This webinar will introduce you to the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST) including its purpose, objectives, structure and triple remit. We will be joined by speakers from partner organisations such as DHSC, FCDO, WHO-GOARN and Nigeria CDC to hear their first-hand perspectives of working with the UK-PHRST.
The topic for the first session is "Define the Problem, Motivate Change: Introduction to Administrative Controls". Speakers: Professor Folasade Ogunshola, Chair, Infection Control Africa Network; Amy (E-beth) Barrera-Cancedda, Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Specialist, WHO; Dr Evelyne Ewesngula, Ministry of Health Kenya.
Emory Global Health Intstitue - Decolonizing Global health Series.
Decolonizing Global Health is a five-part series which focuses on global health, colonialism, and how to foster change in global health research, education, and practice. The second session, "The Role of Religion and Culture in Shaping Global Health," will feature Dr. Abdullahi An-Na'im, Charles Howard Candler Professor, Emory Law; Dr. Pushpa Parekh, Chair of African Diaspora and The World Program, Spelman College; and Dr. John Blevins, Associate Research Professor and Director, Interfaith Health Program, Rollins School of Public Health. The discussion will be moderated by Dr. Jeffrey P. Koplan, Vice President for Global Health at Emory University.
More than most other health interventions, vaccines provoke anxiety, perceptions of risk and rumours. Vaccines are regulated— and sometimes mandated— by government, resisted by those who feel their personal freedoms are imposed on. They are also produced by the pharmaceutical industry, which – even in their most generous and humanity-driven moments – aim to generate profit, provoking public concerns about their motives. All this, is the challenging context for a health intervention that has proven decades of success in saving millions of lives and preventing disease and disability.
Speaker: Heidi Larson, PhD, is Professor of Anthropology, Risk and Decision Science and Director of The Vaccine Confidence Project at LSHTM.
Digital proxies of human mobility and physical mixing have been used to monitor viral transmissibility and the effectiveness of social distancing interventions in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We developed a new framework that parameterises disease transmission models with age-specific digital mobility data. By fitting the model to case data in Hong Kong, we were able to accurately track the local effective reproduction number of COVID-19 in near real-time (i.e. no longer constrained by the delay of around 9 days between infection and reporting of cases) which is essential for quick assessment of the effectiveness of interventions on reducing transmissibility. Our findings showed that accurate nowcast and forecast of COVID-19 epidemics can be obtained by integrating valid digital proxies of physical mixing into conventional epidemic models.
About the speaker: Kathy Leung is a research assistant professor from the School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong. She's a member of HKU's COVID-19 response team since Jan 2020
This series will explore the requirements for instituting robust multisectoral coordination mechanisms. Attend all sessions and complete the quizzes to receive an e-certificate.
This workshop aims to engage the stakeholder community to focus on the benefits of a virtual biorepository (VBR) to provide equitable and efficient access to samples. A sustainable solution needs to provide benefits for sample contributors and users alike. We want to explore together what should be the benefits of participating in the VBR? What are some risks associated with the approach and mitigation strategies to consider?
The workshop will cover definitions and basic features of a VBR, our instrument for gathering information about desired benefits, and brief presentations by a panel of experts to address current barriers to access and solutions, followed by discussion.
Objectives:
1. Understand the virtual biorepository approach for access to well characterized specimens
2. Identify the benefits of participating in the Virtual Biorepository network
3. Consider current barriers to access and examples of working solutions
Centre for the Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases (CMMID) Annual Lecture: Years of preparedness and scientific progress have been harshly put to test in the most difficult health crisis of the last 100 years. Following the path of our experience in this first year, Vittoria will discuss pitfalls, challenges, and opportunities to improve modelling for outbreak response.
Since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, members of the Centre for the Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases (CMMID) at LSHTM have been using mathematical modelling to predict the spread of the novel coronavirus as well as estimate the impact of different control measures.
In this symposium, eight speakers will present on a diverse range of research questions addressed in the last 12 months, from evaluating the impact of school closures, and air travel restrictions, to monitoring changes in mobility and social contact patterns.
Safety. Misinformation. Roll-out. The exciting recent COVID-19 vaccine announcements from Pfizer/Biontech, Moderna, University of Oxford-AstraZeneca are great cause for optimism. But we are in unchartered territory. Never before have vaccines been developed at this speed, billions of doses need to be made and accepted, and the world faces an 'infodemic'.
This poses many questions. Now you have a chance to speak directly with the experts in London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine’s fifth live Q&A to put your questions about COVID-19 vaccines to Professor Mark Jit and Dr Pauline Paterson.
Chesmal Siriwardhana Memorial Lecture 3rd December 2020 |12:30 - 14:00 GMT
In this annual lecture from the Centre for Global Mental Health (CGMH) , Dr Fahmy Hanna, who is leading the World Health Organization's (WHO) mental health and psychosocial support response to the COVID-19 pandemic, will give a keynote lecture on the global response.There will be presentations from Dr Mohammed Abdulaziz from the Africa CDC, Addis Ababa and Giselle Dass from the University of Colombo and COMGAP-S, Sri Lanka, on the response in their regions, followed by a panel discussion exploring the factors that have facilitated and hindered the promotion of mental health.
