COVID-19

Paraguay launches first-of-its-kind digital system to track medical oxygen

April 24, 2023

“Do you remember a year ago, when all we had was a WhatsApp group to ask questions of each other and send pictures of the oxygen purities?” Rodrigo Romero, head of the Paraguay Ministry of Health´s Medical Gas Department offered this poignant reflection during the opening remarks of an event celebrating the launch, training, and validation of the country’s first digital oxygen maintenance tracking system that the Meeting Targets and Maintaining Epidemic Control (EpiC) project hosted in Paraguay in March. 

COVID-19

Protecting older adults in Indonesia through COVID-19 vaccination

February 2, 2023

Older, unvaccinated adults are more likely to get severe illness or die from COVID-19. Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on older adults in Indonesia—patients over the age of 60 comprise more than half of COVID-related intensive care unit admissions and suffer from the lowest recovery rate and highest mortality rate.1 Evidence shows that being fully vaccinated significantly reduces the risk of COVID-related hospitalization and death and is one of the most powerful tools we have against the pandemic.

Biomedical Engineer and trainer Miguel Vergara explains valve systems on oxygen cylinders. Photo by Sofía Córdova, PSI Centro América.

COVID-19

Promoting a culture of safety and excellence for medical oxygen maintenance personnel in Panama

January 10, 2023

Sofía Córdova, Regional Program Manager, PSI Centro AméricaAndrea Surette, Knowledge Management Technical Advisor, FHI 360Emily Headrick, MSN, FNP, Clinical Technical Advisor, FHI 360 Medical oxygen is a vital therapy for treating patients with COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses, surgical and maternity patients, and children with pneumonia. As with any essential medicine, safety is an important […]

A health care worker trained by the EpiC project administers a COVID-19 vaccine to a female sex worker. Photo by Agness John.

COVID-19

Leveraging community-based HIV services to reach female sex workers with the COVID-19 vaccine in Ruvuma, Tanzania

January 5, 2023

Agness John, Senior Technical Officer, Communications and Knowledge Management Despite improvements in COVID-19 vaccine availability in Tanzania, reaching key and vulnerable populations (KPs), including female sex workers (FSWs), remains a challenge. Female sex workers are often highly mobile and have close interactions and physical contact, placing them at higher risk of acquiring COVID-19 than the […]

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Events

Expanding access to COVID-19 services through strengthening health systems in low- and middle-income countries

November 9, 2022

The USAID-supported Meeting Targets and Maintaining Epidemic Control (EpiC) project recently hosted a webinar in commemoration of World Pneumonia Day. Panelists discussed priorities for expanding access to COVID-19 services through strengthening healtah systems in low- and middle-income countries. This webinar featured lessons learned and best practices on integrating COVID-19 care across the continuum, from the […]

COVID-19

Critical components of a sustainable, long-term COVID-19 response

October 18, 2022

Emily Headrick, MSN, FNP, Clinical Technical Advisor, FHI 360Andrea Surette, Technical Advisor for Knowledge Management, FHI 360 Featured image: Dr. Luis Bayo shares approaches to increasing COVID-19 vaccination coverage in Uganda at a meeting convened by FHI 360 and the EpiC project in Bangkok, Thailand. Photo credit: EpiC After COVID-19 was declared a pandemic in […]

COVID-19

Music events increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake in Tanzania’s Mtwara region

August 25, 2022

Agness John, Senior Technical Officer, FHI 360Andrea Surette, Technical Advisor, FHI 360 Featured image: Tanzania’s Minister of Health, Ummy Mwalimu, promotes COVID-19 vaccination at a music event hosted by the health promotion unit in partnership with USAID’s EpiC project. Photo by Agness John, FHI 360. Tanzania Minister of Health Ummy Mwalimu and several Bongo Flava […]

COVID-19

It’s okay to prioritize your mental health needs: Normalizing and supporting mental health interventions for healthcare workers in Vietnam

July 6, 2022

Huong T. Chu, Senior Project Officer, Coordination and Knowledge Rachel S. Coley, Technical Advisor & Project Manager, EpiC Vietnam Dr. Lopa Basu, Senior HIV and TB Advisor, USAID/Vietnam Featured Image: Dr. Duong Duy Khoa spoke about his own mental health challenges while working in the COVID-19 frontline response during an EpiC-supported webinar. “[After some time […]

COVID-19

Liquid oxygen systems breathe new life into health facilities in Vietnam

June 14, 2022

Huong T. Chu, Senior Project Officer, Coordination & Knowledge Rachel S. Coley, Technical Advisor & Project Manager, EpiC Vietnam When the COVID-19 Delta variant arrived in Vietnam last summer, more than 18 months of successful measures to reduce transmission, including mask use and social distancing, failed to contain it. Hospitals quickly became overwhelmed with critical […]