National Ministry Research Articles

P-476. Pilot Implementation of HIV Self-Testing in Ghana: Analysis of the Community-Based Demand Generation Approach

Abstract Background Under the auspices of the Ministry of Health (MoH) and National AIDS/STI Control Programme (NACP), Ghana piloted an HIV Self-Testing (HIVST) project in 2023. The implementation took place in 50 HIV high burden districts and it was spearheaded by Ghana HIV and AIDS Network (GHANET), a grassroots civil society organization (CSO) with membership across the country. This paper examines the strategies and outcomes of the project which was sponsored by the Global Fund and currently being expanded as part of Grant Cycle Seven (GC7) implementation from 2024 to 2026. Methods One hundred and fifty (150) volunteers from 50 community-based organizations (CBOs) were trained to distribute ORAQUICK HIVST kits to local residents in the selected districts. Video instructions on the effective use of the test kits (produced in English and six different Ghanaian dialects) were made available to persons who voluntarily received the kits. Through an online portal (GHANET Information Management System (GIMS)) data about the distributions were recorded. Follow-ups were conducted to ascertain, among others, how the kits were used. The data was quantitatively analyzed and descriptive statistics was used to summarize the data using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS v.28). Results A total of 123,088 ORAQUICK HIVST kits were distributed (with follow-ups) to 73,853 (60%) females and 49,235 (40%) males. Young people aged 20 – 24 received the highest number of kits totaling 28,790 which is about 23%, followed by those aged 25 – 29 who received 25,006 which is about 20% and those aged 30 – 34 who received 17,460 which is about 14%. A total of 422 persons comprising 304 (72%) females and 118 (28%) males self-reported their results as reactive. Of this number, 329 persons comprising 72% of females and 28% of males were confirmed positive. And, out of that number, 202 persons comprising 73% females and 27% males were successfully initiated on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in health facilities. Conclusion Male participation of 40% in the testing exercise was encouraging as it above the national average of 20% . It is therefore recommended that in Ghana, HIVST should, particularly, be targeted men. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

Gender Distribution of Leadership Positions in Global Environmental Politics

Abstract Many institutions have called for increasing the number of women in leadership positions in global environmental politics (GEP). Little information exists, however, regarding gender distributions in such positions. This brief report begins filling in elements of our collective data gap. Men currently lead 80 percent of the fifteen global intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) that are particularly important to GEP and have held 90 percent of these positions in the past. Men currently lead 70 percent of national environmental ministries and have held approximately 78 percent of those positions. Equal numbers of men and women currently lead the twenty most prominent environmental treaty secretariats, although men have held more than 70 percent of these positions in the past. During the twenty-first century, men received 69 percent of the appointments to lead the IGOs and treaty secretariats most important to GEP. These numbers raise a series of research, ethical, and political questions.

Global, regional, and national trends in drug use disorder mortality rates across 73 countries from 1990 to 2021, with projections up to 2040: a global time-series analysis and modelling study

