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While the substantial majority of clinical trials still take place in countries classified by the World Bank as high income, a review of clinical trial registrations on the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform and clinicaltrials.gov shows that a significant and growing number are being conducted in LMICs, with major centers in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Brazil, China, India, and South Africa. COVID-19 will likely have a longlasting effect on global supply chains.11 The U.S. and more than 50 other countries are restricting or considering restrictions on exports of supplies that are needed to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 locally.12 Internationally, the World Trade Organization and the World Customs Organization issued a joint statement noting the disruptive impact of the virus on global supply chains and pledged to cooperate to facilitate trade in essential goods.13 LMICs are struggling to obtain limited hospital supplies in the global market in competition with the U.S., the European Union, Japan, and similar high-income buyers, as recent reporting about the COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria shows.14 Clinical trial sites in LMICs that cannot obtain needed supplies in-country could obtain them from a study sponsor, assuming the products can be legally imported and shipments to that country are not cost-prohibitive in light of global freight and logistic disruptions. [...]informed consent forms and study institutional review board (IRB) and independent ethics committee (IEC) approvals may need to be revisited in light of local conditions. Clint D. Hermes is an attorney at Bass, Berry & Sims References 1. https://main.icmr.nic.in/sites/default/files/guidelines/EC_Guidance_ COVID19_06_05_2020.pdf 2. http://www.sahpra.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/SAHPRACommunication_COVID_19-Final-25032020.pdf 3. https://pharmacyboardkenya.org/files/?file=Clinical_Trials_During_ COVID-19_Pandemic.pdf 4. http://portal.anvisa.gov.br/documents/219201/4340788/SEI_ ANVISA+-+0989653+-+Nota+Técnica14.pdf/6b48273f-550f-47618ba1-4e731a87b526 5. https://www.gob.mx/cofepris/articulos/medidas-extraordinarias-enrelacion-a-estudios-clinicos-ante-la-pandemia-de-covid-19 6. https://ensayosclinicos-repec.ins.gob.pe/images/Nueva_actualización_12.12.19/Actualización_2020/Comunicado_N_002-2020.pdf 7. https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/imf-and-covid19/Policy-Responsesto-COVID-19 8. https://www.bsg.ox.ac.uk/research/research-projects/coronavirusgovernment-response-tracker 9. https://covidtracker.bsg.ox.ac.uk/stringency-map 10.https://www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/immunitypassports-in-the-context-of-covid-19 11. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/supply-chains-leadership-business-economics-trade-coronavirus-covid19/ 12. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/covid-19-coronaviruslessons-past-supply-chain-disruptions/ 13.http://www.wcoomd.org/en/media/newsroom/2020/april/wco-wtojoint-statement-on-covid-19-related-trade-measures.aspx 14.https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/17/world/africa/coronaviruskano-nigeria-hotspot.html 15. https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/amB7fBxLw8KSR9DcUsbTWg
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As a susceptible demographic, elderly individuals are more prone to risks during sudden disasters. With the exacerbation of aging, new challenges arise for urban disaster reduction and prevention. To address this, the key is to establish a community-scale resilience assessment framework based on the aging background and to summarize factors that influence the resilience level of communities. This approach is a crucial step towards seeking urban disaster prevention and reduction from the bottom up, and serves as an important link to enhance the capacity of urban disaster reduction. This paper explores community resilience evaluation indicators under the background of aging, builds a community resilience evaluation index system based on the Pressure–State–Response, uses the entropy weight method to weigh the indicators, and carries out a resilience evaluation of 507 communities in the main urban area of Changchun. The empirical results indicate significant spatial differentiation of community resilience in the main urban area of Changchun. Moreover, the regional development is unbalanced, showing a spatial distribution pattern of weakness in the middle and strength in the periphery. The ring road network highlights the difference between the new and old urban areas. The high contribution indexes of community resilience in the main urban area of Changchun were concentrated on disaster relief materials input, community self-rescue ability, and disaster cognition ability. Finally, strategies to improve community resilience are proposed from the perspectives of stress, state, and response, emphasizing community residents' participation, conducting disaster prevention and reduction training, and improving community response-ability.
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Speed read Crises, shocks and volatility to food systems becoming the new norm Policy focus should shift to ‘permanent crisis resilience' – report Local groups could be key to gender inclusion, data collection [SYDNEY] A shift towards permanent "crisis resilience” from short-term aid is crucial to mitigate increasingly frequent shocks to the global food system and tackle rising global hunger, say food policy researchers. Rob Vos, IFPRI's director of markets, trade and institutions, says a closer connection is needed between early warning systems that monitor global food market volatility and those that monitor food insecurity at the local level. "Both systems further need to pay more attention to monitoring the risk factors that underly food supply or price shocks as that cause food crises,” Vos tells SciDev.Net.
