Bron: Improving pandemic preparedness and management - Publications Office of the EU (europa.eu)
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Artikel
Improving pandemic preparedness and management
De COVID-19-pandemie heeft pijnlijk duidelijk gemaakt dat de wereld onvoldoende voorbereid was op grootschalige uitbraken van nieuwe infectieziekten. De EU reageert op en trekt lessen uit de COVID-19-crisis met nieuwe beleidsinitiatieven van de Europese Commissie om de paraatheid bij toekomstige bedreigingen voor de volksgezondheid te verbeteren.
Om dat proces te ondersteunen en er input voor te leveren, hebben wij als wetenschappelijke en ethische adviseurs de respons op COVID-19 en deels ook op eerdere pandemieën onderzocht, op basis van inzichten uit de wetenschap en de academische wereld. Daarbij hebben wij ons laten leiden door de Europese waarden en de eerbiediging van de grondrechten. Uit dat onderzoek blijkt dat belangrijke lessen zijn getrokken en nog moeten worden getrokken. Op basis daarvan hebben wij een reeks aanbevelingen gedaan.
Het volledige advies is hier in het Engels te lezen. In het Nederlands is daar ook een samenvatting van te lezen (zie hieronder). -
Artikel
Pandamic preparedness and the future of healthcare
Onder de strategische leiding van de High-Level Group of Personalities, brengt de Africa-Europe Foundation in dit rapport een toekomstvisie over de wereldwijde gezondheidszorg naar voren. Het rapport bevestigt opnieuw de oproep van de Foundation om in actie te komen op het gebied van vaccingelijkheid, de onderlinge afhankelijkheid tussen gezondheid, klimaat en ontwikkeling, evenals de rol van digitale technologieën voor een betere veerkracht in de toekomstige gezondheidszorgecosystemen.
Het rapport schetst hoe een alomvattend partnerschap tussen Afrika en Europa, gebaseerd op wederzijdse erkenning van gedeelde uitdagingen en wederzijds leren, de internationale reactie op toekomstige crises zou kunnen versterken. Belangrijke aanbevelingen zijn onder meer de noodzaak om de financiële, productie- en toeleveringsketens te herstructureren; de nexus gezondheid-klimaat-ontwikkeling tot stand brengen; en om de strategische implementatie van digitale technologieën in zorgstelsels te bevorderen.Bron: www.africaeuropefoundation.org
Auteurs
Paul Walton, Regisseur Rapport
Wuleta Lemma, Ambassadeur digitale gezondheidszorg
Tamsin Rose, Senior Gezonheidszorg
Rahul Chawla, Coördinerend redacteur
Charles Ebikeme, Onderzoeker
Rasna Warah, Adviseur Strategische Content
Matjaz Krmelj, Graphic Designer -
Artikel
Exit from Covid-19 crisis must be digital, local and work for all
The COVID-19 crisis in our cities is proving to us that a fair and rapid digital transition is not only possible, but also more necessary than ever before. Digital technologies have been key to ensuring the continuity of municipal services and to providing a humane and social response to the pandemic. But it has also exposed the stark inequalities that shape access to digital technologies and the protection of our data and digital rights.
Many of us have led large-scale transitions to remote work in just a few weeks since the start of the outbreak, which has ensured the continuity of our public services. Not only this: digital technologies have also allowed us to provide a more social and community-based response to the crisis – from 3D printing of Personal Protective Equipment in municipal fab labs, to providing adequate healthcare for confined people, or tackling loneliness among our senior citizens.
Cities across Europe have worked tirelessly to prevent physical distancing from turning into social distancing, and digital innovation has proven to be a key instrument. However, this is challenging to ensure, when the access of most vulnerable groups to the internet – and their ability to get the most out of digital services – is defined by their income level, age, gender or even neighbourhood.Full article: eurocities
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Artikel
Cities must prepare for a new post-pandemic normal
The COVID-19 pandemic has called our society and way of life into crisis. Experts claim that social distancing is the best and only alternative to stop the virus from spreading since there is no vaccine available yet. Governments, the economy, and human relations have been shaken, and the population is waiting for all of this to end in order to go back to normal. However, there is no going back to how we used to live, and we should start preparing for a new post-pandemic normal.
The pandemic has brought a crisis to our everyday lives. The implementation of social distancing measures and control mechanisms to ensure their compliance has unchained a series of public policies, as well as personal and collective actions that have put certain oddities of our society, government, and economy into evidence, all of which should be rethought. This is necessary in order to prepare us for the next emergency that may arise, whether it is a global sanitary crisis or any minor scale event, and for when we go back to normal after this pandemic is over, which could take weeks or even months.
The pandemic has affected our cities in different ways, paralyzing some economic sectors, and cutting social ties. On one hand, hundreds of events have been postponed, like festivals, fairs, sporting events, and private parties. On the other hand, the economy is almost paralyzed, with some essential sectors working with reduced hours, others learning how to function online, other more robust business hanging on and living off of financial reserves, and the fourth group of the informal or partially formal economy, which is frozen or functions somewhat illegally and with no protection whatsoever, mainly in the outskirts of the cities, where they are less visible to authorities. The dilemma is clear, at a government and economic level, and even at a family level: health versus economy, the possibility — remote or not — to contract a disease versus the need to make ends meet.
