Students, please comment on this post, leaving your response to the following prompt. Do not forget to include your team name in the comment text:
Given what you have experienced over the last two days, what conclusions has your group reached about the essential considerations in response to a pandemic?
- communication on all levels (especially on the bottom level to the greatest audiences)
- not a one faceted problem (economics, ethics, politics, science, etc.) and try to compromise the various competing interests
- the importance of a more global perspective rather than a domestic one
- educating the people on all levels
Team 7
-There are no definitive conclusions, communication is essential, awareness of structural violence, an equal distribution of services if possible and available, complexities involved,public moral, how strongly to respond, severity and transmission, economic, health, social considerations, surveillance (technology and health/media communication) , global networks and diplomacy
My group pointed out that many of the reactions that we had during these past two days were results of the amount and reliability of the information we were presented with. This reflects a greater need for accuracy in disseminating information to people in positions of power who make decisions. We realize the importance being informed citizens in times of crisis.
We also recognized the needs for pandemic response plans to be adaptable to new information as it becomes available.
Team 11, the MDR-BD
This is the response from Team 11, the MDR-BD.
Over the past two days, we have learned of the importance of different stakeholders involved in eradicating a pandemic. One of the most important stakeholders that we just learned about today, however, is the importance of the media in developing a framework that the public and the health care industry as a whole are aware of. Although we initially underestimated the importance of this stakeholder, we now understand that it is very important to weigh how information about an emergency situation is disseminated in the media.
One other consideration that we initially underestimated was the role of primary care in general. As is evidenced in the “Return to Alma-Ata” campaign/ideology, developing stronger and more widespread primary care infrastructure has enormous ability to prevent the emergence of a deadly disease. Therefore, we would like to prioritize primary care in general—as a way to not only enhance the health of the population as a whole but also to mitigate the potential spread of disease.
Other important considerations include who is given priority when few vaccines are available and how to use the disease’s severity to drive policy decisions.
Team 10, The Hot Zone
This is the response of Team 10, The Hot Zone
Team: The WHO
The importance if objective media portrayal of disease contraction, sequencing, spread etc
Relying on scientific facts to trace the sequence of the disease. i.e. not the media
Considering conscious and inherent biases in making accurate conclusions about disease.
We ALWAYS have to consider the severity of a virus and its potential to be unpredictable.
Despite being a heavily technologically influenced society, disease can break out in our backyard too!
Outbreaks have both global and local consequences. We are moving into an age where we have to consider the consequences that our actions have even on people on the other side of the world from us.
The moral implications of a pandemic are huge. Pandemics can’t be used as political tools in order to keep treatment equitable.
Team Four – Blue Fever
We have realized that it is highly difficult to navigate all of the known and unknown information to effectively address the needs that arise during a health crisis such as a pandemic. Not only do we have to come up with a solution for the specific health issue in question, we must also consider the challenges of implementing any possible solution in the complex realm of the real world. Every currently considered solution has a variety of economic and social repercussions that also must be taken into account when making these important decisions. Also, we were very surprised and concerned to learn about the enormous inadequacy of the world’s resources (specifically the streamlined strategy of Duke Hospital) with regard to handling any potential pandemic. After this forum we feel more informed about what considerations need to be addressed, but we are also concerned about the fate of the world in the event of a real pandemic.
The Flu Fighters – Team 2
1) A pandemic is not just limited to health – it is a social, political, cultural, and economic issue
2) There are different stakeholders in decision-making and they all have different interests–even if they have the same ultimate intention
3) We need to have a health care structure in place to deal with the outbreak
4) We must increase education to the general public about the transmission of influenza and what to do in a crisis
5) Structural violence tends to impact how we react to outbreaks and make decisions in the time of crisis
6) We must develop tools to assess the severity of transmission, this should actually drive the decision-making process rather than other data, such as transmission rates, etc.
7) Working with media to prevent hysteria and to educate the public and the community about the outbreak
8) Social and medical leaders must be prepared to make difficult ethical decisions
9) We must look into developing better systems of surveillance, such as greater surveillance at the animal-human interface
10) We must lay the framework for allowing poorer countries to have access to vaccines
11) It is essential to find new ways to lower the price of vaccinations and look into reducing stigmatism against adjuvant usage in vaccines in order to serve more individuals
Team 3: The Plague
In planning for and addressing pandemics, we have come to realize that many different factors must be considered. Not only do decision makers have to worry about containing the spread of transmission of the disease and treating those infected, they must also juggle the equally important and difficult tasks of finding the source of the pandemic and collecting data, determining what information should be disclosed to the general public through media outlets, developing procedures for prioritizing treatment resources and deciding who will receive the limited medical resources, etc. These problems cannot be isolated and addressed on an individual basis, but rather they are very much interconnected, contributing to the difficulty in coming to a solution in a pandemic situation.
