The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Need for an Integrated and Equitable Approach: An International Expert Consensus Paper
Grigoris Gerotziafas, Mariella Catalano, Yiannis Theodorou, Patrick Van Dreden, Vincent Maréchal, Alex C. Spyropoulos, Charles W. Carter, Nusrat Jabeen, Job Harenberg, Ismaı̈l Elalamy, Anna Falanga, Jawed Fareed, Petros Agathaggelou, Darko Antić, Pier Luigi Antignani, Manuel Monreal Bosch, Benjamin Brenner, В. П. Чехонин, Mary Paula Colgan, Meletios Α. Dimopoulos, Jim Douketis, Essam Abo El-Nazar, Katalin Farkas, Bahare Fazeli, Gerry Fowkes, Yongquan Gu, Joseph Gligorov, Mark A. Ligocki, Tishya Indran, Meganathan Kannan, Bülent Kantarcıoğlu, Abdoul Aziz Kassé, Kostantinos Konstantinidis, Fabio Leivano, Joseph Lewis, А. D. Makatsariya, PapaAlassane Mbaye, Isabelle Mahé, Irina Panovska-Stavridis, Dan-Mircea Olinic, Chryssa Papageorgiou, Zsolt Pécsvárady, Sergio Pillon, Eduardo Ramacciotti, Hikmat Abdel‐Razeq, Michèle Sabbah, Mouna Sassi, G. Schernthaner, Fakiha Siddiqui, Jin Shiomura, Anny Slama‐Schwok, Jean Claude Wautrecht, Alfonso Tafur, Alì Taher, Peter Klein-Wegel, Zenguo Zhai, Tazi Mezalek Zoubida, Scientific Reviewer Committee
Abstract
BACKGROUND: One year after the declaration of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) and despite the implementation of mandatory physical barriers and social distancing, humanity remains challenged by a long-lasting and devastating public health crisis. MANAGEMENT: Non-pharmacological interventions (NPIs) are efficient mitigation strategies. The success of these NPIs is dependent on the approval and commitment of the population. The launch of a mass vaccination program in many countries in late December 2020 with mRNA vaccines, adenovirus-based vaccines, and inactivated virus vaccines has generated hope for the end of the pandemic. CURRENT ISSUES: The continuous appearance of new pathogenic viral strains and the ability of vaccines to prevent infection and transmission raise important concerns as we try to achieve community immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its variants. The need of a second and even third generation of vaccines has already been acknowledged by the WHO and governments. PERSPECTIVES: of medical care (PDA). CONCLUSION: The "PDA strategy" integrated into state policy for the support and expansion of health systems and introduction of digital organizations (i.e., telemedicine, e-Health, artificial intelligence, and machine-learning technology) is of major importance for the preservation of citizens' health and life world-wide.