Resource Library

COVID-19

PLOS Global Public Health

How do local governments contribute to pandemic response? For PLOS Global Public Health, Resolve to Save Lives collaborated with colleagues at Center for Global Health Science & Security and Vital Strategies to assess government responsibilities, the timeline of response activities, challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic among members of the Partnership for Healthy Cities. Among the 25 participating cities, national authorities primarily led pandemic activities but local governments were crucial in risk communication and community coordination. Most activities occurred after COVID-19 confirmation, highlighting challenges in proactive preparedness; nearly all local authorities expressed a desire for greater involvement in future pandemic preparedness and response.

BMJ Global Health

In a commentary for BMJ Global Health, Resolve to Save Lives takes lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and proposes an updated understanding of pandemic preparedness. Moving forward, we must secure increased and sustained funding from governments, while enhancing technical capacities and operational excellence in public health systems worldwide. Strengthening our global health architecture demands a commitment from countries, effective governance, and responsible use of resources. We need strong, accountable global leadership and robust technical support, backed by substantial new funding and efficient financial mechanisms. Ultimately, success hinges on fostering collaboration, recognizing our interdependence, and establishing mutual accountability in our efforts.

BMJ Global Health

While an infection prevention and control initiative improved COVID-19 infection rates for health care workers in Africa, ongoing challenges demonstrated the need for long-term investments in sustainable IPC programs. In BMJ Global Health, Resolve to Save Lives examines an infection prevention and control (IPC) initiative implemented in 22 African countries from April 2020 to January 2021. The initiative provided training, personal protective equipment (PPE) and ongoing supervision to over 42,000 frontline health care workers at 8,444 facilities. Despite achieving short-term improvements in IPC practices, suspected health care worker infections peaked at 41.5% during the pandemic’s first wave in July 2020. The study emphasizes that protecting health care workers requires comprehensive IPC programs, integrated training approaches, enhanced data systems, and sustained investment in PPE.

Human Resources for Health

Effective outbreak response requires sustained investments in health systems—going beyond training to include adequate equipment, space and staffing levels. For Human Resources for Health, our colleagues at ICAP at Columbia University analyzed a COVID-19 response training program for health care workers in 11 African countries in mid-2020. While confidence in managing COVID-19 increased, barriers like limited access to testing kits, PPE, space for isolation, and understaffing persisted.

BMJ Open

Trust in authorities, a sense of control over one’s environment and behavior, and access to resources influenced adherence to public health and social measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Writing in BMJ Open, experts at Resolve to Save Lives analyzed psychosocial and sociodemographic factors influencing COVID-19 public health and social measure (PHSM) adherence through a cross-sectional survey in 18 African Union countries. We found that women, older adults, and those with higher education showed better adherence to personal measures like mask wearing, while rural residents and those with access to running water adhered more to community measures like gathering restrictions. Trust in hospitals, the president, and knowledge about face masks were reliable predictors of adherence. Our findings underscore the importance of building institutional trust and addressing resource disparities to improve adherence in future public health crises.

Journal of the American Medical Association

There is an urgent need for sustained funding and coordinated global efforts to strengthen health security capacities and prevent future pandemics. Writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, experts from Resolve to Save Lives analyze critical lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting gaps in preparedness that led to millions of deaths, economic losses, and educational setbacks. We stress the importance of building core capacities—prevention, detection, and response—at local, national, and global levels, with particular attention to low-resource settings. We advocate for sustained investment over the next 5-10 years to address these health security gaps, emphasizing that effective global collaboration is the key to preventing future pandemics.

BMJ Global Health

Pandemics are more than public health emergencies; they are multisectoral crises that touch every aspect of public and private life. Therefore, multisectoral coordination—especially by enabling stakeholders to share and coordinate information, resources and personnel—enables appropriate policy responses during crises. Writing in BMJ Global Health, experts at Resolve to Save Lives and our partners identify six low-income and middle-income countries that acted quickly to foster coordinated multisectoral collaboration in their COVID-19 response, which boosted preparedness and action and ensured that policy responses were equal to the magnitude of the crisis. Countries who have demonstrated extraordinary progress provide crucial lessons that should not be ignored as we build a global health architecture that facilitates multisectoral, interdisciplinary, sustainable coordination and cooperation.

Nature Communications

SARS-CoV-2 infections among health care workers caused up to 8.38% of total health expenditures in five low- and middle-income countries, underscoring a need for stronger protection measures for frontline workers, who faced increased risk of infection during the COVID-19 pandemic. Writing in Nature Communications, experts at Resolve to Save Lives used a a cost-of-illness (COI) approach to model the economic burden associated with SARS-CoV-2 infections in five low- and middle-income sites (Kenya, Eswatini, Colombia, KwaZulu-Natal province, and Western Cape province of South Africa) during the first year of the pandemic. Our analysis revealed higher infection rates among health care workers compared to the wider population, with significant secondary transmissions and related deaths and impacts on maternal and child mortality. These societal burdens highlight the importance of adequate infection prevention and control (IPC) measures to keep health care workers, and the rest of us, safe during crises.

