The German Biosecurity Programme was launched in 2013 with the aim to support partner countries overcome biological threats including natural outbreaks or the intentional misuse of highly pathogenic agents. As part of this programme, this paper describes the development and implementation of a multilateral biosafety and biosecurity training initiative, called \'Global Partnership Initiated Biosecurity Academia for Controlling Health Threats\' (GIBACHT). To achieve its objectives, GIBACHT implemented a blended-learning approach with self-directed, distance-based learning phases and three training-of-trainer workshops. The programme follows Kirkpatrick\'s model of learning to guarantee sustainable effects of improved knowledge and skills. One hundred nine fellows from 26 countries have been trained in seven cohorts. Many GIBACHT alumni have established additional biosafety/biosecurity trainings in their home countries. The knowledge exchange is strengthened by the implementation of a Moodle-based alumni network. GIBACHT has the potential to contribute to strengthening the capacities of partner countries in Africa, the Middle East, and South and Central Asia to respond and build resilience to biological threats.

BACKGROUND: Australia rapidly developed COVID-19 quarantine programs to reduce the adverse outcomes of a novel pathogen imported by visitors and returned travellers. Different quarantine pathways were utilised over the pandemic, yet no definitive cohort map exists to guide future preparedness. We created a whole-of-system cohort journey map of Australian quarantine cohorts to inform future pandemic preparedness activities.
METHODS: Australian parliamentary websites and Google were searched for publicly available grey literature from 2019 to 2023. Data about quarantine cohorts, pandemic plans and documents, journey activities, viral escape events, and quarantine recommendations were extracted and plotted to produce a whole-of-system cohort journey map.
RESULTS: The system mapping process identified 22 distinct quarantine cohort journeys during COVID-19, yet few of the cohorts were mentioned in pandemic and emergency plans. Viral escape events were documented 27 times, and COVID-19 reviews and inquiries produced 282 quarantine-specific recommendations. Cohorts included international and domestic travellers who experienced home, hotel, and facility quarantine iterations. Other cohorts, such as humanitarian evacuations, diplomats, airline crews, community close contacts, and people experiencing homelessness, had distinctive quarantine journeys.
CONCLUSIONS: This whole-of-system quarantine cohort map furthers the case for governments and policymakers to update pandemic plans to include the 22 identified cohorts and test plans through pandemic exercises. Recommendations from inquiries should be acquitted to reduce the risk of viral escape and to strengthen national preparedness if quarantine systems are required in future pandemic responses.

暂无摘要。

BACKGROUND: Economic relief programs are strategies designed to sustain societal welfare and population health during a regional or global scale infectious disease outbreak. While economic relief programmes are considered essential during a regional or global health crisis, there is no clear consensus in the literature about their health and non-health benefits and their impact on promoting equity.
METHODS: We conducted a scoping review, searching eight electronic databases from January 01, 2001, to April 3, 2023, using text words and subject headings for recent pathogens (coronavirus (COVID-19), Ebola, Influenza, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), HIV, West Nile, and Zika), and economic relief programs; but restricted eligibility to high-income countries and selected diseases due to volume. Title and abstract screening were conducted by trained reviewers and Distiller AI software. Data were extracted in duplicates by two trained reviewers using a pretested form, and key findings were charted using a narrative approach.
RESULTS: We identified 27,263 de-duplicated records, of which 50 were eligible. Included studies were on COVID-19 and Influenza, published between 2014 and 2023. Zero eligible studies were on MERS, SARS, Zika, Ebola, or West Nile Virus. We identified seven program types of which cash transfer (n = 12) and vaccination or testing incentive (n = 9) were most common. Individual-level economic relief programs were reported to have varying degrees of impact on public health measures, and sometimes affected population health outcomes. Expanding paid sick leave programs had the highest number of studies reporting health-related outcomes and positively impacted public health measures (isolation, vaccination uptake) and health outcomes (case counts and the utilization of healthcare services). Equity impact was most often reported for cash transfer programs and incentive for vaccination programs. Positive effects on general well-being and non-health outcomes included improved mental well-being and quality of life, food security, financial resilience, and job security.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that individual-level economic relief programs can have significant impacts on public health measures, population health outcomes and equity. As countries prepare for future pandemics, our findings provide evidence to stakeholders to recognize health equity as a fundamental public health goal when designing pandemic preparedness policies.

