Title
A multinational Delphi consensus to end the COVID-19 public health threat
Author
Lazarus, Jeffrey V. (ISGlobal, Barcelona; Autonomous University of Barcelona; City University of New York)
Romero, Diana (City University of New York)
Kopka, Christopher J.
Abdool Karim, Salim (University of KwaZulu-Natal; Centre for the AIDS Program of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA))
Abu-Raddad, Laith J. (Qatar Foundation)
Almeida, Gisele (Pan American Health Organisation)
Baptista-Leite, Ricardo (UNITE Global Parliamentarians Network; Universiteit Maastricht; Universidade Católica Portuguesa)
Bluyssen, P.M. (TU Delft Indoor Environment) 
Date
2022
Abstract
Despite notable scientific and medical advances, broader political, socioeconomic and behavioural factors continue to undercut the response to the COVID-19 pandemic1,2. Here we convened, as part of this Delphi study, a diverse, multidisciplinary panel of 386 academic, health, non-governmental organization, government and other experts in COVID-19 response from 112 countries and territories to recommend specific actions to end this persistent global threat to public health. The panel developed a set of 41 consensus statements and 57 recommendations to governments, health systems, industry and other key stakeholders across six domains: communication; health systems; vaccination; prevention; treatment and care; and inequities. In the wake of nearly three years of fragmented global and national responses, it is instructive to note that three of the highest-ranked recommendations call for the adoption of whole-of-society and whole-of-government approaches1, while maintaining proven prevention measures using a vaccines-plus approach2 that employs a range of public health and financial support measures to complement vaccination. Other recommendations with at least 99% combined agreement advise governments and other stakeholders to improve communication, rebuild public trust and engage communities3 in the management of pandemic responses. The findings of the study, which have been further endorsed by 184 organizations globally, include points of unanimous agreement, as well as six recommendations with >5% disagreement, that provide health and social policy actions to address inadequacies in the pandemic response and help to bring this public health threat to an end.
To reference this document use:
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:bc8678bf-1616-40a1-bdea-a7daa7a22291
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05398-2
ISSN
0028-0836
Source
Nature: international weekly journal of science, 611 (7935), 332-345
Part of collection
Institutional Repository
Document type
journal article
Rights
© 2022 Jeffrey V. Lazarus, Diana Romero, Christopher J. Kopka, Salim Abdool Karim, Laith J. Abu-Raddad, Gisele Almeida, Ricardo Baptista-Leite, P.M. Bluyssen, , More Authors