Preparing the health workforce for future public health emergencies in Africa

Okoroafor, Sunny C; Asamani, James Avoka; Kabego, Landry; Ahmat, Adam; Nyoni, Jennifer; Millogo, Jean Jacques Salvador; Illou, Mourtala Mahaman Abdou; Mwinga, Kasonde

doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2021-008327

Cited by 13 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Health workforce planning is essential for health emergency pillars such as preparedness, response and recovery to ensure that sustainable essential health services are provided during public health emergencies including the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, health workforce planning ensures that a strategic approach is taken to ensure that the health workforce contributes maximally to ensuring health care services are provided and the health of the population is improved [ 14 , 19 ]. It also ensures that plans are put in place to ensure that health worker safety is ensured as this is important in facilitating effective service delivery.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Health workers are at the centre of the response globally and they are continually coping with the strain of responding to the pandemic whilst ensuring the continuation of essential health services provision [ 13 , 14 ]. Studies have suggested that health workers are faced with several risk factors in the course of performing these functions [ 15 , 16 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Health workforce strategies during COVID-19 response: insights from 15 countries in the WHO Africa Region

Ahmat,

Okoroafor,

Asamani

et al. 2024

BMC Health Serv Res

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Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic unveiled huge challenges in health workforce governance in the context of public health emergencies in Africa. Several countries applied several measures to ensure access to qualified and skilled health workers to respond to the pandemic and provide essential health services. However, there has been limited documentation of these measures. This study was undertaken to examine the health workforce governance strategies applied by 15 countries in the World Health Organization (WHO) Africa Region in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods We extracted data from country case studies developed from national policy documents, reports and grey literature obtained from the Ministries of Health and other service delivery agencies. This study was conducted from October 2020 to January 2021 in 15 countries - Angola, Burkina Faso, Chad, Eswatini, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo. Results All 15 countries had national multi-sectoral bodies to manage the COVID-19 response and a costed national COVID-19 response plan. All the countries also reflected human resources for health (HRH) activities along the different response pillars. These activities included training for health workers, and budget for the recruitment or mobilization of additional health workers to support the response, and for provision of financial and non-financial incentives for health workers. Nine countries recruited additional 35,812 health workers either on a permanent or temporary basis to respond to the COVID-19 with an abridged process of recruitment implemented to ensure needed health workers are in place on time. Six countries redeployed 3671 health workers to respond to the COVID-19. The redeployment of existing health workers was reported to have impacted negatively on essential health service provision. Conclusion Strengthening multi-sector engagement in the development of public health emergency plans is critical as this promotes the development of holistic interventions needed to improve health workforce availability, retention, incentivization, and coordination. It also ensures optimized utilization based on competencies, especially for the existing health workers.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health workforce strategies during COVID-19 response: insights from 15 countries in the WHO Africa Region

Ahmat,

Okoroafor,

Asamani

et al. 2024

BMC Health Serv Res

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…This is because the continent has weak and fragile health systems emanating from poor health governance, inadequate health infrastructure, shortage of health care workers, inadequate essential medicines and technology, and limited funding. 37 As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, countries in SSA, just like any other country in the world, faced a lot of unexpected financial requirements to quickly implement prevention and control measures. The countries also required financial resources to reduce the financial pressures that were faced by households and businesses because of lockdowns.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is predicted that there are going to be more public health emergencies in Africa soon. This is because the continent has weak and fragile health systems emanating from poor health governance, inadequate health infrastructure, shortage of health care workers, inadequate essential medicines and technology, and limited funding 37 . As a result of the COVID‐19 pandemic, countries in SSA, just like any other country in the world, faced a lot of unexpected financial requirements to quickly implement prevention and control measures.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accessibility and utilization of antenatal care services insub‐SaharanAfrica during theCOVID‐19 pandemic: A rapid review

Murewanhema

Mpabuka

Moyo

et al. 2023

Birth

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Control measures for the COVID‐19 pandemic brought unprecedented challenges to health care delivery. Some countries in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) stopped the provision of essential health care except for those services that were deemed emergencies or life‐threatening. A rapid review was conducted on March 18, 2022, on the accessibility and utilization of antenatal care services in sub‐Saharan Africa during the COVID‐19 pandemic. PubMed, Google Scholar, SCOPUS, and the World Health Organization library databases were searched for relevant studies. A modified Population, Intervention, Control, and Outcomes (PICO) framework informed the development of the search strategy. The review included studies conducted within Africa that described the availability, access, and utilization of antenatal services during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Eighteen studies met the inclusion criteria. This review revealed a reduction in access to ANC services, an increase in the number of home deliveries, and a reduction in the number of women attending ANC visits during the COVID‐19 pandemic. A decrease in ANC service utilization was reported in some studies in the review. Barriers to ANC access and utilization during the COVID‐19 pandemic included movement restrictions, limited transport access, fear of contracting COVID‐19 at the health facilities, and facility barriers. The use of telemedicine needs to be improved in African countries to allow for the continued provision of health services during pandemics. In addition, there should strengthening of community involvement in the provision of maternal health services post‐COVID‐19 so that services may be able to better withstand future public health emergencies.

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“…A rare circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV) is also affecting African countries with low immunization coverage, especially remote communities and those experiencing migration and conflict ( Ming et al., 2020 ). WPV transmission in Africa is likely to be enabled by the continent's weak and fragile health systems, emanating from poor health governance, inadequate health infrastructure, a shortage of healthcare workers, insufficient essential medicines, and inadequate health funding ( Okoroafor et al., 2022 ). In addition, the importation of polio infections through international travel could be substantial ( Wilder-Smith et al., 2015 ).…”

Section: Re-emergence Of Wild Poliovirus Type 1 In Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

The re-emergence of wild poliovirus type 1 in Africa and the role of environmental surveillance in interrupting poliovirus transmission

Gwinji

Musuka²,

Murewanhema³

et al. 2022

IJID Regions

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Preparing the health workforce for future public health emergencies in Africa

Cited by 13 publications

References 27 publications

Health workforce strategies during COVID-19 response: insights from 15 countries in the WHO Africa Region

Health workforce strategies during COVID-19 response: insights from 15 countries in the WHO Africa Region

Accessibility and utilization of antenatal care services insub‐SaharanAfrica during theCOVID‐19 pandemic: A rapid review

The re-emergence of wild poliovirus type 1 in Africa and the role of environmental surveillance in interrupting poliovirus transmission

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