Research priorities to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in low- and middle-income countries

Ozren Polašek^{1

2

3}, Kerri Wazny⁴, Davies Adeloye⁵, Peige Song⁶, Kit Y Chan⁵, Danladi A Bojude⁷, Sajjad Ali⁸, Sheri Bastien⁹, Francisco Becerra-Posada¹⁰, Florencia Borrescio-Higa¹¹, Sohaila Cheema¹², Darien A Cipta¹³, Smiljana Cvjetković¹⁴, Lina D Castro¹⁵, Bassey Ebenso¹⁶, Omolade Femi-Ajao¹⁷, Balasankar Ganesan¹⁸, Anton Glasnović¹⁹, Longtao He²⁰, Jean M Heraud²¹, Chinonso Igwesi-Chidobe²², Per O Iversen²³, Bismeen Jadoon²⁴, Abdulkarim J Karim²⁵, Johra Khan²⁶, Raaj K Biswas²⁷, Giuseppe Lanza^{28

29}, Shaun Wh Lee³⁰, You Li³¹, Li-Lin Liang³², Mat Lowe³³, Mohammad M Islam³⁴, Ana Marušić³⁵, Suleiman Mshelia³⁶, Anthony M Manyara³⁷, Mila Nn Htay³⁸, Michelle Parisi³⁹, Prince Peprah⁴⁰, Emma Sacks⁴¹, Kabiru O Akinyemi⁴², Fariba Shahraki-Sanavi⁴³, Konstantin Sharov⁴⁴, Elena S Rotarou⁴⁵, Srdjan Stankov⁴⁶, Wenang Supriyatiningsih⁴⁷, Benjamin Ty Chan⁴⁸, Mark Tremblay⁴⁹, Dialechti Tsimpida¹⁷, Sandro Vento⁵⁰, Josipa V Glasnović⁵¹, Liang Wang⁵², Xin Wang³¹, Zhi X Ng⁵³, Jianrong Zhang⁵⁴, Yanfeng Zhang⁵⁵, Harry Campbell⁵, Mickey Chopra⁵⁶, Simon Cousens⁵⁷, Goran Krstić⁵⁸, Calum Macdonald⁵, Parisa Mansoori⁵⁹, Smruti Patel⁶⁰, Aziz Sheikh⁶¹, Mark Tomlinson⁶², Alexander C Tsai⁶³, Sachiyo Yoshida⁶⁴, Igor Rudan⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Public Health, University of Split School of Medicine, Split, Croatia.
² Croatian Centre for Global Health, University of Split, Croatia.
³ Algebra University College, Zagreb, Croatia.
⁴ Children's Investment Fund Foundation, London, UK.
⁵ Centre for Global Health, Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, UK.
⁶ School of Public Health and Women's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, China.
⁷ Gombe State University, Gombe, Nigeria.
⁸ Department of Medicine, Ziauddin Medical University, Karachi, Pakistan.
⁹ Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway.
¹⁰ Public Health Development Organization, El Paso, Texas, USA.
¹¹ Universidad Adolfo Ibañez, Santiago, Chile.
¹² Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar, Doha, Qatar.
¹³ Universitas Pelita Harapan, Jakarta, Indonesia.
¹⁴ Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Serbia.
¹⁵ National Institute of Psychiatry Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, Mexico City, Mexico.
¹⁶ Leeds Institute of Health Sciences, University of Leeds, UK.
¹⁷ Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, UK.
¹⁸ Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong.
¹⁹ Croatian Institute for Brain Research, Zagreb University School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia.
²⁰ Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, China.
²¹ Institut Pasteur de Dakar, Dakar, Senegal.
²² University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, Nigeria.
²³ Department of Nutrition, University of Oslo, Norway.
²⁴ Egyptian Representative, Committee of Fellows of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Oxford, UK, Royal Berkshire Hospital, NHS, UK.
²⁵ College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Baghdad, Iraq.
²⁶ Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Majmaah University, Al Majmaah, Saudi Arabia.
²⁷ University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
²⁸ Oasi Research Institute-IRCCS, Troina, Italy.
²⁹ University of Catania, Catania, Italy.
³⁰ Monash University Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia.
³¹ School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, China.
³² National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan.
³³ Society for the Study of Women's Health, Kanifing, The Gambia.
³⁴ University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
³⁵ Department of Research in Biomedicine and Health, University of Split School of Medicine, Split, Croatia.
³⁶ Jos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria.
³⁷ University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
³⁸ Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Manipal University College Malaysia, Melaka, Malaysia.
³⁹ Clemson University, South Carolina, USA.
⁴⁰ Social Policy Research Centre/Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
⁴¹ Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA.
⁴² Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria.
⁴³ Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
⁴⁴ Koltzov Institute of Developmental Biology of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.
⁴⁵ Universidad San Sebastián, Santiago, Chile.
⁴⁶ Pasteur Institute Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia.
⁴⁷ Children and Mother Health Movement Action, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
⁴⁸ Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Hong Kong.
⁴⁹ CHEO Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.
⁵⁰ University of Puthisastra, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
⁵¹ Department of Hematology, Dubrava University Hospital, Zagreb, Croatia.
⁵² Xuzhou Medical University, Yuzhou, China.
⁵³ School of Biosciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Semenyih, Malaysia.
⁵⁴ University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
⁵⁵ Capital Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing, China.
⁵⁶ The World Bank, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
⁵⁷ London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
⁵⁸ International Society of Global Health, Edinburgh, UK.
⁵⁹ National Institute for Health Research, London, UK.
⁶⁰ Editor, Journal of Global Health Reports, Washington, DC, USA.
⁶¹ Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
⁶² Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
⁶³ Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
⁶⁴ World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.

