Verbal Screening of Household Members through PHC Network in the Islamic Republic of Iran: The First Phase of the National Mobilization against COVID-19

Abstract

Background. In late 2019, the outbreak of COVID-19 disease, with symptoms like the common cold or severe respiratory illness, caused a global public health crisis. In order to control and manage this disease, countries and the World Health Organization (WHO) have adopted various strategies and decisions.This study aimed to describe the initial measures of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education of the Islamic Republic of Iran with a focus on the Deputy Minister of Health in the framework of the national mobilization plan to combat COVID-19. Methods. A mixed method study, including reviewing the documents of different departments of the Deputy Minister of Health in the management and control of the COVID-19 epidemic (qualitative) and descriptive cross-sectional (quantitative) study was conducted between March 2020 and April 2020. In this study, data and information related to all 63 universities / medical schools in the country were collected from the electronic health record systems and the portal of the Network Management Center and analyzed using EXCEL software. Results. The first step in the national mobilization against COVID-19 was to establish 1200 comprehensive health centers for COVID-19, provide self-assessment portal at salamat.gov.ir, and dedicate telephone lines (406,190, and1666) for COVID-19 distance counseling and tips. About 98% of the people registered in the electronic health record systems (78,315,029 people) were orally screened and evaluated, including 6,220,603 elderly, 262,717 people with diabetes, 3,356,131 individuals with high blood pressure, 29,201 obese people, 517,696 pregnant women and 2,722,659 foreign nationals. Another significant aspect of the implementation of the first step of the national mobilization was a significant reduction in the burden of hospitalization and management of outpatients in the first level of the health system (primary health care). Conclusion. The COVID-19 epidemic caused a global health crisis, the management of which became the top of the world's health activities. The health sysntem in Iran, using the capacity of the health network system structure and service providers, developed appropriate policies for the management and control of the disease. One of these policies is the verbal screening to combat COVID-19, which has led to the optimal management of this epidemic