of SORT IT in China. Main text As a result of the successful implementation, SORT IT China, Cycle 1 has demonstrated fruitful outputs as exemplified by the 18-month follow-up to the post-training initiatives of the twelve participants, who all achieved the four milestones required by SORT IT. Eleven of twelve (92%) manuscripts generated that focused on the prevention and control of malaria, influenza, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B, schistosomiasis, tuberculosis and Japanese encephalitis were published by peer-reviewed international journals with the impact factor ranging from 2.6 to 4.8. The most up-to-date citation count on February 19, 2021 was 53 times out of which 31 times were cited by Science Citation Index papers with 94.827 impact factor in total. Six senior professionals from China CDC also facilitated the whole SORT IT training scheme as co-mentors under the guidance of SORT IT mentors. The twelve participants who gained familiarity with the SORT IT courses and training principles are likely become potential mentors for future SORT IT, but they as the non-first language speakers/users of English also faced the challenge in thoroughly understanding the modules delivered in English and writing English academically to draft the manuscripts. Conclusion The outcomes from the first cycle of SORT IT in China have led to studies contributing to narrowing the knowledge gap among numerous public health challenges nationally and internationally. It is believed the researchers who participated will continue to apply the skills learned within their domain and help build the training capacity for future operational research courses both in China and in developing countries with similar needs. Graphic Abstract

scholarly journals Investing in Operational Research Capacity Building for Front-Line Health Workers Strengthens Countries’ Resilience to Tackling the COVID-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 118
Author(s):  
Rony Zachariah ◽  
Selma Dar Berger ◽  
Pruthu Thekkur ◽  
Mohammed Khogali ◽  
Karapet Davtyan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health System ◽  
Operational Research ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Human Resources For Health ◽  
Research Training ◽  
Research Capacity ◽  
Data Generation ◽  
Sort It ◽  
It Skills

(1) Introduction. The Structured Operational Research and Training IniTiative (SORT IT) supports countries to build operational research capacity for improving public health. We assessed whether health workers trained through SORT IT were (1) contributing to the COVID-19 pandemic response and if so, (2) map where and how they were applying their SORT IT skills. (2) Methods. An online questionnaire survey of SORT IT alumni trained between 2009 and 2019. (3) Results. Of 895 SORT IT alumni from 93 countries, 652 (73%) responded to the survey and 417 were contributing to the COVID-19 response in 72 countries. Of those contributing, 307 (74%) were applying their SORT IT skills to tackle the pandemic in 60 countries and six continents including Africa, Asia, Europe, South Pacific and North/South America. Skills were applied to all the pillars of the emergency response with the highest proportions of alumni applying their skills in data generation/analysis/reporting (56%), situation analysis (55%) and surveillance (41%). Skills were also being used to mitigate the health system effects of COVID-19 on other diseases (27%) and in conducting research (26%). (4) Conclusion. Investing in people and in research training ahead of public health emergencies generates downstream dividends by strengthening health system resilience for tackling pandemics. It also strengthens human resources for health and the integration of research within health systems.

scholarly journals Quality, Equity and Utility of Observational Studies during 10 Years of Implementing the Structured Operational Research and Training Initiative in 72 Countries

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 167
Author(s):  
Rony Zachariah ◽  
Stefanie Rust ◽  
Pruthu Thekkur ◽  
Mohammed Khogali ◽  
Ajay MV Kumar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Observational Studies ◽  
Operational Research ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Informed Decision ◽  
Informed Decision Making ◽  
Sort It ◽  
Training Initiative ◽  
And Training

Introduction: Observational studies are often inadequately reported, making it difficult to assess their validity and generalizability and judge whether they can be included in systematic reviews. We assessed the publication characteristics and quality of reporting of observational studies generated by the Structured Operational Research and Training Initiative (SORT IT). Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of original publications from SORT IT courses. SORT IT is a global partnership-based initiative aimed at building sustainable capacity for conducting operational research according to country priorities and using the generated evidence for informed decision-making to improve public health. Reporting quality was independently assessed using an adapted version of ‘Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology’ (STROBE) checklist. Results: In 392 publications, involving 72 countries, 50 journals, 28 publishers and 24 disease domains, low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) first authorship was seen in 370 (94%) and LMIC last authorship in 214 (55%). Publications involved LMIC-LMIC collaboration in 90% and high-income-country-LMIC collaboration in 87%. The majority (89%) of publications were in immediate open access journals. A total of 346 (88.3%) publications achieved a STROBE reporting quality score of >85% (excellent), 41 (10.4%) achieved a score of 76–85% (good) and 5 (1.3%) a score of 65–75% (fair). Conclusion: The majority of publications from SORT IT adhere to STROBE guidelines, while also ensuring LMIC equity and collaborative partnerships. SORT IT is, thus, playing an important role in ensuring high-quality reporting of evidence for informed decision-making in public health.

scholarly journals Adapting the Structured Operational Research Training Initiative (SORT IT) for high-income countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Ghebrehewet ◽  
A. D. Harries ◽  
M. Kliner ◽  
K. Smith ◽  
P. Cleary ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Operational Research ◽  
Research Training ◽  
High Income ◽  
Sort It ◽  
Training Initiative

Exploring the World Trade Organisation's Trade and Environment/Public Health Jurisprudence as a Model for Incorporating a Trade–Labour Linkage into the Organisation's Multilateral Trade Regime: Should African Countries Accept a Policy Shift?

