A multinational Delphi consensus to end the COVID-19 public health threat

Abstract

Despite notable scientific and medical advances, broader political, socioeconomic and behavioural factors continue to undercut the response to the COVID-19 pandemic1,2. Here we convened, as part of this Delphi study, a diverse, multidisciplinary panel of 386 academic, health, non-governmental organization, government and other experts in COVID-19 response from 112 countries and territories to recommend specific actions to end this persistent global threat to public health. The panel developed a set of 41 consensus statements and 57 recommendations to governments, health systems, industry and other key stakeholders across six domains: communication; health systems; vaccination; prevention; treatment and care; and inequities. In the wake of nearly three years of fragmented global and national responses, it is instructive to note that three of the highest-ranked recommendations call for the adoption of whole-of-society and whole-of-government approaches1, while maintaining proven prevention measures using a vaccines-plus approach2 that employs a range of public health and financial support measures to complement vaccination. Other recommendations with at least 99% combined agreement advise governments and other stakeholders to improve communication, rebuild public trust and engage communities3 in the management of pandemic responses. The findings of the study, which have been further endorsed by 184 organizations globally, include points of unanimous agreement, as well as six recommendations with >5% disagreement, that provide health and social policy actions to address inadequacies in the pandemic response and help to bring this public health threat to an end.

The COVID-19 pandemic in rich and poor countries

“…increase with the increasing the VC (see rows18 and 20), nevertheless for the countries with high enough level of testing (TC>3), we see opposite trend (compare with rows 19 and 21; corresponding relationships were not supported at the same significance level). Very weak decrease of CFR with increase of the VC values (see row 22) illustrate the fact that vaccination itself cannot end the COVID-19 pandemic[34].…”

A GBD 2019 study of health and Sustainable Development Goal gains and forecasts to 2030 in Spain

“…The downstream effects of unattended acute and chronic conditions 68 , especially mental health problems, will exacerbate morbidity and mortality projections in Spain. Multiple sets of concrete recommendations to manage COVID-19 have been issued targeting Spain specifically 69 , and in a recent global Delphi study, co-led by Spanish authors 70 . However, a major challenge in Spain remains to be coordination among the 17 regions and the national government.…”

Yoga for COVID-19: An ancient practice for a new condition – A literature review

“…Healthcare professionals (HCPs) face heavy stress loads [ 73 ], particularly in the COVID-19 pandemic context. In fact, according to the Delphi consensus, HCPs continue to experience unaddressed mental issues due to the pandemic [ 10 ]. This psycho-physical distress (burnout) compromises the well-being of the workforce and affects patients’ health [ 73 ].…”

“…More larger clinical studies are required to understand the duration and the long-term effects of the post-COVID-19 condition [ 8 ], since the condition may affect millions of people around the world [ 9 ]. According to the recent Delphi consensus to end the COVID-19 public health threat, the post-COVID-19 condition has emerged as a serious chronic condition still lacking adequate understanding and appropriate preventive or curative solutions [ 10 ]. The consensus recommended that research funding for this condition should be prioritized [ 10 ].…”

“…According to the recent Delphi consensus to end the COVID-19 public health threat, the post-COVID-19 condition has emerged as a serious chronic condition still lacking adequate understanding and appropriate preventive or curative solutions [ 10 ]. The consensus recommended that research funding for this condition should be prioritized [ 10 ].…”