Health
The pandemic has catapulted science to the forefront of policy-making
Interview with Peter Piot, Director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Special Advisor to the President of the European Commission on the response to the coronavirus and COVID-19: how science has been feeding into policy-making? What does your role as EU special advisor on COVID-19 entail? I am part of the ...
The role of school settings in COVID-19 transmission
So far, sending children back to school does not seem to have increased community transmission rates, even though EU countries have adopted different strategies. Keeping schools open is very important for children’s health and well-being.
Dexamethasone : the first life-saving drug for COVID-19 patients
Clinical trials make it possible to evaluate whether a treatment improves outcomes. Developing a hypothesis, for example if treatment A is better than standard treatment B, clinical trials enable understanding of the role of an intervention in improving patient care. In the current search for a successful treatment against COVID-19, ongoing multiple clinical trials have started to make a difference, such as the Recovery clinical trial on dexamethasone, which has given a definitive verdict on the use of corticosteroids during COVID-19.
COVID-19 : tracking clusters to keep ahead of fresh surges
With many countries around the world beginning to see or anticipating a resurgence of COVID-19, attention has been turning to how to avoid an economically punishing second round of lockdowns while keeping transmission down. One method is by examining the types of hotspots where clusters of cases emerge.
COVID-19 and Climate Change: connected crises and lessons to learn
The COVID-19 pandemic brought about worldwide disruption. As societies tentatively begin to reopen, the pandemic holds lessons for how the world faces another globally existential threat, the climate crisis.
“Unlocking” COVID-19: the use and misuse of tests
“Test, test, test” was one of the mantras of the World Health Organization (WHO) director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The issue is particularly relevant in the “unlocking” phase several European countries are going through, as the curve of the pandemics bends. At this stage, and while effective vaccines or therapies are still not available, tests are crucial to keep the disease at bay. But are they effective and reliable?
Prof. Elias Mossialos: “Transparency is vital to the management of responses to health crises”
Interview on COVID-19 with Professor Elias Mossialos, Brian Abel-Smith Professor of Health Policy, Head of the Department of Health Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and Director of LSE Health, UK, and Chief Adviser to the Greek Government on the COVID-19 pandemic. How was Greece’s successful COVID-19 response organised? Greece’s ...
Balancing the risks: Dr Nathalie MacDermott on lockdown easing and the UK perspective
Dr Nathalie MacDermott is a clinical lecturer at King’s College London, sub-specialising in paediatric infectious diseases in the NHS. She also has significant experience in medical response to disaster and epidemic situations in Africa and Asia Some countries in Europe, including the UK, have begun easing their lockdown restrictions. In what ways can lockdowns be ...