Drug use disorder (DUD) poses a major public health crisis globally, necessitating immediate attention to global trends and future projections to develop effective health policies and interventions. Thus, we aimed to estimate the global trends in DUD mortality rates from 1990 to 2021 and future projections of DUD deaths until 2040 across 73 countries. In this time-series analysis and modelling study, we investigated the global trends in DUD mortality rates from 1990 to 2021 using the WHO Mortality Database and forecasted future trends through 2040. Global trend analysis was analysed using a locally weighted scatter plot smoother (LOESS) curve, and future projections were calculated based on a Bayesian age-period-cohort analysis. In addition, we performed a decomposition analysis to identify the variations in DUD deaths, specifically examining factors such as population growth, ageing, and epidemiological changes. Of the 73 countries included in the analysis of DUD mortality, 45 were high-income countries (HICs), and 28 were low to middle-income countries (LMICs). The LOESS estimates of the global DUD mortality rate were 1.84 deaths per 1,000,000 people (95% CI,-0.44 to 4.12) in 1990 and 13.09 deaths per 1,000,000 people (95% CI, 10.74-15.43) in 2021. Notably, HICs showed a significant increase in DUD mortality from 1.43 deaths per 1,000,000 people (95% CI,-1.55 to 4.42) in 1990 to 17.19 deaths per 1,000,000 people (95% CI, 13.84-20.53) in 2021. A significant increase in DUD mortality was observed among individuals aged 25-64 and males. Our analysis also identified associations between DUD mortality rates and several log-transformed parameters, including Human Development Index (β, 14.92; p<0.0001), Socio-demographic Index (β, 11.80; p<0.0001), reverse Gender Gap Index (β,-12.02; p<0.0001), and Gini coefficient (β,-1.84; p<0.0001). From 1990 to 2021, the increase in the number of DUD deaths globally can be attributed to two prominent factors: epidemiological change and population growth. In HICs, the impacts of epidemiological changes for increasing DUD mortality rates were particularly prominent compared to other factors. In the Bayesian age-period-cohort models, the predicted number of global DUD deaths up to 2040 were estimated to increase from 25.95 deaths per 1,000,000 people (95% credible interval [CrI], 24.72-27.28) in 2021 to 38.45 (95% CrI, 30.48-49.33) in 2030, and 42.43 (95% CrI, 23.67-77.77) in2040. An increasing trend in global DUD mortality was observed from 1990 to 2021, especially in HICs. Future DUD deaths were also predicted to increase until 2040 at the global level. Therefore, these findings suggest urgent and proactive strategies for DUD to reduce the mortality rates related to DUD are needed. However, further prospective research that accounts for potential confounding factors, such as socioeconomic variables and the quality of reporting data from individual countries, is imperative for more accurate estimation. National Research Foundation and Ministry of Science and ICT of South Korea.

Distribution of Dengue Serotypes in Argentina in the Last 2 Years

Introduction: dengue virus is transmitted mainly by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, and represents a public health problem worldwide, especially in tropical and subtropical regions. Objective: to determine the dengue serotypes circulating in Argentina.Methods: Epidemiological reports were evaluated retrospectively. Dengue surveillance data from the National Ministry of Health of the Argentine Republic during the period 2022 to 2024 were used for this purpose. Results: the serotypes circulating in Argentina during 2022-2023 were DenV-1 and DenV-2; during the 2024 outbreak, the DenV-3 serotype was introduced, with DenV-2 accounting for 57,41 %, DenV-1 for 42,40 % and DenV-3 for 0,19 %. Conclusion: the predominance of serotypes DENV-1 and DENV-2, and the introduction of serotype DENV-3 in 2024, increase the risk of sequential infections and severe forms of the disease, which emphasizes the need to implement effective strategies, between endemic and epidemic years, for vector control and to promote community awareness

Barriers and Facilitators Toward Disaster Knowledge, Skills, and Preparedness among Emergency Medical Services in Saudi Arabia.

Disasters pose significant challenges globally, affecting millions of people annually. In Saudi Arabia, floods constitute a prevalent natural disaster, underscoring the necessity for effective disaster preparedness among Emergency Medical Services (EMS) workers. Despite their critical role in disaster response, research on disaster preparedness among EMS workers in Saudi Arabia is limited. The study aimed to explore the disaster preparedness among EMS workers in Saudi Arabia. This study applied an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design to explore disaster preparedness among EMS workers in Saudi Arabia, focusing on the qualitative phase. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 EMS workers from National Guard Health Affairs (NGHA) and Ministry of Health (MOH) facilities in Riyadh, Dammam, and Jeddah. Thematic analysis was conducted following Braun and Clarke's six-step process, ensuring data rigor through Schwandt, et al's criteria for trustworthiness. The demographic characteristics of participants revealed a predominantly young, male workforce with varying levels of experience and educational backgrounds. Thematic analysis identified three key themes: (1) Newly/developed profession, highlighting the challenges faced by young EMS workers in acquiring disaster preparedness; (2) Access to opportunities and workplace resources (government versus military), indicating discrepancies in disaster preparedness support between government and military hospitals; and (3) Workplace policies and procedures, highlighting the need for clearer disaster policies, training opportunities, and role clarity among EMS workers. The study underscores the importance of addressing the unique challenges faced by EMS workers in Saudi Arabia to enhance disaster preparedness. Recommendations include targeted support for young EMS professionals, standardization of disaster training across health care facilities, and improved communication of disaster policies and procedures. These findings have implications for policy and practice in disaster management and EMS training in Saudi Arabia.

