Healthcare Facilities in Low- and Middle-Income Countries affected by COVID-19: Time to Upgrade Basic Infection Control and Prevention Practices

Angrup, Archana; Kanaujia, Rimjhim; Ray, Pallab; Biswal, Manisha

doi:10.4103/ijmm.ijmm_20_125

Cited by 18 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“… 12 , 22 Therefore, our findings that institutions in these countries report greater supply shortages, specifically resulting in treatment modification and a lack of supportive care, are not surprising. These institutions are less likely to have excess supply stores, 23 and border restrictions during the pandemic have affected supply chains and further reduced access to medication. 24 Limited shared resources, including PPE and supportive care medications such as antibiotics, have been diverted to the care of patients with COVID-19.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on paediatric cancer care: a cross-sectional study

Graetz

Agulnik

Ranadive

et al. 2021

The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health

134

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Although mortality due to COVID-19 has been reportedly low among children with cancer, changes in health-care services due to the pandemic have affected cancer care delivery. This study aimed to assess the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on childhood cancer care worldwide. Methods A cross-sectional survey was distributed to paediatric oncology providers worldwide from June 22 to Aug 21, 2020, through the St Jude Global Alliance and International Society for Paediatric Oncology listservs and regional networks. The survey included 60 questions to assess institution characteristics, the number of patients diagnosed with COVID-19, disruptions to cancer care (eg, service closures and treatment abandonment), adaptations to care, and resources (including availability of clinical staff and personal protective equipment). Surveys were included for analysis if respondents answered at least two thirds of the items, and the responses were analysed at the institutional level. Findings Responses from 311 health-care professionals at 213 institutions in 79 countries from all WHO regions were included in the analysis. 187 (88%) of 213 centres had the capacity to test for SARS-CoV-2 and a median of two (range 0–350) infections per institutution were reported in children with cancer. 15 (7%) centres reported complete closure of paediatric haematology-oncology services (median 10 days, range 1–75 days). Overall, 2% (5 of 213) of centres were no longer evaluating new cases of suspected cancer, while 43% (90 of 208) of the remaining centers described a decrease in newly diagnosed paediatric cancer cases. 73 (34%) centres reported increased treatment abandonment (ie, failure to initiate cancer therapy or a delay in care of 4 weeks or longer). Changes to cancer care delivery included: reduced surgical care (153 [72%]), blood product shortages (127 [60%]), chemotherapy modifications (121 [57%]), and interruptions to radiotherapy (43 [28%] of 155 institutions that provided radiotherapy before the pandemic). The decreased number of new cancer diagnoses did not vary based on country income status (p=0·14). However, unavailability of chemotherapy agents (p=0·022), treatment abandonment (p<0·0001), and interruptions in radiotherapy (p<0·0001) were more frequent in low-income and middle-income countries than in high-income countries. These findings did not vary based on institutional or national numbers of COVID-19 cases. Hospitals reported using new or adapted checklists (146 [69%] of 213), processes for communication with patients and families (134 [63%]), and guidelines for essential services (119 [56%]) as a result of the pandemic. Interpretation The COVID-19 pandemic has considerably affected paediatric oncology services worldwide, posing substantial disruptions to cancer diagnosis and management, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries. This study emphasises the urgency of an equitably distributed robust glo...

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on paediatric cancer care: a cross-sectional study

Graetz

Agulnik

Ranadive

et al. 2021

The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health

134

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Risk of infection and exhaustion is a unique challenge during this pandemic while providing health care services everywhere because of workplace risk to exposure of the virus (27). The infection prevention and control in outpatient settings of public hospitals of low-income countries during this pandemic were reported to be inadequate because of low compliance in hand hygiene, glove use, disinfection of reusable equipments, and in waste management procedures (39,40).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges in Providing Health Care Services During COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploration of Providers’ Perspectives in Nepal.