BACKGROUND: A growing literature has documented how the secondary effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have compounded socioeconomic vulnerabilities already present in society, particularly across social categories such as gender, race, class, and socioeconomic status. Such effects demonstrate how pandemic response policies act as structural determinants of health to influence not only direct health outcomes but also intermediary outcomes, such as access to education or income.
METHODS: This review aims to scope research that analyzes pandemic response policies in Canada from an equity perspective, to identify common themes, recommendations, and gaps.
RESULTS: Fourteen studies were thematically analyzed, the majority being qualitative policy document analysis, applying critical frameworks and focused on effects on select priority populations. Analysis of economic and labour policies indicates a lack of consideration for the specific needs of priority populations, and those engaged in precarious, informal, and essential labour. Analysis of social policies illustrate the wide-ranging effects of school and service closures, particularly on women and children. Furthermore, these policies lacked consideration of populations marginalized during the pandemic, include older adults and their caregivers, as well as lack of consideration of the diversity of Indigenous communities. Recommendations proposed in this review call for developing policy responses that address persistent social and economic inequities, pandemic response policies tailored to the needs of priority populations and more meaningful consultation during policy development.
CONCLUSIONS: The limited number of studies suggests there is still much scope for research recognizing policies as structural determinants of health inequities, including research which takes an intersectional approach.

This paper discusses the potential of an international agreement to ensure equitable vaccine distribution, addressing the failures witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic. COVAX was unable to prevent vaccine monopolization and unequal distribution, which led to significant disparities in vaccination rates and avoidable deaths. Any future agreement on equitable vaccine distribution must address ethical and practical issues to ensure global health equity and access. The proposed agreement should recognize healthcare as a human right and consider vaccines beyond mere commodities, emphasizing the social responsibility of pharmaceutical companies to prioritize affordability, availability, and accessibility, particularly for low-income countries (LICs). Voluntary licensing agreements are suggested as a means to enhance access to essential medicines. The paper also outlines the necessity of international cooperation, with robust compliance mechanisms, to effectively enforce such an agreement and mitigate future health crises.

UNASSIGNED: Many respiratory viruses and their associated diseases are sensitive to meteorological factors. For SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, evidence on this sensitivity is inconsistent. Understanding the influence of meteorological factors on SARS-CoV-2 transmission and COVID-19 epidemiology can help to improve pandemic preparedness.
UNASSIGNED: This review aimed to examine the recent evidence about the relation between meteorological factors and SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19.
UNASSIGNED: We conducted a global scoping review of peer-reviewed studies published from January 2020 up to January 2023 about the associations between temperature, solar radiation, precipitation, humidity, wind speed, and atmospheric pressure and SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19.
UNASSIGNED: From 9,156 initial records, we included 474 relevant studies. Experimental studies on SARS-CoV-2 provided consistent evidence that higher temperatures and solar radiation negatively affect virus viability. Studies on COVID-19 (epidemiology) were mostly observational and provided less consistent evidence. Several studies considered interactions between meteorological factors or other variables such as demographics or air pollution. None of the publications included all determinants holistically.
UNASSIGNED: The association between short-term meteorological factors and SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 dynamics is complex. Interactions between environmental and social components need further consideration. A more integrated research approach can provide valuable insights to predict the dynamics of respiratory viruses with pandemic potential.

