scholarly journals Controlling the COVID-19 Pandemic in Vietnam: Lessons From a Limited Resource Country

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 161-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duc Minh Duong ◽  
Vui Thi Le ◽  
Bui Thi Thu Ha
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Case Management ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Close Contact ◽  
Limited Resource ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
The World ◽  
The Government ◽  
Operation Case

The lessons learned from Vietnam, a country that the world acclaimed for its management of the fight against COVID-19, could stand out as an example of how to do more with less. The Vietnamese government has acted swiftly at the very early stage of the pandemic with a focus on containment efforts and extensive public health measures, particularly (1) the commitment from the government with a multisectoral approach; (2) a timely, accurate, and transparent risk communication; (3) active surveillance and intensive isolation/quarantine operation, case management with tracing all new arrivals and close contact up to three clusters; and (4) suspension of flights, shutting schools, and all nonessential services.

scholarly journals The Outcome and Implications of Public Precautionary Measures in Taiwan–Declining Respiratory Disease Cases in the COVID-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (13) ◽  
pp. 4877 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chih-Chia Hsieh ◽  
Chih-Hao Lin ◽  
William Yu Chung Wang ◽  
David J. Pauleen ◽  
Jengchung Victor Chen
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Major Purpose ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
Mass Gatherings ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
First Case ◽  
The Government

With the rapid development of the COVID-19 pandemic, countries are trying to cope with increasing medical demands, and, at the same time, to reduce the increase of infected numbers by implementing a number of public health measures, namely non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). These public health measures can include social distancing, frequent handwashing, and personal protective equipment (PPE) at the personal level; at the community and the government level, these measures can range from canceling activities, avoiding mass gatherings, closing facilities, and, at the extreme, enacting national or provincial lockdowns. Rather than completely stopping the infectious disease, the major purpose of these NPIs in facing an emerging infectious disease is to reduce the contact rate within the population, and reduce the spread of the virus until the time a vaccine or reliable medications become available. The idea is to avoid a surge of patients with severe symptoms beyond the capacity of the hospitals’ medical resources, which would lead to more mortality and morbidity. While many countries have experienced steep curves in new cases, some, including Hong Kong, Vietnam, South Korea, New Zealand, and Taiwan, seem to have controlled or even eliminated the infection locally. From its first case of COVID-19 on the 21 January until the 12 May, Taiwan had 440 cases, including just 55 local infections, and seven deaths in total, representing 1.85 cases per 100,000 population and a 1.5% death rate (based on the Worldometer 2020 statistics of Taiwan’s population of 23.8 million). This paper presents evidence that spread prevention involving mass masking and universal hygiene at the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a 50% decline of infectious respiratory diseases, based on historical data during the influenza season in Taiwan. These outcomes provide potential support for the effectiveness of widely implementing public health precaution measures in controlling COVID-19 without a lockdown policy.

scholarly journals Early-Stage Modelling and Forecast of COVID-19 Outbreak in Burkina Faso using a Bayesian SIR Approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 145-156
Author(s):  
Somda S.M.A. ◽  
Dabone E.B.A. ◽  
Doulougou M. ◽  
Bationo C.S. ◽  
Galboni K.T.M.
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Burkina Faso ◽  
Bayesian Approach ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Government Policies ◽  
Good Prediction ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
The Government

In this article, we propose a Bayesian approach for estimating and predicting the magnitude of the coronavirus epidemic in Burkina Faso in its early stage. Our approach is inspired by the work of Wang et al. but adapted to the Burkinabe context. Two models are presented: a simple Bayesian SIR approach and another Bayesian SIR which takes into account the public health measures undertaken by the government of Burkina Faso. The approach was implemented at the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in Burkina Faso, covering the period from March 9 to April 30, 2020. The results of the analyses will allow a good prediction of COVID-19 infections and deaths in the early days of the epidemic, considering government policies.

scholarly journals A public health perspective on mental health: lessons for population health in the 21st century

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
James V. Lucey
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Population Health ◽  
Royal College ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Healthcare Systems ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Public Health Perspective ◽  
The World ◽  
Shared Commitment

