scholarly journals Needs assessment and impact of COVID-19 on pharmacy professionals in 31 commonwealth countries

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Ashiru-Oredope ◽  
◽  
Amy Hai Yan Chan ◽  
Omotayo Olaoye ◽  
Victoria Rutter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
World Health ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Frequency Distributions ◽  
The World ◽  
Pandemic Response ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background The declaration of COVID-19 a pandemic by the World Health Organization on 11 March 2020 marked the beginning of a global health crisis of an unprecedented nature and scale. The approach taken by countries across the world varied widely, however, the delivery of frontline healthcare was consistently recognised as being central to the pandemic response. This study aimed to identify and explore the issues currently facing pharmacy teams across Commonwealth countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study also evaluates pharmacy professionals’ understanding of key knowledge areas from the COVID-19 webinar hosted by the Commonwealth Pharmacists’ Association (CPA). Method A quantitative survey-based approach was adopted, using a 32-item questionnaire developed from the literature on pharmacy and pandemic response. The survey was hosted on Survey Monkey and pilot tested. The final survey was disseminated by CPA member organisations. A 6-item online questionnaire was sent via email to all attendees of CPA's COVID-19 webinar. Descriptive statistics on frequency distributions and percentages were used to analyse the responses. Data were analysed using Microsoft® Excel (2010). Results There were 545 responses from pharmacy professionals across 31/54 Commonwealth countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Pacific. Majority of the respondents reported being at least somewhat worried (90%) and more than 65% were very worried or extremely about the impact of COVID-19 on them personally and professionally. Nearly two-thirds of respondents stated finding it somewhat difficult or very difficult to work effectively during the pandemic. Challenges mostly faced by pharmacy professionals working remotely included; general anxiety about the impact of COVID-19 on their lives (12%), and difficulties in communicating with their co-workers (12%). Most pharmacy professionals had not previously been actively involved in a global health emergency (82%) nor obtained training on global/public health emergency preparedness (62%). Between 45 and 97% of the COVID-19 webinar attendees provided the correct answers to post-webinar questions, suggesting some improvement in knowledge. Conclusion Our study confirms pharmacy professionals’ concerns about practice during a pandemic and provides preliminary data on the challenges and learning needs of the profession. The CPA has since acted on these findings, providing ongoing opportunities to develop and refine resources for the profession as the pandemic evolves. Pharmacy professionals have also demonstrated improved knowledge on the management of COVID-19 and resources available for professionals.

scholarly journals COVID-19: Needs assessment of the pharmacy profession and contributions so far across the Commonwealth

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Ashiru-Oredope ◽  
Amy Chan ◽  
Omotayo Olaoye ◽  
Victoria Rutter ◽  
Zaheer-Ud-Din Babar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
World Health Organisation ◽  
World Health ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
General Anxiety ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Pharmacy Profession ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact

Abstract BackgroundThe declaration of COVID-19 a pandemic by the World Health Organisation on the 11March 2020 marked the beginning of a global health crisis of an unprecedented natureand scale. The approach taken by countries across the world varied widely, however,the delivery of frontline healthcare was consistently recognised as being central to thepandemic response. This study aimed to identify and explore the issues currentlyfacing pharmacy teams across Commonwealth countries during the COVID-19pandemic. The study also evaluates pharmacy professionals’ understanding of keyknowledge areas from the COVID-19 webinar hosted by the CommonwealthPharmacists’ Association ( CPA) on 5 th June 2020.MethodA quantitative survey-based approach was adopted, using a 32-item questionnairedeveloped from the literature on pharmacy and pandemic response. The survey washosted on Survey Monkey and pilot tested. The final survey was disseminated by CPAmember organisations. A 6-item online questionnaire was sent via email to allattendees of CPA's COVID-19 webinar. Descriptive statistics on frequency distributionsand percentages were used to analyse the responses. Data were analysed usingMicrosoft® Excel (2010).ResultsThere were 545 responses from pharmacy professionals across 31/54 commonwealthcountries in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Pacific. Majority of therespondents reported being at least somewhat worried (90%) and more than 65% werevery worried or extremely about the impact of COVID-19 on them personally andprofessionally. Nearly two-thirds of respondents stated finding it somewhat difficult orvery difficult to work effectively during the pandemic. Challenges mostly faced bypharmacy professionals working remotely included; general anxiety about the impact ofCOVID-19 on their lives (12%), and difficulties in communicating with their co-workers(12%). Most pharmacy professionals had not previously been actively involved in aglobal health emergency (82%) nor obtained training on global/public healthemergency preparedness (62%). Between 45% to 97% of the COVID-19 webinarattendees provided the correct answers to post-webinar questions, suggesting someimprovement in knowledge.ConclusionOur study confirms pharmacy professional’s concerns about practice during apandemic and provides preliminary data on the challenges and learning needs of theprofession. The CPA has since acted on these findings, providing on-goingopportunities to develop and refine resources for the profession as the pandemicevolves. Pharmacy professionals have also demonstrated improved knowledge on themanagement of COVID-19 and resources available for professionals.

