COVID Response

HSA has been at forefront to provide all sorts of intellectual and policy inputs for the NCOC and MNHSRC for COVID pandemic.

COVID-19 Response

View the Covid-19 Guidelines
  1.2         Training to Tackle the Situation of COVID-19
1.2.1      Online training on use of PPEs and awareness training for COVID-19 for healthcare workers (100,000 trained)

In the current context of Covid-19 pandemic, protection of frontline health workers is of prime importance. Appropriate use of PPEs is crucial for this purpose, in addition to other NPIs. There is a plethora of PPEs available for use by health workers in different environments along with a wide variety of makes and specifications. However, the information on types and use is scarce. The health workers and managers need correct information on all aspects of PPE to ensure their own safety as well as efficient use of available stocks of PPEs. This fact was brought up in various meetings and discussions at the highest level in health ministry, NOCC and NCC forums for Covid-19. There is a need to bring about awareness on the role of PPE and its use for all tiers of HCWs, in a systematic manner. There are following considerations regarding use of PPEs to be addressed.

  • Type of PPE.
  • Specification of PPE.
  • Use of correct PPE in different environment.
  • Correct method of use of PPE.
  • Basic Assessment and Support in Intensive Care (BASIC)
  • In Service Training
  • Testing, Tracing, and Quarantine (TTQ)
  • RMNCH Portal This portal serves as a resource center to provid
  • Need based Assessment of Assistive Technology (2019)
  • Trainings of ICU Management (BASIC) for COVID Care
  • Development of modules on COVID for community and facility base (Primary Health Care (PHC) workers- UNICEF
  • HCW use of PPEs training

(BASIC)

Basic Assessment and Support in Intensive CareGuideliness

There was surge of patients currently requiring critical care services due COVID-19 outbreak. Besides the availability of ventilators, personal protective equipment (PPE) and other logistic issues, there is an urgent need to rapidly identify and train frontline workforce to provide standardized care to critically ill patients requiring ventilator support.  Keeping in view the above situation Health Services Academy, a Degree awarding Institute as Chartered under Health Services Academy (Restructuring) ACT 2019 in collaboration with Asian Development Bank (ADB) under the umbrella of Ministry of National Health Services Regulation and Coordination, Government of Pakistan plans to train the font line workforce comprising of doctors, nurses and paramedics and provide round the clock supervisory support to the professionals treating critical patients in ICU or on ventilators during duty hours. 4800 doctors, nurses trained certified till date.

The 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic was confirmed to have reached Pakistan in February 2020(first confirmed case on 26th February 2020 as of 26th May 2020. Pakistan is in contaminant phase and the confirmed cases in Pakistan are 57,698.  Number of recovered patients are 18314 and 1,197 death have been reported as of 26th May 2020 due to COVID-19 infection. There are two primary objectives are:

  • To measure the seroprevalence of antibodies to COVID – 19 in the general population by sex and age group in order to ascertain the population immunity
  • To estimate the proportion of asymptomatic, pre-symptomatic or subclinical infection in the population stratified by sex and age group.

Activities have been carried out under this project are:

  • Sample of 5000 within 10 district been collected
  • and analysis is being started.
Training to Tackle the Situation of COVID-19

Online training on use of PPEs and awareness training for COVID-19 for Healthcare workers (100,000 trained)

Online training on use of PPEs and awareness training for COVID-19 for healthcare workers (100,000 trained)

In the current context of Covid-19 pandemic, protection of frontline health workers is of prime importance. Appropriate use of PPEs is crucial for this purpose, in addition to other NPIs. There is a plethora of PPEs available for use by health workers in different environments along with a wide variety of makes and specifications. However, the information on types and use is scarce. The health workers and managers need correct information on all aspects of PPE to ensure their own safety as well as efficient use of available stocks of PPEs. This fact was brought up in various meetings and discussions at the highest level in health ministry, NOCC and NCC forums for Covid-19. There is a need to bring about awareness on the role of PPE and its use for all tiers of HCWs, in a systematic manner. There are following considerations regarding use of PPEs to be addressed.

