The Role of Field Epidemiology in the Disasters: Yemen Cholera Outbreak Example

Serouri, Abdulwahed Al; Alkohlani, Abdulhakem; Alemad, M; Assabri, Ali

doi:10.29011/2475-5605.000059

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…The Program has proved to be an important tool for strengthening the national public health preparedness and response. Through focusing on timely investigation, adherence to standard case definition, proper case management, effective infection control practice and strengthening surveillance system, the Yemen FETP participated effectively in many outbreak's responses including the world's worst cholera epidemic that started in 2016 (31). Studies from other developing countries showed that FETPs play a critical role in building human resource capacity, strengthening public health systems, and fighting against epidemic (32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37).…”

Section: The Yemen Field Epidemiology Training Programmentioning

confidence: 99%

Field Epidemiology Training Program Response to COVID-19 During a Conflict: Experience From Yemen

Serouri

Ghaleb

Aghbari

et al. 2021

Front. Public Health

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COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the need for a well-trained public health workforce to save lives through timely outbreaks detection and response. In Yemen, a country that is entering its seventh year of a protracted war, the ongoing conflict severely limited the country's capacity to implement effective preparedness and response measures to outbreaks including COVID-19. There are growing concerns that the virus may be circulating within communities undetected and unmitigated especially as underreporting continues in some areas of the country due to a lack of testing facilities, delays in seeking treatment, stigma, difficulty accessing treatment centers, the perceived risks of seeking care or for political issues. The Yemen Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP) was launched in 2011 to address the shortage of a skilled public health workforce, with the objective of strengthening capacity in field epidemiology. Thus, events of public health importance can be detected and investigated in a timely and effective manner. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Yemen FETP's response has been instrumental through participating in country-level coordination, planning, monitoring, and developing guidelines/standard operating procedures and strengthening surveillance capacities, outbreak investigations, contact tracing, case management, infection prevention, and control, risk communication, and research. As the third wave is circulating with a steeper upward curve than the previous ones with possible new variants, the country will not be able to deal with a surge of cases as secondary care is extremely crippled. Since COVID-19 prevention and control are the only option available to reduce its grave impact on morbidity and mortality, health partners should support the Yemen FETP to strengthen the health system's response to future epidemics. One important lesson learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the Yemen context and applicable to developing and war-torn countries, is that access to outside experts becomes limited, therefore, it is crucial to invest in building national expertise to provide timely, cost-effective, and sustainable services that are culturally appropriate. It is also essential to build such expertise at the governorate and district levels, as they are normally the first respondents, and to provide them with the necessary tools for immediate response in order to overcome the disastrous delays.

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Section: The Yemen Field Epidemiology Training Programmentioning

confidence: 99%

Field Epidemiology Training Program Response to COVID-19 During a Conflict: Experience From Yemen

Serouri

Ghaleb

Aghbari

et al. 2021

Front. Public Health

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“…The emergence and reemergence of infectious and noninfectious diseases is a major issue of public health concern. Previous outbreaks (eg, Ebola, Lassa fever, and cholera) have highlighted the need for a multisectoral public health workforce with the requisite competencies to effectively address these situations [21][22][23].…”

Section: Roundtable Panel Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health System Resilience in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: Perspective on the Recent Lessons Learned

et al. 2022

Self Cite

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Background Public health has a pivotal role in strengthening resilience at individual, community, and system levels as well as building healthy communities. During crises, resilient health systems can effectively adapt in response to evolving situations and reduce vulnerability across and beyond the systems. To engage national, regional, and international public health entities and experts in a discussion of challenges hindering achievement of health system resilience (HSR) in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, the Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (EMPHNET) held its seventh regional conference in Amman, Jordan, between November 15 and 18, 2021, under the theme “Towards Resilient Health Systems in the Eastern Mediterranean: Breaking Barriers.” This viewpoint paper portrays the roundtable discussion of experts on the core themes of that conference. Objective Our aim was to provide insights on lessons learned from the past and explore new opportunities to attain more resilient health systems to break current barriers. Methods The roundtable brought together a panel of public health experts representing Field Epidemiology Training Programs (FETPs), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, World Health Organization, EMPHNET, universities or academia, and research institutions at regional and global levels. To set the ground, the session began with four 10-12–minute presentations introducing the concept of HSR and its link to workforce development with an overall reflection on the matter and lessons learned through collective experiences. The presentations were followed by an open question and answer session to allow for an interactive debate among panel members and the roundtable audience. Results The panel discussed challenges faced by health systems and lessons learned in times of the new public health threats to move toward more resilient health systems, overcome current barriers, and explore new opportunities to enhance the HSR. They presented field experiences in building resilient health systems and the role of FETPs with an example from Yemen FETP. Furthermore, they debated the lessons learned from COVID-19 response and how it can reshape our thinking and strategies for approaching HSR. Finally, the panel discussed how health systems can effectively adapt and prosper in the face of challenges and barriers to recover from extreme disruptions while maintaining the core functions of the health systems. Conclusions Considering the current situation in the region, there is a need to strengthen both pandemic preparedness and health systems, through investing in essential public health functions including those required for all-hazards emergency risk management. Institutionalized mechanisms for whole-of-society engagement, strengthening primary health care approaches for health security and universal health coverage, as well as promoting enabling environments for research, innovation, and learning should be ensured. Investing in building epidemiological capacity through continuous support to FETPs to work toward strengthening surveillance systems and participating in regional and global efforts in early response to outbreaks is crucial.

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“…Several cohorts of eld epidemiologist have graduated and lled the gap in epidemiology in terms of eld investigation, data analysis and reporting to higher-level decision makers. This explains the continuous efforts towards strengthening detection core function in Yemen [23][24][25][26] . Regarding to the point of entries, results showed limited capacity in Yemen, similar situation was noticed in Somalia and Iraq 19,20,23 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mind the Gap: an Analysis of the International Health Regulations (2005) Core Capacities to Respond to Outbreaks in Yemen

Noman¹,

Dureab²,

Ahmed³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background: there are several states which are unable to implement the International Health Regulations’ core capacities to face the urgent public health threats. Yemen is fronting various challenges to response to the recent potential outbreaks and other public health emergencies due to lack of proper strategies and regulations, which are essential to public health security. It has lived under the turmoil of several rounds of internal armed conflict and political instability since 2011. The overall impact of war and conflict on the health system is vividly observable. The aim of this study is to assess the International Health Regulations’ core capacities to respond to outbreaks during the conflict in Yemen. Methods: The study used qualitative data analysis, including desk reviews and in-depth interviews with key informants. This study simulated the World Health Organization's Joint External Evaluation tool to assess the IHR core capacities in Yemen Result: Based on the result of the assessment (with its three core functions of: Prevention, Detection, and Response), the country showed limited or no capacity to prevent and respond to outbreaks, however, it presented demonstrated or developed capacity to detect outbreaks. This signifies an overall poor IHR implementation in Yemen.Conclusion: This study shows that there has been poor implementation of IHR in Yemen, therefore, an urgent intervention is highly need to strengthen the implementation of the IHR core capacities in Yemen.

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The Role of Field Epidemiology in the Disasters: Yemen Cholera Outbreak Example

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

Field Epidemiology Training Program Response to COVID-19 During a Conflict: Experience From Yemen

Field Epidemiology Training Program Response to COVID-19 During a Conflict: Experience From Yemen

Health System Resilience in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: Perspective on the Recent Lessons Learned

Mind the Gap: an Analysis of the International Health Regulations (2005) Core Capacities to Respond to Outbreaks in Yemen

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