Protecting Health Workforce through Vaccination in LICs and LMICs

Successful national immunization programs depend on up-to-date policies and effective strategies at all levels to achieve and maintain coverage targets, as well as to develop understanding and trust in vaccination as one of the core public health preventive measures. Countries need strong mechanisms that enable evidence-based, informed decision-making about immunization priorities, the introduction of new program strategies and vaccines, technologies and the development of effective communication and messaging.

Today with the COVID-19 pandemic this is more evident than ever. Effective advocacy from an informed community to policymakers is of utmost importance to guarantee the development of much-needed policies and their implementation.

Protecting people worldwide with the appropriate vaccinations is a priority to save millions of lives. This is even more true for the healthcare and public health workforce, very often at the front line in caring for patients and communities. While many countries, including those in less wealthy settings, often have infrastructures and policies to guarantee vaccinations for children, this is not always the case for adults and health workers. Indeed, in many countries, a lack of infrastructures or appropriate policies undermine the access to vaccination throughout the life span. This means that high risks categories like health workers are not protected creating a huge problem not only for the individual but for the whole society.

The WFPHA, through its International Immunization Policy Taskforce, is working hard to protect health workers through vaccination in low-income countries (LICs) and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs).

GPHW2024: Keeping it Reel: Disseminating Public Health Information in the Current Social Media Era

Theme: Rethinking Public Health Paradigms

Date and Time: 8th April 2024 | 14:00 – 15:00 (GMT)

Event Description: Over the past two decades, social media platforms have significantly changed how people consume information. In the past, a small number of professional bodies, organizations, and charities used to provide health advice through specified channels. However, this model no longer aligns with the methods and formats in which the general public, particularly the younger generation (Millennials to Gen Alpha), now interacts with and receives news. This communication gap has resulted in the spread of misguided, incorrect, and harmful health information, as evidenced during the global COVID-19 infodemic. Such misinformation has the potential to have real-world consequences for the public.

“Keeping it Reel: Disseminating Public Health Information in the Current Social Media Era” is an event organised by the Young World Federation of Public Health Associations (Young WPHA) for the 2024 Global Public Health Week. It aims to create a forum in which stakeholders can discuss the challenges and opportunities created by social media in the field of health communication. Young WFPHA wishes to explore the ever-changing landscape of social media, identify the skills public health professionals require to navigate this, and discuss how social media has affected the younger generation’s consumption and understanding of health information. This event would also like to offer solutions, collaboration opportunities, and grounds for hope in tackling this global challenge.

We will begin the event with an introduction to the topic and the speakers, who include social media influencers, public health communication experts, and representatives from social media platforms. This introduction will be followed by a panel discussion on the topic, concluding with a Q&A session. In the second part of the event, the Young WFPHA communication team will give a presentation on the launch of their new public health social media channel, which is aimed at addressing some of the issues discussed earlier.

Instagram Page

Event Type:Webinar format with Q&A chat

Event Format: online

Language(s): English

Organiser(s): Young WFPHA Working Group

How to Attend Virtually: Zoom Link (will be sent after registration)

Registration: Link

GPHW2024: Maintaining Health Security: Strengthening Health Workforce Capacities for Infodemic Management

Theme: Fostering the Development of the Right Competencies within Tomorrow’s Health Workforce

Date and Time: 12th April 2024 | 14:00-15:00 (CEST, UTC +02:00)

Event Description: As the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic slowly fades from the public eye, we are confronted with a resurging public health issue: the decrease of routine immunization coverage, leading to outbreaks of preventable infectious diseases like measles and whooping cough. Unfortunately, the global community has not been able to maintain or increase confidence in health systems, and many people still lack high-quality health information to make informed decisions about their health and well-being.

In 2024, many countries are expected to hold elections while deadly conflicts persist worldwide, resulting in an even greater division within society. This polarization will inevitably affect health promotion activities, making infodemic management crucial to maintaining health security.

