GIANT - Global Immunization Action Network Team

The sudden, recent death of our friend and colleague Aidan, former World Health Organization Polio Eradication Director, is still very difficult for all of us. He has led and championed such important work. To build on Aiden’s legacy, WHO is looking for someone to take over the work to help us #EndPolio. Please share widely, so we can get the best person possible! The application is open until 23rd October: https://bit.ly/4eipUZD

This open-access book is just out, explaining the need for Infectious Disease Emergency Preparedness and Response to take up expertise for infodemic management and to understand how we can better support epidemic mitigation through the information ecosystem in our frameworks, networks, and planning. See the book and chapter on #infodemicmanagement: https://lnkd.in/dwKQqKjZ Thank you Sarah Hess, Dr Sylvie Briand, Tim Nguyen, Elisabeth Wilhelm for coauthoring and holding space for innovative ideas to grow and serve health and well-being of communities! Irini Albanti, DrPH, MPH, MA Elena Savoia K Vish Viswanath Jennifer Kohn Goldsmith

What if we successfully produce African vaccines, and nobody takes them because people don't accept what they don't know? 🌍💉 As the debates at the UNGA 79 Assembly unfolded, I was eager and waiting for a pressing issue which affects our health systems to be addressed as it resonates deeply within public health: vaccine hesitancy but NOTHING. Reflecting on our childhood, we were often cautioned not to accept anything from strangers for fear of the unknown. This instinct to be cautious remains ingrained in many communities, particularly in underserved areas where trust in healthcare systems is fragile. In the context of the African Vaccine Manufacturing Initiative (AVMI), the promise of self-sufficiency in vaccine production is exciting, yet we must recognize the critical barrier to acceptance. Without robust engagement, education, and outreach, even the most effective vaccines may face skepticism. To build a healthier future, we must transform fear into trust. How do we ensure that our communities not only have access to vaccines but also the confidence to accept them? This requires collaborative efforts from global and public health experts, vaccinologists, and advocates alike. Let's harness our collective expertise to demystify vaccines, educate our communities, and dismantle the barriers of hesitancy. Together, we can turn this pivotal moment into a movement that empowers all Africans to embrace the vaccines we create for ourselves. Join the conversation and share your thoughts on how we can overcome these challenges! Dr. RAJAT RANJAN Bill Remak Robert Adamu Shey Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance #VaccineHesitancy #PublicHealth #AfricanVaccines #UNGA79 #GlobalHealth

We hear a lot of talk about "combating misinformation" but I rarely hear discussions on what "resilience to misinformation" would look like. Here is my take on this in context of health.

People hospitalized for #COVID19 early in the pandemic suffered an increased risk of serious “#cardiacevents” such as #heartattacks and #strokes that was akin to people with a history of heart disease, a newly released study has found. Researchers from USC, UCLA and the Cleveland Clinic analyzed more than 10,000 COVID cases tracked by the UK Biobank to examine how COVID affected the risk of heart attacks and other cardiac threats. Their study, released Wednesday in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology https://lnkd.in/gRzTqFGB assessed outcomes for people sickened in the first year of the pandemic and followed for a period of nearly three years. The findings underscore that among “people who don’t have any evidence of heart disease, having severe COVID put them at a significantly increased risk of heart attack, stroke and death,” said principal investigator Hooman Allayee, professor of population and public health sciences at USC’s Keck School of Medicine. Among the most striking findings: Being hospitalized for COVID in 2020 amplified the risk of heart attacks and other cardiac events so much that it ended up being comparable to people who had a history of heart disease but who hadn’t gotten COVID, the study found. Although the analysis showed that the added risk was especially stark among people with severe cases, researchers stressed it was still apparent for patients who had gotten any form of COVID. Such risks were roughly twice as high in people who had gotten COVID at all levels of severity, and four times as high for hospitalized cases, compared with people who hadn’t gotten COVID, the study found. The study indicates that the increased risk “shows no apparent signs of attenuation up to nearly three years after SARS-CoV-2 infection and suggest that COVID-19 continues to pose a significant public health burden with lingering adverse cardiovascular risk,” they wrote. Scientists also found that the risk differed by blood type: Being hospitalized for COVID ramped up the risks among people with blood types A, B or AB more than it did among people with type O blood. “Your genetics actually plays a role in this increased risk of developing future heart attacks and stroke,” said James Hilser, a Keck doctoral candidate in biochemistry and molecular medicine who helped write the paper.

I am proud of you. Sending you strength and love. Remember, you are a warrior, and every step you take is a testament to your bravery and resilience. Keep fighting, keep believing, and know that you are never alone in this journey. No-one should face breast cancer alone.

https://lnkd.in/gWZWFQEm

World Health Organization has added Cecolin® as the fourth HPV vaccine approved for single-dose use. This marks a significant step toward eliminating #CervicalCancer, which is primarily caused by HPV and affects 660,000 women globally each year. With this new approval, more girls, especially in low- and middle-income countries, will have access to life-saving HPV vaccines. With availability of HPV vaccines, World Health Organization aims to protect 90% of girls by age 15, reducing the burden of cervical cancer and its devastating inequities. #HPVvaccine #cervicalcancer #publichealth

https://lnkd.in/g-nSCHrq

Just been talking vaccine demand, #misinformation management and #SBC intervention design and implementation with a bright cohort of students in the #Vaccinology #LIVEProgram here in Lyon. In only 30 mins they all managed to identify and analyse well different vaccine misinformation narratives. I left them with the responsibility of being advocates, in whatever capacity they can, of vaccination because we need more trustworthy voices of scientists in the public discourse. Good luck to you all for the rest of your program, and the thesis 😳 of course! #ErasmusMundus