The (NIH) has awarded nearly $3 million to a University of Â鶹´«Ã½ at ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹-led project expanding COVID-19 testing in schools statewide. The funding supports the (PAAC) pilot project, which establishes a novel protocol for rapid testing at schools, collecting behavioral data, and disseminating information on mitigation procedures and vaccination.
The consortium effort is led by UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹¡¯s (JABSOM), and the Accountable Healthcare Alliance of Rural Oʻahu (AHARO).
“PAAC¡¯s goal is to empower educators, students and the community-at-large with education tools and connections with public health services, including those provided by the AHARO Community Health Centers,” said Associate Professor in Pediatrics and co-investigator May Okihiro. “The plan is for free antigen testing of school teachers and staff to be expanded to schools in Waiʻanae and Waim¨¡nalo on Oʻahu, H¨¡m¨¡kua-Kohala and Hilo on Â鶹´«Ã½ Island, and on Molokaʻi.”
PAAC¡¯s novel protocol was successfully tested this spring in partnership with Kamaile Academy (K–12) in Waiʻanae. The project offered free weekly SARS-CoV-2 antigen testing of teachers and staff.
“About 87% of participants reported their participation led to a better understanding of the need for antigen testing, and 52% were more likely to be vaccinated as a result of the pilot testing and education program,” said project co-investigator Ruben Juarez, a professor of economics and research fellow in the in the College of Social Sciences.
“The project reaffirms that schools are an asset in preventing the spread of COVID-19 into our communities,” added project co-investigator Alika Maunakea, an associate professor in JABSOM¡¯s Department of Anatomy, Biochemistry & Physiology and the Institute for Biogenesis Research.
UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ is one of 15 institutions to receive a NIH award through the (RADx-UP) Safe Return to School Diagnostic Testing initiative, a part of the (RADx) initiative.
“The new awards reaffirm NIH¡¯s commitment to use evidence-based research to inform policy makers of the safest ways to return to schools in vulnerable and underserved communities,” said Eliseo J. P¨¦rez-Stable, director of NIH¡¯s National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities and co-chair of the RADx-UP program.
The initiative will specifically focus on schools with racially and ethnically diverse populations, including African-Americans, Latinos/Latinas, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders and Asian Americans. It will also impact socio-economically disadvantaged populations and school districts where many students are receiving free or reduced price lunch; and students with medical complexities and developmental disabilities.
This work is an example of UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹¡¯s goals of (PDF) and (PDF), two of four goals identified in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.