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COVID-19 Pandemic Preparedness and Response in Latin American Countries: Scoping Review and Analysis Based on World Health Organization Standards

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2024

Lilian Sofía Ramírez Berrío Open the ORCID record for Lilian Sofía Ramírez Berrío [Opens in a new window] ,
Esteban Orlando Vanegas Duarte Open the ORCID record for Esteban Orlando Vanegas Duarte [Opens in a new window] ,
Alejandra Velásquez Morales Open the ORCID record for Alejandra Velásquez Morales [Opens in a new window] ,
Gloria Isabel Niño Cruz ,
Leonardo Salas Zapata Open the ORCID record for Leonardo Salas Zapata [Opens in a new window]  and
Andrea Ramírez Varela Open the ORCID record for Andrea Ramírez Varela [Opens in a new window]
Lilian Sofía Ramírez Berrío*
Affiliation:
School of Medicine, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
Esteban Orlando Vanegas Duarte
Affiliation:
School of Medicine, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
Alejandra Velásquez Morales
Affiliation:
Health Sciences School of Medicine, Universidad El Bosque, Bogotá, Colombia
Gloria Isabel Niño Cruz
Affiliation:
School of Medicine, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
Leonardo Salas Zapata
Affiliation:
District Secretariat of Health of Bogotá, Bogotá, Colombia
Andrea Ramírez Varela
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), Houston, TX, USA Center for Health Equity, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), Houston, TX, USA Department of Pediatrics, McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), Houston, TX, USA
*
Corresponding author: Lilian Sofía Ramírez-Berrío; Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Objective

To describe COVID-19 pandemic preparedness and response in 6 countries during 2020 and 2021.

Methods

A literature search was conducted in MEDLINE, Web of Science, Epistemonikos, LILACS, and Google Scholar regarding the measures adopted to face the COVID-19 pandemic; the checklist of the international World Healths Organization’s (WHO) guide “COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan” was applied.

Results

Most countries coordinated their response at the central level with the establishment of management teams and the activation of emergency operations centers for the coordination of the response to the pandemic. The capacity to perform epidemiological surveillance activities such as early case detection, contact tracing, and real-time monitoring of data was exceeded. There was low capacity in laboratory infrastructure, specialized human talent, and deployment of molecular testing for SARS-CoV-2 detection.

Conclusions

This is the first review that addresses the importance of documenting how well-prepared countries in the region were to face a pandemic such as COVID-19 taking into account WHO standards and guidelines. In Latin America, the literature showed reports of heterogeneous responses to the pandemic, a gap in the literature on laboratory and diagnostic pillar activities, and a lack of literature reporting on epidemiological surveillance pillar activities in Argentina, Chile, and Ecuador.

Keywords

pandemicsCOVID-19preparednessresponseOMS
Type
Review Article
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 18 , 2024 , e264
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

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