During infectious disease outbreaks, and epidemics such as COVID-19, there is a moral imperative for ethically and scientifically rigorous clinical research. PANDORA, TESA and ALERRT present this workshop to inform participants about some of the ethical challenges in conducting this research. We will cover 5 broad topics:
• Ethics of research in vulnerable populations
• Community and stakeholder engagement
• Informed consent in epidemic research
• Biobanking during epidemics
• Ethics review during epidemics
The workshop will be broken down into these topics in two 4-hour sessions over the two days. Teaching will be a combination of presentations and Q&A discussions.
This seminar explores the history of catastrophe financing products and the contemporary history of international epidemic response to discern the roots of the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEF). Examining both the previous West African Ebola Virus Epidemic (2013-2016) as well other recent epidemics, Alexandre will demonstrate which assumptions of epidemic threat undergird the World Bank’s PEF structure and how it breaks from previous frameworks of pandemic threat appraisal such as the World Health Organization’s Public Health Emergency of International Concern designation.
Drawing upon the theories of Achille Mbembe, Jean Baudrillard and others this talk examines the roots of pandemic speculation and locates its role within the larger ecosystem of global infectious disease control.
Key audience includes those with an interest in health financing, health systems strengthening, and the history and sociology of epidemic disease control.
This workshop by the African coaLition for Epidemic Research, Response and Training (ALERRT), the East African Consortium for Clinical Research (EACCR) and The Global Health Network aims to equip you with knowledge and skills to conduct research during outbreaks and epidemics. It will cover areas such as navigating the ethical landscape for research in epidemics, rapidly developing proposals that can be adapted and implemented during epidemics, as well as areas of safety during data collections.
The current epidemic is notable for the vast traffic in official and unofficial information and claims. Sir David Spiegelhalter will assess the trustworthiness of the way authorities have talked about statistics and risks, focussing attention on the regular releases of cases and deaths. In particular, he will look at how background actuarial risk can be used to get a perspective on the risks facing us all.
This webinar organised by the WHO aims to advocate for, raise awareness of, and engage stakeholders across multiple sectors to develop and implement One Health and integrated vector control to prevent, control and eliminate neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Read the concept note here.
At the human-animal-environment interface, three main holistic and interdisciplinary concepts exist: One Health, EcoHealth and Planetary Health. To minimise the risk of future pandemics and mitigate their impact, we must reflect on the experiences of COVID-19 through the lens of different disciplines, while at the same time harnessing the powering of integrating different perspectives.
10th - 12th November 2020| 11:00am to 2:30pm CST | Free and open to all
The Taiwan Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP), in partnership with the South Asia Field Epidemiology and Technology Network (SAFETYNET), will host an online conference featuring presentations from countries in the Southeast Asia and Western Pacific regions highlighting COVID-19 response activities and the COVID-related studies of FETP trainees and recent graduates.
As part of the Let's Talk COVID-19 series sponsored by the UK-PHRST and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine's (LSHTM) Faculty of Public Health and Policy, this webinar will be led by the Historians from LSHTM’s Centre for History in Public Health.
Speakers:
Dr Alex Mold - Rethinking the relationship between the public and public health in the age of COVID-19
29th October 2020| 2:00 - 3:30pm West African Time (GMT+1)
Africa CDC have organised a webinar series on addressing the mental health aspects of COVID-19. The second webinar of the series will be on "Practical Mental Health Considerations for Healthcare Staff during COVID-19".
Speakers:
Dr Kerry Louw, Consultant Psychiatrist and Senior Lecturer, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Dr Adelard Kakunze Technical officer, Executive Office, Africa CDC
‘Don’t call me BAME?’ will be the first in a series of conversations focused on language and terminology in global health within the context of race and colonialism.
Speakers:
Dr Sheena Kalayil, Senior Language Tutor and Teaching Fellow at the University of Manchester.
Dr Addy Adelaine, Scholar-Activist with a PhD in International Social Work, founder and CEO of Ladders4Action, a non-profit organisation engaged in social justice and equality.
22nd October 2020| 14:00 - 15:30 West African Time (GMT+1)
Africa CDC have organised a webinar series on addressing the mental health aspects of COVID-19. The first webinar of the series will be on "COVID-19 and Mental-Health: Highlighting the Status Quo of Psychiatric and Neuropsychiatric Outcomes and Effective Prevention and Management".
Speakers:
Prof Soraya Seedat Head of the Department of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Prof Oye Gureje Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for Research in Mental Health, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Dr Abdulaziz Mohammed Head of Division of Disease control and Prevention, Africa CDC, African Union Commission
UK-Med invites you to join them for a panel discussion with guest panellist Professor David Heymann. The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged healthcare systems around the world. In a time of already unprecedented humanitarian need, it has added another layer of complexity.
Featuring Emilio Hornsey (Infection Prevention and Control Nurse, UK-PHRST), the panel will discuss:
How have responders needed to adapt and what have they learnt?
Looking to the future, how can we ensure we meet the needs of people affected by outbreaks?
The Rift Valley fever virus: an update on pathogenesis, epidemiology, diagnostics and prevention.
9th October 2020 |19:00 - 20:30 (GMT+1)
The Sudanese medical expatriates to upgrade health services in Sudan (MARASI) welcome you to join their first webinar of their new series to shed light on the global situation of the Rift Valley fever epidemic and the importance of public health experts in combating the global Rift Valley protection, response, and control of this epidemic.
Join us for this virtual conversation where Professor Daniel Bausch (Director of the UK-PHRST) and other speakers will introduce the UK-PHRST and discuss how they have been responding to the COVID-19 pandemic both remotely and on the ground.