Karkee

Pyakurel

Paudel

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

IntroductionThe rapid increase of COVID-19 cases since the beginning of May 2020, imposition of lockdown, and preparation activities to detect, manage and treat COVID-19 in public hospitals have impacted on the provision of non-COVID health care services resulting in increased morbidity and mortality in Nepal. This study aims to explore challenges in providing non-COVID as well as COVID-19 health care services through public hospitals in Eastern Nepal.MethodsA qualitative study with 25 key informants from three public hospitals in Eastern Nepal was conducted. Key informants were health care workers (HCWs) and managers of the hospitals. A thematic analysis was carried out to identify challenges in providing non-COVID and COVID-19 health care services.ResultsWe identified four themes: weak implementation; weak co-ordination and management; low accountability of HCWs and staff; and risk of infection and stigma as the challenges to provide COVID-19 health care services. We identified three themes: maintaining safety measures in hospitals, managing patients, and fear of infection as the challenges in provision of non-COVID health care services. Inadequate resources and HCWs, lengthy procurement process, and poor jobs specification were the main reasons for weak implementation. HCWs stated weak hospital administration while managers and focal persons complained of low accountability of HCWs and staff to manage COVID-19 health care services.ConclusionIn addition to inadequate resources; the risk of infection of COVID-19, maintaining safety measures in hospitals, ensuring clear leadership and governance, and preparing motivated and accountable HCWs and staff to get ‘work done’ are unique challenges observed in the study hospitals; and consequently need to be addressed.

show abstract

“…Individuals who required access to routine medical services such as pregnant women and people with chronic conditions experienced mental health issues such as stress, depression and reduced emotional well-being [14][15][16][17]. The emotional well-being of parents and children also suffered due to the lack of educational and food resources and the enhanced stress and financial problems due to restricted and insufficient healthcare facilities, especially in less-developed countries [18][19][20][21][22]. Due to the overwhelming number of positive cases and the limited availability of medical devices, the pressure on healthcare workers (HCWs) has significantly increased and placed them at higher risk of contracting the contagion.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance: A Systematic Review of Associated Social and Behavioral Factors

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

COVID-19 vaccines have met varying levels of acceptance and hesitancy in different parts of the world, which has implications for eliminating the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this systematic review is to examine how and why the rates of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy differ across countries and continents. PubMed, Web of Science, IEEE Xplore and Science Direct were searched between 1 January 2020 and 31 July 2021 using keywords such as “COVID-19 vaccine acceptance”. 81 peer-reviewed publications were found to be eligible for review. The analysis shows that there are global variations in vaccine acceptance among different populations. The vaccine-acceptance rates were the highest amongst adults in Ecuador (97%), Malaysia (94.3%) and Indonesia (93.3%) and the lowest amongst adults in Lebanon (21.0%). The general healthcare workers (HCWs) in China (86.20%) and nurses in Italy (91.50%) had the highest acceptance rates, whereas HCWs in the Democratic Republic of Congo had the lowest acceptance (27.70%). A nonparametric one-way ANOVA showed that the differences in vaccine-acceptance rates were statistically significant (H (49) = 75.302, p = 0.009*) between the analyzed countries. However, the reasons behind vaccine hesitancy and acceptance were similar across the board. Low vaccine acceptance was associated with low levels of education and awareness, and inefficient government efforts and initiatives. Furthermore, poor influenza-vaccination history, as well as conspiracy theories relating to infertility and misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine on social media also resulted in vaccine hesitancy. Strategies to address these concerns may increase global COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and accelerate our efforts to eliminate this pandemic.

show abstract

Healthcare Facilities in Low- and Middle-Income Countries affected by COVID-19: Time to Upgrade Basic Infection Control and Prevention Practices

Cited by 18 publications

References 39 publications

Global effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on paediatric cancer care: a cross-sectional study

Global effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on paediatric cancer care: a cross-sectional study

Challenges in Providing Health Care Services During COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploration of Providers’ Perspectives in Nepal.

Global COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance: A Systematic Review of Associated Social and Behavioral Factors

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About