The World Health Organization (WHO) welcomes stakeholders from sectors such as health, education, transportation, agriculture, finance, social services, at any level and in any type of role to complete a public survey to identify priorities for a global research agenda on Public Health and Social Measures (PHSM) during health emergencies via this link:
The survey aims to identify medium- to long-term research priorities
on PHSM for multiple hazards and will be open for three weeks. The
survey can currently be accessed in English, and from early October will
also be made available in Spanish and French.
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic put a spotlight on the critical role that PHSM
have throughout the emergency management cycle. PHSM refer to a broad
array of nonpharmaceutical interventions implemented by individuals,
communities and governments to reduce the risk and scale of transmission
of epidemic- and pandemic-prone infectious diseases. They can be used
to address outbreaks with different modes of transmission and are key to
protecting the health of communities.
The results of this survey
will inform a global research agenda setting out priorities relevant to
countries, researchers, and research funders to support the better
understanding of the effectiveness of PHSM and their broader health,
social and economic consequences during health emergencies.
The
research agenda is being developed as part of WHO’s multi-year PHSM
initiative, which aims to accelerate global research and strengthen
precision in PHSM policies and implementation. Its development started
with a global technical consultation in 2021, which identified key
themes and research questions. Subsequently, the questions were
prioritized through a first public survey focusing on immediate research
priorities pertinent to the COVID-19 pandemic. Further information on
this can be found in this web article.
