Day 6

Sharing experiences and decisions

Groups will present their results to the whole School, on Saturday, 22th July. More than one more member of the group can present. Presentations should last 15 minutes at maximum followed by a 10-minute discussion. The target public are your fellow students, which are not familiar with your assignment.

How to send you presentation slides

• The final version of presentation slides should be sent as an attached file in PDF format to spsas2023@gmail.com
• The deadline for sending the final version of this PDF file is Saturday 22 July 08:00 AM.
• We will upload this version on the main computer in the auditorium, and this is the version that you should use use and we will discuss.

Day 5

Summary of context and strategies

The group should prepare a summary of the proposed responses and justify what evidence and factors were taken into account.  This summary should be organized in a 15 minute presentation that will be presented on Saturday, 22th July. We encourage you to be creative, clear, concise, and consider that you are presenting to the entire School. This is an opportunity to have valuable feedback from your colleagues and faculty after an intense 5-days immersion into a situation room.

By the end of the day today you should present a preliminary version of Saturday’s presentation to  the instructors. The instructors will visit the group’s room to give some feedback between 3 PM and 5 PM.

How to send you presentation slides

• The final version of presentation slides should be sent as an attached file in PDF format to spsas2023@gmail.com
• The deadline for sending the final version of this PDF file is Saturday 22 July 08:00 AM.
• We will upload this version on the main computer in the auditorium, and this is the version that you should use use and we will discuss.

Day 4

Deciding paths, making decisions

Although there was action to avoid and reduce harassment of the most affected groups, the vaccine hesitancy persists. Moreover, some of the most affected groups face barriers to access health services.

There is a vaccine which is effective in reducing transmission and was bought by the Health Ministry, but in an insufficient number of doses.

Also, a university multidisciplinary research group is planning a study in the area and has reached out to you.

Questions to consider

• What are the hypotheses and actions to investigate the high lethality (found through data analysis)?
• What measures can be proposed at the local level to reduce the transmission?
• Which groups should be prioritized for pre-exposure prevention (what kind?) and for post-exposure prevention?
• What are the main surveillance tasks in the community?
• How would you implement a strategy for early detection of the disease in previously non affected population groups?
• Which questions would you want to be answered in partnership with the university group?

What is expected of the group on day 4

Propose paths and responses based on a broader and more critical knowledge of the facts that arise during the health crisis.

Day 3

Political and Logistical Challenges 

Six months after the beginning of the epidemic

Discrimination and harassment against supposedly infected people, and against sex and gender minorities, were reported at the city police station and through social media. Moreover, there are reports of attempts to ban relatives and friends of people from these groups from attending schools and churches in many communities. On top of that, a group of councilors proposed a fine for patients who were proven to have transmitted the disease to others, to be discussed by the city council in the following days.

There is still a lack of vaccines, tests and antiviral treatment, because of high costs and shortage. Moreover, contact tracing has been delayed due to the reluctance of infected people to disclose their sexual partners in order to avoid stigma and discrimination.

Questions to consider

• How should the team respond to this situation in order to avoid more cases, hospitalizations, and deaths?
• How can the situation room work more effectively with stakeholders and other important actors, in order to reduce  cases, hospitalizations, and deaths?
• Which strategies can enhance community awareness and engagement in the response to the outbreak?
• What could be effective strategies to address logistic challenges ?
• Which communication strategies can be used in this context?

What is expected of the group on day 3

Tackle the political and logistical issues in this health crisis situation. Aim for creativity and flexibility in designing mitigation actions that are politically and logistically feasible.

Day 2

Describing the current situation

The data now available has information on age, sex, dates of symptoms onset; notification dates, admission to hospital date, if the patient had any active STD, sexual orientation, multiple partners, if the patient is immunosuppressed, and how was the evolution of the case. Each row represents a single individual investigated.

Database available

Map file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MGcH_0CNDRfduWUVIu4gEsPA1mLe9slz/view?usp=sharing

Disease data: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OyE1o6Jk8CdG4XNEeRMYCGErPu27RNv1/view?usp=sharing

Questions to consider

• From these data, which actions can be organized?
• Which strategies are priorities?
• Which groups should be prioritized?
• What indicators can contribute to monitoring and coping with the epidemic?

What is expected from the group on day 2

Analyze data to identify priorities and support future decision-making.

Day 1

A new disease

The local health unit registered 3 suspected cases of Mpox in a city of 200,000 inhabitants. The diagnosis was clinical in two men and one woman.

Suspicions arose due to recent news on TV about the first cases reported in the provincial capital.

In the previous month, the city’s anniversary was celebrated with 15 days of attractions and a circus from a distant region, a music festival, and a night fair.

The city is located at the junction of federal roads that connect two states in the country and is an important cultural center that welcomes people from various parts of the country.

Questions to consider

• What are the first steps to investigate the problem?
• How to organize the confrontation of this situation?
• What information is needed to assess the situation?
• What indicators would be helpful in monitoring the disease at the local level?
• Which professionals should be involved in investigating these events?

What is expected of the group on day 1:

• Organization of the group to broaden the understanding of the situation and start the discussion about the first steps to guarantee actions with an impact in the future.