Within the process of public health emergency preparedness (PHEP), promotion and support to breastfeeding and infant feeding assume high relevance. When a major humanitarian crisis or a natural disaster occurs, the issue of protecting the infant and young child feeding, namely infant feeding in emergency (IFE), seems to be a priority. Actually, the first solutions mainly concern supply and prompt delivery of breast-milk substitutes (BMS), that are carefully regulated by the World Health Organization (WHO) through a specific international code.
Nowadays, social media is an increasingly common and integral part of all people's lives. In ASSET theory and practice about social media have been explored extensively over the four years of work (2014-2017). It has been done by studying to what extent epidemic or pandemic preparedness and response are covered by contents shared on the main social network platforms. Specific studies have been developed such as analysing the social accounts and profiles of relevant pharmaceutical companies.
The ASSET project aims at awarding individual GPs or groups of GPs who have best included Science in Society (SiS) aspects in order to improve the quality of communication about epidemics and pandemics with their patients and more importantly with the local communities. This page gathers all the three editions of the Award.
Based on the collection of best practices on this platform, ASSET experts prepared a document outlining the guidelines of civil society involvement in public health projects.
Caregiving has traditionally been a female area, both domestically and in the workplace. Due to the nature of influenza, healthcare workers and those in close contact with young children are at a greater risk of exposure to influenza viruses, both seasonal outbreaks and pandemic strains (Zhang et al 2011). Studies have generally shown compliance rates from as low as 10% to 40-50% among healthcare workers, with no clear pattern to ascertain why this is (Tell Me 2012).
There are a number of groups that are especially vulnerable in terms of susceptibility to influenza and barriers to accessing vaccinations. This may lead to larger problems in case of a pandemic; for example, in the H1N1 2009 outbreak in Australia, indigenous Australians, a hard to reach group, were overrepresented in rates of hospitalisation (Seale et al 2010). Hard to reach groups may have adverse health outcomes, and the complex interplay of gender and social and economic marginalisation makes this a particular issue for women (Davidson et al 2011).
We are going to face important challenges in public health and we need to improve the collaboration between scientists and policy-makers. Walter Ricciardi, President of the Italian National Institute of Health, explains why science-in-society is not just a slogan but a key perspective for citizens, scientists, healthcare workers and politicians.