Climbing up, letting down, or putting the ladder away? Regional ministers’ movements in multilevel systems

Abstract Regional cabinet members (RCMs) are key political actors in subnational politics, especially in federal systems or in countries that have undergone a process of regionalization or devolution, even though they are still less studied than federal or national ministers. Italy and its regionalization process represent an interesting case study to understand how and under what conditions members of regional cabinets can exit from politics or move upwards, or downwards the different tiers of government. By using an original dataset of 721 RCMs in ordinary statute regions we tested through multinomial regression analysis whether political and institutional or personal factors influence their movements (both legislative or executive) upward, that is, toward national and/or European positions, backward toward local (both provincial or municipal) positions or their exit from politics. Our results show that both political–institutional and individual factors matter. In particular, displaying a previous national career favors upward movements while being a technician or independent favors the exit from politics.

Public Initiatives to Combat Health Disinformation in Argentina and Spain: A Gender, Social, and Environmental Analysis

Introduction: Public health disinformation is a significant problem as demonstrated by the recent scientific literature on the COVID-19 pandemic. However, further studies that analyse disinformation in public health initiatives within specific contexts and which contains a multidimensional approach (gender, social and environmental) are required. Evidence shows that disinformation, information overload, misinformation or fake news on health issues are also influenced by these issues. Objective: To analyse health disinformation in national public initiatives implemented by the governments of Argentina and Spain before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, this paper incorporated a gender-based approach and social and environmental determinants in order to identify the limitations of these initiatives and offer certain recommendations. We conducted a descriptive, qualitative and quantitative study, as well as content analysis. We focused on documents from the websites of the national health ministries of Argentina and Spain, and digital repositories of regulations at the national level. Various strategies for systematic searches on government websites were designed and implemented. This included manual searches on Google. The first step involved a general analysis of all documents found by the searches, followed by a qualitative analysis of the documents that were related to health issues. Based on this work, a comprehensive and flexible framework of (pre-established and emerging) dimensions and categories of health disinformation and infodemics was generated. Results. The work was based on a total of 202 documents (both downloadable information and information included in websites); 117 for Argentina and 85 for Spain. Of the total, 60.9% were published during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the second stage of the analysis, 55 texts were selected for Argentina and 47 for Spain. In both countries, the central communications approach used was disinformation and/or infodemics (although definitions such as fake news were also used). They were mainly linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, but other emerging health problems were also detected to a lesser degree. However, disinformation (or a related concept) was prominently present in only 17 documents in Argentina and 3 documents in Spain. In terms of document type, working materials were foremost in Argentina (44.4%) and Spain (37.6%), with little presence of policy, regulatory and evaluation documents (only 5). Gender binary language was predominantly used in these texts. Vulnerable groups and social determinants were poorly included. Environmental determinants were mentioned in conjunction with health disinformation in only one paper on the use of plastics and its impact on human health in Argentina, and in another paper from the Global Summit on Climate and Health in Spain. Conclusions: Based on the document analysis, the inclusion of health disinformation within public actions in both countries before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, was detected. However, different limitations were observed: it was clear that the problem was strongly linked to the health emergency and did not extend much beyond that. Health disinformation was secondary and did not play a key role in public policy nor did it have greater institutional importance. Limitations were also detected in terms of gender perspectives, vulnerable groups and social and environmental determinants linked to health disinformation, displaying a reductionist approach. Based on these results, this paper makes certain policy recommendations.