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-65
Author(s):  
Tapiwa V. Warikandwa ◽  
Patrick C. Osode
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
World Trade ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Trade Regime ◽  
Multilateral Trade ◽  
Appellate Body ◽  
The World ◽  
Labour Standards ◽  
The Impact

The incorporation of a trade-labour (standards) linkage into the multilateral trade regime of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has been persistently opposed by developing countries, including those in Africa, on the grounds that it has the potential to weaken their competitive advantage. For that reason, low levels of compliance with core labour standards have been viewed as acceptable by African countries. However, with the impact of WTO agreements growing increasingly broader and deeper for the weaker and vulnerable economies of developing countries, the jurisprudence developed by the WTO Panels and Appellate Body regarding a trade-environment/public health linkage has the potential to address the concerns of developing countries regarding the potential negative effects of a trade-labour linkage. This article argues that the pertinent WTO Panel and Appellate Body decisions could advance the prospects of establishing a linkage of global trade participation to labour standards without any harm befalling developing countries.

scholarly journals Does the Structured Operational Research and Training Initiative (SORT IT) continue to influence health policy and/or practice?

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1500762 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaya Prasad Tripathy ◽  
Ajay MV Kumar ◽  
Nathalie Guillerm ◽  
Selma Dar Berger ◽  
Karen Bissell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Policy ◽  
Operational Research ◽  
Sort It ◽  
Training Initiative ◽  
Or Practice ◽  
And Training

scholarly journals Time trends in the impact factor of Public Health journals

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gonzalo López-Abente ◽  
Concha Muñoz-Tinoco
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Impact Factor ◽  
Time Trends ◽  
The Impact

Significant impact of developing countries and emerging markets in Systematic and Applied Acarology

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 1121-1123
Author(s):  
Zhi-Qiang Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Emerging Markets ◽  
Impact Factor ◽  
Impact Factors ◽  
Journal Citation Reports ◽  
Number Of Publications ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Journal Impact ◽  
Journal Citation

Journal impact factors for 2018 were recently announced by Clarivate Analytics in the June 2019 edition of Journal Citation Reports (JCR). In this editorial, I compared the impact factor of Systematic and Applied Acarology (SAA) with those of other main acarological journals as I did in Zhang (2017). Following Zhang (2018a), I also highlighted the top 10 SAA papers from 2016/2017 with the highest numbers of citations in 2018 (according to JCR June 2019 edition). In addition, I remarked on the increasing impact of developing countries and emerging markets in systematic and applied acarology, both in the number of publications and citations, and also include announcements of meetings on applied acarology.

scholarly journals Research Approaches for Improved Pro-Poor Control of Zoonoses

2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (2_suppl2) ◽  
pp. S345-S356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther Schelling ◽  
Delia Grace ◽  
A. Lee Willingham ◽  
Tom Randolph
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Diagnostic Tools ◽  
Informal Markets ◽  
Zoonotic Infections ◽  
Livestock Sector ◽  
The Impact

Background Developing countries face difficulties in sustainably utilizing tools to effectively implement control measures for zoonoses. This is mainly due to dispersed and heterogeneous smallholder livestock systems, predominance of informal markets, poor infrastructure and lack of resources to deliver information, interventions, and regulations. In addition, developing countries lack an evidence base for planning and targeting control efforts. Zoonotic infections are receiving more and more international attention as diseases of neglected and impoverished communities, at the intersection between livestock production, human health, and poverty. Objective To review research innovations and trends that can help identify and test targeted control strategies for zoonoses tailored to poor communities, focusing particularly on Africa. Methods Review of recommendations of relevant working groups and scientific literature. Results New and innovative research approaches promise to better capture the impact of zoonoses from a societal perspective and the perspective of poor livestock owners through more comprehensive frameworks that consider benefits of the control of zoonoses to the public health, livestock, and private sectors. It is challenging to better assure food safety in informal markets. Risk-based approaches with participatory elements provide a framework in which stakeholders can decide an appropriate level of protection to balance the needs for safe food, cheap food, and pro-poor economic growth. Appropriate information for all stakeholders and capacity-building of national and regional authorities is an important element of this process. New diagnostic tools that are accurate and easily used in developing-country health centers and markets can assist in reporting of cases, detection of patients, and testing of control strategies. Conclusions A research agenda on zoonoses of the livestock sector should be interdisciplinary and participatory and include intersectoral collaborations, notably between the livestock and public health sectors.

scholarly journals Travelers’ Acceptance of Electric Carsharing Systems in Developing Countries: The Case of China

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (19) ◽  
pp. 5348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanduy Tran ◽  
Shengchuan Zhao ◽  
El Bachir Diop ◽  
Weiya Song
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
The Public ◽  
Future Performance ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Effort Expectancy ◽  
The Impact

Emerging electric carsharing (EC) systems have demonstrated their advantages and attracted public attention. The number of EC systems is growing throughout the world, especially in metropolitan areas in developing countries. For successful implementation, developers need to understand the public acceptance of EC services. In this study, we sought to determine the factors that affect EC acceptance in the context of developing countries. The study involved 437 individuals, aged between 18 and 65 years, who were randomly sampled from an EC service area in China. The determinants of EC acceptance were investigated based on an extended version of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and tested by using Structural Equation Modeling. The results indicated that hedonic motivation (HM) has a powerful effect on behavioral intention (BI) to use the EC service in the future. Performance expectancy (PE), effort expectancy (EE), and familiarity with the carsharing concept (FM) also influenced EC’s acceptance. However, the impact of social influence (SI) did not emerge from this study. The results also revealed that gender moderates the effects of EE and FM on BI. Age moderated the effect of FM on BI and unexpectedly moderated the impact of HM on BI. The present study confirmed the validity of the UTAUT research model in predicting the intention to use an EC system in developing countries. Implications and recommendations for government and EC developers are also discussed.

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