Vaccine Innovation and Global Sustainability

Author(s):  
Cristina Possas ◽  
Reinaldo M. Martins ◽  
Akira Homma

Innovative preventive vaccines against emerging and neglected infectious diseases, such as Zika, dengue, influenza, and HIV/AIDS, are examined from a global sustainability perspective in this chapter, aiming to integrate public health and innovation governance approaches. Innovation-intensive vaccines with reduced adverse effects can have an enormous impact on life expectancy and on the quality of life of the global population, but in contrast only one of the SDGs, SDG3, refers directly to vaccines (3.b.1). However, this chapter also identifies seven other SDGs strongly related to vaccines and six additional SDGs related to vaccines, leading to a total of 14 vaccine-related goals in 17 SDGs. Two of these goals are related to innovation and technological development of vaccines (SDG9 and SDG17). The authors examine vaccine performance indicators and current technological and regulatory obstacles to achieve these goals, particularly affecting developing countries, and propose STI governance strategies to overcome these gaps and increase access to vaccines. Policy recommendations for vaccine funding and incentives for innovation, development, and vaccine production are made. Recommendations are also given for specific vaccine STI performance indicators and strategies to achieve the 14 vaccine-related SDGs.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd Kuiken ◽  
Jennifer Kuzma

The power and promise of genome editing, CRISPR specifically, was first realized with the discovery of CRISPR loci in the 1980s.3 Since that time, CRISPR-Cas systems have been further developed enabling genome editing in virtually all organisms across the tree of life.3 In the last few years, we have seen the development of a diverse set of CRISPR-based technologies that has revolutionized genome manipulation.4 Enabling a more diverse set of actors than has been seen with other emerging technologies to redefine research and development for biotechnology products encompassing food, agriculture, and medicine.4 Currently, the CRISPR community encompasses over 40,000 authors at 20,000 institutions that have documented their research in over 20,000 published and peer-reviewed studies.5 These CRISPR-based genome editing tools have promised tremendous opportunities in agriculture for the breeding of crops and livestock across the food supply chain. Potentially addressing issues associated with a growing global population, sustainability concerns, and possibly help address the effects of climate change.4 These promises however, come along-side concerns of environmental and socio-economic risks associated with CRISPR-based genome editing, and concerns that governance systems are not keeping pace with the technological development and are ill-equipped, or not well suited, to evaluate these risks. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) launched an initiative in 2020 to understand the complexities of these new tools, their potential impacts on the LAC region, and how IDB may best invest in its potential adoption and governance strategies. This first series of discussion documents: “Genome Editing in Latin America: Regulatory Overview,” and “CRISPR Patent and Licensing Policy” are part of this larger initiative to examine the regulatory and institutional frameworks surrounding gene editing via CRISPR-based technologies in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) regions. Focusing on Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay, they set the stage for a deeper analysis of the issues they present which will be studied over the course of the next year through expert solicitations in the region, the development of a series of crop-specific case studies, and a final comprehensive regional analysis of the issues discovered.


Author(s):  
Aarthi Raghavan ◽  
Mehmet Akif Demircioglu ◽  
Araz Taeihagh

Governments are increasingly using cloud computing to reduce cost, increase access, improve quality, and create innovations in healthcare. Existing literature is primarily based on successful examples from developed western countries, and there is a lack of similar evidence from Asia. With a population close to 4.5 billion people, Asia faces healthcare challenges that pose an immense burden on economic growth and policymaking. Cloud computing in healthcare can potentially help increase the quality of healthcare delivery and reduce the economic burden, enabling governments to address healthcare challenges effectively and within a short timeframe. Advanced Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea, and Singapore provide successful examples of how cloud computing can be used to develop nationwide databases of electronic health records; real-time health monitoring for the elderly population; genetic database to support advanced research and cancer treatment; telemedicine; and health cities that drive the economy through medical industry, tourism, and research. This article examines these countries and identifies the drivers and barriers of cloud adoption in healthcare and makes policy recommendations to enable successful public health innovations through cloud adoption.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margo Bagley

The power and promise of genome editing, CRISPR specifically, was first realized with the discovery of CRISPR loci in the 1980s.i Since that time, CRISPR-Cas systems have been further developed enabling genome editing in virtually all organisms across the tree of life.i In the last few years, we have seen the development of a diverse set of CRISPR-based technologies that has revolutionized genome manipulation.ii Enabling a more diverse set of actors than has been seen with other emerging technologies to redefine research and development for biotechnology products encompassing food, agriculture, and medicine.ii Currently, the CRISPR community encompasses over 40,000 authors at 20,000 institutions that have documented their research in over 20,000 published and peer-reviewed studies.iii These CRISPR-based genome editing tools have promised tremendous opportunities in agriculture for the breeding of crops and livestock across the food supply chain. Potentially addressing issues associated with a growing global population, sustainability concerns, and possibly help address the effects of climate change.i These promises however, come along-side concerns of environmental and socio-economic risks associated with CRISPR-based genome editing, and concerns that governance systems are not keeping pace with the technological development and are ill-equipped, or not well suited, to evaluate these risks. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) launched an initiative in 2020 to understand the complexities of these new tools, their potential impacts on the LAC region, and how IDB may best invest in its potential adoption and governance strategies. This first series of discussion documents: “Genome Editing in Latin America: Regulatory Overview,” and “CRISPR Patent and Licensing Policy” are part of this larger initiative to examine the regulatory and institutional frameworks surrounding gene editing via CRISPR-based technologies in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) regions. Focusing on Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay, they set the stage for a deeper analysis of the issues they present which will be studied over the course of the next year through expert solicitations in the region, the development of a series of crop-specific case studies, and a final comprehensive regional analysis of the issues discovered.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 698-720
Author(s):  
E.V. Lobkova ◽  
A.S. Petrichenko