Safety notices and registry outlier data measure different aspects of safety and performance of total knee implants: a comparative study of safety notices and register outliers.

Safety notices for medical devices such as total knee arthroplasty (TKA) implants may indicate problems in their design or performance that require corrective action to prevent patient harm. Safety notices are often published on national Ministries of Health or regulatory agencies websites. It is unknown whether problems triggering safety notices identify the same implants as those identified by registries as "outlier." We aimed to assess the extent to which safety notices and outlier identification in registries signal the same or different TKA implants. The CORE-MD tool, an automated web scraper tool, was used to collect safety notices related to TKA implants on 13 national Ministries of Health websites and regulatory agencies. Safety notices were defined according to the Medical Device Regulation (MDR) as "a communication sent by a manufacturer to users or customers in relation to a field safety corrective action." Identified TKA outliers, defined as having a significantly higher revision risk than other comparable TKA implants, were extracted from registry reports. 787 safety notices for 38 TKA implants and 35 TKA outliers were identified, together identifying 47 unique TKA implants. 26 (55%) TKA implants had safety notices and were also outliers, 12 (26%) TKA implants had only safety notices, and 9 (19%) were outliers only. TKA implants with safety notices only had similar types of problems to TKA outliers with safety notices, with "Manufacturing/Packaging/Shipping" problems being most frequent (44%). Cumulative revision risks (1/5/10 years) were lower for TKA implants with safety notices only than for TKA outliers with safety notices. 55% of the TKA with a safety notice were identified as outliers in the registry, whereas around 25% of TKA outliers are not the subject of publicly released safety notices, with safety notices pointing to TKA implants not identified by registries as potentially having a higher risk of failure. This suggests that safety notices and registry outlier data measure different aspects of safety and performance.

Developing a framework for understanding policy decision-making behaviors in the transition of an HIV prevention program towards sustainability: a case study from Zambia’s voluntary medical male circumcision program

Faced with declining donor funding for HIV, low- and middle-income countries must identify efficient and cost-effective ways to integrate HIV prevention programs into public health systems for long-term sustainability. In Zambia, donor support to the voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) program, which previously funded non-governmental organizations as implementing partners, is increasingly being directed through government structures instead. We developed a framework to understand how the behaviors of individual decision-makers within the government could be barriers to this transition. We interviewed key stakeholders from the national, provincial, and district levels of the Ministry of Health, and from donors and partners funding and implementing Zambia’s VMMC program, exploring the decisions required to attain a sustainable VMMC program and the behavioral dynamics involved at personal and institutional levels. Using pattern identification and theme matching to analyze the content of the responses, we derived three core decision-making phases in the transition to a sustainable VMMC program: 1) developing an alternative funding strategy, 2) developing a policy for early-infant (0–2 months) and early-adolescent (15–17 years) male circumcision, which is crucial to sustainable HIV prevention; and 3) identifying integrated and efficient implementation models. We formulated a framework showing how, in each phase, a range of behavioral dynamics can form barriers that hinder effective decision-making among stakeholders at the same level (e.g., national ministries and donors) or across levels (e.g., national, provincial and district). Our research methodology and the resulting framework offer a systematic approach for in-depth investigations into organizational decision-making in public health programs, as well as development programs beyond VMMC and HIV prevention. It provides the insights necessary to map organizational development and policy-making transition plans to sustainability, by explaining tangible factors such as organizational processes and systems, as well as intangibles such as the behaviors of policymakers and institutional actors.

