Project profile — Responding to COVID-19 in Guatemala using Digital Health

• Guatemala (100.00%)

• Health, General: Health policy and administrative management (12110) (10.00%)
• Basic health care:
Basic health care (12220) (10.00%)
Health personnel development (12281) (20.00%)
• Health: COVID-19 control (12264) (60.00%)

• Gender equality (significant objective)
• Environmental sustainability (cross-cutting) (not targeted)
• Participatory development and good governance (not targeted)
• Trade development (not targeted)
• Biodiversity (not targeted)
• Climate change mitigation (not targeted)
• Climate Change Adaptation (not targeted)
• Urban issues (not targeted)
• Desertification (not targeted)
• Children's issues (not targeted)
• Youth Issues (not targeted)
• Disaster Risk Reduction(DRR) (not targeted)
• Indigenous Issues (principal objective)
• Disability (not targeted)
• Nutrition (significant objective)
• ICT as a tool for development (principal objective)

This project aims to decrease COVID-19 related mortality and morbidity in Guatemala, especially within Indigenous populations in the target regions of Alta Verapaz, El Quiche, Huehuetenango and Sololá. The project intends to strengthen the capacity of 3,500 health personnel to use digital systems to maintain quality and intercultural health services, particularly for women, girls and those experiencing marginalization or vulnerability. Project activities include: (1) providing equipment to deliver distance education programs to priority Ministry of Health training sites; (2) providing training to health personnel and authorities to deliver COVID-19 distance education training; (3) providing technical assistance to the Ministry of Health to develop standardization practices and resources for culturally-sensitive teleconsultation in response to COVID-19; and (4) providing training to health personnel to use a nationally integrated digital system to collect and monitor COVID-19 data. This initiative expects to improve health services for 3.7 million people in Alta Verapaz, El Quiche, Huehuetenango and Sololá in Guatemala. This includes 3.1 million Indigenous people (1.6 million women and girls).

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) improved community response to and recovery from COVID-19 that includes specific measures for women, girls and Indigenous populations experiencing marginalization or vulnerability in target regions; and (2) strengthened COVID-19 preparedness and equitable response by the Ministry of Health and key stakeholders, especially for Indigenous populations experiencing marginalization or vulnerability in target regions.

Results achieved as of the end of the project (October 2022) include: (1) 75% of the Ministry of Health decision-makers reported an increase in capacity to deliver services related to COVID-19 response; (2) twelve distance education training programs related to COVID-19 delivered to 6,844 health personnel and frontline health workers (4,779 women and 2,065 men).These programs looked at topics including community-level response and recovery, sexual and reproductive health and rights, child malnutrition and epidemiological surveillance and outbreak investigation; (3) a training program on using a digital health system to maintain quality and intercultural health services for women, girls, and those experiencing marginalization and on conducting COVID-19 epidemiological surveillance in target departments delivered to 4,438 frontline health workers and health personnel (2,640 women and 1,798 men); and (4) two culturally sensitive training programs and health promotion tools and resources addressing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, disinformation, and anti-vaccine rhetoric delivered to 5,874 frontline health workers, health personnel, and key health stakeholders (4,255 women and 1,619 men).

• Proactive disclosure