UNASSIGNED: To assess national pandemic preparedness and response plans from a health system perspective to determine the extent to which implementation strategies that support health system performance have been included.
UNASSIGNED: We systematically mapped pandemic preparedness and response implementation strategies that improve resilience to pandemics onto the Health System Performance Assessment Framework for Universal Health Coverage. Using this framework, we conducted a document analysis of 14 publicly available national influenza pandemic preparedness plans, submitted to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, to assess how well health system functions are accounted for in each plan.
UNASSIGNED: Implementation strategies found in national influenza pandemic preparedness plans do not systematically consider all health system functions. Instead, they mostly focus on specific aspects of governance. In contrast, little to no mention is made of implementation strategies that aim to strengthen health financing. There was also a lack of implementation strategies to strengthen the health workforce, ensure availability of medical equipment and infrastructure, govern the generation of resources and ensure delivery of public health services.
UNASSIGNED: While national influenza pandemic preparedness plans often include provisions to support health system governance, implementation strategies that support other health system functions, namely, resource generation, service delivery, and in particular, financing, are given less attention. These oversights in key planning documents may undermine health system resilience when public health emergencies occur.
UNASSIGNED: Évaluer les plans nationaux de préparation et de réaction aux pandémies du point de vue du système de santé afin de déterminer le niveau d’inclusion des stratégies de mise en œuvre qui soutiennent la performance du système de santé.
UNASSIGNED: Nous avons systématiquement identifié les stratégies de mise en œuvre de la préparation et de la réaction aux pandémies qui améliorent la résilience dans le cadre d’évaluation de la performance des systèmes de santé pour la couverture sanitaire universelle. Ce cadre nous a servi de base pour procéder à une analyse documentaire de 14 plans nationaux de préparation à une pandémie de grippe accessibles au public. Ces plans ont été soumis au Centre européen de prévention et de contrôle des maladies, afin d’évaluer la prise en compte des fonctions des systèmes de santé dans chaque plan.
UNASSIGNED: Les stratégies de mise en œuvre figurant dans les plans nationaux de préparation aux pandémies de grippe ne prennent pas systématiquement en compte toutes les fonctions des systèmes de santé. Elles se concentrent plutôt sur des aspects spécifiques de la gouvernance. En revanche, les stratégies de mise en œuvre visant à renforcer le financement de la santé ne sont que peu, voire pas, mentionnées. Les stratégies de mise en œuvre visant à renforcer les effectifs du personnel de santé, à garantir la disponibilité des équipements médicaux et des infrastructures, à régir la génération de ressources et à assurer la prestation de services de santé publique font également défaut.
UNASSIGNED: Si les plans nationaux de préparation aux pandémies de grippe comprennent souvent des dispositions visant à soutenir la gouvernance des systèmes de santé, les stratégies de mise en œuvre qui soutiennent d’autres fonctions des systèmes de santé, notamment la génération de ressources, la prestation de services et, en particulier, le financement, bénéficient d’une attention moindre. Ces lacunes dans des documents de planification clés sont de nature à nuire à la résilience du système de santé en cas de situation d’urgence liée à la santé publique.
UNASSIGNED: Evaluar los planes nacionales de preparación y respuesta ante una pandemia desde la perspectiva del sistema sanitario para determinar en qué medida se han incluido estrategias de implementación que apoyen el rendimiento del sistema sanitario.
UNASSIGNED: Se trazó un mapa sistemático de las estrategias de preparación y respuesta ante pandemias que mejoran su resiliencia en el Marco de Evaluación del Rendimiento del Sistema Sanitario para la Cobertura Sanitaria Universal. A partir de este marco, se realizó un análisis documental de 14 planes nacionales de preparación ante una pandemia de gripe y de acceso público, presentados al Centro Europeo para la Prevención y el Control de las Enfermedades, con el fin de evaluar en qué medida se tienen en cuenta las funciones del sistema sanitario en cada plan.
