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Informing the pandemic response: the role of the WHO's COVID-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update.

Authors :
Ikejezie J
Miglietta A
Hammermeister Nezu I
Adele S
Higdon MM
Feikin D
Lata H
Mesfin S
Idoko F
Shimizu K
Acma A
Moro S
Attar Cohen H
Sinnathamby MA
Otieno JR
Temre Y
Ajong BN
Mirembe BB
Guinko TN
Sodagar V
Schultz C
Muianga J
De Barros S
Escobar Corado Waeber AR
Jin Y
Rico Chinchilla A
Izawa Y
Khare S
Poole M
Alexander N
Ciobanu S
Dorji T
Hassan M
Kato M
Matsui T
Ogundiran O
Pebody RG
Phengxay M
Riviere-Cinnamond A
Greene-Cramer BJ
Peron E
Archer BN
Subissi L
Kassamali ZA
Awofisayo-Okuyelu A
le Polain de Waroux O
Hamblion E
Pavlin BI
Morgan O
Fall IS
Van Kerkhove MD
Mahamud A
Source :
BMJ global health [BMJ Glob Health] 2024 Apr 04; Vol. 9 (4). Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Apr 04.
Publication Year :
2024

Abstract

On 31 December 2019, the Municipal Health Commission of Wuhan, China, reported a cluster of atypical pneumonia cases. On 5 January 2020, the WHO publicly released a Disease Outbreak News (DON) report, providing information about the pneumonia cases, implemented response interventions, and WHO's risk assessment and advice on public health and social measures. Following 9 additional DON reports and 209 daily situation reports, on 17 August 2020, WHO published the first edition of the COVID-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update (WEU). On 1 September 2023, the 158th edition of the WEU was published on WHO's website, marking its final issue. Since then, the WEU has been replaced by comprehensive global epidemiological updates on COVID-19 released every 4 weeks. During the span of its publication, the webpage that hosts the WEU and the COVID-19 Operational Updates was accessed annually over 1.4 million times on average, with visits originating from more than 100 countries. This article provides an in-depth analysis of the WEU process, from data collection to publication, focusing on the scope, technical details, main features, underlying methods, impact and limitations. We also discuss WHO's experience in disseminating epidemiological information on the COVID-19 pandemic at the global level and provide recommendations for enhancing collaboration and information sharing to support future health emergency responses.<br />Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared.<br /> (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.)

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
2059-7908
Volume :
9
Issue :
4
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
BMJ global health
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
38580376
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2023-014466