Introduction Community engagement has been considered a fundamental component of past outbreaks, such as Ebola. However, there is concern over the lack of involvement of communities and ‘bottom-up’ approaches used within COVID-19 responses thus far. Identifying how community engagement approaches have been used in past epidemics may support more robust implementation within the COVID-19 response. Methodology A rapid evidence review was conducted to identify how community engagement is used for infectious disease prevention and control during epidemics. Three databases were searched in addition to extensive snowballing for grey literature. Previous epidemics were limited to Ebola, Zika, SARS, Middle East respiratory syndromeand H1N1 since 2000. No restrictions were applied to study design or language. Results From 1112 references identified, 32 articles met our inclusion criteria, which detail 37 initiatives. Six main community engagement actors were identified: local leaders, community and faith-based organisations, community groups, health facility committees, individuals and key stakeholders. These worked on different functions: designing and planning, community entry and trust building, social and behaviour change communication, risk communication, surveillance and tracing, and logistics and administration. Conclusion COVID-19’s global presence and social transmission pathways require social and community responses. This may be particularly important to reach marginalised populations and to support equity-informed responses. Aligning previous community engagement experience with current COVID-19 community-based strategy recommendations highlights how communities can play important and active roles in prevention and control. Countries worldwide are encouraged to assess existing community engagement structures and use community engagement approaches to support contextually specific, acceptable and appropriate COVID-19 prevention and control measures.

Introduction Widespread vaccination against COVID-19 is one of the most effective ways to control, and ideally, end the global COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccine hesitancy and vaccine rates vary widely across countries and populations and are influenced by complex sociocultural, political, economic and psychological factors. Community engagement is an integral strategy within immunisation campaigns and has been shown to improve vaccine acceptance. As evidence on community engagement to support COVID-19 vaccine uptake is emerging and constantly changing, research that lessens the knowledge-to-practice gap by providing regular and up-to-date evidence on current best-practice is essential. Methods and analysis A living systematic review will be conducted which includes an initial systematic review and bimonthly review updates. Searching and screening for the review and subsequent updates will be done in four streams: a systematic search of six databases, grey literature review, preprint review and citizen sourcing. The screening will be done by a minimum of two reviewers at title/abstract and full-text in Covidence, a systematic review management software. Data will be extracted across predefined fields in an excel spreadsheet that includes information about article characteristics, context and population, community engagement approaches, and outcomes. Synthesis will occur using the convergent integrated approach. We will explore the potential to quantitatively synthesise primary outcomes depending on heterogeneity of the studies. Ethics and dissemination The initial review and subsequent bimonthly searches and their results will be disseminated transparently via open-access methods. Quarterly briefs will be shared on the reviews’ social media platforms and across other interested networks and repositories. A dedicated web link will be created on the Community Health-Community of Practice site for sharing findings and obtaining feedback. A mailing list will be developed and interested parties can subscribe for updates. PROSPERO registration number CRD42022301996.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the persistent fragmentation of health systems and has amplified the necessity for integration. This issue is particularly pronounced in decentralise settings, where fragmentation is evident with poor coordination that impedes timely information sharing, efficient resource allocation and effective response to health threats. It is within this context that the Philippine Universal Health Care law introduced reforms focusing on equitable access and resilient health systems through intermunicipal cooperation, enhancing primary care networks and harnessing digital health technologies—efforts that underline the demand for a comprehensively integrated healthcare system. The WHO and the global community have long called for integration as a strategy to optimise healthcare delivery. The authors contend that at the core of health system integration lies the need to synchronise public health and primary care interventions to enhance individual and population health. Drawing lessons from the implementation of a pilot project in the Philippines which demonstrates an integrated approach to delivering COVID-19 vaccination, family planning and primary care services, this paper examines the crucial role of local health officers in the process, offering insights and practical lessons for engaging these key actors to advance health system integration. These lessons may hold relevance for other low-ncome and middle-income economies pursuing similar reforms, providing a path forward towards achieving universal health coverage.

The advent of the COVID-19 vaccine signified a historic milestone in the field of vaccinology, showcasing remarkable scientific collaboration and global solidarity. However, the most prominent hurdle in maximizing the global public health impact of vaccines remains the absence of comprehensive and inclusive health systems in both high- and low-resource settings. Our discussion centers around the major contributing factors that played a key role in formulating the rapid and efficacious COVID-19 vaccines. Simultaneously, we illuminate the disparities that have marred the vaccine delivery process throughout the pandemic. In particular, we highlight the case scenarios of two minority and vulnerable communities from the Global South and North—the undocumented migrants in Thailand and the Roma community in Europe—who continue to experience inequitable vaccine access regardless of their location. We note that a crucial programmatic solution that is rooted in inclusive and equitable global public health policy, characterized by empathy and trust and bolstered by digital innovation, is lacking. These examples underscore the significance of establishing a comprehensive and integrated health system at multiple levels across countries and the entire world. Furthermore, we highlight the need for both local and global actors to collaboratively engage in vaccine distribution efforts. By gaining a concise grasp of these intricacies, the global community will be better poised to effectively combat future pandemics and emerging health challenges.

Infection prevention and control measures are effective at protecting patients and healthcare workers from healthcare-acquired infections, averting onward transmission of the disease and mitigating the impact of the outbreak on the healthcare system. This study assessed the compliance of public hospitals and isolation facilities with a set of standards for COVID-19 infection prevention and control. A 35-point questionnaire was developed and utilized to collect data from selected facilities in 38 local government units across the country. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data, and differences between island groups were tested using Pearson’s χ² test for categorical variables. The results indicate that hospitals reported better infection prevention and control preparedness and compliance than temporary treatment and monitoring facilities in the domains of engineering and administrative controls. However, weak compliance was observed in a number of indicators for waste management in both types of facilities. These suggest that periodic monitoring and the augmentation of resources are necessary to sustain adherence to standards and to immediately address compliance gaps. In addition, systemic improvements through sufficient planning and long-term investments are required to sustain infection prevention and control practices over time.