Subject. This article studies the mechanism of State health regulation and methods of management of efficiency of regional healthcare institutions. Objectives. The article aims to analyze the territorial health system in the context of the urgent need to optimize budget expenditures and address public health problems, as well as develop directions to improve the effectiveness of the regional health system of the Krasnoyarsk Krai. Methods. For the study, we used the method of index numbers and calculation of dynamics indicators using official statistics data. Results. We have developed and now present a system of indicators of regional health efficiency assessment, focused mainly on public health indicators and quality of medical services. We also offer our own version of the Luenberger observer modification adapted to the objectives of the regional health system analysis. Conclusions and Relevance. The article concludes that it is necessary to optimize the regional health system using the parameters of medical and social efficiency of the system. The proposed approach to assessing the effectiveness of regional health system can be used as a mechanism to develop recommendations for the management of the network of medical and prophylactic institutions of the region.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 618-632
Author(s):  
A.S. Panchenko

Subject. The article addresses the public health in the Russian Federation and Israel. Objectives. The focus is on researching the state of public health in Russia and Israel, using the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) project methodology, identifying problem areas and searching for possible ways to improve the quality of health of the Russian population based on the experience of Israel. Methods. The study draws on the ideology of the GBD project, which is based on the Disability-Adjusted Life-Year (DALY) metric. Results. The paper reveals the main causes of DALY losses and important risk factors for cancer for Russia and Israel. The findings show that the total DALY losses for Russia exceed Israeli values. The same is true for cancer diseases. Conclusions. Activities in Israel aimed at improving the quality of public health, the effectiveness of which has been proven, can serve as practical recommendations for Russia. The method of analysis, using the ideology of the GBD project, can be used as a tool for quantitative and comparative assessment of the public health.


2020 ◽  
pp. 192-198
Author(s):  
M. S. Kuz’min

The author analyzes the innovation development programs of 11 Russian companies with state participation and state corporations and compares the achieved results with innovation development plans. The results of the analysis show that the existing relationships between the performance indicators of the companies’ innovation activity for 2014–2016 are not considered or reflected in the programs of innovation development until 2020. This study indicates the causes of the current situation and proposes directions for improving the efficiency of innovation development planning.Aim. The study aims to examine the mutual influence of indicators in innovation planning at enterprises.Tasks. The author analyzes the existing innovation development programs of large state-owned companies and the correlation between the performance indicators of innovation activity, assesses the actual results of the implementation of innovation development programs for 2014–2016 and the validity of the planned indicators of innovation development until 2020.Methods. This study uses the methods of systems and correlation-regression analysis.Results. The analysis shows that the actual relationships between the performance indicators of the companies’ innovation activity for 2014–2016 are not considered or reflected in the programs of innovation development until 2020. This study indicates the causes of the current situation and proposes directions for improving the efficiency of innovation development planning. A matrix for determining problem situations in innovation development planning is developed.Conclusions. The actual relationships between the indicators that characterize many aspects of innovation development at various stages of the innovation life cycle are not fully considered in the planning of innovation development. The conducted study confirms a formal approach to estimating the target values of the examined indicators, which disregards the actual relationships between them. The outcome of this can be seen in the programs of innovation development until 2020 developed by corporations. It is possible to make allowance for the actual relationships in the planning of the target values of innovation development indicators by using the methods and tools of dynamic modeling.


Author(s):  
Andriy Lishchytovych ◽  
Volodymyr Pavlenko

The present article describes setup, configuration and usage of the key performance indicators (KPIs) of members of project teams involved into the software development life cycle. Key performance indicators are described for the full software development life cycle and imply the deep integration with both task tracking systems and project code management systems, as well as a software product quality testing system. To illustrate, we used the extremely popular products - Atlassian Jira (tracking development tasks and bugs tracking system) and git (code management system). The calculation of key performance indicators is given for a team of three developers, two testing engineers responsible for product quality, one designer, one system administrator, one product manager (responsible for setting business requirements) and one project manager. For the key members of the team, it is suggested to use one integral key performance indicator per the role / team member, which reflects the quality of the fulfillment of the corresponding role of the tasks. The model of performance indicators is inverse positive - the initial value of each of the indicators is zero and increases in the case of certain deviations from the standard performance of official duties inherent in a particular role. The calculation of the proposed key performance indicators can be fully automated (in particular, using Atlassian Jira and Atlassian Bitbucket (git) or any other systems, like Redmine, GitLab or TestLink), which eliminates the human factor and, after the automation, does not require any additional effort to calculate. Using such a tool as the key performance indicators allows project managers to completely eliminate bias, reduce the emotional component and provide objective data for the project manager. The described key performance indicators can be used to reduce the time required to resolve conflicts in the team, increase productivity and improve the quality of the software product.


2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 869-887 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul F. Williams

SYNOPSIS In this brief paper, I provide an argument that the rigor that allegedly characterizes contemporary mainstream accounting research is a myth. Expanding on arguments provided by West (2003), Gillies (2004), and Williams (1989), I show that the numbers utilized extensively to construct the statistical models that are the central defining feature of rigorous accounting research are, in many cases, not adequate to the task. These numbers are operational numbers that cannot be construed as measures or quantities of any kind of stable property. Constructing elaborate calculative models using operational numbers leads to equations whose results are not clearly decipherable. The rigorous nature of certain preferred forms of accounting research is, thus, largely a matter of appearance and not a substantive quality of the research mode that we habitually label “rigorous.” Thus, the policy recommendations implied by the results of rigorous accounting research may be viewed with considerable skepticism.


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