Medical and Health Experts Shared Insights in Pandemic Control and Prevention
Since the end of 2019, the outbreak of coronavirus has changed the world greatly. Quarantine, social distancing, lockdowns, recessions, and loss of family members caused by the global pandemic affect every aspect of people’s lives. Researchers from epidemic prevention and public health science have been actively engaging in studies searching for effective preventative measures and cures to fight it. Despite the development of new vaccines, the majority of the world is still struggling with recovery. National Taiwan University and the University of Haifa, Israel hosted a virtual co-workshop on COVID-19 and public health and 2nd June. Professors from the medical and health fields were invited to share their research findings and experiences in the fight against COVID-19.
The workshop started with an opening speech from Professor Pai-Chi Li, VP of Office of Research and Development, National Taiwan University and Director of National Taiwan University Industry Liaison Office: “Israel and Taiwan both have unique experiences in keeping COVID-19 under control. We are very pleased and honored to work with the University of Haifa on this topic. Although we are facing a setback in Taiwan lately, it only teaches us that there is always more to learn about pandemic control and public health. I hope today’s talks will bring everyone some new thoughts on not just the combat against COVID-19 but also studies about the science of disease control and public health.”
“With the threat of COVID-19, everyone is aware of how important the science of pandemic research is. Now is the time to go deeper into science. Both National Taiwan University and the University of Haifa have excellent researchers. I hope this workshop will lead to more collaboration and joint research.” Professor Meir Hemmo, Provost of the University of Haifa said in his welcome remarks.
Eight professors from both universities shared their research efforts with online audiences. The topics focused on Israel’s and Taiwan’s successful experiences as well as lessons learned from the year-long combat against COVID-19. It includes the observations, analysis, of the vaccination campaign, the factors of people’s hesitation in getting vaccinated, and the ethics issues of “Green Badge”, “Vaccine Passport” that derived from vaccination. In addition to the talks around vaccines, other topics also included the study of a research network of pandemic prevention, the use of face masks in preventing virus transmission, and the social impact of COVID-19 on people and the community.
In his closing remarks, the workshop moderator, also the Director of Center of Industry Academia Cooperation, Prof. Tang-Long Shen said, “Researchers from Israel and Taiwan were brought together by this workshop, with the joint efforts of the University of Haifa, National Taiwan University, NTU Industry Liaison Office and NTU Epidemic Prevention Scientific Research Center. I believe the sharing and discussions during this workshop would bring new thoughts to the combat against COVID-19 and the science of disease control and public health. I also hope it would create more opportunities for academia-industry cooperation. Through the collaboration between academic research and industry’s field experiences, both can benefit and advance from it.” The workshop successfully marked a step in the academic and industrial exchanges between Israel and Taiwan in medical science and public health. Participants' enthusiastic participation and discussions were also expected to further strengthen the future cooperation.