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The modern business environment in which the world economy operates brings increasing unpredictability, which makes it difficult to plan and implement business continuity management. Recent examples are the emergence and spread of the corona virus and the war in Ukraine. Market-oriented economies are characterized by a reduction in the life cycle of companies and competition in saturated industrial sectors. Integration processes, takeovers and mergers, represent one of the ways of implementing development strategies of organizations and most often take place in waves and in crisis periods due to economic shocks and the influence of internal and external factors on the organization. Mentioned strategy is used by companies in order to acquire the necessary capital and resources in an effort to establish their position on the market more quickly and efficiently and to carry out activities of greater volume and income for the purpose of survival and faster progress. Due to the trends of M&A and the growing inconsistency and uncertainty in business, the aim of this paper is to highlight the consequences that M&A brings when it comes to managing the business continuity of a "newly integrated" organization. The impact on employees, business processes and general functioning and management of business continuity during and especially after integration will be observed. In order to fulfill the objective of the paper, the empirical part of the paper uses the Delphi method, in which the source of data is based on statistical collection and then the interpretation of the answers to the set questionnaire from a number of experts in the field of business continuity management, the banking sector, auditing and several business units that have recently passed M&A activities in order to consolidate attitudes about the consequences that integration processes bring for business continuity management and the organization as a whole. The paper will analyze the consequences of mergers and acquisitions for the management of business continuity, identify its advantages and disadvantages, and present recommendations for future such processes in the concluding remarks.
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PurposeThe purpose of this study is to analyse the crisis network response of European countries and the role played by defence organizations (DOs) during the early response phase of the pandemic, here set to encompass 75 days.Design/methodology/approachPublished materials – reports, news and communications – provided by authorities and DOs were used. Some of the authors actively participated in national pandemic response networks. An exploratory approach and qualitative content analysis were applied. The data were collected in national languages from 13 European countries, and they were coded and analysed using the actors, resources and activities (ARA) framework.FindingsThis study identified three main categories of activity structures in which the DOs interacted with civilian members of response networks, health-related services, logistics services and public support services. These networks among actors were found within formal response systems and emergent networks. The DOs engaged as actors that provided a range of services when civil authorities could not cope with the huge demand for specific services and when resources were scarce in the initial response phase.Originality/valueThis study contributes by filling an important research gap with regard to the civil-military relations associated with the use of DO resources in the civil response to the pandemic crisis in Europe, which is described as an untraditional response. The ARA network approach provides a framework for arranging ARA and extends the wider civil-military network to expand the formal networks of the early crisis response. The study lays knowledge about the co-operation between civilian and military actors in different contexts and provides a broader understanding of the roles that DOs played in the response operations.
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Although the ability to manage public health emergencies in China has improved significantly, there are still many challenges to the existing information transmission mechanism in pandemic early warning systems. In this context, a tripartite evolutionary game model composed of the local government, the whistleblower, and the public is formulated. By using Matlab, the dynamic evolution path of the game model is stimulated under different conditions. Stable strategies for an early warning system for public health emergencies are also explored. The results indicate that the cost of whistleblowing, the cost of response, and the benefit of attention significantly influence strategic decisions among three parties. This study highlights the importance of whistleblowing in managing public health emergencies. Yet, our findings provide theoretical support for policy recommendations for promoting public health emergency preparedness.
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Speed read Asia Pacific countries leverage satellite data and artificial intelligence Fighting COVID-19 and meeting SDGs are high on applications Digital divide remains a handicap between and within countries [MANILA] Asia Pacific countries are leveraging geospatial information, digital solutions and artificial intelligence to enhance their response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and to help meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to a new report. The Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency analysed reduced night-light images to monitor the impact of lockdown measures. “Data is now a strategic asset” Tiziana Bonapace, UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) Last March, the Philippines’ Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD) solicited proposals for projects that use geospatial information in response to COVID-19.
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Speed read UN report shows clear links between global disasters Lack of risk management and climate change among common causes Tackling root causes across disciplines is essential, report says Extreme events are increasingly compounding each other, even if they initially seem wide apart and unconnected, making it more crucial to tackle their root causes, says a report. In turn, deforestation is linked to Western demand for meat, and has a knock-on effect on climate change, exacerbating extreme events elsewhere in the world, says the report. Need to strengthen Strengthening networks for sharing prevention and response experiences between countries, and mechanisms for international cooperation and allocation of funds, is critical says Tran Si Pha, head of the disaster management department at the Vietnam Red Cross Society.
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Speed read Benefits of satellite tech for world’s poorest and the planet could be boundless – if data is open to all Demand for resources to build satellites could put vulnerable communities, indigenous land rights at risk Future challenges remain, such as need for infrastructure, uneven distribution between countries Satellite technologies are a new frontier in global development. Satellites are being used for everything from monitoring illegal fishing to tracking malaria, from supporting early warning systems in flood-prone nations to measuring crop yields and giving farmers advice on fertilisers. Nomadic communities in Africa are using space technology and mobile phone networks to go where the water is and avoid violent conflicts in the Sahel related to climate change and food insecurity.