scholarly journals Strengthening the COVID-19 pandemic response, global leadership, and international cooperation through global health diplomacy

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 300-305
Author(s):  
Sumbal Javed ◽  
Vijay Kumar Chattu
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
International Cooperation ◽  
Common Interest ◽  
World Health ◽  
Global Public Good ◽  
Global Health Diplomacy ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Health Diplomacy ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to claim lives around the world and, to some extent, reflects the failure of international cooperation. Global health diplomacy (GHD)can be a bridge for international cooperation for tackling public health crises, strengthening health systems through emphasizing universal health coverage for sustainable and equitable development, and rebuilding multilateral organizations. It can be a catalyst for future global health initiatives. Health should not be used as a political tool at the cost of people’s lives, nor should it become a proxy for geopolitics but can be used to diffuse tensions and create a positive environment for political dialogue. Health diplomacy’s focus should be to mitigate inequality by making available diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines as a global public good. The implications for the lack of international cooperation will lead to increased global disparities and inequities as the countries that cannot procure vaccines will find their population more vulnerable to the pandemic’s repercussion. Though the international cooperation on trade has suffered the impact of geopolitical shifts and competition, through engaging in GHD, the governments can align the trade and health policies. Amid this global health crisis, the World Health Organization (WHO) has faced an increase in International Health Regulations violations, limiting its influence and response during this COVID-19 pandemic. Nations need to develop a sense of cooperation that serves as the basis for a mutual strategic trust for international development. The priorities of all the countries should be to find the areas of common interest, common operational overlap on development issues, and resource allocation for this global fight against COVID-19.

scholarly journals An Italian Survey on Dietary Habits and Changes during the COVID-19 Lockdown

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1197
Author(s):  
Luana Izzo ◽  
Antonio Santonastaso ◽  
Gaetano Cotticelli ◽  
Alessandro Federico ◽  
Severina Pacifico ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Diet ◽  
Dietary Habits ◽  
Lifestyle Changes ◽  
World Health ◽  
Italian Population ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Diet Adherence ◽  
Mediterranean Diet Adherence ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact

The World Health Organization has declared the coronavirus outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern; the outbreak has led to lockdowns in several parts of the world, and sudden changes in people’s lifestyles. This study explores the impact of the first coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic period on dietary habits, lifestyle changes, and adherence to the Mediterranean diet among the Italian population, through an online questionnaire, conducted from April to May 2020, involving 1519 participants. The 14-point Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener (MEDAS) highlighted a medium Mediterranean diet adherence in 73.5% of responders, which principally included the younger population, aged 18–30 years (p < 0.05). In regards to changes in eating habits, 33.5% of responders declared an influence of the pandemic period on nutritional practice. A decrease in alcohol consumption was reported by 81% of responders, while an increase in frozen food consumption was reported by 81.3% of responders. In addition, 58.8% reported positive weight modification (40.8%, +1–3 kg); physical activity reduction was reported for 70.5% of responders. Our study contributes toward amplifying the investigation on the dietary habits and changes of the Italian population during the COVID-19 lockdown, although the pandemic is ongoing. Similar studies should be performed around the world to understand how the emergency has impacted people’s habits.

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 The Covid infodemic

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken Hyland ◽  
Feng (Kevin) Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Medical Research ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
Research Methods ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Highly Cited

Abstract Covid-19, the greatest global health crisis for a century, brought a new immediacy and urgency to international bio-medical research. The pandemic generated intense competition to produce a vaccine and contain the virus, creating what the World Health Organization referred to as an ‘infodemic’ of published output. In this frantic atmosphere, researchers were keen to get their research noticed. In this paper, we explore whether this enthusiasm influenced the rhetorical presentation of research and encouraged scientists to “sell” their studies. Examining a corpus of the most highly cited SCI articles on the virus published in the first seven months of 2020, we explore authors’ use of hyperbolic and promotional language to boost aspects of their research. Our results show a significant increase in hype to stress certainty, contribution, novelty and potential, especially regarding research methods, outcomes and primacy. Our study sheds light on scientific persuasion at a time of intense social anxiety.

scholarly journals Global Governance and the WHO’s Mandate Post-COVID-19 Crisis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Vilbert
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
World Health ◽  
First Year ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Democratic Principle ◽  
The World ◽  
Distribution Of Power ◽  
Health Organization