This online roundtable will bring together international speakers of different backgrounds and affiliations to discuss how we can use the existing health workforce capacities in infodemic management. What is higher education institutions’ role in combating misinformation and disinformation in the health sector?

Speakers:

• Amy Rowland, Emory Global Health Institute, Emory University, USA
• Dilek Aslan, Hacettepe University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health
• Tina Purnat, University of Memphis School of Public Health, USA
• Neville Calleja, University of Malta, Faculty of Medicine & Surgery, Department of Public Health
• Stefan Mandić-Rajčević, Laboratory for Infodemiology and Infodemic Management, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade

Event Type: Seminar / Webinar

Event Format: Online

Language(s): English

Organiser(s): Laboratory for Infodemiology and Infodemic Management, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade

How to Attend Virtually: Youtube Live

Registration: N/A

GPHW2024: CAPHIA Infodemic Management Masterclass

Theme:Promoting a Sustainable Life for Thriving Communities

Date and Time: 11th April 2024 | 15:30-17:00 (AEST)

Event Description: The infodemic has been defined by WHO as ‘the overwhelming amount of information, accurate and otherwise that accompanies an acute health event’. The infodemic can make it difficult for people to find accurate health information from reliable sources to make informed decisions about their health. While the infodemic concerns health information seeking, access, and use during health emergencies such as COVID-19, this challenge is the outgrowth of the modern information ecosystem that increasingly impacts other health programs and the health system, as well as society at large.

The information environment is the cumulation of individual, community, organizational, and systems approaches to health information production, exchange, translation, and use. People express themselves, share information, and signal their questions, concerns, and trust in health information through a range of online and offline interactions, that are influenced by a range of factors.

When overlaid with public health, the information ecosystem dynamics challenge how people search for, access, interact with, feel about, and act on health information, therefore contributing to health behaviors. Building resilience to health misinformation and skills to navigate the information environment to find accurate and credible health information is important but complex. Similar to other health issues, factors such as the social and commercial determinants of health, supportive environments, trust in government, health system, health services and each other, interpersonal and intergenerational health information seeking and use, and personal skills all impact an individual’s ability to search for, access, process and act on health information.

This session will introduce the key concepts of a healthy information environment, how it challenges the health system in routine and through infodemics in health emergencies, and describe the lessons learned in the field of infodemiology during the pandemic. The speakers will encourage active participation to share experiences. The presenters bring global and national experience and look forward to the conversation.

Event Link

Event Type: Seminar / Webinar

Event Format: online

Language(s): English

Organiser(s): CAPHIA · Council of Academic Public Health Institutions Australasia

How to Attend Virtually: Zoom Link (will be sent after registration)

Registration: Link

GPHW2024: Addressing NCDs: how can public health approaches have the most impact in low resource settings?

Theme: Enhancing and Democratizing Governance in Global Health

Date and Time: 9th April 2024 | 12:00 – 13:00 (GMT)

Event Description: This webinar is organised by the FPH Non-communicable Diseases in Low and Middle-Income Countries SIG and will feature inputs from:

1. Emergencies/Humanitarian situations
2. Sustainable approaches to prevention in light of Universal Health Coverage goals and;
3. The specificities of provider skills/clinical practice that require different resources/training/ approaches to addressing acute illness.

Event Link

Event Type: Seminar/Webinar

Event Format: online

Language(s): English

Organiser(s): FPH Non-communicable Diseases in Low and Middle-Income Countries SIG

How to Attend Virtually: Zoom Link (will be sent after registration)

Registration: Link

GPHW2024: Quick read

Theme: Global Public Health Week

Date and Time: 8-12th April 2024 | all-day

Event Description: We will publish 2 scientific articles each day on our social media

Event Type: Publication of scientific articles on website and social media channels

Event Format: Online

Language(s): Spanish

Organiser(s): Universidad de Antioquia

How to Attend Virtually: 

Instagram | Tik Tok | Twitter | Youtube | LinkedIn

Registration: N/A