UNASSIGNED: Las estrategias de implementación que se encuentran en los planes nacionales de preparación ante una pandemia de gripe no consideran sistemáticamente todas las funciones del sistema sanitario. En su lugar, se centran sobre todo en aspectos específicos de la gobernanza. Por otro lado, apenas se mencionan las estrategias de aplicación destinadas a reforzar la financiación sanitaria. También faltan estrategias de implementación para reforzar el personal sanitario, garantizar la disponibilidad de equipos médicos e infraestructuras, gobernar la generación de recursos y garantizar la prestación de servicios sanitarios públicos.
UNASSIGNED: Aunque los planes nacionales de preparación ante una pandemia de gripe suelen incluir disposiciones para apoyar la gobernanza del sistema sanitario, se presta menos atención a las estrategias de implementación que apoyan otras funciones del sistema sanitario, en concreto, la generación de recursos, la prestación de servicios y, en particular, la financiación. Estos descuidos en documentos de planificación clave pueden debilitar la resiliencia del sistema sanitario cuando se producen emergencias de salud pública.
UNASSIGNED: تقييم خطط الاستعداد الوطني للجوائح والاستجابة لها، من منظور النظام الصحي، وذلك لتحديد درجة إدراك استراتيجيات التنفيذ التي تدعم أداء النظام الصحي.
UNASSIGNED: لقد اتبعنا أسلوبًا منهجيًا في تخطيط استراتيجيات الاستعداد للأوبئة وتنفيذ الاستجابة لها، تلك الاستراتيجيات التي تعمل على تحسين المرونة تجاه الأوبئة في إطار عمل تقييم أداء النظام الصحي من أجل التغطية الصحية الشاملة. وباستخدام إطار العمل هذا، قمنا بإجراء تحليل للوثائق في 14 خطة وطنية متاحة للعامة للاستعداد لجائحة الأنفلونزا، وهي خطط تم تقديمها للمركز الأوروبي للوقاية من الأمراض ومكافحتها، بهدف تقييم مدى جودة الاهتمام بوظائف النظام الصحي في كل خطة.
UNASSIGNED: إن استراتيجيات التنفيذ الموجودة في الخطط الوطنية للاستعداد لجائحة الأنفلونزا، لا تضع في اعتبارها كل وظائف النظام الصحي بشكل منهجي. بل إنها تركز في الأغلب على جوانب محددة من الإدارة، بدلا من ذلك. وعلى وجه النقيض، لم يتم ذكر سوى القليل من استراتيجيات التنفيذ التي تهدف إلى دعم تمويل الصحة، أو لم يتم ذكرها من الأساس. كما كان هناك أيضًا نقص في استراتيجيات التنفيذ الساعية لدعم القوى العاملة في القطاع الصحي، وضمان توفر المعدات الطبية والبنية التحتية، وإدارة توليد الموارد، وضمان تقديم خدمات الصحة العامة.
UNASSIGNED: في حين أن الخطط الوطنية للاستعداد لجائحة الأنفلونزا غالباً ما تتضمن بنودًا لدعم إدارة النظام الصحي، إلا أن استراتيجيات التنفيذ التي تدعم وظائف النظام الصحي الأخرى، أي توليد الموارد وتقديم الخدمات، وعلى وجه التحديد التمويل، تحظى بقدر أقل من الاهتمام. قد تؤدي هذه الحالات من الإهمال في وثائق التخطيط الرئيسية إلى التقليل من أهمية مرونة النظام الصحي عند حدوث حالات طوارئ في الصحة العامة.
UNASSIGNED: 从卫生系统的角度评估各国大流行病的防范和应对计划，以确定支持卫生系统绩效的实施战略的纳入程度。.
UNASSIGNED: 我们将可以提高大流行病抵御能力的大流行防范和应对实施战略系统地映射至旨在实现全民健康覆盖的卫生系统绩效评估框架中。我们根据该框架对提交给欧洲疾病预防和控制中心的 14 个可公开获取的全国大流行性流感防范计划进行了文档分析，以评估在每个计划里卫生系统职能的受重视程度。.
UNASSIGNED: 我们发现，各国大流行性流感防范计划中列出的实施战略未能系统地考虑到所有卫生系统职能。相反，这些战略主要侧重于具体的治理措施。相比之下，很少甚至几乎没有计划提及旨在加强卫生筹资的实施战略。同时，还缺乏加强卫生工作人员队伍建设、确保医疗设备和基础设施可用、管理资源生成以及确保公共卫生服务到位的实施战略。.
UNASSIGNED: 虽然各国大流行性流感防范计划通常都包含支持卫生系统治理的条款，但对支持其他卫生系统职能（即资源生成、确保服务到位以及特别是资金筹措）的实施战略却不太重视。当发生突发公共卫生事件时，关键规划文件中出现的这类疏忽可能会削弱卫生系统的复原力。.
UNASSIGNED: Оценить национальные планы по обеспечению готовности к пандемии и реагированию на нее с точки зрения системы здравоохранения, чтобы определить масштабы включения в них стратегий реализации, способствующих повышению эффективности работы системы здравоохранения.
UNASSIGNED: Авторы систематически выполняли соотнесение стратегий обеспечения готовности к пандемиям и ответных мер, которые повышают устойчивость к пандемиям, с рамочной структурой системы оценки эффективности системы здравоохранения для всеобщего охвата услугами здравоохранения. На основе этой рамочной структуры был проведен анализ документов 14 общедоступных национальных планов готовности к пандемии гриппа, представленных в Европейский центр профилактики и контроля заболеваний, на предмет оценки полноты учета функций системы здравоохранения в каждом плане.
UNASSIGNED: Стратегии реализации, содержащиеся в национальных планах готовности к пандемии гриппа, не учитывают систематически все функции системы здравоохранения. Напротив, в основном они сосредоточены на конкретных аспектах управления. В то же время практически не упоминаются стратегии реализации, направленные на укрепление финансирования здравоохранения. Также отсутствовали стратегии реализации, направленные на укрепление кадрового потенциала здравоохранения, обеспечение наличия медицинского оборудования и инфраструктуры, управление процессом генерирования ресурсов и обеспечение предоставления услуг общественного здравоохранения.
UNASSIGNED: В то время как национальные планы готовности к пандемии гриппа часто включают положения, направленные на поддержку управления системой здравоохранения, стратегиям реализации, поддерживающим другие функции системы здравоохранения, а именно генерирование ресурсов, предоставление услуг и, в частности, финансирование, при этом уделяется меньше внимания. Эти недоработки в ключевых документах по планированию могут подорвать устойчивость системы здравоохранения при возникновении чрезвычайных ситуаций в области общественного здравоохранения.

