Making the Case for Cross-Border Public Health Strategies: A comparativie Assessment of Covid-19 Epidemiological Trends in the Balkan Countries Across 17 Months
S. Cuschieri, Amy Carabott, R. Caruana, M. Farrugia, Anthea Ferrigi, E. Grech, A. Pace, T. Attard Mallia, Nicole Attard, Nathalie Attard, Emma Camilleri, Jeanelle Calleja, Martina Baldacchino, Davide Magrì, Neriah Mangion, A. Cuschieri
{"title":"Making the Case for Cross-Border Public Health Strategies: A comparativie Assessment of Covid-19 Epidemiological Trends in the Balkan Countries Across 17 Months","authors":"S. Cuschieri, Amy Carabott, R. Caruana, M. Farrugia, Anthea Ferrigi, E. Grech, A. Pace, T. Attard Mallia, Nicole Attard, Nathalie Attard, Emma Camilleri, Jeanelle Calleja, Martina Baldacchino, Davide Magrì, Neriah Mangion, A. Cuschieri","doi":"10.18502/jbe.v8i2.10416","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Introduction: COVID-19 spread globally, including across the Balkans, resulting in different morbidity and mortality outcomes in different countries. The aim of this study was to review the impact of COVID-19 over 17 months with regards to pandemic progression, implemented mitigation strategies, and COVID-19 vaccination programs across the Balkan countries, while identifying any valuable pieces of information acquired serendipitously throughout the pandemic that can be implemented in future action plans. \nMethods: A longitudinal ecological study was conducted across the Balkan countries from the onset of COVID-19 in these countries up until 1st August 2021. Epidemiological data was obtained from Our World in Data databases, while Ministry of Health websites for each respective country as well as local newspapers were utilized to review COVID-19-related mitigation and vaccination strategies. Comparisons of vaccination coverage, incident cases and mortality were made across neighboring countries, by converting the respective data to rates per 100,000 population for each country using Microsoft® Excel for mac (Version 16.59). \nResults: More than 10 million positive COVID-19 cases and 164,470 deaths were observed across the Balkan countries up until 1st August 2021. Trends in COVID morbidity and mortality outcomes were evident across neighbouring countries. A staggered vaccination rollout was observed, with various rollout speeds, although gradual decline in both morbidity and mortality occurred. \nConclusion: Results obtained from this study strongly indicate that COVID-19 outcome for a particular country is not only dependent on the country’s own level of viral transmission, mitigations, and vaccination rates but also on neighbouring countries’ COVID-19 situation. Hence, cross-border governance action and recovery plans are recommended along with targeting vaccination hesitance.","PeriodicalId":34310,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Biostatistics and Epidemiology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2022-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Biostatistics and Epidemiology","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.18502/jbe.v8i2.10416","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"Medicine","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2
Abstract
Introduction: COVID-19 spread globally, including across the Balkans, resulting in different morbidity and mortality outcomes in different countries. The aim of this study was to review the impact of COVID-19 over 17 months with regards to pandemic progression, implemented mitigation strategies, and COVID-19 vaccination programs across the Balkan countries, while identifying any valuable pieces of information acquired serendipitously throughout the pandemic that can be implemented in future action plans.
Methods: A longitudinal ecological study was conducted across the Balkan countries from the onset of COVID-19 in these countries up until 1st August 2021. Epidemiological data was obtained from Our World in Data databases, while Ministry of Health websites for each respective country as well as local newspapers were utilized to review COVID-19-related mitigation and vaccination strategies. Comparisons of vaccination coverage, incident cases and mortality were made across neighboring countries, by converting the respective data to rates per 100,000 population for each country using Microsoft® Excel for mac (Version 16.59).
Results: More than 10 million positive COVID-19 cases and 164,470 deaths were observed across the Balkan countries up until 1st August 2021. Trends in COVID morbidity and mortality outcomes were evident across neighbouring countries. A staggered vaccination rollout was observed, with various rollout speeds, although gradual decline in both morbidity and mortality occurred.
Conclusion: Results obtained from this study strongly indicate that COVID-19 outcome for a particular country is not only dependent on the country’s own level of viral transmission, mitigations, and vaccination rates but also on neighbouring countries’ COVID-19 situation. Hence, cross-border governance action and recovery plans are recommended along with targeting vaccination hesitance.
简介:新冠肺炎在全球范围内传播,包括在巴尔干半岛,导致不同国家的发病率和死亡率不同。本研究的目的是审查新冠肺炎在17个月内对巴尔干国家的大流行进展、实施的缓解策略和新冠肺炎疫苗接种计划的影响,同时确定在大流行期间意外获得的任何有价值的信息,这些信息可以在未来的行动计划中实施。方法:从新冠肺炎爆发到2021年8月1日,在巴尔干国家进行了一项纵向生态研究。流行病学数据来自Our World in data数据库,同时利用每个国家的卫生部网站以及当地报纸来审查与COVID-19相关的缓解和疫苗接种策略。通过使用Microsoft®Excel for mac(16.59版)将各自的数据转换为每个国家每10万人口的接种率,对邻国的疫苗接种覆盖率、事件病例和死亡率进行了比较。结果:截至2021年8月1日,巴尔干国家共观察到超过1000万例新冠肺炎阳性病例和164470例死亡病例。新冠肺炎发病率和死亡率的趋势在邻国都很明显。尽管发病率和死亡率逐渐下降,但观察到疫苗接种的时间错开,接种速度各不相同。结论:这项研究的结果有力地表明,特定国家的新冠肺炎结果不仅取决于该国自身的病毒传播水平、缓解措施和疫苗接种率,还取决于邻国的新冠肺炎情况。因此,建议在针对疫苗接种犹豫的同时采取跨境治理行动和恢复计划。