June 8, 2017
John Kinsman, member of the ZikaPLAN Messaging project and Associate Professor in Global Health at the Epidemiology and Global Health Unit, Umeå University gave a presentation on the “Perceptions of and reactions to Zika messages in Brazil” on day two of the conference, Zika Virus and other Mosquito-borne Viruses, Science for Preparedness and Response in the Mediterranean Region, which was held in Barcelona, May 23-24.
The aim of this event, jointly organized by B·Debate and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), was to generate a forum for an interdisciplinary and international debate bringing together experts from different backgrounds to discuss the critical issues related to public health, epidemiology, entomology, virology, clinical care and diagnostics.
The objectives of the meeting included a review of current interdisciplinary knowledge and activities on mosquito-borne viral diseases research relevant to public health management with special focus on the ongoing Zika epidemic; a review of regional capacities and needs for preparedness and response against mosquito-borne viruses which can be supported by research in the Mediterranean Region; the identification of priority objectives, research activities as well as optimal channels of communication for supporting public health bodies against mosquito-borne viral diseases and the identification of existing networks and platforms which can be used or adapted as a model for research collaboration and translation from research programs to public health management.