OBJECTIVE: Pandemic response in low-income countries (LICs) or settings often suffers from scarce epidemic surveillance and constrained mitigation capacity. The drivers of pandemic burden in such settings, and the impact of limited and delayed interventions remain poorly understood.
METHODS: We analysed COVID-19 seroprevalence and all-cause excess deaths data from the peri-urban district of Kabwe, Zambia between March 2020 and September 2021 with a novel mathematical model. Data encompassed three consecutive waves caused by the wild-type, Beta and Delta variants.
RESULTS: Across all three waves, we estimated a high cumulative attack rate, with 78% (95% credible interval [CrI] 71-85) of the population infected, and a high all-cause excess mortality, at 402 (95% CrI 277-473) deaths per 100,000 people. Ambitiously improving health care to a capacity similar to that in high-income settings could have averted up to 46% (95% CrI 41-53) of accrued excess deaths, if implemented from June 2020 onward. An early and accelerated vaccination rollout could have achieved the highest reductions in deaths. Had vaccination started as in some high-income settings in December 2020 and with the same daily capacity (doses per 100 population), up to 68% (95% CrI 64-71) of accrued excess deaths could have been averted. Slower rollouts would have still averted 62% (95% CrI 58-68), 54% (95% CrI 49-61) or 26% (95% CrI 20-38) of excess deaths if matching the average vaccination capacity of upper-middle-, lower-middle- or LICs, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: Robust quantitative analyses of pandemic data are of pressing need to inform future global pandemic preparedness commitments.

The coronavirus infectious disease-2019 (COVID-19) in Bangladesh is a paradigm for how one of the most densely populated countries in the world, with 1270 people per square kilometer, managed to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic under extraordinary circumstances. This review highlights the SARS-CoV-2 variants in Bangladesh and the timeline of their detection in the context of the global experience with the management of vaccination and natural SARS-CoV-2 infection. The motivation to overcome the COVID-19 vaccine dilemma and track Bangladeshi SARS-CoV-2 sub-variants underscores the potential for a low-income country to excel in international medical science, despite having stressed health care services and limited availability of resources for SARS-CoV-2 testing and gene sequencing.