Public health and vector-borne diseases - a new concept for risk governance.
Public Health is defined as an interdisciplinary multilevel approach that deals with questions of preventing diseases at the population level. In this context, this paper focuses on vector-borne diseases as an important threat with an increasing impact on human and animal health. Emphasis is laid on an integrated health approach ('One-Health' initiative) as it recognizes the interrelated nature of both human and animal health. The importance of vector-borne diseases to new and emerging diseases in Europe was demonstrated, for example, by the recent outbreak of West Nile virus infections in Greece, Northern Italy and Hungary; the spread of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus across Turkey, south-western countries of the former USSR and the Balkans; the dramatic increase in hantavirus infections in Germany in 2012; and the dengue virus outbreak in Portugal in the same year. This paper provides a systematic approach for the analysis, assessment and governance of emerging health risks attributed to vector-borne diseases by using a holistic approach developed by the International Risk Governance Council (IRGC), called the 'IRGC Risk Governance Framework'. It can be used by decision-makers and general Public Health authorities in order to evaluate the situation regarding any specific pathogen or Public Health risk and to decide if additional measures should be implemented.
['Schmidt|K|K|', 'Dressel|K M|KM|', 'Niedrig|M|M|', 'Mertens|M|M|', 'Schüle|S A|SA|', 'Groschup|M H|MH|']
D000818:Animals D003715:Dengue D003716:Dengue Virus D004196:Disease Outbreaks D004199:Disease Vectors D005060:Europe D006476:Hantavirus D018778:Hantavirus Infections D003225:Hemorrhagic Fever Virus, Crimean-Congo D006479:Hemorrhagic Fever, Crimean D006801:Humans D011634:Public Health D012306:Risk D014901:West Nile Fever D014902:West Nile virus D015047:Zoonoses
Public Health risk governance Europe IRGC model vector-borne infections