Innovative Approaches to Improve Public Health Practice in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: Findings From the Sixth Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network Regional Conference

Noormal, Bashiruddin; Eltayeb, Elmuez; Nsour, Mohannad Al; Mohsni, Ezzeddine; Khader, Yousef; Salter, Mark; McNabb, Scott J. N.; Guibert, Dionisio Herrera; Baidjoe, Amrish; Ikram, Aamer; Longuet, Christophe; Serouri, Abdulwahed Al; Lami, Faris; Khattabi, Asmae; Almudarra, Sami; Iblan, Ibrahim; Samy, Sahar; Ben-Alaya, Nissaf Bouafif ép; Al-Salihi, Qahtan

doi:10.2196/11382

Cited by 7 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Enablers included establishing collaborative platforms, 45 sharing knowledge, 46 and building effective relationships, including public-private partnerships. 47…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…23,31 One major issue for the ProVAC network was the lack of national data on disease burden and surveillance systems, making it difficult to plan cost-effective vaccination programmes. 34 Networks Enablers included establishing collaborative platforms, 45 sharing knowledge, 46 and building effective relationships, including public-private partnerships. 47 Barriers included a lack of co-ordination between health and other sectors, 48 lack of trust between organisations and partners, and a lack of public-private partnerships.…”

Section: Organisational Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Operationalising Regional Cooperation for Infectious Disease Control: A Scoping Review of Regional Disease Control Bodies and Networks

Durrance-Bagale

Marzouk

Agarwal

et al. 2021

Int J Health Policy Manag

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Background: The rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates the value of regional cooperation in infectious disease prevention and control. We explored the literature on regional infectious disease control bodies, to identify lessons, barriers and enablers to inform operationalisation of a regional infectious disease control body or network in southeast Asia. Methods: We conducted a scoping review to examine existing literature on regional infectious disease control bodies and networks, and to identify lessons that can be learned that will be useful for operationalisation of a regional infectious disease control body such as the ASEAN Center for Public Health Emergency and Emerging Diseases. Results: Of the 57 articles included, 53 (93%) were in English, with two (3%) in Spanish and one (2%) each in Dutch and French. Most were commentaries or review articles describing programme initiatives. Sixteen (28%) publications focused on organisations in the Asian continent, with 14 (25%) focused on Africa, and 14 (24%) primarily focused on the European region. Key lessons focused on organisational factors, diagnosis and detection, human resources, communication, accreditation, funding, and sustainability. Enablers and constraints were consistent across regions/organisations. A clear understanding of the regional context, budgets, cultural or language issues, staffing capacity and governmental priorities, is pivotal. An initial workshop inclusive of the various bodies involved in the design, implementation, monitoring or evaluation of programmes is essential. Clear governance structure, with individual responsibilities clear from the beginning, will reduce friction. Secure, long-term funding is also a key aspect of the success of any programme. Conclusion: Operationalisation of regional infectious disease bodies and networks is complicated, but with extensive groundwork, and focus on organisational factors, diagnosis and detection, human resources, communication, accreditation, funding, and sustainability, it is achievable. Ways to promote success are to include as many stakeholders as possible from the beginning, to ensure that context-specific factors are considered, and to encourage employees through capacity building and mentoring, to ensure they feel valued and reduce staff turnover.

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“…Enablers included establishing collaborative platforms, 45 sharing knowledge, 46 and building effective relationships, including public-private partnerships. 47…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Organisational Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Operationalising Regional Cooperation for Infectious Disease Control: A Scoping Review of Regional Disease Control Bodies and Networks

Durrance-Bagale

Marzouk

Agarwal

et al. 2021

Int J Health Policy Manag

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“…These include infectious diseases due to overcrowded living conditions, increased burden of non-communicable disease, limited access to safe water and sanitation, and changed degrees of access to primary healthcare services (2). These risks play a significant role in determining the health security of the entire region and increase the demand for public health professionals with various set of skills (3). Currently, the COVID-19 pandemic showed the need for increasing the number of individuals trained globally to prevent, detect, or respond to public health threats and the need for increasing the laboratory diagnostic testing capacity, surveillance system, and routine reporting in countries and regionally.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Advanced Field Epidemiology Training Programs in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: A Multi-Country Study

