Government and Public Health

Tuesday, May 30, 2017 - 09:00

The third edition of the ASSET Summer School will be held at the National Centre for Diseases Prevention and Health Promotion (CNaPPS) of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) in Rome from May 30 to June 1, 2017. Pandemics (or more in general public health emergencies of international concern, PHEIC) as well as other major infectious disease outbreaks management do necessarily require a multidisciplinary approach. The ASSET Summer School focuses on

The third issue of the ASSET Paper Series focuses on some highly delicate topics that lie at the intersection of science, ethics, politics, and economics. In the first article of the collection, Donato Greco, epidemiologist and public health expert, discusses about the role and the management of national borders when dealing with both the spread of an infectious disease and the flow of migrants or refugees, citing the recent EU decision on such a matter.

In the context of a Europe increasingly hesitant about vaccination, with dropping vaccination coverage, Immuniser Lyon was a French campaign aiming to re-inform the population of the greater Lyon area in centre-east of Franceof the proven benefits of vaccination and to incite people of all ages (children, adults, seniors) to be up-to-date with their vaccinations.

The fact that some vaccine preventable diseases have disappeared or are very rare following these vaccination programs can lead to parents believing there is no more need to vaccinate. Therefore, it is of huge importance that events like the European Immunization, helping maintain vaccination awareness and giving accurate and understandable information on immunization, exist. In this way, public confidence in immunization is less susceptible to be influenced by groups, websites or campaigns against vaccination. By acknowledging that every child deserves a healthy start in life, countries can use the European Immunization Week to increase awareness of the importance of immunization and to strengthen their immunization systems.

Immunization rates in Italy are decreasing at a worrying trend: international targets for measles eradication and safety thresholds in childhood vaccination are vanishing. Authorities, doctors and families are concerned that a coverage below 86% for MPR (measles, parotitis and rubella) vaccine can impair herd immunity, putting younger babies, immunocompromised people and not-responders at risk.

February 1, 2017

Most emerging diseases come from animals (zoonosis). Therefore, surveillance needs to keep an eye on viruses and other microorganisms that could be transmitted to humans, acquiring the capability to spread among people. Ilaria Capua, director of the One Health Excellence Centre at the Emerging Pathogens Institute of the University of Florida, USA, recommends not letting our guard down.

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January 24, 2017

Ilaria Capua, as director of the One Health Excellence Centre at the Emerging Pathogens Institute of the University of Florida, USA, is very busy in coordinating interdisciplinary research, facing the epidemic of zika virus disease spreading in South America and the Caribbean and reaching Florida. Scientists are testing new diagnostic tests and working on vaccines, but the risk of serious birth defects in the offspring of infected pregnant women calls also for responsible procreative choices, involving lawmakers, governments and religious leaders as well.

Gender issue in clinical trials in Europe

Internationally, the issue of including women in clinical trials of medicines has been addressed in various guidelines issued by the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH), which promotes regulatory standards for clinical trials. While ICH has specific guidelines on the conduct of clinical trials in paediatric and geriatric populations, there are no consolidated guidelines for the investigation of medicinal product in women.

Drug Approval Regulation in Canada and USA

Since the thalidomide tragedy in the late1950s, there has been a reluctance to include women of childbearing age in clinical trials. However, this fear cannot be used as an excuse to not include females in clinical trials, and, with proper care and regulation, increased female participation has been reached. The United States adopted regulation early on to increase the participation of women, while a new regulation in Europe is going to improve this as well. Here follows an overview of the issue in Canada and in the USA. The third part of this series will deal with new regulation in Europe.

December 13, 2016

An increasing perception of the importance of gender differences is moving scientists to study these aspects in the different branches of medicine. In immunology, for example, a new awareness is emerging that women and men’s defences do not react to infections and vaccines in the same way. Katie Flanagan, senior lecturer of the Department of Immunology at Monash University, in Melbourne, Australia, tells ASSET what is the state-of-the-art knowledge and evidence in this field so far.

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MMLAP and other EU Projects

Health system analysis to support capacity development in response to the threat of pandemic influenza in Asia
Making society an active participant in water adaptation to global change
Public Participation in Developing a Common Framework for Assessment and Management of Sustainable Innovation
Engaging all of Europe in shaping a desirable and sustainable future
Expect the unexpected and know how to respond
Driving innovation in crisis management for European resilience
Effective communication in outbreak management: development of an evidence-based tool for Europe
Solutions to improve CBRNe resilience
Network for Communicable Disease Control in Southern Europe and Mediterranean Countries
Developing the framework for an epidemic forecast infrastructure
Strengthening of the national surveillance system for communicable diseases
Surveillance of vaccine preventable hepatitis
European monitoring of excess mortality for public health action
European network for highly infectious disease
Dedicated surveillance network for surveillance and control of vaccine preventable diseases in the EU
Modelling the spread of pandemic influenza and strategies for its containment and mitigation
Cost-effectiveness assessment of european influenza human pandemic alert and response strategies
Bridging the gap between science, stakeholders and policy makers
Promotion of immunization for health professionals in Europe
Towards inclusive research programming for sustainable food innovations
Addressing chronic diseases and healthy ageing across the life cycle
Medical ecosystem – personalized event-based surveillance
Studying the many and varied economic, social, legal and ethical aspects of the recent developments on the Internet, and their consequences for the individual and society at large
Get involved in the responsible marine research and innovation
Knowledge-based policy-making on issues involving science, technology and innovation, mainly based upon the practices in Parliamentary Technology Assessment
Assessment of the current pandemic preparedness and response tools, systems and practice at national, EU and global level in priority areas
Analysis of innovative public engagement tools and instruments for dynamic governance in the field of Science in Society
Public Engagement with Research And Research Engagement with Society
Computing Veracity – the Fourth Challenge of Big Data
Providing infrastructure, co-ordination and integration of existing clinical research networks on epidemics and pandemics
Promote vaccinations among migrant population in Europe
Creating mechanisms for effectively tackling the scientific and technology related challenges faced by society
Improve the quality of indoor air, keeping it free from radon
Improving respect of ethics principles and laws in research and innovation, in line with the evolution of technologies and societal concerns
Investigating how cities in the West securitise against global pandemics
Creating a structured dialogue and mutual learning with citizens and urban actors by setting up National Networks in 10 countries across Europe
Identifying how children can be change agents in the Science and Society relationship
Establishing an open dialogue between stakeholders concerning synthetic biology’s potential benefits and risks
Transparent communication in Epidemics: Learning Lessons from experience, delivering effective Messages, providing Evidence