The workshop was implemented as part of the EMT Twinning collaborative approach of the GHPP project EMT ReCaP, together with two Robert Koch Institute (RKI) project partners: the German EMT Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ASB) and the Institute of Emergency Care of Sarajevo Canton. For the first…
Context National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups (NITAGs) support political decision-makers in developing effective immunisation strategies. Experiences gained in previous projects have shown that NITAGs in middle-income countries (MICs) in the WHO European Region operate at varying levels. Together with the WHO Regional Office for Europe (WHO EURO), STEP seeks to…
Context Acute health crises put pressure on health systems and undermine access to medical care in the affected regions. Building on the previous projects EMT TT and EMT TTT, this project supports EMT response mechanisms and partnerships in the WHO AFRO and EURO regions. This is to ensure quality health…
Context Population Health Metrics enable the health status of populations to be described using a small number of comparable indicators and to be monitored over time or compared across regions and population groups. However, many countries still face major challenges, including limited access to relevant data sources, variable data quality,…
Within the GHPP-project SENSE (Strengthening National Immunisation Technical Advisory Groups and their evidence-based decision making in the WHO European Region and globally), the project team from the Immunisation Unit, STIKO (FG33) at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) welcomed international guests on 10 and 11 December 2024. The 11 delegates from…
Context The Western Balkans (WB6: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia) went through a particularly dramatic initial COVID-19 pandemic course, with inter alia high excess mortality (direct and indirect pandemic related deaths), low vaccination rates and stressed public healthcare systems. Consequently, the risk of future waves of…
Context In recent years, there have been efforts to upscale HIV treatment and prevention in the Western Balkans, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, including conducting studies among men who have sex with men (MSM). One commonly used method to recruit participants for these studies has been respondent-driven sampling. However, this…
Context The COVID-19 pandemic put a heavy strain on many public health systems, which had to deal with high numbers of severely ill people and deaths and with challenges regarding vaccination and medical supplies. The Balkan region was seriously affected by the pandemic, highlighting the importance of strengthening preparedness and…
Short Description COVID-19 strongly affects the living conditions of people, showing the value of reliable and timely information. The burden of disease (BoD) methodology is a suitable instrument to monitor the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on population health, but while illness and death impose a considerable impact, the disease…