Is Zika epidemic a lose-lose game for WHO?

Milan, 4^th February 2016

Is Zika epidemic a lose-lose game for WHO?

Uncertainty is common, in the first phases of an infectious outbreak. However, when facing of a serious threat to global public health, even if complete evidence is lacking, someone has to take the responsibility to push the red button that activates a chain of coordinated actions (such as cooperation among states and research on vaccines).

Choosing to do this, the risk of giving a false alarm is unavoidable. On the other side, one could decide to wait, until something more is known, with the awareness that, in this way, it is possible to act when it is too late.

Facing the diffusion of Zika virus in Latin America, Margaret Chan, WHO director general – at least for the third time in few years – found herself in front of that button, while experts couldn’t provide her with sure answers to her most relevant questions, such as a certain causal association between the widespread diffusion of Zika epidemic and an apparent increase in the number of cases of microcephaly and Guillain Barré syndrome.

The issues at stakes in this tough decision, along with the challenge of risk communication in such cases, are discussed in a new feature published on the website of ASSET project, which aims to bring Science-in Society themes into the public debate on epidemics and pandemics. Gender and ethical aspects are considered as well.

For any further information please visit our website (http://www.asset-scienceinsociety.eu/)

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Roberta Villa

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MMLAP and other EU Projects

AsiaFluCap Health system analysis to support capacity development in response to the threat of pandemic influenza in Asia	BEWATER Making society an active participant in water adaptation to global change	CASI Public Participation in Developing a Common Framework for Assessment and Management of Sustainable Innovation	CIMULACT Engaging all of Europe in shaping a desirable and sustainable future	DARWIN Expect the unexpected and know how to respond
DRIVER Driving innovation in crisis management for European resilience	ECOM Effective communication in outbreak management: development of an evidence-based tool for Europe	EDEN Solutions to improve CBRNe resilience	EPISOUTH Network for Communicable Disease Control in Southern Europe and Mediterranean Countries	EPIWORK Developing the framework for an epidemic forecast infrastructure
EUPHARE Strengthening of the national surveillance system for communicable diseases	EUROHEP Surveillance of vaccine preventable hepatitis	EuroMOMO European monitoring of excess mortality for public health action	EURONHID European network for highly infectious disease	EUVAC.NET Dedicated surveillance network for surveillance and control of vaccine preventable diseases in the EU
FLUMODCONT Modelling the spread of pandemic influenza and strategies for its containment and mitigation	FLURESP Cost-effectiveness assessment of european influenza human pandemic alert and response strategies	GAP2 Bridging the gap between science, stakeholders and policy makers	HProImmune Promotion of immunization for health professionals in Europe	INPROFOOD Towards inclusive research programming for sustainable food innovations
JA-CHRODIS Addressing chronic diseases and healthy ageing across the life cycle	M-Eco Medical ecosystem – personalized event-based surveillance	MAPPING 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	MARINA Get involved in the responsible marine research and innovation	PACITA Knowledge-based policy-making on issues involving science, technology and innovation, mainly based upon the practices in Parliamentary Technology Assessment
PANDEM Assessment of the current pandemic preparedness and response tools, systems and practice at national, EU and global level in priority areas	PE2020 Analysis of innovative public engagement tools and instruments for dynamic governance in the field of Science in Society	PERARES Public Engagement with Research And Research Engagement with Society	PHEME Computing Veracity – the Fourth Challenge of Big Data	PREPARE Providing infrastructure, co-ordination and integration of existing clinical research networks on epidemics and pandemics
PROMOVAX Promote vaccinations among migrant population in Europe	R&DIALOGUE Creating mechanisms for effectively tackling the scientific and technology related challenges faced by society	RESPIRE Improve the quality of indoor air, keeping it free from radon	SATORI Improving respect of ethics principles and laws in research and innovation, in line with the evolution of technologies and societal concerns	SECURING CITIES AGAINST GLOBAL PANDEMICS Investigating how cities in the West securitise against global pandemics
SEiSMiC Creating a structured dialogue and mutual learning with citizens and urban actors by setting up National Networks in 10 countries across Europe	SIS CATALYST Identifying how children can be change agents in the Science and Society relationship	SYN-ENERGENE Establishing an open dialogue between stakeholders concerning synthetic biology’s potential benefits and risks	TELLME Transparent communication in Epidemics: Learning Lessons from experience, delivering effective Messages, providing Evidence

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ASSET

Action plan on Science in Society related issues in Epidemics and Total pandemics

European Commission

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 612236.