Objectives
WP 8 aims to establish a sustainable infrastructure to support rapid exchange between actors from competent authorities, their advisors, researchers and stakeholders in the joint efforts to handle the COVID-19 pandemic. The emphasis is to collect and disseminate existing information and generate new (evidence-based) information as needed. The WP represents a central contact point for the partners and it provides evidence-based policy support with the specific objectives:
- To provide rapid response to research and policy questions that are raised in countries.
- To promptly disseminate internationally agreed guidelines, standards, reports and initiatives.
- To exchange (best) practices among countries regarding COVID-19.
- To provide a link with policy: the shifting landscape of evidence for policy.
Task 8.1: Needs Assessment of COVID-19 topics to be covered in first instance
This task - includes a needs assessment for evidence-based policy support among health policy makers to identify the gaps between research and policy. The needs assessment is conducted via a survey that will be repeated on an irregular basis. Questions and responses will be continuously evaluated and potentially adapted. The aim of this task is to identify COVID-19 current and future priority topics, best practices and lessons learned from evidence-based policy support during the COVID-19 pandemic to help researchers to better respond to health policy makers’ needs in future pandemics.
Task 8.2: Build up a one-stop shop for and between countries seeking for urgent answers
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, health policy decision makers, their advisors and researchers are in urgent need to obtain evidence-based information on a variety of topics that serve as a basis for health policy decision making. This task organizes virtual, bi-weekly meetings in which the participants discuss specific pre-selected topics and ad-hoc questions as well as they share information from the experiences in their own countries.
Rapid Exchange Forum - Special Edition
Task 8.3: Establish a reliable network of experts and expertise for short-term inquiries involving existing and planned Networks
The specific objective of task 3 is to establish a network of experts and expertise that can easily be approached for the purpose of information exchange and review of evidence-based policy support information, e.g. in an open forum. Further, the expert network complements existing expertise of project partners.
Task 8.4: COVID-19 related international guidelines, initiatives, projects and information sources
Task 8.4 started with a mapping exercise of sources of population health information on COVID-19 to provide relevant population health guidelines, standards, and reports with the aid of web scraping. Building on the mapping, this task will create a catalogue of existing international initiatives and projects on COVID-19 related diagnosis, treatments, interventions and measures (except policy measures) conducted in EU/EEA Countries.
Task 8.5 Monitor COVID-19 Policy and Impact Measures
The basis for this task is a mapping exercise of policy and impact measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic in EU member states by web search and interviews. The results will feed into a catalogue on the Health Information Portal (HIP) that will be regularly maintained throughout the project duration.
The leads and co-leads to this work package are:
Gesundheit Österreich GmbH (GÖG) Ministry for Health - Government of Malta (MFH)
