TYPE Edi o ial
PUBLISHED 13 Oc obe 2022
DOI 10.3389/ pubh.2022.1010055
OPEN ACCESS
EDITED AND REVIEWED BY
An hony Guihu ,
Uni e si é de Lausanne, Swi ze land
*CORRESPONDENCE
Ca la Sofia Fa inha
ca lasofi[email p o ec ed]
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This a icle was submi ed o
Public Heal h Policy,
a sec ion o he jou nal
F on ie s in Public Heal h
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ACCEPTED 30 Augus 2022
PUBLISHED 13 Oc obe 2022
CITATION
Fa inha CS, Noguei a PJ,
Fe ei a-San os R and Cos a AS (2022)
Edi o ial: Public Heal h Da a
Challenges o he COVID-19
Pandemic: A Sisyphean ask!
F on . Public Heal h 10:1010055.
doi: 10.3389/ pubh.2022.1010055
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Fe ei a-San os and Cos a. This is an
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does no comply wi h hese e ms.
Edi o ial: Public Heal h Da a
Challenges o he COVID-19
pandemic: A Sisyphean ask!
Ca la Sofia Fa inha1,2*, Paulo Jo ge Noguei a3,4,5,
Rod igo Fe ei a-San os3,5 and And eia Sil a Cos a3,4,5
1S a is ics Po ugal, P esidência dop Conselho de Minis os, Lisboa, Po ugal, 2Cen e o
En i onmen al and Sus ainabili y Resea ch (CENSE), NOVA School o Science and Technology (FCT),
NOVA Uni e si y o Lisbon, Lisbon, Po ugal, 3Ins i u o de Saúde Ambien al (ISAMB), Faculdade de
Medicina, Uni e sidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Po ugal, 4Nu sing Resea ch, Inno a ion and
De elopmen Cen e o Lisbon (CIDNUR), Nu sing School o Lisbon, Lisbon, Po ugal, 5Labo a ó io
Associado TERRA, Faculdade de Medicina, Uni e sidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Po ugal
KEYWORDS
public heal h da a, poli ical decisions, COVID-19, heal h policy, heal h planning
Edi o ial on he Resea ch Topic
Public Heal h Da a Challenges o he COVID-19 pandemic: A
Sisyphean ask!
In Decembe 2019, a clus e o pneumonia cases was epo ed in Wuhan, China.
E en ually i was iden i ied, and he gene ic sequence was he ea e dissemina ed,
con i ming a no el co ona i us in ec ing humans. Wi hin jus a ew weeks, i s apid
sp ead ook on pandemic p opo ions, a ec ing people’s li es and daily ou ines. As o
May 2022, he COVID-19 pandemic is s ill aging on, posing challenges wo ldwide.
F om i s beginning, his pandemic has b ough unexpec ed changes o heal h ca e
sys ems and new challenges o public heal h, heal h moni o ing, and heal h su eillance,
namely in e ms o he necessa y da a o clinical decisions, esou ce managemen , and
policymaking. Mo eo e , heal h ca e sys ems had o main ain hei non-COVID-19
ac i i y while simul aneously he un elen ing impac o his new disease.
The scien i ic wo ld, oo, was aken by a hu icane, and wi nessed an imp essi e
numbe o COVID-19- ela ed publica ions in eco d ime. As o he end o Ap il
2022, PubMed, one o he mos well-known da abases con aining biomedical scien i ic
li e a u e, e ie ed mo e han 255,000 ci a ions wi h “COVID-19” as he sea ch e m.
O hose, 72,587 eco ds also included a e e ence o “da a,” e ealing a la ge body o
li e a u e ha likely in ol ed he use o da a o s udy COVID-19.
P ojec s like he Popula ion Heal h In o ma ion Resea ch In as uc u e (1) a e,
we belie e, cu en ly conduc ing li e a u e e iews o be e unde s and he uses, he
pa hways, and he needs o popula ion heal h da a in hese pandemic imes. I will ake
yea s, o e en decades, o unde s and exac ly wha happened and wha lessons we mus
assimila e o p epa e o simila heal h c ises and ake wi h us in o ou new day- o-day.
