Page 43 - The lraternational Journal of the Royal Society of Thailand.indd

The International Journal of the Royal Society of Thailand
Volume XV-2023

pandemic. To ensure these studies were uninterrupted, after initial discussions
among all partners efforts were made to continue research with precautionary

adaptations to activities determined by the pandemic situation as it evolved over
time. Community-based studies were implemented without mass gatherings
and so engagement strategies were adapted to avoid the risk to participants of
high-risk exposure events. Clinical trials continued to recruit patients where

personal protective gear was available. High COVID-19 vaccination coverage in
Cambodia also offered early relaxations of government-imposed restrictions
which allowed to continue the ongoing research. During travel restrictions
novel monitoring and supervision strategies were necessary and remote

monitoring and teleconferencing was introduced. In some studies, serious delays
to supplies were experienced and patient recruitment was curtailed but this
occurred within acceptable limits. Building on the pre-established collaborations
with the national and international partners, MORU’s field sites adapted and

utilized the flexible approaches to continue the ongoing studies. Although delays
and difficulties due to COVID-19 restrictions affected some aspects of our research,
strong collaboration, trust among the partners, and adaptations facilitated the
successful completion of the studies.

Keywords: health research; collaboration; COVID-19 pandemic; multi-stakeholder

engagement

Introduction

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by the severe acute respiratory
syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Decem-

ber 2019 in Wuhan, China and from there the outbreak then rapidly spread interna-
tionally (Sharma et al, 2020). The Emergency Committee of the World Health Organi-
zation declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on the
30 of January 2020 (WHO, 2020). Thereafter, the pandemic itself, and the drastic
th
measures taken in response to limit COVID-19 transmission, caused immediate and
unprecedented difficulties to all counties in early 2020. The medical and public health
systems and medical research have been severely impacted upon during 2020-22
(Moynihan et al, 2021). During the first years of the pandemic, implementing research

in Southeast Asia was affected by border closures and travel restrictions, the redirection

Dysoley Lek et al. 35