Responding to a pandemic is an inherently critical and possibly game-changing process, so first things first–you have to have a plan. It’s important to maintain a flexible approach, considering all possibilities, but it’s also important to have a prediction or idea of the scale, strength, and magnitude of the outbreak. The media plays a controversial but necessary role in disseminating these predictions; while it is important to educate citizens about the possibility of an outbreak and the government’s current response plan, it is easy to fall into the snares of over- or under-estimation, inaccurate interpretation of data that measures the scale and severity of the outbreak, and blame/stereotyping narratives that attribute the disease to a particular culture. Likewise, it is important to prepare accordingly, on all levels of healthcare (primary care to international organizations), without under- or overshooting the goal. Communication between healthcare institutions is vital at this time to collaborate on the collection of data as well as the potential rationing and distribution of vaccinations and/or treatment. Diplomacy between nations is also a prime objective–respecting intellectual property rights through “benefit sharing” and cooperating in terms of travel and trade policies will reduce conflict in a time of crisis. The security of the public can also be at risk due to general unrest over extreme responses and reduced government workforce (especially the police). In preparation for a pandemic, it is especially important to consider the potential structural violence that can be implemented through policies made during the crisis as well as examining existing inequities to track the spread of disease in marginalized populations. Healthcare institutions such as hospitals should prepare through stockpiles (when possible), preventive care, and education about microbes that could possibly cause Pandemic 2011.
Responding to a pandemic is an inherently critical and possibly game-changing process, so first things first–you have to have a plan. It’s important to maintain a flexible approach, considering all possibilities, but it’s also important to have a prediction or idea of the scale, strength, and magnitude of the outbreak. The media plays a controversial but necessary role in disseminating these predictions; while it is important to educate citizens about the possibility of an outbreak and the government’s current response plan, it is easy to fall into the snares of over- or under-estimation, inaccurate interpretation of data that measures the scale and severity of the outbreak, and blame/stereotyping narratives that attribute the disease to a particular culture. Likewise, it is important to prepare accordingly, on all levels of healthcare (primary care to international organizations), without under- or overshooting the goal. Communication between healthcare institutions is vital at this time to collaborate on the collection of data as well as the potential rationing and distribution of vaccinations and/or treatment. Diplomacy between nations is also a prime objective–respecting intellectual property rights through “benefit sharing” and cooperating in terms of travel and trade policies will reduce conflict in a time of crisis. The security of the public can also be at risk due to general unrest over extreme responses and reduced government workforce (especially the police). In preparation for a pandemic, it is especially important to consider the potential structural violence that can be implemented through policies made during the crisis as well as examining existing inequities to track the spread of disease in marginalized populations. Healthcare institutions such as hospitals should prepare through stockpiles (when possible), preventive care, end-of-life palliative care, and education about microbes that could possibly cause Pandemic 2011.
Team 1: The Eradicators
* Increased communication is critical to the early identification and containment of an epidemic. Technology plays a significant role in the abilities for local hospitals, research institutions, etc on a local, state, national and international to communicate effectively and efficiently with each other.
* Prioritization of vaccinations is complex and raises many ethical and moral dilemmas. Potential solutions: tiered pricing, patent pools, benefit-sharing, point system, etc
* Preparedness is key. Interventions should occur prior to the full outbreak of a pandemic. Infrastructure must be bolstered.
* The media can significantly shape our perceptions of the impact infectious diseases may have.
* The negative economic and social impacts of pandemic response strategies are necessary considerations.
* There are many underlying assumptions and uncertainties involved with predicting the spread and impact of influenza, especially in mortality rate, transmission rate, etc.
* When the system is overwhelmed and resources are limited, do we strive to ease individual pain as opposed to curing and saving lives?
* Expect the unexpected.
team 8 (Vaccinators)
- Boosting existing health care infrastructure would make it significantly easier (and less expensive) to respond in pandemic situations
- By not making prior policy decisions about ‘rationing care,’ we are forcing doctors to ration hastily and arbitrarily in a crisis situation.
- Communication is necessary at all levels!
- We need a better global infrastructure for virus sample sharing (i.e.: advanced benefit sharing agreements)
- There are many things to consider that we didn’t think of before the forum, such as managing PR, limited hospital resources, who gets the vaccine, etc.
- Both the general public and people in the health sector must be aware of misleading or biased information from the media
- Vaccinating health workers and providing an incentive (or mandate if necessary) for them to perform their jobs greatly facilitates recovery for many individuals