Narrativa de mi experiencia como maestra, formadora e investigadora en territorio indígena wayuu: una autoetnografía

This article presents the trajectory of a teacher, trainer, and researcher in indigenous territory, anchored in autoethnography. Her work as an active participant in Colombia’s National Ministry of Education’s Todos a Aprender Program goes beyond mere knowledge transmission, being a journey of mutual and collective learning. It highlights the deep connection with the cultural reality and particularities of indigenous territories, as well as her role as a researcher and teacher committed to educational improvement in the La Guajira department. Autoethnography emerges as the ideal tool to reflect on her transformation as a teacher, analyzing the impact of her work and connections with the Wayuu indigenous community. Through this testimony, it seeks to open a reflective dialogue on the transformative power of education in indigenous contexts and contribute to understanding educational diversity and strengthening cultural fabric in these territories.

Pendidikan Karakter dalam Komik Si Toyeb Karya Husni Assaerozi

In constitution Number 20 of 2003 year Chapter 2 Article 3 talking about the national education system said that "national education aims to develop the ability and form the character and civilization nation that dignity in order to educate life of the nation, aiming to develop the potential of students become human beings who faithful and pious to God Almighty, noble, healthy, erudite, capable, creative, independent, and become democratic and responsible citizen. The values of character education should be instilled in children since early age. This is duty of both parents to educate their children to have good behaviors and habits. Whether at home, at school or in the society circle. The comic book entitled Si Toyeb by Husni Assaerozi. This research aims to trace the characters education in the comic Si Toyeb which is a comic that tells about the portrait of santri life in Islamic boarding school. This written is a research that seeks to inspect the values of character education using library research methods. Data from the results of this research can be concluded that comic Si Toyeb by Husni Assaerozi there are 9 from 18 characters education values according national education ministry.

Acceptability, barriers and facilitators of using dried blood spots-point-of-care testing for sickle cell disease in Africa: an implementation science protocol for a multinational qualitative study

BackgroundSickle cell disease (SCD) is a prevalent inherited blood disorder. Globally, approximately 515 000 babies are born with SCD annually, with 75% of these births occurring in Africa. Integrating newborn...

Use of Extension Services by Smallholder Farmers in Kitui County, Kenya: Challenges and Opportunities

Agriculture supports the livelihoods of rural people in developing countries, including Kenya. Agriculture is the mainstay and driver of the Kenyan rural economy. Despite the critical role of agriculture in Kenya, poor access to extension support services persists. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utilization of agricultural extension services by smallholder farmers in Kitui County, Kenya. A total 99 farmers were sampled from Kitui County using a stratified random sampling approach. Secondary information sources such as national and county ministries reports and existing literature were reviewed to supplement the primary data. A Questionnaire was the main tool used for data collection in this study. Data obtained were analyzed through descriptive statistics. This study found that most farmers in Kitui County had access to extension service in their various crop and /or livestock enterprises. Majority of the farmers who had received extension services had applied all the recommendations made by the extension workers. The complexity of technology was stated as the most common reason for the non-application of some recommendations. Majority of the sampled farmers preferred extension information packaged in the form of print, the extension officer himself/face-to-face, radio, television, internet, Barazas, farm visit and self-explanation. Transports, both for the farmer to the service provider’s office and for the service provider to the farm, was cited as a major expenses in livestock and crop agricultural extension. This study recommend that more funds should be allocated to an agricultural extension. For efficient delivery of extension service in Kitui County, extension officers should be well facilitated (especially through adequate transport facilities and access to technologies). Agricultural Extension work requires more funds to reach most of the farmers in vast Kitui County.

Building sustainable capacity to adopt, adapt or develop child health guidelines, Malawi, Nigeria and South Africa.

