The National Centre for Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (CNaPPS) of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), that is the national institute of health in Italy, will be hosting a conference (Rome; October 2018, 8th) in collaboration with Save the Children and UNICEF-Italy on how breastfeeding and infant feeding can be protected, promoted and supported in case of humanitarian emergencies and natural catastrophes.
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.
ASSET has been presenting at the international conference “Best practices in implementing the International Health Regulations (IHR)” that was held on June 7th and 8th, 2018 in Athens, Greece. This initiative has been promoted by several European Agencies (Directorate for Health and Food Safety – DG SANTE; Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency – CHAFEA; European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control – ECDC) as well as by the hosting Greek institutions.
Concerning the fields of cross-border health threats preparedness and response and IHR implementation, the specific conference objectives were to present: • an overview of the current European framework • the monitoring and evaluation framework adopted by WHO • experiences and challenges in achieving interoperability • the results of EU-funded projects • lessons to Greek and European public health authorities in revising national plans and improving operational procedures.
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.
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.