Pakistan's Health System Against COVID-19: Where Do Things Stand?

Iqbal, Meesha; Zahidie, Aysha

doi:10.29271/jcpsp.2020.supp1.s3

Cited by 2 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…• Programs of training for use of PPE, biosafety measures and infection prevent control [ 30 , 39 , 42 , 43 , 46 ]…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Implementation of policy and management interventions to improve health and care workforce capacity to address the COVID-19 pandemic response: a systematic review

Cavalcante de Oliveira,

Galante,

Maia

et al. 2023

Hum Resour Health

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Background The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted pre-existing weaknesses in health and care systems and services and shortages of health and care workers (HCWs). As a result, policymakers needed to adopt measures to improve the health and care workforce (HCWF) capacity. This review aims to identify countries’ range of policies and management interventions implemented to improve HCWs’ capacity to address the COVID-19 pandemic response, synthesize their evidence on effectiveness, and identify gaps in the evidence. Methods The literature was searched in PubMed, Embase, Scopus, LILACS–BVS, WHO’s COVID-19 Research Database and the ILO, OECD and HSRM websites for literature and documents published between January 2020 and March 2022. Eligibility criteria were HCWs as participants and policy and management interventions aiming to improve HCWF capacity to address the COVID-19 pandemic response. Risk of bias was assessed with Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal Tools (CAT) and certainty of the evidence in presented outcomes with GRADE. Results The searches retrieved 3378 documents. A total of 69 were included, but only 8 presented outcomes of interventions implemented. Most of the selected documents described at least one intervention implemented by countries at the organizational environment level to increase the flexibility and capacity of the HCWF to respond to the pandemic, followed by interventions to attract and retain HCWs in safe and decent working environments. There was a lack of studies addressing social protection, human resources for health information systems, and regarding the role of community health workers and other community-based providers. Regarding the risk of bias, most of documents were rated as medium or high quality (JBI’s CAT), while the evidence presented for the outcomes of interventions was classified as mostly low-certainty evidence (GRADE). Conclusions Countries have implemented various interventions, some innovative, in response to the pandemic, and others had their processes started earlier and accelerated by the pandemic. The evidence regarding the impact and efficacy of the strategies used by countries during the pandemic still requires further research.

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“…• Programs of training for use of PPE, biosafety measures and infection prevent control [ 30 , 39 , 42 , 43 , 46 ]…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…• Range of strategies to expand the use of telehealth [ 29 , 34 , 39 , 43 , 44 , 51 , 52 , 54 , 55 , 59 , 62 , 66 , 67 , 69 , 70 , 77 , 79 , 80 , 83 , 84 , 86 , 87 , 90 – 92 ]…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implementation of policy and management interventions to improve health and care workforce capacity to address the COVID-19 pandemic response: a systematic review

Cavalcante de Oliveira,

Galante,

Maia

et al. 2023

Hum Resour Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Since the emergence of the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) in China, Pakistan has been at considerable risk of the virus due to border sharing, trade and travel ties with China through land, sea and air [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. After reporting the first positive case of COVID-19 in Pakistan on 26 February 2020, comprehensive measures were introduced by the government to reduce its spread, similar to other countries [ 1 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. These measures included a country wide lockdown, which resulted in the closure of markets, educational/religious institutes and marriage/banquet halls, as well as the cancellation of religious congregations and ceremonies and public and private sport festivals [ 4 , 8 , 9 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…After reporting the first positive case of COVID-19 in Pakistan on 26 February 2020, comprehensive measures were introduced by the government to reduce its spread, similar to other countries [ 1 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. These measures included a country wide lockdown, which resulted in the closure of markets, educational/religious institutes and marriage/banquet halls, as well as the cancellation of religious congregations and ceremonies and public and private sport festivals [ 4 , 8 , 9 ]. However, despite these initiatives, cases of COVID-19 continued to rise in Pakistan, with a substantial number of positive cases reported in different waves of the pandemic.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, despite these initiatives, cases of COVID-19 continued to rise in Pakistan, with a substantial number of positive cases reported in different waves of the pandemic. This rise was exacerbated by concerns with poverty and unemployment in Pakistan with continued lockdown measures as well as social distancing and other measures not being strictly followed [ 4 , 8 , 10 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Self-Medication Including Antibiotics among Health Care Professionals during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Pakistan: Findings and Implications

et al. 2023

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Since the emergence of COVID-19, several different medicines including antimicrobials have been administered to patients to treat COVID-19. This is despite limited evidence of the effectiveness of many of these, fueled by misinformation. These utilization patterns have resulted in concerns for patients’ safety and a rise in antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Healthcare workers (HCWs) were required to serve in high-risk areas throughout the pandemic. Consequently, they may be inclined towards self-medication. However, they have a responsibility to ensure any medicines recommended or prescribed for the management of patients with COVID-19 are evidence-based. However, this is not always the case. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among HCWs in six districts of the Punjab to assess their knowledge, attitude and practices of self-medication during the ongoing pandemic. This included HCWs working a range of public sector hospitals in the Punjab Province. A total of 1173 HCWs were included in the final analysis. The majority of HCWs possessed good knowledge regarding self-medication and good attitudes. However, 60% were practicing self-medication amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The most frequent medicines consumed by the HCWs under self-medication were antipyretics (100%), antibiotics (80.4%) and vitamins (59.9%). Azithromycin was the most commonly purchase antibiotic (35.1%). In conclusion, HCWs possess good knowledge of, and attitude regarding, medicines they purchased. However, there are concerns that high rates of purchasing antibiotics, especially “Watch” antibiotics, for self-medication may enhance AMR. This needs addressing.

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Pakistan's Health System Against COVID-19: Where Do Things Stand?

Cited by 2 publications

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Implementation of policy and management interventions to improve health and care workforce capacity to address the COVID-19 pandemic response: a systematic review

Implementation of policy and management interventions to improve health and care workforce capacity to address the COVID-19 pandemic response: a systematic review

Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Self-Medication Including Antibiotics among Health Care Professionals during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Pakistan: Findings and Implications

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