Responsible Research and Innovation Associated With Risk Communication and Public Engagement on Health Emergency Preparedness at the Local Level

Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) associated with public health emergency preparedness (PHEP) and response pose major challenges to the scientific community and civil society because a multistakeholder and interdisciplinary methodology is needed to foster public engagement. In 2017, within “Action plan on Science in Society related issues in Epidemics and Total pandemics”, twenty-three initiatives in eleven cities—Athens, Brussels, Bucharest, Dublin, Geneva, Haifa, Lyon, Milan, Oslo, Rome, and Sofia—represented effective opportunities for Mobilization and Mutual Learning on RRI issues in the matter of PHEP with different community-level groups. These experiences show that to effectively address a discourse on RRI-related issues in PHEP it is necessary to engage the local population and stakeholders, which is challenging because of needed competencies and resources. Under coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, we are proven that such a diversified multistakeholder engagement on RRI related to PHEP locally needs further elaboration and practical development. Copyright © 2022 Possenti, De Mei, Kurchatova, Green, Drager, Villa, d'Onofrio, Saadatian-Elahi, Moore, Brattekas, Karnaki, Beresniak, Popa and Greco.

Impact of 2020-21 seasonal influenza in Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction: Influenza and COVID-19 are high transmission pathologies which have a different median incubation period. Although the symptoms are similar, people are more likely to be affected by severe and/or critical COVID-19 infection than severe and/or critical influenza infection. It is well proven that school closure and personal protection measures (mask-wearing and social distancing) are effective in reducing the spread of infection. This study aims to highlight the impact of 2020-21 seasonal influenza on the Italian population during the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify possible reasons for that. Materials and methods: To describe the impact of influenza on the population, data from the Integrated Influence Surveillance InfluNet and vaccination coverage in Italy in the 2020-21 season were used. Influenza Like Illness (ILI) incidence rates per thousand patients and influenza vaccination coverage (%) were calculated on the total population and by age group.

HIV/Aids and COVID-19 in Brazil: in four decades, two antithetical approaches to face serious pandemics

In the space of four decades, Brazil has faced two serious pandemics: human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The country's response to HIV/AIDS was coordinated by several stakeholders and recognised the importance of scientific evidence in guiding decision-making, and a network offering monitoring and antiretroviral treatment was provided through coordinated efforts by the country's universal health system. Conversely, the lack of a centrally coordinated strategy and misalignment between government ministries regarding the COVID-19 pandemic response, together with the denial of scientific evidence, promotion of ineffective treatments and insufficient vaccination efforts, have all led to the uncontrolled spread of infection, the near-total collapse of the health system and excess deaths.