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Background During the first epidemic wave, COVID-19 surveillance focused on quantifying the magnitude and the escalation of a growing global health crisis. The scientific community first assessed risk through basic indicators, such as the number of cases or rates of new cases and deaths, and later began using other direct impact indicators to conduct more detailed analyses. We aimed at synthesizing the scientific community's contribution to assessing the direct impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on population health through indicators reported in research papers. Methods We conducted a rapid scoping review to identify and describe health indicators included in articles published between January 2020 and June 2021, using one strategy to search PubMed, EMBASE and WHO COVID-19 databases. Sixteen experts from European public health institutions screened papers and retrieved indicator characteristics. We also asked in an online survey how the health indicators were added to and used in policy documents in Europe. Results After reviewing 3891 records, we selected a final sample of 67 articles and 233 indicators. We identified 52 (22.3%) morbidity indicators from 33 articles, 105 severity indicators (45.1%, 27 articles) and 68 mortality indicators (29.2%, 51). Respondents from 22 countries completed 31 questionnaires, and the majority reported morbidity indicators (29, 93.5%), followed by mortality indicators (26, 83.9%). Conclusions The indicators collated here might be useful to assess the impact of future pandemics. Therefore, their measurement should be standardized to allow for comparisons between settings, countries and different populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EUROPE, AS WELL AS THE COUNTRIES IN SYRIA'S NEIGHBORHOOD, IS CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING AN UNPRECEDENTED INFLUX OF REFUGEES, ASYLUM SEEKERS AND OTHER MIGRANTS, HAVING TO FACE THE BIGGEST MIGRANT CRISIS SINCE WORLD WAR II. ONE ASPECT OF THE CURRENT REFUGEE CRISIS THAT RECEIVES LITTLE MEDIA COVERAGE IS THE NEED FOR HEALTH SERVICES OF THIS PARTICULAR POPULATION AND, AT THE SAME TIME, THE PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUES FACED BY THE VARIOUS COUNTRIES ALONG THEIR ROAD TO SAFETY. PROVIDING HEALTH CARE FOR A POPULATION THAT MOVES THROUGHOUT EUROPE, BEING PASSED FROM ONE COUNTRY TO THE OTHER, IS A HUGE CHALLENGE FOR EUROPE'S HEALTH SYSTEMS. THIS IS ESPECIALLY PROBLEMATIC NOT SOLELY FOR COUNTRIES HAVING TO DEAL WITH A LARGE NUMBER OF REFUGEES ALONG A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME, BUT ALSO FOR COUNTRIES HAVING HEALTH SYSTEMS THAT BARELY RESPOND TO THEIR OWN POPULATION NEEDS. ARE MIGRANTS REALLY POSING A THREAT TO THE HEALTH SECURITY OF THE DOMESTIC POPULATION? ARE EUROPE'S HEALTH SYSTEMS OVERWHELMED? WILL MIGRATION CRISIS BECOME A PUBLIC HEALTH DISASTER? THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS THAT WE WILL TRY TO ANSWER IN THIS PAPER. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Professor Iuliu Moldovan (1882-1966), one of the leading medical personalities of Cluj, was also an important figure in the eugenic movement in Transylvania. He conceptualized eugenics almost entirely in national terms, and militated for a sanitary organization and activity determined by the need to ensure the biological prosperity of the human capital. In his attempt to modernize public health in Romania, and to emphasize the role of preventive medicine in maintaining the health status of the population, he laid the founding principles of a modern healthcare system that would remain his most important legacy. The Sanitary and Healthcare Law of 14 July 1930, as well as his comprehensive textbooks are still references for the public health professionals ol today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional approaches to study of health concern the mental, physical and social well-being of the individual and of populations, how the body works and how it can be repaired if damaged. International Relations studies were dominated, for a long time by concerns about war, peace and security of states. Health issues that cross national borders are not a new phenomenon and have determined international commitment and collective responses since the 18th Century. By the late 20th Century, territorial space becomes irrelevant in what concerns the infectious diseases spreading. Health requires new understandings of the geography of disease, of the risk factors and of the policy needed. Following health crises, especially the explosion of HIV/AIDS pandemic in the 1980s, in the broader context of globalization the boundaries between these two academic fields begin to fade. Moreover, the world responded to its worst pandemic until now, at the highest security level, the United Nations Security Council, emphasizing that in our interconnected world, the highest attainable health status of the world population needs more than medicine and medical organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communicable diseases can kill and can cause long-term disability. The microbes are dynamic, changeable, and more and more resilient to the weaponry humans use to combat them. They are responsible for more than 14 million deaths each year, mainly in developing countries. Acute respiratory infections, HIV/AIDS, diarrhea, malaria and tuberculosis are the biggest infectious killers in the world and particularly in Africa. Besides mortality figures, they also determine a high burden in terms of disability and morbidity, affecting individuals, families and entire societies, causing great human suffering and major obstacles to economic development1. Public health officials once suggested that it might someday be possible to “close the book” on the study and treatment of infectious diseases, but despite considerable progress, communicable diseases continue to present significant challenges as new microbial threats emerge and reemerge2. The Ebola virus is one of these emergent threats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescent population and health of adolescents is a very special issue and is focus of attention globally for various reasons. The world today is home to the largest generation of 10-19 year old in our history and number over one billion and their population is continuously increasing. Adolescents need to be treated as a distinct segment of our population and it is important to realize and address their health and lifestyle problems. Adolescence is characterized by a strong tendency to experiment with risk behaviour. The desire for novelty and the courage for experiment are much greater in adolescence than in later life. Most commonly reported behaviours in this population include such as aggressive behaviour, smoking and drinking alcohol, sexual behaviour, poor eating habits, lack of physical exercise, etc. Adolescent health provides the foundation for adult health status. Life-long patterns of healthy behaviours are established at this time. Unhealthy adolescent behaviours can become long-term risk factors for chronic health conditions in adulthood. The health of adolescent is shaped by: parents and families, peers, school, health care systems, neighbourhoods and communities, faith communities, employers, government. These factors impact young people's sense of health and well-being by affecting their capacity to withstand life stressors, their ability to transition in developmentally appropriate ways, and their ability to make decisions about healthy behaviours. The study was carried out under the supervision of the National Institute of Public Health, Romania, Regional Center for Public Health Cluj for the year 2012 on a sample of 4691 school-aged children from 40 Romanian counties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until the last two decades of the 20th century, health had never been an issue on the international politica agenda, nor was it considered a threat to international security. Moreover, the successes achieved during the 1960s provided a false sense of safety to what regards the infectious diseases, as it was thought that the biggest challenges to health were to be the non communicable diseases. And they are. The global overall mortality rate is dominated by cardiovascular diseases and cancer. But the HIV/Aids pandemics, the anthrax attacks of 2001, the rapid global spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003, the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) pandemic, the E. coli O104 (STEC O104:H4) outbreak in Germany, and the recent Ebola epidemic have all demonstrated the considerable human, political, and economic costs that result from outbreaks of infectious disease. This paper examines the processes that led to the securitization of public health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]