  • Type of PPE.
  • Specification of PPE.
  • Use of correct PPE in different environment.
  • Correct method of use of PPE.

Basic Assessment and Support in Intensive Care (BASIC)

There was surge of patients currently requiring critical care services due COVID-19 outbreak. Besides the availability of ventilators, personal protective equipment (PPE) and other logistic issues, there is an urgent need to rapidly identify and train frontline workforce to provide standardized care to critically ill patients requiring ventilator support.  Keeping in view the above situation Health Services Academy, a Degree awarding Institute as Chartered under Health Services Academy (Restructuring) ACT 2019 in collaboration with Asian Development Bank (ADB) under the umbrella of Ministry of National Health Services Regulation and Coordination, Government of Pakistan plans to train the font line workforce comprising of doctors, nurses and paramedics and provide round the clock supervisory support to the professionals treating critical patients in ICU or on ventilators during duty hours. 4800 doctors, nurses trained certified till date.

In Service Training

Master Trainer’s Manual Training for Testing, Tracing and Quarantine for COVID-19

  • National Institute of Health and FELTP were collaborative partners
  • Trainings of Master Trainers have been conducted by the National Institute of Health team throughout the country using this manual

Testing, Tracing, and Quarantine (TTQ)

Testing, Tracing, And Quarantine (TTQ) Training For COVID-19, Concluded At Lahore And Multan.

In-service Mid-Career Level Management Course developed, and the training can be commenced from November,2020

  • This is a 14 weeks duration course developed for the officers of the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination.

RMNCH Portal

This portal serves as a resource center to provide information, guidelines and policy documents relating to needs of mother and child health during COVID 19 pandemic. Through this portal the knowledge and information needs regarding provision of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) services during and post COVID 19 pandemic will be addressed. Moreover, the portal will also contain a database of stakeholders providing Reproductive Health (RH) services at different levels in the country to increase coordination among different partners and stakeholders.

The salient achievements have been made under the following development projects: –

Need based Assessment of Assistive Technology (2019)

The project is being executed by HSA and funded by WHO, Geneva HQ. WHO aimed to identify the need for assistive products in Pakistan and the survey was a first attempt to capture the need for assistive products across Pakistan?

Development of proposal, inception meeting in Geneva, development of tool, training of data collection teams, supervision of data collection and analysis of data.

Trainings of ICU Management (BASIC) for COVID Care

The project is being executed by HAS. ADB supported HSA for capacity building of doctors, nurses and paramedics in ICU care of patients. This will be supported by Telehealth services for 24/7 for doctors and staff of ICU across Pakistan.  Nomination of doctors and getting them trained by high level trainers.

Development of modules on COVID for community and facility base (Primary Health Care (PHC) workers- UNICEF

To build capacity of the health workers, UNICEF provided technical assistance to MNHSR&C and Provincial Health Departments for development of orientation modules on COVID-19 for PHC facility based and community-based health workers where these workers will be trained through virtual trainings at different level. UNICEF has supported Punjab health department to procure of basic PPEs (48,092 masks, 61,208 gloves and 874 sanitizers) for frontline health workers. Partnerships: Ministry of National Health Services Regulation and Coordination, Provincial and Regional Departments of Health, MNCH, EPI, LHWs, AIDS Control, Pakistan Medical Association, Pakistan, Family Physician Association, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, SARHAD (a CSO) and Public Health Association , PHC global, Aga Khan Foundation and AKDN, in GB, Pakistan Paediatric Association and Health Services Academy.

 HCW use of PPEs training

The project is funded by WHO, the PPE course for HCWs has been updated. Overall 65097 HCWs trained under this project all over country. The breakup of trained workers is as under:      

  1. AKU 11110
  2. FJU Lahore 17635
  3. SZBU Islamabad 7035KMU Peshawar. 18483
  4. PH Quetta 10212

 

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