Page 46 - The lraternational Journal of the Royal Society of Thailand.indd

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

Implementation of research was challenging here because the research partnership
between AHEAD and MORU was newly created and the teams had not met in person
before the COVID-19 pandemic began and travel became impossible, and the first
physical meeting between staff was not until spring 2022. Therefore, training was done
remotely using teleconferencing and additional activities were set up for monitoring

data remotely and to support the local partner to meet research requirements.
Implementation of training and community sensitization had to be conducted without
assembling large groups at any one time to limit the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

Delays in supplies also delayed the initiation of study activities, as did the fact that key
members of the MORU team were redeployed away from malaria to work on COVID-19
itself during 2020-22. In the field, staff, volunteers and participants were trained on
hygiene and supplied with protective materials as available, chiefly by the supply of
face masks and gloves.

Figure 2 A village malaria worker performs a novel malaria and C-reactive Protein rapid diagnostic test

as part of operational research to expand the role of community health workers.

One positive aspect from the pandemic was the increased interest in disease
epidemiology by the village malaria workers who requested training on COVID-19 as
part of their education on disease surveillance and they proved themselves keen to
disseminate their new knowledge to their peers in the villages where they lived.

Sustaining Health Research During the COVID-19 Pandemic:
38 Lessons from Field Sites in Rural Cambodia