scholarly journals From Social Distance to Physical Distance: A Challenge for Evaluating Public Health Interventions Against COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hadi Pratomo
Keyword(s):  
Social Distance ◽  
Physical Distance ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
World Health ◽  
Public Health Interventions ◽  
Pharmacological Interventions ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Hand Sanitizer ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Health Organization

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected every country. Currently, no suitable vaccine or treatment has been identified; therefore, each country has attempted to issue appropriate policies, designed to reduce and prevent increases in the numbers of extreme cases. Transmission can be prevented by implementing social restrictions, also known as social distancing. The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued several methods for the prevention of transmission, including social distancing, washing hands with soap (or using hand sanitizer containing at least70% alcohol), and using masks. Over time, the term social distance has changed to physical distance. Evaluating the impacts of different types of non-pharmacological interventions has been challenging.

scholarly journals An Inconsistent Canadian Provincial and Territorial Response During the Early COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amelie Cyr ◽  
Prosanta Mondal ◽  
Gregory Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Early Response ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
World Health ◽  
Public Health Interventions ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Governmental Agencies ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Time Of Intervention ◽  
National Approach

Objectives: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an early and consistent international and national response is needed to control a pandemic's spread. In this analysis, we evaluate the coordination of Canada's early response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in terms of public health interventions and policies implemented in each province and territory.Methods: Retrospective data was obtained from publicly accessible websites maintained by federal, provincial and territorial governmental agencies. Consistent with WHO's spreading of the disease pandemic action, individual and community-based public health interventions and policies were the focus. Time of intervention or policy, and COVID-19 cases per million at time of intervention was recorded for each province and territory.Results: Most public health interventions and policies demonstrated wide time ranges of implementation across individual provinces and territories. At time of implementation, there were also wide variations in the number of positive COVID-19 cases in these jurisdictions. Cases per million per implemented day were also not similar across interventions or policy, suggesting that other factors may have been preferentially considered.Conclusions: Whether an earlier and more structured national approach would have lessened the pandemic's burden is uncertain, calls for greater federal coordination and leadership should to examined.

scholarly journals Mandating the Use of Proximity Tracking Apps During Coronavirus Disease 2019: Ethical Justifications

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riya Dave ◽  
Rashmi Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Large Degree ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
World Health ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Public Health Interventions ◽  
Societal Factors ◽  
Digital World ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Mandatory Policy

The rise of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in a digital world has expectedly called upon technologies, such as wearables and mobile devices, to work in conjunction with public health interventions to tackle the pandemic. One significant example of this integration is the deployment of proximity tracking apps on smartphones to enhance traditional contact tracing methods. Many countries have adopted proximity tracking apps; however, there is a large degree of global differentiation in the voluntariness of the apps. Further, the concept of a mandatory policy—forcing individuals to use the apps—has been met with ethical concerns (e.g., privacy and liberty). While ethical considerations surrounding deployment have been put forth, such as by the World Health Organization, ethical justifications for a mandatory policy are lacking. Here, we use the Faden–Shebaya framework, which was formed to justify public health interventions, to determine if the compulsory use of proximity tracking apps is ethically appropriate. We show that while theoretically justified, due to the current state of proximity tracking applications and societal factors, it is difficult to defend a mandatory policy in practice.

scholarly journals Ultra-Sensor Based Social Distancing Device

2021 ◽  
pp. 237-241
Author(s):  
K. Harshita ◽  
R. Moni Pravallika ◽  
T. Lakshmi Prasanna ◽  
Sk. Nazma ◽  
S. Parvathi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Outdoor Environment ◽  
World Health ◽  
Localization Method ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

According to the world health organization, social distancing will be proven to be the only solution to fight with COVID-19. In this, an innovative localization method was proposing to track humans ‘position in an outdoor environment based on sensors is proposed with the help of artificial intelligence, this device is handy to maintain a social distancing. Duringcovid-19pandemicsituation, there is a need of maintaining social distance. If any person is approaching us, getting indication to maintain social distance is the need of the hour. Offices, public transports, grocery shops where the social distancing is mandatory. Since we can be cautious in front sideways to maintain the distance sensors are used in this model to alert the person to maintain social distance.

scholarly journals Institutionalising an evidence-informed approach to guideline development: progress and challenges at the World Health Organization

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. e000716 ◽  
Author(s):  
Unni Gopinathan ◽  
Steven J Hoffman
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
Guideline Development ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
World Health ◽  
Public Health Interventions ◽  
Independent Evaluation ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
Health Organization