PMID: 35475006
PMCID: PMC9010705
DOI: 10.7189/jogh.12.09003

Research priorities to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in low- and middle-income countries

Ozren Polašek et al. J Glob Health. 2022.

. 2022 Apr 15:12:09003.

doi: 10.7189/jogh.12.09003. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Public Health, University of Split School of Medicine, Split, Croatia.
² Croatian Centre for Global Health, University of Split, Croatia.
³ Algebra University College, Zagreb, Croatia.
⁴ Children's Investment Fund Foundation, London, UK.
⁵ Centre for Global Health, Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, UK.
⁶ School of Public Health and Women's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, China.
⁷ Gombe State University, Gombe, Nigeria.
⁸ Department of Medicine, Ziauddin Medical University, Karachi, Pakistan.
⁹ Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway.
¹⁰ Public Health Development Organization, El Paso, Texas, USA.
¹¹ Universidad Adolfo Ibañez, Santiago, Chile.
¹² Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar, Doha, Qatar.
¹³ Universitas Pelita Harapan, Jakarta, Indonesia.
¹⁴ Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Serbia.
¹⁵ National Institute of Psychiatry Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, Mexico City, Mexico.
¹⁶ Leeds Institute of Health Sciences, University of Leeds, UK.
¹⁷ Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, UK.
¹⁸ Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong.
¹⁹ Croatian Institute for Brain Research, Zagreb University School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia.
²⁰ Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, China.
²¹ Institut Pasteur de Dakar, Dakar, Senegal.
²² University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, Nigeria.
²³ Department of Nutrition, University of Oslo, Norway.
²⁴ Egyptian Representative, Committee of Fellows of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Oxford, UK, Royal Berkshire Hospital, NHS, UK.
²⁵ College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Baghdad, Iraq.
²⁶ Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Majmaah University, Al Majmaah, Saudi Arabia.
²⁷ University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
²⁸ Oasi Research Institute-IRCCS, Troina, Italy.
²⁹ University of Catania, Catania, Italy.
³⁰ Monash University Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia.
³¹ School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, China.
³² National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan.
³³ Society for the Study of Women's Health, Kanifing, The Gambia.
³⁴ University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
³⁵ Department of Research in Biomedicine and Health, University of Split School of Medicine, Split, Croatia.
³⁶ Jos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria.
³⁷ University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
³⁸ Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Manipal University College Malaysia, Melaka, Malaysia.
³⁹ Clemson University, South Carolina, USA.
⁴⁰ Social Policy Research Centre/Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
⁴¹ Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA.
⁴² Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria.
⁴³ Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
⁴⁴ Koltzov Institute of Developmental Biology of Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.
⁴⁵ Universidad San Sebastián, Santiago, Chile.
⁴⁶ Pasteur Institute Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia.
⁴⁷ Children and Mother Health Movement Action, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
⁴⁸ Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Hong Kong.
⁴⁹ CHEO Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada.
⁵⁰ University of Puthisastra, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
⁵¹ Department of Hematology, Dubrava University Hospital, Zagreb, Croatia.
⁵² Xuzhou Medical University, Yuzhou, China.
⁵³ School of Biosciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Semenyih, Malaysia.
⁵⁴ University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
⁵⁵ Capital Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing, China.
⁵⁶ The World Bank, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
⁵⁷ London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
⁵⁸ International Society of Global Health, Edinburgh, UK.
⁵⁹ National Institute for Health Research, London, UK.
⁶⁰ Editor, Journal of Global Health Reports, Washington, DC, USA.
⁶¹ Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
⁶² Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
⁶³ Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
⁶⁴ World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.