In December 2019, clinicians and academics from the disciplines of public health and psychiatry met in Dublin at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), to restate their shared commitment to population health. The purpose of this review is to bring our discussion to a wider audience. The meeting could not have been more timely. Six weeks later, the COVID-19 emergency emerged in China and within 12 months it had swept the world. This paper, the contents of which were presented at that meeting in December recommended that future healthcare would be guided more by public health perspectives and informed by an understanding of health economics, population health and the lessons learned by psychiatry in the 20th century. Ultimately two issues are at stake in 21st century healthcare: the sustainability of our healthcare systems and the maintenance of public support for population health. We must plan for the next generation of healthcare. We need to do this now since it is clear that COVID-19 marks the beginning of 21st century medicine.

scholarly journals To stop or not to stop ‘culture’: determining the essential behavior of the government, church and public in fighting against COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalmacito A Cordero
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Contributory Factor ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Health It ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
The World ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Church

Abstract Culture is a way of life. A recent correspondence emphasizes that it is a contributory factor in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic, and this must be considered by each government around the world. However, I argue that various elements in culture do not need to stop or else it will create public outrage. I therefore propose a win–win solution for both parties with the inclusion of the church that can serve as a framework for the sake of public health. It is primarily based on a kind of behavior that is needed to be embodied by the involved groups—‘supportive’ government, ‘creative’ church and an ‘adaptive’ public. These essential behaviors of all groups are possible to embody for a successful implementation of public health.

A Control Approach to Guide Nonpharmaceutical Interventions in the Treatment of COVID-19 Disease Using a SEIHRD Dynamical Model

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-346
Author(s):  
Fernando Pazos ◽  
◽  
Flavia E. Felicioni ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Control Law ◽  
Parametric Uncertainties ◽  
Social Unrest ◽  
Control Approach ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Optimal Intensity ◽  
Nonpharmaceutical Interventions

The recent worldwide epidemic of COVID-19 disease, for which there are no medications to cure it and the vaccination is still at an early stage, led to the adoption of public health measures by governments and populations in most of the affected countries to avoid the contagion and its spread. These measures are known as nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), and their implementation clearly produces social unrest as well as greatly affects the economy. Frequently, NPIs are implemented with an intensity quantified in an ad hoc manner. Control theory offers a worthwhile tool for determining the optimal intensity of the NPIs in order to avoid the collapse of the healthcare system while keeping them as low as possible, yielding concrete guidance to policymakers. A simple controller, which generates a control law that is easy to calculate and to implement is proposed. This controller is robust to large parametric uncertainties in the model used and to some level of noncompliance with the NPIs.

scholarly journals Four pandemics: lessons learned, lessons lost

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
World Health ◽  
Swine Flu ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
The World ◽  
Spanish Flu ◽  
Future Events ◽  
Health Organization

In the past 100 years, the world has faced four distinctly different pandemics: the Spanish flu of 1918-1919, the SARS pandemic of 2003, the H1N1 or “swine flu” pandemic of 2012, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Each public health crisis exposed specific systemic shortfalls and provided public health lessons for future events. The Spanish flu revealed a nursing shortage and led to a great appreciation of nursing as a profession. SARS showed the importance of having frontline clinicians be able to work with regulators and those producing guidelines. H1N1 raised questions about the nature of a global organization such as the World Health Organization in terms of the benefits and potential disadvantages of leading the fight against a long-term global public health threat. In the era of COVID-19, it seems apparent that we are learning about both the blessing and curse of social media.

scholarly journals Dual burden of Zika and COVID-19 in India: challenges, opportunities and recommendations

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mainak Bardhan ◽  
Debolina Pramanik ◽  
Rizana Riyaz ◽  
Mohammad Mehedi Hasan ◽  
Mohammad Yasir Essar
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Early Diagnosis ◽  
Zika Virus ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Healthcare Resources ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
The World ◽  
Significant Public Health ◽  
Congenital Zika Syndrome ◽  
Dual Burden

