- Record: found
- Abstract: found
- Article: found
Policy learning from influenza and the preparedness of the public health sector: 2006/2007 influenza season in Latvia
Revision notes
Revisions performed to emphasize that the focus of this publication is policy learning and policy change.
Author Summary
Summary
This article explores the lessons and warning provided by the 2006/2007 influenza season in Latvia which stood out with a uncharcteristically high infection rate. The evidence gathered during this research suggest that despite new policies being adopted their implementation has failed. Furthermore, the evidence suggests that more than a decade later there haven't been improvements in adressing the vulnerabilities exposed in 2006/2007. Altough the reusults cannot be generalized to make judgemements about the system as a whole, they serve as a valuable source for further analysis, especially in the context of analysing the management of the Covid-19 pandemic Latvia.
Abstract
Due to globalization and continuous development and mutation and development of various pathogens, infectious diseases have transcended the public health sector and become issues of Global Public Health Security. Influenza – an infectious disease that is both a cyclical, yearly occurrence and the cause of several deadly global pandemics – regularly challenges the public health sector thus providing opportunities for policy learning and evidence bases policy change. By applying the Algorithm for continuous analysis of policy learning and change, this publication investigates whether and how policy learning and change took place in Latvia after the 2006/2007 influenza season, when a record number of infection cases was registered. Although the conclusions of this publication cannot be generalized, it provides valuable insights for future research, especially for the analysis of the management of the Covid-19 pandemic in Latvia.