Nsour

Khader

Bashier

et al. 2021

Front. Public Health

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Field Epidemiology Training Programs (FETPs) are competency-based training programs aiming to strengthen the epidemiologic capacity of the public health workforce. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the advanced FETPs in the Eastern Mediterranean region (EMR) and ascertain whether the expected objectives of the programs are met. A descriptive study was conducted based on Kirkpatrick's model for evaluating training programs. Data were collected from FETP graduates and FETP technical advisers on the practices of FETP graduates, their engagement in key areas of field epidemiology, and their perceived skills and capacity to perform such activities. A total of 166 FETP graduates responded to the online survey. Almost two-thirds of FETP graduates reported that they are often engaged in managing public health surveillance systems (n = 119, 71.7%), analyzing the surveillance data (n = 116, 69.9%), training public health professionals (n = 113, 68.1%), investigations on and response to outbreaks (n = 109, 65.7%), and managing staff and resources (n = 106, 63.9%). However, only 28.3% reported that they are often engaged in writing scientific research articles. More than two-thirds of graduates reported that the FETP helped them to perform most of the field epidemiology activities and rate their skills as good. In conclusion, the FETP graduates in the EMR were well engaged in many field epidemiology activities including managing public health surveillance systems, surveillance data analysis, training public health professionals, and investigations on and response to outbreaks. Therefore, the FETPs should continue supporting the graduates to work toward strengthening surveillance systems and investigating outbreaks and to participate in regional and global efforts as part of the Global Health Security.

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“…Most evaluations of FETPs are based on output indicators in which the role of FETP graduates in outbreak detection, investigation, and response was reported [ 1 – 3 , 6 – 9 , 14 , 24 – 27 ]. Another means of FETP evaluation is by assessing the number or quality of scientific manuscripts produced by FETP residents and graduates, which are considered indicators of the program’s success [ 9 , 28 ]. In addition, the involvement of FETP residents in investigations and control of pandemics and public health concerns, including Ebola [ 29 ], Zika, malaria, HIV/AIDS, malignancies, diabetes, hypertension, and COVID-19 have been regarded as achievements of the training programs [ 7 , 8 , 20 , 24 , 30 , 31 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparative cross-sectional evaluation of the Field Epidemiology Training Program-Frontline in Ethiopia

et al. 2022

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Background The Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP)-Frontline is a three-month in-service training aimed at improving surveillance officers’ capacity to collect, analyze, and interpret surveillance data, and respond to health emergencies. We evaluated the effectiveness of the FETP-Frontline which was introduced in Ethiopia in 2016. Methods We conducted a comparative, randomized cross-sectional study to assess surveillance-related knowledge, skills, and performance among trained and untrained officers using a structured questionnaire and observation checklist. We compared the knowledge, skills, and performance scores of trained and untrained officers using the Fisher’s Exact test, chi-square test, and t-test at p-value < 0.05 for statistical significance. Results We conducted the study among 74 trained and 76 untrained surveillance officers. About three-quarters of all participants were male, and the average age was 34 (± 8.6) years. Completeness and timeliness of surveillance reports were significantly higher among trained than untrained surveillance officers. The trained officers were more likely to have produced epidemiologic bulletins (55% vs 33%), conducted active surveillance six months before the survey (88% vs 72%), provided surveillance training (88% vs 65%), conducted strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis (55% vs 17%), and utilized Microsoft Excel to manage surveillance data (87% vs 47%). We also observed improved surveillance officers’ perceived skills and knowledge, and the availability and quality of surveillance formats and reports among the trained group. Conclusions FETP-Frontline trained surveillance officers demonstrated better knowledge, skills, and performance in most surveillance activities compared to the untrained officers. FETP-Frontline can address competency gaps among district surveillance officers in Ethiopia and other countries. Scaling up the program to cover unreached districts can enable achieving the human resource development core capacity requirement of the International Health Regulations 2005.

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Innovative Approaches to Improve Public Health Practice in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: Findings From the Sixth Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network Regional Conference

Cited by 7 publications

References 8 publications

Operationalising Regional Cooperation for Infectious Disease Control: A Scoping Review of Regional Disease Control Bodies and Networks

Operationalising Regional Cooperation for Infectious Disease Control: A Scoping Review of Regional Disease Control Bodies and Networks

Evaluation of Advanced Field Epidemiology Training Programs in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: A Multi-Country Study

A comparative cross-sectional evaluation of the Field Epidemiology Training Program-Frontline in Ethiopia

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