Nobody knows exactly what will come, how life will be in one month, six months, or a year. Everyone is expecting “all of this to pass” in order to go back to normal. But we must accept that we won’t go back to living like we used to. More importantly, we should not allow ourselves to live like before because, if we did, it would mean that we haven’t learned anything from this pandemic which has paralyzed the entire world. The emergency will pass, and we will slowly get back to our daily activities and our obligations, following the experts’ recommendations. As a health professional recently said, “faucets will be opening”, referring to who will be allowed to go out and restart their activities, and when. But without a doubt, what is coming will be a “new normal”, of uncertain features, for which we must prepare to start today, during the emergency.
Full article, see here
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Artikel
Highlights from city dialogue on health and urban prepardness with the WHO
On May 29, EUROCITIES held a city dialogue with the World Health Organisation on the topic of public health measures and urban preparedness in the context of COVID-19.
Attended by 35 participants from 20 European cities, this was the first city dialogue entirely focused on health and key health determinants critically affected by the crisis. Participants had the opportunity to get acquainted with the latest WHO technical guidance on preparedness for COVID-19 and exchange on key measures for COVID-19 transition and post-pandemic resilience.Key highlights and messages from the dialogue
- The evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic is creating a set of interconnected challenges linked to increased demand for health services, the burden of physical distancing on individuals and communities and unprecedented socio-economic consequences for businesses and workers. Cities are national epicenteres in the COVID-19 pandemic, but also entry points to engaging with communities. Municipal governments are key in reaching out to vulnerable groups, including new vulnerable groups emerging throughout this crisis (e.g. ‘new urban poor’). Risk communication messaging with trusted public health messaging and advice is key in all transition phases and needed for all segments of society. Communication should be paired with active community involvement, such as for instance through the mobilisation of volunteers and partnerships with civil society organisations, civil protection and universities.
- Ensuring the continuity of essential services, including services beyond health care, also contributes to the prevention and control of COVID-19. This includes having a clear list of essential public services and infrastructure, ensuring continuation of primary health care services and essential prevention services such as vaccination programmes for children. To support first line care services, technological solutions such as telemedicine should be considered. Many cities (Milan, Espoo,Glasgow, Nice, Zagreb, Zaragoza, Vienna, Bordeaux, Poznan, Krakow, Nicosia, Barcelona, Ljubljana, Beşiktaş) operate hotlines to provide remote medical assistance to COVID-19 patients and others. Additionally, some cities provide psychological advice by telephone.
- The crisis has shown that mortality figures can be lowered if comprehensive policies are implemented at the right time. This includes some of the most vulnerable community settings, such as long-term care facilities where COVID-19 has hit particularly hard. In this context, the pandemic has underlined the importance of local decision-making in times of crisis with focus on fast reaction and social aspects of care which frequently falls under local responsibility.
- It is crucial that national and EU funding, including the new European recovery plan, makes a clear difference at local level and benefits people’s health and well-being. The European Commission’s new EUR 9,4 billion health programme “EU4Health” should harness and scale up co-benefits between health and urban preparedness, by directly supporting local level health capacities, including via strengthened synergies with cohesion policy (ESF+ & ERDF) and Horizon Europe.
- The current crisis is also a window of opportunity to ‘build back better’, by putting health and well-being as key driver to sustainable and inclusive urban development. A crucial pathway to achieve this involves stronger attention to health throughout a life-course, investments in health infrastructure, services, and workforce, and building synergies between health and well-being with the economy, food and energy systems. Many cities are currently emerging as frontrunners in this urgently needed transformation; Glasgow is prioritising an ‘asset-based’ approach in the recovery, based on the need to redress the balance between meeting needs and nurturing the strengths and resources of people and communities; Amsterdam is embracing the ‘doughnut model’ for its post-pandemic recovery – a circular economy concept focused on wellbeing and caring for the planet; Barcelona is scaling up it’s 2030 Agenda guided by the localisation of the SDGs to galvanise green investments and co-design recovery strategies and measures with all stakeholders in and outside the city hall.
The recording of the City Dialogue is availabe here
Full article: eurocities
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Artikel
UN-Habitat's COVID-19 Response Plan
UN-Habitat is responding to a growing volume of requests from both national and local governments to help them prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Building on more than 40 years of urban experience, much of it in humanitarian situations, we are focusing on the city-level response to the crisis.
UN-Habitat’s COVID-19 Policy and Programme Framework provides guidance for global, regional and country-level action. The framework is a key instrument to focus and scale UN-Habitat’s contribution to the overall response led by national and local governments, UN agencies and local partners. The framework will be updated as required by changing context and acquired learning or experience.Find these plans and more information at UN-Habitat.org