The p ima y aim o ou Resea ch Topic Public Heal h Da a Challenges o
he COVID-19 Pandemic was o ocus on public heal h da a in he con ex s o
wo ying da a de ici s, eme gen p oblems, and inno a i e solu ions o igina ing
om he COVID-19 pandemic c isis. Ne e heless, i was he seconda y aim—a
F on ie s in Public Heal h 01 on ie sin.o g
Fa inha e al. 10.3389/ pubh.2022.1010055
ocus on he solu ions and knowledge b ough by he
pandemic— ha ecei ed he mos con ibu ions. Cu iously,
mos a icles p esen ed c ea i e ways o acqui ing da a, hus
ailing o le us know mo e abou he issues we we e add essing.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed gaps ha need o
be add essed o socie y o e u n o a new no mal ha is
be e han be o e. The e o e, coo dina ed e o s among heal h
ca e p o ide s and public heal h o icials a di e en le els
a e necessa y— o example, o ca ch up on accina ion in
he Uni ed S a es (2). The apid de elopmen o COVID-19
accines has demons a ed ha , wi h ex ensi e da a sha ing,
i is possible o esea che s who ha e he necessa y esou ces
and no el echnologies o conduc and apply hei esea ch
h oughou he esponse o he COVID-19 pandemic (3). This
wo ldwide esponse has shown he impo ance o igilance and
p epa edness o any in ec ious disease.
Policy app oaches can be a highly e ec i e ool o
p e en ing exposu e o o he communicable disease ou b eaks
and p o ec ing he heal h o he public. Resea che s and public
heal h leade s can examine he bidi ec ional e ec s o laws
and policies, which a e impo an le e s o imp o e heal h and
wellbeing. I is also c ucial o measu e and moni o he e ec
o laws and policies on he heal h s a us o popula ions. In his
ega d, policy in e en ions and assessmen s should examine he
deg ee o which such in e en ions achie e equi y, con ibu e
o he e ec i eness o heal h p omo ion p og ams, and shape
he beha io s o a ious sec o s ha in luence popula ion heal h
(2,4).
We also ended up wi h in e es ing new pe spec i es on
he e ec s o COVID-19 on hospi al ac i i y, pa icula ly he
need o balance usual ca e wi h add essing he needs o he
pandemic. As an example, Kalanj e al. discuss he conside able
educ ion in hospi al admission a es o non-COVID-19 heal h
conce ns, including se ices ela ed o ca dio ascula and
malignan diseases.
Many case s udies in his Resea ch Topic ocused on
s a egies employed by he scien i ic communi y o sha ing
hei expe iences and challenges in dealing wi h he ongoing
pandemic si ua ion, as well as s a egies o p o iding policy
ecommenda ions and ad ice o go e nmen s on he impac o
he disease. Addi ionally, once he COVID-19 accine became
a ailable, we ecei ed li e a u e desc ibing he challenges
o accina ion managemen and inequi able dis ibu ion in
many di e en coun ies. The a icles we e ela ed o policies
and s a egies conce ning public heal h, heal h policy, and
heal h planning, wi h a ocus on local, egional, and na ional
app oaches. The a icles also applied a ange o di e en
empi ical and concep ual app oaches o he opics hey co e ed.
They explo ed opics such as heal h policy on suppo ing he
i s -dose accina ion campaigns ha p io i ized adminis a ion
in he elde ly (Pon elli e al.) and e en he e ec s o a
delay in accine acquisi ion ha slowed down a na ional
accina ion p og am wi h he po en ial o accele a e he
sp ead o he i us and lead o a new lockdown (Kam an
and Ali).
Public heal h s a egies such as con ainmen and mi iga ion
we e emphasized in se e al a icles. These a icles also
s essed he impo ance o e alua ing publica ions and
using me a-analyses o ecommenda ions, e en du ing a
pandemic (Boudesseul e al.); modeled he e ec s o public
heal h measu es du ing he COVID-19 pandemic (Qiu
e al.); discussed he e ec s o epidemic p e en ion and
con ol (Chen e al.); and suppo ed wi h da a he e ec s
o some speci ic measu es such as school closu es (Chao
e al.).
Se e al e iew a icles also ocused on he impo ance
o equi y. Fo ins ance, Ruiz-Ho nillos e al. examined
he equi y gua an ees and anspa ency in decision-
making p ocesses, and Ha ing e al. explo ed he
concep o us in cu en and u u e equi able
ela ionship-building be ween communi ies and
public-p i a e in e es s.