This study explored experiences, perceptions and views among World Health Organization (WHO) staff about the changes, progress and challenges brought by the guideline development reforms initiated in 2007. Thirty-five semistructured interviews were conducted with senior WHO staff. Sixteen of the interviewees had in-depth experience with WHO’s formal guideline development process. Thematic analysis was conducted to identify key themes in the qualitative data, and these were interpreted in the context of the existing literature on WHO’s guideline development processes. First, the reforms were seen to have transformed and improved the quality of WHO’s guidelines. Second, independent evaluation and feedback by the Guidelines Review Committee (GRC) was described to have strengthened the legitimacy of WHO’s recommendations. Third, WHO guideline development processes are not yet designed to systematically make use of all types of research evidence needed to inform decisions about health systems and public health interventions. For example, several interviewees expressed dissatisfaction with the insufficient attention paid to qualitative evidence and evidence from programme experience, and how the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) process evaluates the quality of evidence from non-randomised study designs, while others believed that GRADE was just not properly understood or applied. Fourth, some staff advocated for a more centralised quality assurance process covering all outputs from WHO’s departments and scientific advisory committees, especially to eliminate strategic efforts aimed at bypassing the GRC’s requirements. Overall, the ‘culture change’ senior WHO staff called for over 10 years ago appears to have gradually spread throughout the organisation. However, at least two major challenges remain: (1) ensuring that all issued advice benefits from independent evaluation, monitoring and feedback for quality and (2) designing guideline development processes to better acquire, assess, adapt and apply the full range of evidence that can inform recommendations on health systems and public health interventions.

The role of the World Bank and WHO Model Disability Survey in public health

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 262-264
Author(s):  
Carla Sabariego
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
World Health ◽  
Public Health Interventions ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

Abstract: The Model Disability Survey (MDS) is the tool recommended by the world health organization (WHO) to collect data on disability at the population level. It consciously promotes a narrative of inclusion, as disability is understood as a continuum, ranging from low to high levels. Public health currently faces the challenge of responding to demographic and health shifts leading to an increase in disability in the population. The MDS provides the information needed to meet these challenges and develop targeted public health interventions.

scholarly journals Ethics check-up of public health immunization programs in Canada

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (04) ◽  
pp. 237-241
Author(s):  
Noni E MacDonald ◽  
Shawn Harmon ◽  
Janice E Graham
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
World Health ◽  
Immunization Programs ◽  
Vaccine Research ◽  
Public Health Interventions ◽  
Immunization Program ◽  
Ethics Review ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Effective Public Health

The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes immunization as one of the most successful and effective public health interventions for saving lives. In developing a roadmap for prioritizing use of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines in the context of limited supply, WHO highlighted the importance of a values (ethical principles) framework. Immunization does need to be subject to independent ethical scrutiny of vaccine research data, manufacturing practices, the legal and ethical assurance of informed consent, and also social justice issues with respect to program equity, including right to access. An ethics review of Australia’s immunization program was reported in 2012. This CANVax (Canadian Vaccination Evidence Resource and Exchange Centre) Brief offers an ethics review of immunization in Canada using the criteria utilized for Australia.

scholarly journals SOCIAL DISTANCING OR PHYSICAL DISTANCING? TOWARDS A REAL PARADIGM TO CONTAIN COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
C. Nnebedum
Keyword(s):  
Social Contact ◽  
Physical Distance ◽  
World Health ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Social Closeness ◽  
The People ◽  
The World ◽  
Accurate Expression ◽  
Psychological Balance ◽  
Health Organization

In the time of Corona Virus also known as 'Covid-19', the World Health Organization (WHO) graded the situation as a "pandemic". One of the measures set out in order to contain the disease by all the countries is what they refer to as "social distancing". The term “social distancing” is misleading. What is being actually proposed relates to physical distancing, and deserves to be so described. A more accurate expression "physical distancing," best combined as ‘maintaining social closeness while keeping at a physical distance’.  In situations like that of Covid-19, social contact is necessary for the psychological-balance of the people. People would need affectionate love and attention from one another through encouragement, sharing of ideas, readiness to help, communications and new contacts. All these are not possible if people are to distance themselves socially. In this paper, we expose the aberrations and inappropriateness of

scholarly journals Monitoring Social Distancing Using a New Social Spread Detector

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 2958-2961
Keyword(s):  
Social Distance ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
World Health ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
The People ◽  
The Social ◽  
To Come ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization

