Rapid scoping review of measures taken to maintain the provision and the use of essential services for MNCAAH (maternal, newborn, child, adolescent and older person&#39;s health) v2
Authors: Benova Lenka , Huysmans Elise 
Published: November 2023

Purpose of the Work For the great majority of pregnant women/mothers, newborn, children, adolescents and older people, the most important effects of the COVID-19 pandemic will be indirect. Recent modelling of the indirect effects of the coronavirus pandemic in low- and middle-income countries has shown that under certain service reduction scenarios, reduced coverage of essential maternal and child health interventions can lead to additional maternal and child deaths. Governments need to make difficult decisions to balance the demands of responding directly to the COVID-19 pandemic, while simultaneously maintaining essential MNCAAH services. To support countries in adapting their response to different COVID-19 scenarios, WHO’s Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing (MCA) Department is working closely in collaboration with other WHO departments to engage with countries in developing their optimal response to COVID-19 and reduce the indirect effects on pregnant women/mothers, newborns, children, adolescents and older people (MNCAAH) due to health service disruption. Objective To conduct a rapid scoping review of measures taken to maintain the provision and the use of essential services (facility, community, etc.) for MNCAAH, outcomes (where documented) and lessons learned during past outbreaks including Ebola, SARS and Zika, including anything already available for COVID-19. As initial scoping has shown a limited amount of literature on interventions undertaken, we may also expand the scope to include other large humanitarian events that caused service, transport and other disruptions including such the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, the 2011 Tohuku earthquake and tsunami and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Our review was guided by the standard principles of Arksey & O’Malley’s framework. Arksey & O’Malley’s approach can be described as an iterative process involving post-hoc inclusion and exclusion criteria. According to this framework there are five stages: 1) identifying the research question, 2) identifying relevant studies, 3) study selection, 4) charting the data, and lastly 5) collating, summarizing and reporting the results. Definitions Target populations - Maternal health refers to the health of women during pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period. We also consider broader reproductive care services including family planning and abortion care. - Newborn health refers to health of the baby by the time of birth and the first week of life. - Child health refers to the health of children aged between one week and 10 years (beginning of adolescence). Due to the fact that children under 5 are most at risk, we focused on specific care for children under-five years. - Adolescence is the phase of life between childhood and adulthood, from ages 10 to 19. - Older people’s health refers to the health of people age 60 years and over. We are aware that the WHO definition of older people is based on the passing of median life expectancy. However, a chronological age was needed to search in the literature. Essential services - Essential prevention and treatment services for communicable diseases, including immunizations; - Services related to reproductive health, including during pregnancy and childbirth; - Core services for vulnerable populations, such as infants and older adults; - Provision of medications, supplies and support from health care workers for the ongoing management of chronic diseases, including mental health conditions; - Critical facility-based therapies; - Management of emergency health conditions and common acute presentations that require time-sensitive intervention; and auxiliary services, such as basic diagnostic imaging, laboratory and blood bank services.