Columns and blogs

"We are witnessing a transformational change and this change will require value-driven, ethical, authentic transformational leaders at all levels of the health system". Kasia Czabanowska on public health leadership during and after the coronacrisis:

Peter Schröder-Bäck was interviewed by Studio Europa Maastricht about the challenges of ethical corona policy in Europe.

Remaining isolated in time of pandemic is a luxury. This does not only apply to those with vital professions who continue to serve society. It also applies to low-resource settings, where people have no other choice but to keep on as usual to be able to provide food for the family, irrespective of the health risks, and where access to care is challenging. Read the column by Milena Pavlova, prof. of Health Economics and Equity.

A column by Hans Bosma, professor of Social Epidemiology. 

One of the things Raissa Derckx looked forward to in her PhD was to focus her attention on one single subject. Fast forward to last month, when her supervisor told her she should probably consider herself a full-time coronavirus researcher for the time being, as her ‘own’ topic was coming to a relative stand-still due to the virus. Now she is involved in two important COVID-19 related research projects. 

Normally, the researchers involved in the DEDICATED project, are working on an approach to empower nursing staff in providing palliative dementia care. Now the involved nurses and other care professionals are working around the clock to provide the best possible care, the DEDICATED team is pausing on-site research activities. Instead, they are contributing from behind the scenes. 

Prof. Klasien Horstman: "If we appreciate health and democracy, controlling epidemics requires open societies with rich, varied, and inclusive public deliberative fora. The value of ideas needs to become clear through public deliberation, not by denying non-experts, whoever they may be, a voice in the public arena".

Italy was the country where the first European COVID-19 outbreak was detected. Within two weeks, the disease spread rapidly throughout other European countries. Our colleague prof Carlo Signorelli of the University Vita-Salute San Raffaele in Milan gives an insight in the Italian management - and the problems faced- of the corona epidemic. 

The public health authorities in Iran have severe difficulties in responding to the Covid-19 outbreak, which coincides with the politically induced economic sanctions against the country. In the context of this worrying public and socio-economic health situation, the Erasmus+ project “IraN European Partnership for Capacity-building and Teaching in Global Health (INPACT)”, led by Anja Krumeich and Remco van de Pas has recently started. 

The corona crisis has increased work demands for (scientific) staff at Maastricht University in many ways. Moreover, the intelligent lock down introduces new private life stressors: educating your children, worries about the care for your elderly parents, suffering from loneliness etc. Angelique de Rijk (professor in Work and Health) gives some advice on how to face the current situation and shows how managers can help.
 

Anyone who has studied European Union (EU) health law will remember learning, “EU health competence is predominantly in public health” and “health in all policies”. In this COVID-19 period then, it seems surprising that the EU feels remote and not at the forefront of the response. The FHML Health Law Group explains why. Read more.

"In contrast to viruses, experts have a great responsibility to recognise borders". A column by prof. Rik Crutzen. 

China became the first country to be hit by the novel coronavirus pandemic, and many cities were locked down to prevent transmission. The country’s response to the coronavirus has raised questions about control measures and establishing public accountability and trust in a non-democratic context. Ronghui Yang traces discussions among citizens about the response to the coronavirus pandemic by following Chinese social media platforms. 

With the current pandemic, the economic impact of a disease on society becomes more evident than ever. Taking a broad multi-sectoral economic view on health related issues is the starting point of the PECUNIA project, in which costs in- and outside the healthcare sector are identified following a standardized approach to facilitate the comparability of the results in multiple European countries.

The measures being taken against the spread of the virus can have far-reaching consequences for running research projects. After several months of preparation PhD candidate Marla Hahnraths was ready to do baseline measurements at several childcare centres. But now the centres are closed.