Mobilizing Non-Traditional Public Health Partners to Mitigate the Effects of Coronavirus Infection and to Reduce the Risk of Emerging Disease

Partnerships are a cornerstone of modern public health practice, yet in the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic, many traditional public health partners either floundered or lacked the resources to perform adequately. The public health community should begin looking at alternative pathways to fulfi...

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Main Author: Gregory P. Nichols
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-01-01
Series:Medical Sciences Forum
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2673-9992/4/1/1
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author Gregory P. Nichols
author_facet Gregory P. Nichols
author_sort Gregory P. Nichols
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description Partnerships are a cornerstone of modern public health practice, yet in the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic, many traditional public health partners either floundered or lacked the resources to perform adequately. The public health community should begin looking at alternative pathways to fulfilling public health needs when traditional partners are not available. One such partner that has historically been overlooked in providing Public Health support, especially with interventional epidemiology and public health policy, is the advanced materials (AM) community. The AM community could play a larger role in public health practice by developing and implementing preventive measures for disease, including for global pandemics such as COVID-19. One such example of how this partnership could work is the Advanced Material Pandemic and Future Preparedness Taskforce (AMPT), which is an international public-benefit initiative focused on using advanced materials to help solve some of humanity’s most pressing challenges. As an international cooperative platform, the multidisciplinary taskforce is building a global infrastructure and an ecosystem network that enables the advanced material community to respond swiftly and effectively under the umbrella of future preparedness. Advanced materials have played and will continue to play some role in public health, including for use in diagnostic tests, antimicrobial coatings, and filtering facepiece respirators. Technology has advanced to a point where researchers and the manufacturers of advanced materials now have a clear direction and resources to be the partners that the public health community can no longer afford to overlook, especially in times of crisis, when new ways of thinking are required to solve pressing challenges.
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spelling doaj.art-e49498e6826f4236bda35902c22a48032023-06-29T10:47:12ZengMDPI AGMedical Sciences Forum2673-99922021-01-0141110.3390/ECERPH-3-09032Mobilizing Non-Traditional Public Health Partners to Mitigate the Effects of Coronavirus Infection and to Reduce the Risk of Emerging DiseaseGregory P. Nichols0GP Nichols & Company, Knoxville, TN 37931, USAPartnerships are a cornerstone of modern public health practice, yet in the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic, many traditional public health partners either floundered or lacked the resources to perform adequately. The public health community should begin looking at alternative pathways to fulfilling public health needs when traditional partners are not available. One such partner that has historically been overlooked in providing Public Health support, especially with interventional epidemiology and public health policy, is the advanced materials (AM) community. The AM community could play a larger role in public health practice by developing and implementing preventive measures for disease, including for global pandemics such as COVID-19. One such example of how this partnership could work is the Advanced Material Pandemic and Future Preparedness Taskforce (AMPT), which is an international public-benefit initiative focused on using advanced materials to help solve some of humanity’s most pressing challenges. As an international cooperative platform, the multidisciplinary taskforce is building a global infrastructure and an ecosystem network that enables the advanced material community to respond swiftly and effectively under the umbrella of future preparedness. Advanced materials have played and will continue to play some role in public health, including for use in diagnostic tests, antimicrobial coatings, and filtering facepiece respirators. Technology has advanced to a point where researchers and the manufacturers of advanced materials now have a clear direction and resources to be the partners that the public health community can no longer afford to overlook, especially in times of crisis, when new ways of thinking are required to solve pressing challenges.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-9992/4/1/1advanced materialsadvanced manufacturingpublic healthpartnershipsCOVID-19pandemics
spellingShingle Gregory P. Nichols
Mobilizing Non-Traditional Public Health Partners to Mitigate the Effects of Coronavirus Infection and to Reduce the Risk of Emerging Disease
Medical Sciences Forum
advanced materials
advanced manufacturing
public health
partnerships
COVID-19
pandemics
title Mobilizing Non-Traditional Public Health Partners to Mitigate the Effects of Coronavirus Infection and to Reduce the Risk of Emerging Disease
title_full Mobilizing Non-Traditional Public Health Partners to Mitigate the Effects of Coronavirus Infection and to Reduce the Risk of Emerging Disease
title_fullStr Mobilizing Non-Traditional Public Health Partners to Mitigate the Effects of Coronavirus Infection and to Reduce the Risk of Emerging Disease
title_full_unstemmed Mobilizing Non-Traditional Public Health Partners to Mitigate the Effects of Coronavirus Infection and to Reduce the Risk of Emerging Disease
title_short Mobilizing Non-Traditional Public Health Partners to Mitigate the Effects of Coronavirus Infection and to Reduce the Risk of Emerging Disease
title_sort mobilizing non traditional public health partners to mitigate the effects of coronavirus infection and to reduce the risk of emerging disease
topic advanced materials
advanced manufacturing
public health
partnerships
COVID-19
pandemics
url https://www.mdpi.com/2673-9992/4/1/1
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