Page 48 - The lraternational Journal of the Royal Society of Thailand.indd

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

staff were stand-by throughout the period. While the referral, recruitment and
follow-up were smooth due to such adaptations, engagement project by virtue of its
characteristics was unique and demanded interactions, and gatherings, for training
and skills development. The engagement project entailed selecting and training young
students from a school located at Siem Pang detailed below.

Youth Advisory Group on Health Research (YAGHR) engagement

Engagement project began by selecting and training young students from the
local school at Siem Pang who were established as a youth advisory group on health
research (YAGHR). YAGHR members were trained and supported by engagement

team of MORU based on the schedule and plans aligning with the objectives of the
YAGHRE. Training schedules, topics and activities were based on the recommendations
by YAGHR members followed by discussion. During the peak of COVID-19, offering
health education related to COVID-19 was considered appropriate. Local authorities

also asked for YAGHR members’ initiatives (health promotion related activities).
Responding to the pandemic, and the call for health education in the communities,
YAGHR members were trained on COVID-19 and preventive measures. YAGHR
members also designed and prepared health education related to the pandemic and

presented in their school and at vaccination centres. YAGHR members thus promoted
COVID-19 related knowledge (in the school and at the community), including at the
vaccination centres.

After the decline of pandemic and coinciding with the vaccination coverage,
students further revised the list of health priorities which subsequently informed the

topics to be discussed and trained at the MORU office. All disease were trained one by
one in a co-learning environment where students were engaged in designing health
education/promotional materials. In doing so, YAGHR members learnt a multitude of
new skills such as using Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point, and audio-visual software.

YAGHR members also learnt how to use cameras, audio-visual instruments such as
drone cameras and preparing videos, the later were also widely shared in social media.
Range of YAGHR activities underpinning the objectives and goals are briefly
documented in a YouTube video (MORU, 2022).

The malaria prophylaxis with artemether-lumefantrine trial

Forests in Southeast Asia can be foci of transmission of malaria, and people
working in forests are exposed to mosquitoes and are at higher risk of infection (Sanann
et al, 2019; Nofal et al, 2019; Parker et al, 2017). To address this challenge, the Global
Fund supported a study of chemoprophylaxis among forest workers, which was trialled

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