Enhancing the notification system for surveillance of infectious diseases in Qatar during the FIFA World Cup 2022: project overview

BACKGROUND

In 2022, the Surveillance Department of the Ministry of Public Health in Qatar adopted an integrated project called the Notification Enhancement Project (NEP) to enhance the infectious disease notification system. Efficient surveillance and notification promote early alerts and allow immediate interference in reducing morbidity and mortality from outbreaks. The project was designed to improve the knowledge, attitudes, practices, and notification processes of healthcare workers in Qatar by increasing their reporting rates.

METHODS

The strategy for comprehensively enhancing notifications was based on the observation and evaluation of the current notification system, the implementation of interventions, and post-evaluation follow-up. To implement the project, we relied on three aspects: effective methods used in previous relevant studies through a literature review, feedback received from healthcare workers, and suggestions from public health surveillance experts from the Ministry of Public Health, Qatar. A preassessment was conducted through an online survey by the Ministry of Public Health. The effectiveness of the different interventions was assessed by analyzing the data of notified patients reported through the Disease Surveillance and Reporting Electronic System. Pre- and postintervention assessments were performed by comparing the percentage of patients notified by healthcare providers with that of patients confirmed by healthcare providers in the laboratory to compare the notification rates over three time periods between January and December 2022.

RESULTS

There was significant improvement in the infectious disease notification process. A comparison before and after the implementation of the interventions revealed an increase in the communicable disease notification rate among healthcare workers. Pre- and postintervention data were compared. Infectious disease notification activities by healthcare workers increased from 2.5% between January and May 2022 to 41.4% between November and December 2022.

CONCLUSION

This study highlights the efficiency of different interventions in correcting the underreporting of infectious diseases. Our findings suggest that implementing the Notification Enhancement Project significantly improves notification rates. We recommend continuing interventions through constant education and training, maintaining solid communication with HCWs through regular reminder emails and feedback, periodic assessment of the electronic notification system, and engagement of healthcare workers and other stakeholders to sustain and expand progress achieved through continuous evaluation.

COVID-19 in the Gulf Cooperation Council Member States: An Evidence of Effective Response

OBJECTIVES

The World Health Organization (WHO) published a global strategic response plan in February 2020 aiming to mitigate the impact of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. It identified immediate activities required for global preparedness and response to the outbreak and set eight priority areas (pillars) essential for scaling up countries' operational readiness and response. Despite a semi-annual progress report on implementing the Global Strategic Plan in June 2020, there is limited granular information available on the extent of the national plan's content and implementation, particularly in the Member States of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Therefore, we sought to review the preparedness and responsiveness towards the COVID-19 outbreak in the GCC in the first phase of the pandemic and to document lessons learned for improving the ongoing response efforts and preparedness for future pandemics.

METHODS

A rapid appraisal was conducted in June 2020 according to the WHO Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan and the accompanying Operational Planning Guidelines. The survey was administered to public health professionals or/and infectious disease experts in the states. The findings were cross-triangulated with secondary data that was publicly available for each country.

RESULTS

The preparedness and response efforts of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE were fully compliant with all 11 (100%) pillars of the modified strategic response measures. Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar complied with eight of the pillars. The component on conducting COVID-19 related research was the lowest-performing across all the six states.

CONCLUSIONS

All GCC states demonstrated an effective response to the pandemic, enhanced existing infrastructures, and accelerated reforms that would have otherwise taken longer. The lessons learned through the early phase of the pandemic continue to steer the states in realigning their strategies and resetting their goals of controlling the outbreak, particularly in the current context of vaccine introduction and increasing preparedness capacities for future pandemics.

Status of cold chain management among health care providers in Qatar: Primary health care center-based intervention study

Objective: The study aimed to measure the status of cold chain management among primary health care professionals at primary healthcare centers (PHCC) in Qatar.

Methods: A cross-sectional design with pre-post-intervention study was conducted, and 570 primary health professionals were selected from 21 PHCCs using random sampling. A structured self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data regarding the status of cold chain system of healthcare workers before and after educational intervention.

Results: Of the 570 subjects, 492 (86.3%) participated in the post-intervention evaluation. cold chain management, before the intervention six elements were present in all of the PHCCs (100%), eight were present in >80%, another eight were present in 60–80%, while 13 were present in < 60%. These figures improved to 8, 13, 4, and 10, respectively, after the intervention.

Conclusion: In Qatar, The current status of cold chain status among primary healthcare workers had significantly improved after intervention. The practices of health professionals were also found to be adequate. Therefore, it is recommended that all health professionals working in PHCCs should receive mandatory cold chain management training to ensure delivery of safe and effective vaccines in Qatar.

Keywords: KAP, cold chain, primary health care center, immunization, PHC, Qatar