PLOS Global Public Health

A targeted investment of $124 billion over five years will enable 196 countries to strengthen their core capacities across the World Health Organization (WHO)’s Joint External Evaluation (JEE) indicators. Writing in PLOS Global Public Health, experts at Resolve to Save Lives estimated the costs required to strengthen country-level health security and identified associated cost drivers. The cost of building public health capacity was estimated based on investments needed, per country, to progress towards “demonstrated capacity” across all WHO JEE indicators. Personnel costs, including skilled health, public health, and animal health workers, are the single most influential cost driver, comprising 66% of total costs. These findings provide cost estimates to inform ongoing health security financing discussions at the global level and highlight the significant need for sustainable financing mechanisms.

Emerging Infectious Diseases

Strict adherence to infection prevention and control measures, and timely implementation of nonpharmaceutical interventions, can help prevent and control COVID-19. Writing in Emerging Infectious Diseases, experts at Resolve to Save Lives examine the role of superspreading events (SSEs) in the rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2, highlighting their potential to accelerate outbreaks and prolong transmission. We emphasize the importance of timely public health action, particularly in healthcare settings, to identify and manage these high-risk events. Understanding transmission dynamics and implementing strict infection prevention and control (IPC) protocols are critical to preventing future outbreaks.

PLOS Global Public Health

Engaging local governments in epidemic preparedness will strengthen global health security by ensuring better coordination between local and national authorities. Writing in PLOS Global Public Health, Resolve to Save Lives and partners explore local-level involvement in epidemic preparedness before the COVID-19 pandemic. The research, based on responses from 33 cities in the Partnership for Healthy Cities, shows that while national governments played a dominant role in preparedness, many cities conducted vital risk assessments and developed response plans. By incorporating local governments more actively in future preparedness efforts, we can better coordinate responses for stronger overall health security.

The International Journal of Health Planning and Management

Frontline health care workers need full protections in the form of infection prevention and control (IPC) measures, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programs, and expanded training opportunities. Writing in the International Journal of Health Planning and Management, experts at Resolve to Save Lives review health care worker infections and deaths during previous epidemics, illustrating the high human and economic costs of neglecting their safety. The study advocates for comprehensive investment to strengthen healthcare infrastructure and cultural shifts to safeguard those on the frontlines of global health crises.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Resolve to Save Lives collaborated with U.S. jurisdictions to create four digital solutions that enhance the efficiency of case investigation and contact tracing to reduce the spread of infectious diseases by enabling more precise outreach, timely interventions, and better confidentiality: Epi Viaduct, Epi Contacts, Epi Locator, and Epi Viewpoint. Epi Viaduct dramatically sped up the transfer of 7.4 million records from over 2.5 hours to under 1 minute. Epi Contacts improved contact elicitation, resulting in 18,700 contacts from 9,440 index cases. Epi Locator facilitated 134,410 searches with a 75% success rate. These technologies, while developed for COVID-19, can also be adapted for managing any communicable disease.

medRxiv

The COVID-19 pandemic was the most disruptive global health crisis in a century. Analysis of publicly available data by experts from Resolve to Save Lives revealed that alongside preparedness capacities, governance and leadership capacities independently contributed to lower COVID-19 cases and deaths. Both preparedness and governance are essential for effective pandemic control, requiring stronger public health systems and leadership.

Resolve to Save Lives

Our report details the problems affecting our health care workforce and key actions that governments, health systems and funders must take to address them.

Resolve to Save Lives

Dossier d’information sur la protection du personnel de santé pendant les épidémies.

Resolve to Save Lives

A brief from PERC’s 24,000-person survey conducted in 18 African Union (AU) Member States in August 2020 to assess disruptions to essential health services brought on by COVID-19.

Resolve to Save Lives

A brief from PERC’s 24,000-person survey conducted in 18 African Union (AU) Member States in August 2020 to assess the household-level economic burden of COVID-19.

Resolve to Save Lives

A letter to US congressional leaders urging the extension of paid sick leave benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Resolve to Save Lives

Practical guidance on how to effectively conduct a Training of Trainers (ToT). It covers essential tips and best practices for facilitating interactive, engaging, and impactful training, including preparation strategies, fostering participant engagement, and ensuring knowledge transfer.

Resolve to Save Lives

Tips and tools for facilitating online meetings, trainings and workshops.

Resolve to Save Lives

Guide pour la mise en place d’une communauté virtuelle de pratique.

Resolve to Save Lives

Practical guidance on how to conduct a community of practice (CoP) virtually.

Resolve to Save Lives

Tips and tools for facilitating trainings online.

Resolve to Save Lives

A letter to US Congress advocating for investment in health defense to prevent, detect, and respond to future outbreaks.

Resolve to Save Lives

Conseils et bonnes pratiques pour animer enligne des réunions, des formations et des ateliers.

Resolve to Save Lives

Conseils et bonnes pratiques pour animer une formation de formateur.

Resolve to Save Lives

An outline of 12 characteristics that make a public health law effective, to help policymakers design appropriate legal framework.

Resolve to Save Lives

Practical guidance to implement rapid mortality surveillance (RMS) and measure excess mortality in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Resolve to Save Lives

Practical guidance on using existing data from respiratory disease surveillance systems and hospital-based routine data systems to supplement COVID-19 surveillance and inform response activities.