Many national child health guidelines in Malawi, Nigeria and South Africa are outdated and score poorly on rigorous methods and stakeholder participation. In line with the World Health Organization's (WHO) emphasis on local guideline contextualization, the Global Evidence-Local Adaptation (GELA) project supported multistakeholder processes to adapt evidence-informed recommendations for child health in Malawi, Nigeria and South Africa. The GELA project team convened national steering groups, which conducted structured, iterative priority-setting exercises to identify priority topics. We identified appropriate source guidelines by systematically searching and screening available guidelines. We then matched recommendations in potential source guidelines to the relevant questions, and assessed the guidelines for timeliness and quality. Drawing on WHO's guideline process, we applied the GRADE-ADOLOPMENT process to develop contextualized recommendations from existing guidelines. If no source guideline or reviews were identified, we conducted new evidence syntheses. Malawi, Nigeria and South Africa are countries with varying health priorities and systems, all transitioning to universal health coverage. Guideline structures differ between countries, with processes largely led from national health ministries. National guideline groups, supported by GELA researchers and government-academic partners, developed five contextually-tailored child health recommendations. For most of these recommendations, additional evidence was required to inform contextually appropriate national decision-making. Formal capacity-building and on-the-job learning enhanced the competencies of national contributors and researchers in evidence-informed decision-making. Developing context-relevant recommendations requires considerable resources and time. Further investment in strengthening local capacity is needed for sustainable national guideline development.

Zoonotic outbreak risk prediction with long short-term memory models: a case study with schistosomiasis, echinococcosis, and leptospirosis

BackgroundZoonotic infections, characterized with huge pathogen diversity, wide affecting area and great society harm, have become a major global public health problem. Early and accurate prediction of their outbreaks is crucial for disease control. The aim of this study was to develop zoonotic diseases risk predictive models based on time-series incidence data and three zoonotic diseases in mainland China were employed as cases.MethodsThe incidence data for schistosomiasis, echinococcosis, and leptospirosis were downloaded from the Scientific Data Centre of the National Ministry of Health of China, and were processed by interpolation, dynamic curve reconstruction and time series decomposition. Data were decomposed into three distinct components: the trend component, the seasonal component, and the residual component. The trend component was used as input to construct the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) prediction model, while the seasonal component was used in the comparison of the periods and amplitudes. Finaly, the accuracy of the hybrid LSTM prediction model was comprehensive evaluated.ResultsThis study employed trend series of incidence numbers and incidence rates of three zoonotic diseases for modeling. The prediction results of the model showed that the predicted incidence number and incidence rate were very close to the real incidence data. Model evaluation revealed that the prediction error of the hybrid LSTM model was smaller than that of the single LSTM. Thus, these results demonstrate that using trending sequences as input sequences for the model leads to better-fitting predictive models.ConclusionsOur study successfully developed LSTM hybrid models for disease outbreak risk prediction using three zoonotic diseases as case studies. We demonstrate that the LSTM, when combined with time series decomposition, delivers more accurate results compared to conventional LSTM models using the raw data series. Disease outbreak trends can be predicted more accurately using hybrid models.

An Empirical Research on the Practices of Education Management Information System (EMIS) in South West Showa Education Sectors

This study focused on the implementation of Educational Management Information System (EMIS) in South West Showa education sectors. An Education Management Information System (EMIS) is a system that collects, manages, and shares educational data within a national ministry or department of education. EMIS, as defined by UNESCO in 2018, is a system of operational processes utilizing digital technology to gather, analyze, and utilize data and information in education for various purposes such as management, planning, policy-making, and monitoring. A mixed research approach was used, with data collected through questionnaires, interviews, and document analysis. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 24. The study involved the South West Showa education office management body and 6 Woredas education sectors. Challenges identified included lack of education indicators manual, qualified personnel, EMIS software user manual, relevant training, computer and printer shortages, high turnover in EMIS positions, and issues with data accuracy and reliability. Respondents highlighted problems such as insufficient ICT infrastructure, lack of IT competency, shortage of qualified staff, and poor coordination. The study concluded that EMIS faced various obstacles affecting its management, and recommendations were made to address these issues.

Dedicated climate ministries help to reduce carbon emissions

Several countries have introduced dedicated national climate ministries in the last two decades. However, we know little about the consequences of these ministries. We demonstrate that the introduction of climate ministries helps to reduce carbon emissions. A difference-in-differences analysis of a global sample of countries reveals robust and statistically significant evidence that introducing a dedicated climate ministry lowers carbon emissions substantially. At the same time, establishing such climate ministries does not significantly influence the introduction of new climate policies. This indicates that climate ministries primarily amplify climate action by improving the effectiveness of the governmental measures taken rather than by increasing the number of climate policies themselves.

