Newsletters

A spontaneous, collaborative effort for early diagnosis of infectious outbreaks

Preparedness is also made of vigilance towards new infectious threats. Professor Bert Niesters from the University of Groningen, in the Netherlands, tells ASSET an example of spontaneous cooperation among 42 laboratories from more than 20 countries in Europe in facing an emerging, dangerous infection: enterovirus D68 respiratory epidemic in 2014-2015. That experience is now going on, taking the name of EUROTYPE.

Ethical issues in national pandemic influenza plans

Milan, 3rd October 2016

Ethical issues in national pandemic influenza plans

What is the relevance of ethical principles in national preparedness and response plans? This is the question that drove ASSET experts to perform an analysis of national pandemic plans developed by ten countries of the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) and by Switzerland, to evaluate the relevance of ethical issues and the application of ethical principles in their development.

Stopping H7N9 bird flu by vaccines

While the number of human cases of H7N9 bird flu is rising in China, and H5N1 is a persistent threat, different strategies of prevention are being considered. In a “one health” approach, vaccination of poultry is one of the possibilities, according to Ivan Hung, Clinical Associate Professor and Honorary Consultant in the Department of Medicine at the Queen Mary Hospital of the University of Hong Kong.

Epidemic preparedness and response: Europe listens to the citizens’ voice

 

Milan, 13th September 2016

Epidemic preparedness and response: Europe listens to the citizens’ voice

ASSET project will organize citizen’ consultations on issues related to pandemic and epidemic preparedness and response in 8 European countries on 24th September.

Experts through “revolving doors”, between public health and industry

The phenomenon of “revolving doors” is mentioned when experts often pass from public health to industry and vice versa, raising the suspects of conflicts of interest that could influence their conduct. According to Norman Begg, GSK Vice President, Head of Scientific Affairs and Public Health, Vaccines - who used to be Head of the Immunisation division at the UK Public Health Laboratory Service - this risk should not be prevent people from moving during their careers, but calls for a complete transparency by all the sides involved.

Habits can spread epidemics: the case of living poultry markets in China

Living poultry markets, common in China and in other eastern countries, are a typical example of how societal factors can be relevant in the spread of infectious diseases. A science-with-and-for-society approach should therefore find a way to solve this problem without fostering people hostility towards authorities. Even if central slaughters would be the simplest solutions, people would not accept them.

Consider sex in clinical trials

With this video we officially introduce the ASSET Sex & Gender & Vaccination platform, which collects contents focused on gender issues related to epidemics and pandemics.
 

“Pandemic”: a misleading word

Albert Osterhaus, director of the Research Center for Emerging Infections and Zoonoses (RIZ) in Hannover, Germany, and Chairman of the European Working group on Influenza (ESW), is one of the top virologist in the world, who has discovered more than 50 new viruses over the last decades. In this short video he explains why the word “pandemic” can be a cause of misunderstanding between health authorities and the public, as it happened in 2009, when the new emerging flu virus A(H1N1) turned out to be milder than expected in the beginning.

WHO and industry: agreements in case of pandemic

One of the main source of distrust towards public health authorities is the suspect of hidden connections with the pharmaceutical industry, but, in case of a severe pandemic, an adequate supply of antivirals and vaccines is essential. ASSET asked Norman Begg, GSK Vice President, Head of Scientific Affairs and Public Health, Vaccines, what kind of agreements exist for Public Health Emergencies of International Concern (PHEIC) or of a pandemic, between big pharma and WHO. The answer for the two situations is not the same.

Vaccine hesitancy

Susanna Esposito, professor of Paediatrics at the University of Milan, Italy and president of WAIDID (World Association for Infectious Diseases), thinks that families need more information about safety and efficacy of vaccines, in order to overcome their growing hesitancy towards them. Communication is the key.

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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