Health in the Americas 2022 - COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic that has disrupted every area of people's lives, and has had an impact on health at the individual and population levels, is the topic of Health in the Americas+ in 2002. These podcasts give an overview of the different public health challenges that the pandemic brought, along with the response of the Region of the Americas.
There are 5 episodes in this series:
Cyber Security in Health
It not news that cyber-attacks directed at all sorts of institutions have been growing in the last years. Health and Public Health organizations, which had not been that big a target before, now atract devastating attacks, with many repercusions to the health of the people of the region of the Americas.
There are 4 episodes in this series:
PAHO Call To Action: "The Digital transformation of the Health Sector in the era of digital interdependence"
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), together with its numerous collaborating centers and other international organizations such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and in consultation with its member countries, presented a Call to Action on the Digital Transformation of the Health Sector in the era of digital interdependence. It is based on the report from the group known as the "High Level Panel on Digital Cooperation", convened by the Secretary-General of the United Nations in 2020 to identify new proposals to strengthen digital cooperation, and ensure that the benefits of digital technologies reach everyone in the world.
There are 8 episodes in this series:
COVID-19: Digital Health Facilitating Telerehabilitation
Telerehabilitation is incorporated into the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in order to facilitate the continuity of care for patients who may benefit from remote consultations, and thus guarantee greater protection for groups in vulnerable situations.
Webinar: Strategic dialogue with women leaders in digital transformation of the health sector
On November 24th 2020, a new webinar of the series Share-Listen-Act, COVID 19 featured women leaders in digital health. The following podcasts were extracted from this webinar.
Information Systems and Digital health: during and after the COVID-19 pandemic
On August 27th 2020, a webinar on Information Systems and Digital Health and its importance during and after the COVID-19 pandemic reunited ten experts that answered to one question in their area of expertise. The following podcasts were extracted from this webinar.
Digital health and people living with Noncommunicable Diseases during COVID-19
Noncommunicable diseases (NCD) are the main cause of death and disability worldwide. Effective management of these chronic conditions depends largely on continuous access to services, and self-management. Digital health can ensure continuity of care, especially when services are disrupted.
Digital Health and Information Systems for Health in the Fight against the Pandemic
This podcast presents questions and answer from the webinar "The Potential of Digital Health and Information Systems for Health (IS4H) in the Fight against the Pandemic," part of the "Share-Listen-Act, COVID-19" Webinar Series.
A Review of the First 100 Days in Quarantine
In just a few months, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a disruptive impact on all sectors of society: on how we live, how we govern ourselves, how we mobilize, how we work, how we educate ourselves, and how nations manage and how we manage our health ourselves. In short, it has targeted many social structures that we believed to be fixed. As for the public health sector, many lessons have emerged to improve the response to future pandemics but also to improve the health system from the perspective of information systems for health and finally of digital health.
Technology Readiness in Public Health
Many countries are looking to invest in systems to support public health surveillance including the monitoring, protection, prevention, and health promotion of all individuals. The importance of these systems has been highlighted once again by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Why Predictive Modeling is Critical in the Fight against COVID-19
Predictive models are helpful for estimating the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths; the resources required, e.g., such as hospital patient beds and ICU beds; and the demand for supplies, such as personal protective equipment (PPE). Predictive models can also offer crucial insights to policymakers.
COVID-19 and the role of information systems and technologies at the first level of care
Solid health information systems are essential to enable the first level of care to effectively focus on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, maintain continuity of essential services while community transmission of COVID-19 is occurring, and continue to offer non-COVID-19 hospital care.
COVID-19 and the importance of strengthening Information Systems
Why are information systems key for pandemic response? During a pandemic, more than in any other public health situation, information systems play a critical role in managing data and other information at the speed the situation requires. Emerging technologies and automation have the potential to improve public health like never before in the history of humankind.
Understanding the Infodemic and Misinformation in the fight against COVID-19
The COVID-19 outbreak and response has been accompanied by a massive infodemic: an overabundance of information that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance. This makes the pandemic more severe, harming more people and jeopardizing the reach and sustainability of the global health system.
The potential of frequently used information technologies during the pandemic
Information technologies—cell phones in particular—have become the main way that people, governments, and health institutions work, interact, share information, exchange and generate knowledge, and communicate. Frequently used information technologies include the Worldwide Web; Chatbots; Apps; Social media; Internet-based text, video, and voice services; among others.
Why Data Disaggregation is key during a pandemic
Data Disaggregation is the separation of compiled information into smaller units to elucidate underlying trends and patterns. High quality, accessible, trusted, timely, open, and reliable disaggregated data is critical to generating valuable information for decision-making in real time.
Why are Electronic Health Records (EHRs) key during a pandemic?
EHRs facilitate the use of telemedicine to monitor positive COVID-19 patients in their homes and continuity of care for patients who are negative and can be treated remotely.
Teleconsultations during a pandemic
In situations where a pandemic is declared, the feelings of anxiety and uncertainty can overwhelm people, and health systems can struggle to cope with an uncontrolled and exponential demand. Teleconsultations are a safe and effective way to assess suspected cases and guide the patient’s diagnosis and treatment, minimizing the risk of disease transmission.