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc in the world from last year, and any further insults like Zika virus will surely bring the apocalypse unto us. In July 2021, Zika began spreading in India, mainly in the state of Kerala. Zika infection resembles closely COVID-19 and other arboviral infections, which might lead to delayed and misdiagnosis, further leading to underreporting of cases. Some of the feared complications of Zika include Guillain–Barré syndrome and congenital Zika syndrome leading to microcephaly. Thus, Zika virus disease (ZVD) has significant public health and social impacts. Since the trifecta of infectious diseases (host, agent and environment) are all conducive to the spread of Zika in India, there is a huge risk that ZVD might become endemic in India, which is especially dangerous in the backdrop of this pandemic. This has to be stopped at all costs: the main aspects of which are public health measures, vector control and early diagnosis, especially in case of pregnant women. The diversion of healthcare resources for this pandemic has albeit made this difficult, but we must do our bit if we have to overcome this situation.

THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE WTO TOBACCO PLAIN PACKAGING DISPUTES FOR PUBLIC HEALTH MEASURES

2021 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 1011-1027
Author(s):  
Andrew David Mitchell ◽  
Theodore Samlidis
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Tobacco Industry ◽  
Plain Packaging ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Appellate Body ◽  
The World ◽  
Investment Law ◽  
Trade And Investment ◽  
Wto Agreements

AbstractAustralia became the first country to introduce standardised or plain packaging laws for tobacco products in 2011. However, they immediately came under direct and indirect challenge from the tobacco industry in various domestic and international fora, including at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO-consistency of Australia's measures was not settled until June 2020, when the Appellate Body upheld two WTO panels’ earlier findings that Australia had acted consistently with its obligations under certain WTO agreements. This article critically analyses the Appellate Body's key findings and their implications for implementing other public health measures. It is shown that these implications are multifaceted, have political, practical and legal dimensions and are likely to reach beyond the WTO dispute resolution system's bounds into other international trade and investment law contexts.

South African Foreign Policy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fritz Nganje ◽  
Odilile Ayodele
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
South African ◽  
Foreign Relations ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
The World ◽  
Role Conception ◽  
The Government

In its foreign policy posture and ambitions, post-apartheid South Africa is like no other country on the continent, having earned the reputation of punching above its weight. Upon rejoining the international community in the mid-1990s based on a new democratic and African identity, it laid out and invested considerable material and intellectual resources in pursuing a vision of the world that was consistent with the ideals and aspirations of the indigenous anti-apartheid movement. This translated into a commitment to foreground the ideals of human rights, democratic governance, and socioeconomic justice in its foreign relations, which had been reoriented away from their Western focus during the apartheid period, to give expression to post-apartheid South Africa’s new role conception as a champion of the marginalized interests for Africa and rest of the Global South. Since the start of the 21st century, this new foreign policy orientation and its underlying principles have passed through various gradations, reflecting not only the personal idiosyncrasies of successive presidents but also changes in the domestic environment as well as lessons learned by the new crop of leaders in Pretoria, as they sought to navigate a complex and fluid continental and global environment. From a rather naive attempt to domesticate international politics by projecting its constitutional values onto the world stage during the presidency of Nelson Mandela, South Africa would be socialized into, and embrace gradually, the logic of realpolitik, even as it continued to espouse an ethical foreign policy, much to the chagrin of the detractors of the government of the African National Congress within and outside the country. With the fading away of the global liberal democratic consensus into which post-apartheid South Africa was born, coupled with a crumbling of the material and moral base that had at some point inspired a sense of South African exceptionalism, Pretoria’s irreversible march into an unashamedly pragmatic and interest-driven foreign policy posture is near complete.

Epilogue

2016 ◽  
pp. 119-122
Author(s):  
Christian W. McMillen
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
The Past ◽  
Public Health Infrastructure ◽  
Health Infrastructure ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Face ◽  
New Challenges

There will be more pandemics. A pandemic might come from an old, familiar foe such as influenza or might emerge from a new source—a zoonosis that makes its way into humans, perhaps. The epilogue asks how the world will confront pandemics in the future. It is likely that patterns established long ago will re-emerge. But how will new challenges, like climate change, affect future pandemics and our ability to respond? Will lessons learned from the past help with plans for the future? One thing is clear: in the face of a serious pandemic much of the developing world’s public health infrastructure will be woefully overburdened. This must be addressed.

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