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PERSPECTIVE article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Policy
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1417712

Challenges to research implementation during public health emergencies: anecdote of insights and lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic in Gujarat, India

Provisionally accepted
Farjana Memon Farjana Memon 1*Modou L. Jobarteh Modou L. Jobarteh 2Komal Shah Komal Shah 1Anish Sinha Anish Sinha 1Monali Patel Monali Patel 1Shailee Patil Shailee Patil 1Claire Heffernan Claire Heffernan 2Deepak B. Saxena Deepak B. Saxena 1
  • 1 Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar (IIPHG), Gandhinagar, India
  • 2 London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London, London, London, United Kingdom

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Health emergencies, including pandemics, are not new occurrences; some notable ones occurred in the past. However, the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the unpreparedness of national health systems in effectively managing health emergencies. During the pandemic, controlling the spread of the virus and hopes of exiting into a post-pandemic era were reliant on research to improve patient care and inform government policies. Nonetheless, research implementation during health emergencies can be challenging in low-resourced settings. This paper presents anecdotes of experiences and offers insight into ways research can be supported during health emergencies. We implemented a longitudinal study to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including SARS-CoV-2 infection, during pregnancy on maternal and child health outcomes. The study utilised hospital databases to recruit women who were infected and with no known SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy. Mother-infant pairs in the infected and uninfected group were then followed longitudinally for 3 years. Observations, including challenges during planning, record retrieval, tracking, recruitment, and follow-up of eligible women, were reported by research staff. The challenges observed were group into three overarching themes: a) individual factors, b) health system challenges, and c) research operational challenges. Some notable observations include misinformation, misconception, mistrust, underdeveloped health record systems, stigma, and hesitance. Early planning, effective communication, and community awareness can help in implementing a successful research project. Additionally, efforts to improve collaboration and co-creation between health practitioners, researchers, and the public may benefit the implementation of research projects during a health emergency.

    Keywords: COVID-19, pandemic, Health emergencies, Health Systems, lessons, insights

    Received: 18 Apr 2024; Accepted: 03 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Memon, Jobarteh, Shah, Sinha, Patel, Patil, Heffernan and Saxena. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Farjana Memon, Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar (IIPHG), Gandhinagar, India

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.