Infectious Diseases
- Maintaining Polio-Free Status in Indonesia During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Despite the negative impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on polio eradication efforts, ensuring the high coverage of polio immunization and high performance of surveillance are essential to maintaining Indonesia’s polio-free status and the reaching the 2023 global polio eradication target.
- COVID-19 Testing Crisis Management Through a Public-Private Partnership in Sindh, Pakistan
Building upon an existing public-private partnership enabled the rapid and effective implementation of province-wide COVID-19 testing in the Sindh province of Pakistan.
- COVID-19 Partners Platform—Accelerating Response by Coordinating Plans, Needs, and Contributions During Public Health Emergencies: COVID-19 Vaccines Use Case
The World Health Organization COVID-19 Partners Platform represents the first step towards a new model of health crisis information sharing across stakeholders and could evolve into an engagement mechanism of choice for future cross-border public health emergencies.
- Health Sector Resource Mapping in Malawi: Sharing the Collection and Use of Budget Data for Evidence-Based Decision Making
By tracking budgets for health through its annual resource mapping exercise, the Government of Malawi generated evidence for planning and budgeting, quantifying resource needs, mobilizing funds to fill financial gaps, and coordinating investments across stakeholders with different priorities toward common goals. The exercise was adapted to conduct COVID-19 resource mapping to inform planning and coordination of the national pandemic response.
- Using a Pharmacy-Based Surveillance System to Improve Standards for TB Care in Kerala, India
A pharmacy-based surveillance system in Kerala, India, has helped to improve TB patient notifications from the private sector, build better public-private partnerships, and improve the quality of TB diagnosis. Pharmacy-based surveillance has the potential to strengthen TB surveillance and facilitate standards of TB care.
- Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Pandemic to Strengthen TB Infection Control: A Rapid Review
In light of competing health priorities of COVID-19 and TB, we propose recommendations to strengthen health system preparedness for optimal TB control across low- and middle-income countries during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
- How Home Delivery of Antiretroviral Drugs Ensured Uninterrupted HIV Treatment During COVID-19: Experiences From Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, and Nigeria
During the COVID-19 pandemic, home delivery of antiretrovirals for HIV treatment proved to be a feasible approach for ensuring treatment continuation amid facility closures and travel restrictions. Antiretroviral home delivery is a model warranting further consideration as an additional option for decentralized drug delivery for HIV treatment.
- The Conundrum of Low COVID-19 Mortality Burden in sub-Saharan Africa: Myth or Reality?
The demographic age structure of sub-Saharan Africa contributes significantly to the low morbidity and mortality of COVID-19 compared to other regions in the world.
- A Quality Improvement Intervention to Inform Scale-Up of Integrated HIV-TB Services: Lessons Learned From KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Despite being standard of care, gaps in HIV-TB service delivery are present. Quality Improvement methods are effective in uncovering health systems weaknesses that impede efficient delivery of integrated HIV-TB services.
- Social and Political Dimensions of Disseminating Research Findings on Emerging Zoonotic Viruses: Our Experience in Sierra Leone
Disseminating research findings on emerging zoonotic viruses is a complex and sensitive process, particularly in contexts with histories of outbreaks. It requires an operational framework that considers the social and political context of stakeholders aiming to empower people to protect their health, while also supporting government leaders to advance global health security.