The COVID-19 has renovated the debate about global health governance. A number of scholars have proposed that the World Health Organization should assume the position of a central coordinator with hierarchical powers, demanding nation-states to “share their sovereignty”. This article presents four main objections to this project. First, when international institutions receive leverage, they use to impose “one-size-fits-all” policies, which conflicts with the characteristic heterogeny across countries. Second, geopolitical questions and the distribution of power in multilateral institutions put developing countries in a position of vulnerability within a hierarchical order. Third, the risk of crowding out parallel initiatives, especially from non-state actors. Fourth, decisions about health can have a major impact on countries, which may thwart the internal democratic principle. A Pareto improvement would be possible by strengthening the WHO’s operational capacity and its ability to issue technical guidance and coordinate with countries. To test this hypothesis, this study analyses the possible influence of the WHO’s guidance in the first year of the coronavirus health crisis, from January 2020 to January 2021, in 37 countries reported in the World Values Survey Wave 7 (2017-2020). The OLS regression performed shows a statistically significant negative relationship between the trust in the WHO, assumed as a proxy for the level of the organization's penetration, and the number of cases of COVID-19 (per million people) in the countries of the sample. These findings reinforce the hypothesis that there is a valid case for the countries to strengthen the WHO’s mandate post-COVID-19, but they should enhance the operations of provision of reliable information and support. Nation-states, in particular the developing ones, should eschew the temptation to create a hierarchical global health structure, which may not only fail due to countries’ asymmetries but is likely to create losers in the process.

Developing Medicines in Line with Global Public Health Needs: The Role of the World Health Organization

2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 290-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
TIKKI PANG
Keyword(s):  
World Health Organization ◽  
Gender Violence ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
World Health ◽  
Director General ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Absolute Poverty ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Impact

“I want my leadership to be judged by the impact of our work on the health of two populations: women and the people of Africa.” This is how Dr. Margaret Chan, the current Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), described her leadership mission. The reason behind this mission is evident. Women and girls constitute 70% of the world’s poor and 80% of the world’s refugees. Gender violence against women aged 15–44 is responsible for more deaths and disability than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents, and war. An estimated 350,000 to 500,000 women still die in childbirth every year. The negative health implications of absolute poverty are worst in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Hence, Chan aims to have the biggest impact on the world’s poorest people.

Participation in the World Health Organization

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 261-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven A. Solomon ◽  
Claudia Nannini
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Global Health ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
World Health ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Collaborative Efforts

Participation in the World Health Organization (WHO) is a multifaceted matter and should be understood as not only referring to the governance of WHO, but also to its scientific and technical work as well as its collaborative efforts towards advancing global public health more generally. The article is concerned, in particular, with the legal and political framework surrounding attendance and participation of states and various entities in the governing bodies of the Organization, at the global and regional level. It shows that participation in the governance of WHO is still today a domain reserved to the determination of its Member States. At the same time, solutions have been found and continued efforts are necessary to take into account geopolitical considerations and to ensure a meaningful and inclusive participation of all relevant actors in global health discussions.

scholarly journals The World Health Organization in Crisis—Lessons to be Learned Beyond the Ebola Outbreak

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadja Meisterhans
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
Legal Theory ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Democratic Reform ◽  
The World ◽  
The Media ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Do So

Blaming the World Health Organization (who) for its failures in the Ebola crisis was a common reaction of the media. However, exclusively denouncing the who for the spread of Ebola falls short as it does not recognize the structural deficits of those recent governance procedures financing global health that lead to a chronic underfunding of the who. Against this background, the article reflects perspectives of a democratic reform of global health funding. It concludes that only the who can provide a leadership on global health matters, but to do so it depends on states willing to rebuild the who’s capacities to act. To address the global health crisis properly, the revitalization of who’s constitutional mandate is critically necessary. The discussion is based on normative legal theory, which argues that processes of globalization have transformed international law into a global rule of law, placing specific duties on states and international institutions.

scholarly journals IMPACT OF COVID 19 ON THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (07) ◽  
pp. 1085-1090
Author(s):  
Harsh Vikram Arora ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Stock Market ◽  
Financial Markets ◽  
Stock Price ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact

The COVID19 pandemic which came unprecedentedly has brought forward a lot of confusion and unrest in the world. There are a lot of changes with regard to the global landscape in multiple ways. SARS-CoV-2 is the primary virus, which is the root contributor to the COVID19 outbreak, which started in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, in December 2019. It did not take much time to spread across the world. This pandemic has resulted in a universal health crisis, along with a major decline in the global economy. One of the major reasons for the fluctuation in the stock price is supply and demand. When the number of people who want to sell their stocks outnumbers those who want to purchase it, the stock price drops. Due to the result in the gap, the financial markets will suffer in the short duration, but in the long run, markets will correct themselves and would increase again. There is a sharp decline in the stock price because of the pandemic. The current scenario has resulted in a world health crisis which has contributed to global and economic crises. Almost all financial markets across the world have been affected by the recent health crisis, with stock and bond values falling gradually and severely. In the United States, the Dow Jones and S& P 500 indices have fallen by more than 20%. The Shanghai Stock Exchange and the New York Dow Jones Stock Exchange both indicate that they had a significant impact on China’s and the United States’ financial markets. The primary purpose of this paper is to determine the impact of COVID19 on stock markets. The rapid spread of the virus has left a major impact on the global financial markets. There is a link between the pandemic and the stock market, and this has been studied in this paper. Along with it, an attempt is taken to compare stock price returns in pre-COVID19 and post-COVID19 scenarios. The stock market in India faced uncertainty during the pandemic, according to the findings.

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