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In order to quickly and accurately collect the massive commodities and corresponding transaction data of large-scale e-commerce platforms, and improve the ability of data analysis and mining, this paper proposes a platform commodity information collection system based on splash technology. The system prerenders the javascript code in the product page, combined with the Scrapy crawler framework, to realize a system that quickly and effectively collects product data from different platforms, and uses “mobile phone” as the retrieval keyword to verify the designed system, respectively. The experimental results show that the system can effectively collect up to 60,000 comments and 6,000 system requests. Conclusion. The platform commodity information collection system based on splash technology has certain application value and promotion for the commodity data collection of different platforms of e-commerce.
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Context: Food safety is essential for every human. It determines public health, nutrition, elimination of hunger, and the promotion of sustainable agriculture. It is crucial for sustainable production, consumption, and international food trade. Ensuring food safety is the fundamental challenge of the 21st century. Food safety is often related to food defense and includes protection against intentional contamination with various chemical, biological, or other harmful substances. By introducing food protection tools and methods, any company reduces risk and creates an opportunity to generate more significant and reliable profits and improved production for society. One such method could be the CARVER+Shock. The method is an offensive targeting prioritization tool that has been adapted for use in the food sector. Objective: The article aims to present the experience of the first implementation of CARVER+Shock in a Polish primary production company, to improve the approach to food safety and food defense. Methods: The article is a case study. Descriptive analysis was performed to analyze legal acts and safety management standards in food defense. The authors used the CARVER+Shock expert method to estimate companies’ vulnerability. CARVER is an acronym for Criticality, Accessibility, Recoverability, Vulnerability, Effect, Recognizability. The visualization and risk analysis were made using business process management and business process modeling (VACD diagram) Results and conclusions: Primary production enterprise dealing with the cultivation and confectioning of the pre-treatment and sale of peeled onions for further processing purposes was examined. Five essential stages of the production process were assessed, and risks were assigned. Recognizability and criticality turned out to be the most crucial attribute of CARVER+Shock. Overall, the study showed that the company was not fully prepared for the threat posed by food terrorism. The organization did not have any procedures describing how to proceed during deliberate attacks. In addition, workers had low awareness of food defense throughout the food chain. Based on these conclusions, several detailed improvement actions were formulated. The results obtained from the pioneering application of the CARVER+Shock method for a Polish primary production company may constitute a benchmark for other sectors of the food industry, both domestically and abroad. Significance: The article describes the results of the first Polish attempts to use CARVER+Shock and business process management to improve the approach to food safety in a primary production enterprise.
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New Zealand’s geographical and geological position in the Pacific puts its communities at risk, so early warning systems are a critical component of New Zealand’s emergency management system.
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This paper reviews the European Union (EU) legal framework of Regulation 2021/836 concerning the relationship between humanitarian aid, civil protection and human health. Using a legislative data set consisting of three documents, namely: Regulation (EU) 2021/836 (2021), Decision No 1313/2013/EU (2013) and Decision (EU) 2019/420 (2019), we find that the need for development and coordination is associated with innovation and resilience measures. Thus, the study aims to better observe the complex preparedness measures and actions of the European Commission (EC) and to understand the legislative changes in the field of civil protection (CP), humanitarian aid (HA) and human health (HH) in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic under the Regulation (EU) 2021/836, namely: (i) the coordination of actions including the protection of the population and the establishment of logistical support and resources for the Member States (MS) [Recital (19) Regulation (EU) 2021/836];(ii) the crisis management system (CMS) at EU level and (iii) the approaches to HH and "medical countermeasures" [Recital (3) Regulation (EU) 2021/836]. The research thus points to the legal and institutional analysis of the: (i) the "Union Civil Protection Mechanism" (UCPM) within Decision No 1313/2013/EU and Decision (EU) 2019/420;(ii) the "European Civil Protection Pool" (ECPP) within the Decision (EU) 2019/420;(iii) the approaches to the "Union Civil Protection Knowledge Network" (UCPKN) within the Regulation (EU) 2021/836. The research concludes by focusing on the logistical measures and resources, as well as the role of operational capabilities and information.
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This paper considers the many flaws of the current emergency response landscape in the United States through the lens of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. It suggests an intentional move towards better coordinated efforts between federal, state, and local governments to achieve a more effective and efficient process for reacting to the inevitable disasters of the future. This can be done through a reconsideration of already existing federal procurement programs that allow for state and local governments to order independently, such as the General Services Administration's Cooperative and Disaster Purchasing programs and the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Advanced Contract program. This Note recommends creating a specialized schedule contract for emergency purchasing under the General Services Administration's Cooperative Purchasing program. By pre-negotiating contracts for goods and supplies needed across emergencies, the expertise of federal, state, and local governments can be employed to present a fuller and more cohesive emergency response structure.