scholarly journals Global Telemedicine Implementation and Integration Within Health Systems to Fight the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Call to Action

10.2196/18810 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. e18810 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Ohannessian ◽  
Tu Anh Duong ◽  
Anna Odone
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
National Health ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The United States ◽  
Response Strategy ◽  
World Health ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
Levels Of Care ◽  
Health Response ◽  
Health Organization

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak as a pandemic, with over 720,000 cases reported in more than 203 countries as of 31 March. The response strategy included early diagnosis, patient isolation, symptomatic monitoring of contacts as well as suspected and confirmed cases, and public health quarantine. In this context, telemedicine, particularly video consultations, has been promoted and scaled up to reduce the risk of transmission, especially in the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Based on a literature review, the first conceptual framework for telemedicine implementation during outbreaks was published in 2015. An updated framework for telemedicine in the COVID-19 pandemic has been defined. This framework could be applied at a large scale to improve the national public health response. Most countries, however, lack a regulatory framework to authorize, integrate, and reimburse telemedicine services, including in emergency and outbreak situations. In this context, Italy does not include telemedicine in the essential levels of care granted to all citizens within the National Health Service, while France authorized, reimbursed, and actively promoted the use of telemedicine. Several challenges remain for the global use and integration of telemedicine into the public health response to COVID-19 and future outbreaks. All stakeholders are encouraged to address the challenges and collaborate to promote the safe and evidence-based use of telemedicine during the current pandemic and future outbreaks. For countries without integrated telemedicine in their national health care system, the COVID-19 pandemic is a call to adopt the necessary regulatory frameworks for supporting wide adoption of telemedicine.

scholarly journals Public health response to two incidents of confirmed MERS-CoV cases travelling on flights through London Heathrow Airport in 2014 – lessons learnt

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (18) ◽  
Author(s):  
F Parry-Ford ◽  
N Boddington ◽  
R Pebody ◽  
N Phin ◽  
Collective on behalf of the Incident Management Team
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
International Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health Response ◽  
Health Organization

In May 2014, Public Health England was alerted to two separate laboratory-confirmed cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection who transited through London Heathrow Airport while symptomatic on flights from Saudi Arabia to the United States of America. We present the rationale for the public health response to both incidents, and report results of contact tracing. Following a risk assessment, passengers seated two seats around the cases were prioritised for contact tracing and a proactive media approach was used to alert all passengers on the planes of their possible exposure in both incidents. In total, 64 United Kingdom (UK) residents were successfully contacted, 14 of whom were sat in the priority area two seats all around the case(s). Five passengers reported respiratory symptoms within 14 days of the flight, but all tested were negative for MERS-CoV. Details of non-UK residents were passed on to relevant World Health Organization International Health Regulation focal points for follow-up, and no further cases were reported back. Different approaches were used to manage contact tracing for each flight due to variations in the quality and timeliness of the passenger contact information provided by the airlines involved. No evidence of symptomatic onward transmission was found.

scholarly journals SSHAP: 6 Ways to Incorporate Social Context and Trust in Infodemic Management

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Schmidt-Sane ◽  
Tabitha Hrynick ◽  
Jennifer Cole ◽  
Santiago Ripoll ◽  
Olivia Tulloch
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Context ◽  
World Health ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
Participatory Approaches ◽  
Health Response ◽  
The World ◽  
Local Solutions ◽  
Health Organization

Information epidemiology or infodemiology is the study of infodemics - defined by the World Health Organization as an overabundance of information, some accurate and some not, that occurs during a pandemic or other significant event that may impact public health. Infodemic management is the practice of infodemiology and may sit within the risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) pillar of a public health response. However, it is relevant to all aspects of preparedness and response, including the development and evaluation of interventions. Social scientists have much to contribute to infodemic management as, while it must be data and evidence driven, it must also be built on a thorough understanding of affected communities in order to develop participatory approaches, reinforce local capacity and support local solutions.

scholarly journals Directrices sobre la respuesta de salud pública a la farmacorresistencia del VIH previa al tratamiento. Julio 2017

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Drug Resistance ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
World Health ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health Response ◽  
Las Mujeres ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
América Del Sur

En la presente publicación se formulan orientaciones sobre la respuesta de salud pública a la farmacorresistencia del VIH (FRVIH) a inhibidores no nucleosídicos de la retrotranscriptasa (INNRT), previa al tratamiento, en personas con exposición previa a los fármacos antirretrovirales (ARV) o sin antecedente de esta exposición que inician o reinician un tratamiento antirretroviral (TAR) de primera línea. El documento aporta además el consenso alcanzado sobre la prevalencia o el umbral de FRVIH a INNRT previa al tratamiento a partir de los cuales se deben tomar medidas específicas de salud pública. La presente publicación constituye un suplemento al capítulo 4 de las Directrices unificadas sobre el uso de los antirretrovirales para el tratamiento y la prevención de la infección por el VIH (directrices unificadas de la OMS del 2016 sobre el uso de los ARV)… En la presente revisión se observó además que la FRVIH a INNRT previa al tratamiento era mucho más frecuente en las personas que iniciaban TAR de primera línea y que tenían un antecedente de exposición a fármacos ARV (como las mujeres expuestas durante la PTMI y las personas que reanudaban el TAR después de un período de interrupción) en comparación con las personas que iniciaban el TAR y que nunca habían estado expuestas a los ARV, en todas las regiones de la OMS. En las siete encuestas representativas a escala nacional sobre la FRVIH previa al tratamiento en África, América del Sur y Asia en las que se daba seguimiento a la resistencia en estos dos grupos se obtuvieron resultados similares. En todas las encuestas nacionales de la OMS sobre la FRVIH previa al tratamiento, la resistencia a INNRT fue notablemente mayor en las personas que iniciaban el TAR y que habían tenido una exposición previa al TAR (22%), que en las personas que nunca habían recibido fármacos ARV (8%) (p <0,0001)… Versión oficial en español de la obra original en inglés: Guidelines on the public health response to pretreatment HIV drug resistance: July 2017. © World Health Organization 2017. ISBN: 978-92-4-155005-5.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Transmission Dynamics and Response: Opinions and Perspectives from Africa

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adeleye Adeshakin ◽  
Oluwamuyiwa Ayanshina ◽  
Samuel Essien-Baidoo
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
High Temperature ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Transmission Dynamics ◽  
World Health ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
Health Response ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Effective Public Health

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) since its declaration as a pandemic by world health organization (WHO) has spread across the various continent with little known about the most effective public health response for containing and mitigating the transmission of the epidemic. It is important to state that some authors have published on the lessons learned from transmission and management of COVID-19 infection but only a few considered it from the Africa perspective. Despite the late arrival of the pandemic in Africa and the notion that the virus may not thrive because of the high temperature in the continent; today the narrative has changed with the number of infected patients increasing daily. Herein, the authors have shared their perspectives and opinions on the dynamics and response to COVID-19 from Africa context to create more awareness and approach in mitigating the spread of the virus should the continent becomes the epicenter of COVID-19.

scholarly journals WHO gives guidance on threat of bioterrorism

2002 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
B Twisselmann
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
World Health ◽  
Chemical Weapons ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
Member States ◽  
Health Response ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
National Preparedness

In recent months, several member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) have sought advice on the threat of bioterrorist attacks, as reported in last week’s Weekly Epidemiological Record (1). WHO’s guidance to countries on strengthening national preparedness and effective responses to such events is set out in the document Public health response to biological and chemical weapons.

scholarly journals Novel coronavirus associated with severe respiratory disease: Case definition and public health measures

2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (39) ◽  
Author(s):  
N Danielsson ◽  
collective on behalf of the ECDC Internal Response Team ◽  
M Catchpole
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Case Definition ◽  
World Health ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Health Response ◽  
Disease Case ◽  
The World ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization

Two cases of rapidly progressive acute respiratory infection in adults associated with a novel coronavirus have generated an international public health response. The two infections were acquired three months apart, probably in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. An interim case definition has been elaborated and was published on the World Health Organization website on 25 September 2012.

