The early COVID-19 pandemic experience in Australia was unique by global standards, with Melbourne (Victoria) cited as the “most locked down city in the world”, and Australia considered one of the “most vaccinated places in the world”. Several public inquiries have identified both successes and shortcomings in Victoria (and Australia’s) COVID-19 pandemic response. These insights will be shared to support improvements in future public health responses globally.
The need for timely public health intelligence to inform the pandemic response was crucial. Dr. Rowe will also share insights from her time as Director, COVID-19 Data and Intelligence at the Victorian State Government Department of Health, including:
• Building and maintaining an (emergency) intelligence workforce
• Strategic intent: developing and executing a COVID-19 surveillance plan
• Strengthening systems: data sources, infrastructure and linkage
• Drowning in data? Tailoring analytical outputs to generate policy-relevant intelligence
• Gaps, challenges and lessons learned
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
• Gain insight into the COVID-19 pandemic experience in Victoria, Australia, and the resultant public health responses
• Describe how the development and implementation of a COVID-19 Data and Intelligence team supported the pandemic response in Victoria, Australia
• Improve their understanding of the gaps and challenges in generating intelligence as part of a major public health response, and solutions to address these
Presenter(s): Dr. Stacey Rowe
The presentation can be found here: www.publichealthontario.ca/en...