2010-06-30-世界卫生组织-REPORT_ON_THE_SPECIAL_SESSION_ON_IDENTIFYING_THE_PUBLIC_HEALTH_RESEARCH_NEEDS_FOR_INFLUENZA_IN_AFRICA_10页_272kb

Report Summary: Special Session on Identifying Public Health Research Needs for Influenza in Africa

Background and Objective

• The session, held in Marrakesh, Morocco, aimed to identify and discuss research needs specific to Africa for influenza control, aligned with the WHO Public Health Research Agenda for Influenza, which includes five streams: reducing emergence risk, limiting spread, minimizing impact, optimizing treatment, and promoting modern tools.
• It involved 80 participants from African Region countries, international agencies, and organizations, fostering collaboration to address gaps in influenza knowledge on the continent.

Influenza and Africa: Summary of Discussion

• Key public health issues in Africa include animal involvement in virus spread, surveillance gaps, and socioeconomic challenges like food production impacts.
• Cross-cutting questions focus on transmission dynamics, disease severity, intervention effectiveness (e.g., masks, border controls), cost-effectiveness of interventions, and influenza's impact on health systems, traditional medicine usage, and interactions with diseases like HIV and malaria.

Public Health Research Needs for Influenza in Africa

• Stream 1: Reducing Emergence Risk
  • Research on animal reservoirs and human-animal interfaces to identify zoonotic viruses and preventive measures.
• Stream 2: Limiting Spread
  • Study effectiveness of public health interventions like masks, border controls, hand washing, and factors such as seasonality, population density, and contagion timing.
• Stream 3: Minimizing Impact
  • Assess cost-effectiveness of vaccines, priority vaccination groups, integration with existing health systems, traditional medicine effectiveness, and media influence on public perception and immunization.
• Stream 4: Optimizing Treatment
  • Improve surveillance, antiviral use, rapid diagnosis, clinical case definitions, home-based care, counterfeit drug issues, and infection control in healthcare settings.
• Stream 5: Promoting Modern Tools
  • Explore technological innovations for surveillance (e.g., mobile devices, mathematical modeling), communication strategies (e.g., social media), and community engagement in alert systems.

Conclusion

• The session agreed to further develop and prioritize these research needs to create a continent-specific Public Health Research Agenda for Influenza, emphasizing operational research and capacity building.