The Novel Coronavirus is the most dangerous and deadly virus in the present century of our living. It brings a serious concern to the life of the person when affected. It is mainly affected when there is less usage of masks and the negligence in following the guidelines that are prescribed by the World Health Organization (WHO). After a large number of cases and deaths WHO announced it as a pandemic. Many countries went in Lockdown for several months concerning the number of cases evolving in their region. This directly affected the economic status of those countries. Several studies suggest many waves of the virus are yet to come. To tackle this some countries after the Coronavirus cases gone down, paved way for the economic activities while following the preventive measures like social distancing to boost their economy. There is a need for an application that can alert the people based on location, that how strict social distancing is followed in that particular location hence they can be a bit more cautious when they are traveling to that location. This not only helps the people but also helps the governing authorities to ensure that strict social distancing is being followed in those particular locations and help in reducing the spread of the deadly virus. Our proposed system will be connected to the social distance detector which has access to a stationary camera retrieves the information of the number of people following and neglecting the social distance in that particular location of the stationary camera in real time. By calculating an index showcasing the ratio of people following the social distance to the people detected and setting a threshold an alert is sent to the user through this application.

Recent Attitudes toward ADHD in the Broader Community: A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
pp. 108705472110036
Author(s):  
Matthew Bisset ◽  
Leanne Winter ◽  
Christel M. Middeldorp ◽  
David Coghill ◽  
Nardia Zendarski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Mental Health Literacy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
Public Health Interventions ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Community Attitudes ◽  
Standardized Protocol

Objective: This review aimed to understand the broader community’s attitudes toward ADHD, which could facilitate public health interventions to improve outcomes for individuals with ADHD. Methods: A standardized protocol identified peer-reviewed studies focusing on attitudes of broader community samples, published from January 2014 to February 2020 (inclusive). Results: A total of 1,318 articles were screened and 10 studies were included, examining attitudes of broader community samples from Australia, Sweden, Germany, Finland, Korea, Indonesia, and the United States. Findings revealed that broader community samples displayed varying degrees of ADHD-related knowledge, negative attitudes (that ADHD is over-diagnosed; that pharmacological treatment is not acceptable; that those with ADHD are more likely to exhibit poor behavior), and a desire for maintaining social distance from individuals with ADHD. Conclusion: Findings suggest that community attitudes are generally negative toward those with ADHD. Targeted mental health literacy could provide an important avenue for improving the broader community’s attitudes toward those with ADHD.

scholarly journals Effectiveness of Face Masks in Reducing the Spread of COVID-19: A Model-Based Analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 0272989X2110190
Author(s):  
Isabelle J. Rao ◽  
Jacqueline J. Vallon ◽  
Margaret L. Brandeau
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Infected Individual ◽  
Disease Model ◽  
World Health ◽  
Sensitivity Analyses ◽  
Reproductive Number ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Mask Effectiveness

Background The World Health Organization and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that both infected and susceptible people wear face masks to protect against COVID-19. Methods We develop a dynamic disease model to assess the effectiveness of face masks in reducing the spread of COVID-19, during an initial outbreak and a later resurgence, as a function of mask effectiveness, coverage, intervention timing, and time horizon. We instantiate the model for the COVID-19 outbreak in New York, with sensitivity analyses on key natural history parameters. Results During the initial epidemic outbreak, with no social distancing, only 100% coverage of masks with high effectiveness can reduce the effective reproductive number [Formula: see text] below 1. During a resurgence, with lowered transmission rates due to social distancing measures, masks with medium effectiveness at 80% coverage can reduce [Formula: see text] below 1 but cannot do so if individuals relax social distancing efforts. Full mask coverage could significantly improve outcomes during a resurgence: with social distancing, masks with at least medium effectiveness could reduce [Formula: see text] below 1 and avert almost all infections, even with intervention fatigue. For coverage levels below 100%, prioritizing masks that reduce the risk of an infected individual from spreading the infection rather than the risk of a susceptible individual from getting infected yields the greatest benefit. Limitations Data regarding COVID-19 transmission are uncertain, and empirical evidence on mask effectiveness is limited. Our analyses assume homogeneous mixing, providing an upper bound on mask effectiveness. Conclusions Even moderately effective face masks can play a role in reducing the spread of COVID-19, particularly with full coverage, but should be combined with social distancing measures to reduce [Formula: see text] below 1. [Box: see text]

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