A program designed and implemented when economic activities resumed after months of lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, i.e., in mid-2020, whose main purpose was to gradually resume activities without jeopardizing public health, showed qualitative flaws, according to the conclusions of an epidemiological study.
The proposal seemed effective, but its implementation reflected the flaws in the health system, according to figures analyzed in a study conducted by professors from the Department of Public Health at the School of Medicine of the Industrial University of Santander.
The objective of this initiative was to break the chains of transmission of the virus without locking down the entire population. To this end, it was necessary to identify cases, trace contacts, and isolate infected individuals in a timely manner, and to this end, the PRASS Program was implemented: Testing, Tracing, and Selective Sustainable Isolation.
The study, led by the Center for Sustainable Development Goals at the University of the Andes and the Department of Public Health at the Industrial University of Santander, in partnership with the Generation of Evidence on Covid-19, its Response, and Lessons Learned for the Post-Pandemic and Future Epidemics (Ágora), showed that the program was not as effective as expected for various reasons.
“The implementation of PRASS revealed social complexities in carrying out selective isolation. Our study highlighted the main barriers during the implementation of the program, but it is also important to highlight facilitators, such as coordination between different actors in the health sector: national-territorial, public-private, and private-private. These coordination mechanisms should exist in normal times so that, in emergencies, the response is more effective,” explained Sandra Martínez, lead researcher of the study.
Actual isolation was not an option for those who did not have a guaranteed source of income, social inequality, structural failures in the fragmented health system, poor coordination mechanisms, delays in payments to contracted health professionals, connectivity failures and loss of data from the case and contact tracing system, lack of response from people when contacted by telephone, lack of trust in the system, territorial differences (rural areas), few resources, few people dedicated to epidemiological surveillance, among others, were some of the reasons.
The results on the response to the pandemic and the lessons for the post-pandemic and future epidemics will be presented on July 25.
You can pre-register by scanning the QR code or via the following link: https://lnkd.in/deJEyjcF
Those who wish to read the scientific article are invited to visit the following link: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1589091/full