PMID: 35475006
PMCID: PMC9010705
DOI: 10.7189/jogh.12.09003

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruptions to the functioning of societies and their health systems. Prior to the pandemic, health systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) were particularly stretched and vulnerable. The International Society of Global Health (ISoGH) sought to systematically identify priorities for health research that would have the potential to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in LMICs.

Methods: The Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) method was used to identify COVID-19-related research priorities. All ISoGH members were invited to participate. Seventy-nine experts in clinical, translational, and population research contributed 192 research questions for consideration. Fifty-two experts then scored those questions based on five pre-defined criteria that were selected for this exercise: 1) feasibility and answerability; 2) potential for burden reduction; 3) potential for a paradigm shift; 4) potential for translation and implementation; and 5) impact on equity.

Results: Among the top 10 research priorities, research questions related to vaccination were prominent: health care system access barriers to equitable uptake of COVID-19 vaccination (ranked 1st), determinants of vaccine hesitancy (4th), development and evaluation of effective interventions to decrease vaccine hesitancy (5th), and vaccination impacts on vulnerable population/s (6th). Health care delivery questions also ranked highly, including: effective strategies to manage COVID-19 globally and in LMICs (2nd) and integrating health care for COVID-19 with other essential health services in LMICs (3rd). Additionally, the assessment of COVID-19 patients' needs in rural areas of LMICs was ranked 7th, and studying the leading socioeconomic determinants and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in LMICs using multi-faceted approaches was ranked 8th. The remaining questions in the top 10 were: clarifying paediatric case-fatality rates (CFR) in LMICs and identifying effective strategies for community engagement against COVID-19 in different LMIC contexts.

Interpretation: Health policy and systems research to inform COVID-19 vaccine uptake and equitable access to care are urgently needed, especially for rural, vulnerable, and/or marginalised populations. This research should occur in parallel with studies that will identify approaches to minimise vaccine hesitancy and effectively integrate care for COVID-19 with other essential health services in LMICs. ISoGH calls on the funders of health research in LMICs to consider the urgency and priority of this research during the COVID-19 pandemic and support studies that could make a positive difference for the populations of LMICs.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: Ana Marušić, Harry Campbell and Igor Rudan are the Co-Editors in Chief of the Journal of Global Health. To ensure that any possible conflict of interest relevant to the journal has been addressed, this article was reviewed according to best practice guidelines of international editorial organisations. The authors completed the ICMJE Unified Competing Interests Form (available upon request from the corresponding author) and declare no further conflicts of interest.

References

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1. National Library of Medicine PubMed. Available: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=sars-cov-2+OR+COVID-19&sort=date. Accessed: 30 January 2022.
1. The World Health Organization. A coordinated global research roadmap: 2019 novel Coronavirus. Geneva: WHO; 2020.
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Research priorities to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in low- and middle-income countries

Affiliations

Research priorities to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in low- and middle-income countries

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

References

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical