Disruption to Transformation: Aging in the New Normal: A Chat With NIA Senior Leadership

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) at the National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, is the federally designated lead agency on aging research and supports significant research on aging as a lifelong process. In the last six years, NIA has experienced a tripling of its budget. Although much of this funding is targeted to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and AD-related dementias research, there has been an increase in funds allocated to non-AD research in keeping with the overall growth of NIH. This symposium will provide a forum for exploration of the implications of the budget increases for the general research community. NIA’s senior staff will discuss research priorities and programs supported by the Institute. A question-and-answer session will follow these remarks on current funding and future priorities and research directions of NIA.

Cervical Cancer Protection in Japan: Where Are We?

In Japan, government subsidies for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination of girls aged 13–16 commenced in 2010. By early 2013, vaccination had become a widely accepted national immunization program. However, in June of 2013, the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW), the government’s lead agency, suspended its recommendation for vaccination in response to reports of adverse vaccine events. The rate of HPV vaccination quickly dropped from 70% to almost zero, where it has lingered for eight years. In 2020, a new 9-valent HPV vaccine was licensed in Japan. The momentum seemed to be building for the resumption of HPV vaccinations, yet Japanese mothers remain widely hesitant about vaccinating their daughters, despite the well-proven safety and efficacy of the HPV vaccines. The Japanese government and our educational and medical institutions must work harder as a team to inform our parents and their children about the life-saving benefits of the HPV vaccine, and at the same time, we must respond to all their concerns and questions. The vaccine hesitancy of unvaccinated women born in 2000 and thereafter is a natural consequence of the suspension of the government‘s recommendation. We must also take every possible measure to reduce the significant risk for cervical cancer these women have.

Economic costs of invasive alien species in Spain

Economic assessments for invasive alien species (IAS) are an urgent requirement for informed decision-making, coordinating and motivating the allocation of economic and human resources for the management of IAS. We searched for economic costs of IAS occurring in Spain, by using the InvaCost database and requesting data to regional governments and national authorities, which resulted in over 3,000 cost entries. Considering only robust data (i.e. excluding extrapolated, potential (not-incurred or expected) and low reliability costs), economic costs in Spain were estimated at US$ 261 million (€ 232 million) from 1997 to 2022. There was an increase from US$ 4 million per year before 2000 to US$ 15 million per year in the last years (from € 4 to 13 million). Robust data showed that most reported costs of IAS in Spain (> 90%) corresponded to management costs, while damage costs were only found for 2 out of the 174 species with reported costs. Economic costs relied mostly on regional and inter-regional administrations that spent 66% of costs in post-invasion management actions, contrary to all international guidelines, which recommend investing more in prevention. Regional administrations unequally reported costs. Moreover, 36% of the invasive species, reported to incur management costs, were not included in national or European regulations (i.e. Black Lists), suggesting the need to review these policies; besides, neighbouring regions seem to manage different groups of species. We suggest the need of a national lead agency to effectively coordinate actions, facilitate communication and collaboration amongst regional governments, national agencies and neighbouring countries. This will motivate the continuity of long-lasting management actions and the increase in efforts to report IAS costs by regional and inter-regional managers which will adequately provide information for future budgets gaining management effectiveness.

Planning Considerations and Lessons Learned From a COVID-19 Mass Community Vaccination Center

ABSTRACT The emergency use authorization for multiple coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines came at a pivotal time for the USA. In January 2021, the country exceeded 400,000 deaths from COVID-19. The USA aimed to quickly distribute and administer the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, with bright prospects for an additional emergency use authorization for Johnson and Johnson/Janssen’s single-dose vaccine on the horizon. Part of the National Strategy for COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness was to “mount a safe, effective, comprehensive vaccination campaign” so the administration set a goal to have 100 million fully vaccinated citizens after the first 100 days in office. In order to fuel the rapid administration of vaccines, the Department of Health and Human Services was tasked to stand up new, federally supported Community Vaccination Centers across the country. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was the lead agency entrusted to expedite financial assistance, allocate federal equipment and supplies, and deploy federal personnel to states, tribes, territories, and other eligible applicants for vaccination efforts. Early in the process of staffing sites, FEMA recognized the need to bolster the efforts with active duty military personnel and asked for manning assistance from the Department of Defense. As a result, 222 U.S. Air Force personnel were tasked with supporting the FEMA COVID-19 vaccination operations at NRG stadium, Houston, Texas. This reflection aims to cover the lessons learned and provide meaningful insight for future mass medical operations.

An Assessment of and Proposed Updates to the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan of Trinidad and Tobago Based on the Readiness Evaluation Tool for Oil Spills

The Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries assessed the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan of Trinidad and Tobago (NOSCP, 2013) for its effectiveness as a preparedness and response mechanism. Using the Readiness Evaluation Tool for Oil Spills (RETOS™), the NOSCP attained a score of 42% in the Level A Assessment. Gaps were identified in areas including National Legislation, Risk Management, Logistics, Training and Exercises, and Operational Response. Further, lessons learned from past spills were examined to highlight deficiencies in oil spill response (OSR) planning and readiness. Proposed updates to the NOSCP include: designation of appropriate Lead Agency depending on the nature of the spill scenario, mandating Oil Spill Risk Assessments, and the use of SIMA as a decision-making tool for oil spill response; development of comprehensive guidelines for Dispersant Use, Oiled Wildlife Response and Oil Spill Waste Management. The NOSCP is being re-designed to facilitate a national response management system that meets best management practice for oil spill contingency planning. This will enable the efficient and effective deployment of the appropriate resources (equipment, expertise and oversight) to mitigate impacts to human health and the environment, and minimize production down time and socio-economic costs.

Driving Inclusiveness from the Grassroots: The Tambunan Inventors

Reviews of recent studies indicated the growing importance of development and attainment of inclusive societies via inclusive innovations. This is especially relevant for addressing the disenfranchised or those at the base of the economic pyramid (BOP). Gaps in the literature pointed to; l) the need for understanding of inclusive innovation processes among small, medium and micro enterprises vis-à-vis among local entrepreneurs, ll) there is a lack of studies on inclusive innovation movement in Malaysia. Specifically under the SME Masterplan 2012-2020, there are a number of high impact programmes defined to drive numerous aims. Specifically, for driving inclusive innovation among Small and Medium Entreprises (SMEs) in Malaysia, the High Impact Programme 6 (HIP6) is designed with the focus on development of grassroots innovations. In order to get some insights, case studies were carried out among participants of the HIP6. Cases were recommended by the lead agency entrusted with the implementation of the initiative. Among the cases, a cluster in the area of Tambunan in the state of Sabah, Malaysia was identified. Thus, this paper presents the cases of the Tambunan grassroots inventors.

The rise of “behavioral man”: Randomized controlled trials and the “new” development agenda

Despite their ostensible differences, both randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and neoclassical economics, which undergirds neoliberalism, are characterized by unrealistic assumptions. This is not accidental but stems from a common desire for scientism, despite a substitution of “economic man” by what we call “behavioral man” in the former. However, the interactions between human behavior and context produce much greater diversity than allowed for in such approaches. As a result of these failings, RCTs do not challenge neoliberalism, but rather can be inserted into and help legitimize it. Consequently they do not alter the structural conditions producing poverty, but represent a form of “virtualism” that attempts to make the real conform to the ideal of neoclassical economics through “nudging.” This is often associated with conditionality, representing a continuation of the historically Northern-centered coloniality of power, which sometimes leads to ethical breaches and perverse development outcomes. Some examples from RCTs conducted or published by the World Bank—which has become a lead agency in promoting RCTs to assess the effectiveness of aid—in Africa are presented to illustrate our argument.

Coordination Effectiveness During Public Health Emergencies: An Institutional Collective Action Framework

This article draws on the institutional collective action (ICA) framework and data from a survey of senior public health and emergency management professionals in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex following the Ebola outbreak to investigate coordination effectiveness during public health emergencies. Based on the study findings, the article recommends that having an identifiable lead agency, official statements from local authorities, a conducive environment for informal conversations, and communication activities that inform, connect, and involve professionals is essential for an effective coordination. Practical implications of the study extend to how to mitigate collective action dilemmas with regard to coordinating COVID-19 pandemic responses.