Al hough he pandemic was a new and challenging
heal h p oblem, he inc ease in scien i ic publica ions du ing
his pe iod is likely ela ed o he ac ha mo e han
a ew jou nals as - acked COVID-19 esea ch (5). E en
so, COVID-19 b ough o ligh he need o mo e obus
public heal h da a: one o he op h ee medical subjec s
in hese publica ions was public heal h (6). None heless,
e idence is s ill lacking on he e iciency o heal hca e sys ems
ega ding hei e o s o add ess he indi ec impac s o
he pandemic and main ain hei egula le el o se ices,
including hei esponsi eness o he demand o bo h
c i ical medical se ices and non-elec i e p ocedu es (Kalanj
e al.).
Mo e esea ch is needed o es ablish public heal h policy da a
de o ed o an eme gency du ing a pandemic, and also o suppo
ale sys ems ha may con ibu e o inc eased p epa edness o
u u e pandemics.
The challenge emains o ein o ce he need o mo e
analysis and explo a ion o he si ua ions whe e public heal h
da a is no a ailable o in o ming poli ical decisions; whe e
in o ma ion sys ems un in o e hical ba ie s; and whe e new
and inno a i e solu ions had o be c ea ed o o e come he da a
needs imposed by he unexpec ed challenges o COVID-19 ha
occu ed a local, egional, na ional, and in e na ional le els.
Bu , mos impo an ly, we canno keep pe pe ually
ein en ing he wheel in e ms o he use o da a o esea ch, o
popula ion heal h, o public heal h, o o heal h moni o ing
and su eillance. We need o s a alking openly abou
da a. We mus be able o build on each o he ’s e o s,
o sha e and imp o e da a. We a e no doomed o s a
anew o e e y single s udy o challenge— esea ch is no a
Sisyphean ask!
F on ie s in Public Heal h 02 on ie sin.o g
Fa inha e al. 10.3389/ pubh.2022.1010055
Au ho con ibu ions
CF, PN, RF-S, and AC ha e wo ked on he concep ualiza ion,
me hodology, and w i ing. All au ho s con ibu ed o he a icle
and app o ed he submi ed e sion.
Conflic o in e es
The au ho s decla e ha he esea ch was conduc ed in
he absence o any comme cial o inancial ela ionships
ha could be cons ued as a po en ial con lic
o in e es .
Publishe ’s no e
All claims exp essed in his a icle a e solely hose o he
au ho s and do no necessa ily ep esen hose o hei a ilia ed
o ganiza ions, o hose o he publishe , he edi o s and he
e iewe s. Any p oduc ha may be e alua ed in his a icle, o
claim ha may be made by i s manu ac u e , is no gua an eed
o endo sed by he publishe .
Re e ences
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PHIRI P ojec . A ailable online a : h ps://www.phi i.eu/ (accessed June 6, 2022).
2. Tei elbaum J, McGowan AK, Richmond TS, Kleinman DV, P onk N, Ochiai E,
e al. Law and Policy as Tools in Heal hy People 2030. J Public Heal h Manag P ac .
(2021) 27:S265–73. doi: 10.1097/PHH.0000000000001358
3. Na ional Academy o Medicine, Na ional Academies o Sciences, Enginee ing,
and Medicine, Heal h and Medicine Di ision, Boa d on Global Heal h, Commi ee
on Vaccine Resea ch and De elopmen Recommenda ions o Ad ancing
Pandemic and Seasonal In luenza P epa edness and Response, Sol ani H, Subba ao
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and Seasonal In luenza P epa edness and Response: Lessons om COVID-19.
Washing on (DC): Na ional Academies P ess (US).
4. Ang ZY, Cheah KY, Shaki ah MS, Fun WH, Anis-Syaki a J, Kong
Y-L, e al. (2021) Malaysia’s heal h sys ems esponse o COVID-19.
In J En i on Res Public Heal h. 18:11109. doi: 10.3390/ije ph1821
11109
5. Riccaboni M, Ve gine L. The impac o he COVID-19
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17:e0263001. doi: 10.1371/jou nal.pone.0263001
6. Malekpou M-R, Abbasi-Kange a i M, Azadnaja abad S, Ghama i S-
H, Rezaei N, Rezazadeh-Khadem S, e al. How he scien i ic communi y
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F on ie s in Public Heal h 03 on ie sin.o g