Negotiating peace education: the dynamics of bottom-up/top-down integrated/bilingual education initiatives in Israel

ABSTRACT This paper delves into the intricacies of fostering bottom-up educational initiatives aimed at addressing power imbalances in societies marked by intractable conflicts. Focusing on the establishment of a Palestinian-Jewish integrated bilingual education program in Israel, the study examines archival materials and stakeholder interviews to uncover the divergent motivations of politicians, educators, and administrators. It highlights the multifaceted nature of NGO-government negotiations, emphasizing the entanglement of contexts and the presence of internal conflicts within each entity. By exploring the ideological and operational challenges faced at different administrative levels, from national ministries to local municipalities, the paper provides a nuanced understanding of the support mechanisms for integrated bilingual schools. Findings call for an in-depth examination of these complex dynamics and their broader implications for educational policy and practice in conflict-affected settings.

Mechanism of strategic remoulding of high-dimensional industrial eco-economy and the reconstruction of carbon neutral industrial chain

Considerable changes in the international society, fierce international competition and unpredictable economic changes are currently observed. Since then, the epidemic has had a far-reaching impact, and many industrial and supply chains have suffered from ‘broken chains’, ‘blocked chains’ and ‘poor chains’. The European Union (EU) has also sounded the alarm on China’s ‘card neck’ restrictions and ‘entity list’. Therefore, pursuing the integration of dual carbon landscape planning and industrial chain and addressing the key high-dimensional ecological economy ‘neck-choking’ problem path have become important tasks. National ministries and commissions have issued a number of documents to promote the integration and innovation of the industrial chain, high-, medium- and low-dimensional enterprises, and guide such industries to take the road of ‘high dimensional’ development. This paper takes eco-economic strategy as the starting point to reshape the systematic theoretical analysis framework of economic strategy mechanism. In response to the high-dimensional industrial transformation adaptation path and carbon neutral industry chain development model of the academic inquiry, the ‘profit model’ is set as the core and configuration complementary, alternative management thinking analysis path and model. Simultaneously, the high-dimensional industrial eco-economic industrial chain adaptation path is identified. The effects of high-dimensional industry ‘five forces’, ‘colouring map’ and ‘new tools’ are explored and then integrated and refined to improve the implementation efficiency of the carbon neutral industrial chain. Finally, focusing on the high-dimensional ecological economic strategy reshaping mechanism, the formation of sustainable development of the ‘carbon neutral’ industrial chain, unified standards and the realisation of the chain length system is investigated.

How to help countries improve resilience during a pandemic: an example of a Rapid Exchange Forum.

The COVID-19 pandemic demanded quick exchanges between experts and institutions supporting governments to provide evidence-based information in response to the crisis. Initially, there was no regular cross-country forum in the field of population health. This paper describes the set-up and benefits of implementing such a forum. A group of public health practitioners from academia, national public health institutes and ministries of health decided in April 2020 to meet bi-monthly to discuss a vast array of population health topics in a structured format called a Rapid Exchange Forum (REF). An ad-hoc mailing group was established to collect responses to questions brought forward in the forum from at least five countries within 24 h. This endeavour, which evolved as network of networks was awarded an EU grant in autumn 2020 and was called PHIRI (Population Health Information Research Infrastructure). Responses from up to 31 countries were compiled and shared immediately via the European Health Information Portal. This exchange was complemented by special REFs that focused on the advantages and disadvantages of vaccination, for example. By July 2023, 54 REFs had taken place with topics going beyond COVID-19. The REF demonstrated its value for quick yet evidence-based cross-country exchange in times of crisis and was highly appreciated by countries and European Commission. It demonstrated its sustainability even after the acute crisis by expanding the topics covered and managing to continue exchange with the aim of capacity building and mutual learning, making it a true EU response and coordination mechanism.