Role of Media in Health Literacy

2021 ◽  
pp. 172-179
Author(s):  
Seçil Özkan ◽  
Hülya Şirin
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Good Health ◽  
World Health ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health Gains ◽  
Health Response ◽  
The Media ◽  
Health Organization

The World Health Organization defines health literacy as the cognitive and social skills which determine the motivation and ability of individuals to gain access to understand and use information in ways which promote and maintain good health. Health literacy improves the life expectancy and quality and removes health inequalities. Health literacy includes the stages of reading, listening, analyzing, participating, and making decisions and adapting to life. An infodemic is an overabundance of information. It includes deliberate attempts to disseminate wrong information to undermine the public health response and advance alternative agendas of groups or individuals. Mis- or disinformation can be harmful to people's health, threaten precious health gains, and lead to poor observance of public health measures, thus endangering countries' ability to stop the pandemic. Media is one of the important sectors in health and health literacy. The concepts of infodemic became a current issue with the COVID-19 pandemic and revealed how important the role the media plays in intervening the health problems is.

scholarly journals Characteristics of and Public Health Responses to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Outbreak in China

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheng-Qun Deng ◽  
Hong-Juan Peng
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
World Health ◽  
Therapeutic Drug ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
Health Response ◽  
Lower Case ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization

In December 2019, cases of unidentified pneumonia with a history of exposure in the Huanan Seafood Market were reported in Wuhan, Hubei Province. A novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, was identified to be accountable for this disease. Human-to-human transmission is confirmed, and this disease (named COVID-19 by World Health Organization (WHO)) spread rapidly around the country and the world. As of 18 February 2020, the number of confirmed cases had reached 75,199 with 2009 fatalities. The COVID-19 resulted in a much lower case-fatality rate (about 2.67%) among the confirmed cases, compared with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). Among the symptom composition of the 45 fatality cases collected from the released official reports, the top four are fever, cough, short of breath, and chest tightness/pain. The major comorbidities of the fatality cases include hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, cerebral infarction, and chronic bronchitis. The source of the virus and the pathogenesis of this disease are still unconfirmed. No specific therapeutic drug has been found. The Chinese Government has initiated a level-1 public health response to prevent the spread of the disease. Meanwhile, it is also crucial to speed up the development of vaccines and drugs for treatment, which will enable us to defeat COVID-19 as soon as possible.

scholarly journals SSHAP: 6 Ways to Incorporate Social Context and Trust in Infodemic Management

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santiago Ripoll ◽  
Jennifer Cole ◽  
Olivia Tulloch ◽  
Megan Schmidt-Sane ◽  
Tabitha Hrynick
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Context ◽  
World Health ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
Participatory Approaches ◽  
Health Response ◽  
The World ◽  
Local Solutions ◽  
Health Organization

Information epidemiology or infodemiology is the study of infodemics - defined by the World Health Organization as an overabundance of information, some accurate and some not, that occurs during a pandemic or other significant event that may impact public health. Infodemic management is the practice of infodemiology and may sit within the risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) pillar of a public health response. However, it is relevant to all aspects of preparedness and response, including the development and evaluation of interventions. Social scientists have much to contribute to infodemic management as, while it must be data and evidence driven, it must also be built on a thorough understanding of affected communities in order to develop participatory approaches, reinforce local capacity and support local solutions.

(Mis)Information on Digital Platforms: Lessons from Twitter and Sina Weibo in the COVID-19 Pandemic (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Kreps
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
Sina Weibo ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Relative Prevalence

BACKGROUND Misinformation about COVID-19 has presented challenges to public health authorities during pandemics. Understanding the prevalence and type of misinformation across contexts offers a way to understand the discourse around COVID-19 while informing potential countermeasures. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to study COVID-19 content on two prominent microblogging platform, Twitter, based in the United States, and Sina Weibo, based in China, and compare the content and relative prevalence of misinformation to better understand public discourse of public health issues across social media and cultural contexts. METHODS A total of 3,579,575 posts were scraped from both Weibo and Twitter, focusing on content from January 30th, 2020, when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” and February 6th, 2020. A 1% random sample of tweets that contained both the English keywords “coronavirus” and “covid-19” and the equivalent Chinese characters was extracted and analyzed based on changes in the frequencies of keywords and hashtags. Misinformation on each platform was compared by manually coding and comparing posts using the World Health Organization fact-check page to adjudicate accuracy of content. RESULTS Both platforms posted about the outbreak and transmission but posts on Sina Weibo were less likely to reference controversial topics such as the World Health Organization and death and more likely to cite themes of resisting, fighting, and cheering against the coronavirus. Misinformation constituted 1.1% of Twitter content and 0.3% of Weibo content. CONCLUSIONS Quantitative and qualitative analysis of content on both platforms points to cross-platform differences in public discourse surrounding the pandemic and informs potential countermeasures for online misinformation.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document