ITM Colloquium
Global Exchange on Covid-19

Takeaways from a pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown heterogeneity in different parts of the world. Some countries, including Peru, South Africa, Brazil and India, suffered from very deadly epidemics, while other parts of Latin America, Asia and Africa contained the COVID-19 epidemic well. Nevertheless, there has been a lot of “collateral damage” on the health and education system, as well as on the economy, but with a very different impact in lowand middle-income versus high-income regions. It remains a challenge to understand this heterogeneity, because for many countries, good quality data were lacking. However, heterogeneity also relates to the very inequitable distribution of diagnostic capabilities, treatment options and access to vaccines. Our ITM Colloquium gathers our partner institutions of the DGD Framework programme, our students, staff and alumni, as well as invited researchers. Together we will share expertise and knowledge, discuss the evidence and try to interpret the various courses of the epidemics. We will also zoom in on the effect of different containments policies, the access and implementation of diagnostics, therapy and vaccines as well as the direct and indirect effects of COVID-19 on the health systems and societies.

This edition of the ITM Colloquium will contain six sessions. Each will focus on different aspects of the pandemic:

  • Session 1: COVID-19 in Africa
  • Session 2: COVID-19 in Latin America
  • Session 3: COVID-19 in Eurasia
  • Session 4: Pandemic data management, sharing and translation
  • Session 5: Contribution of young researchers
  • Session 6: COVID-19 diagnostics, vaccines and medicines

We aim to involve young researchers by short presentations in session 6 and by a poster presentation, which can be visited in the main corridor during coffee and lunch breaks. During the panel discussions at the end of each session, experiences and views will be exchanged and perspectives offered.

PROGRAMME

Morning   8:15 - 9:20

Start time End time Duration Activity Chair & speakers
8:15 8:45 30 min Registration and coffee
8:45 8:50 5 min Welcome Marc-Alain Widdowson
8:50 9:00 10 min Introduction Wim Van Damme
9:00 9:25 25 min State-of-the-art-lecture - Clinical aspects of COVID-19, including diagnostics and treatment options Emmanuel Bottieau

Session 1   9:25 - 13:00
Covid-19 in Africa

Start time End time Duration Activity Chair & speakers
9:25 9:50 25 min Challenges to understand the COVID-19 epidemic in Africa Wim Van Damme & Steve Ahuka Mundeke
9:50 10:05 15 min COVID-19 severity in DRC and estimation of importance outbreak based on sero-survey of Health Care Workers together with genomic surveillance Placide Mbala & Joule Madinga
10:05 10:20 15 min Sero-epidemiology study in Burkina Faso Isidore Traore
10:20 10:30 10 min Short Q&A session
10:30 11:00 30 min Coffee break
Poster viewing
11:00 11:20 20 min Comprehensive COVID-19 public health response in South Africa Waasila Jassat
11:20 11:35 15 min Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and response on the utilization of health services during the first wave in Guinée Alexandre Delamou
11:35 11:45 10 min Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and response on the utilization of health services during the first wave in Kinshasa Faustin Chenge
11:45 11:55 10 min Response of first line public and private medical sector to COVID in Benin Kéfilath Bello
11:55 12:10 15 min Collateral effects of COVID-19 epidemic on maternal and new born health Aline Semaan
12:10 12:20 10 min Qualitative study of the use of vaccines in Kimpese health zone, DRC: what to retain to improve vaccination practices? César-Augustin Khoso Muaka & Marie Meudec
12:30 13:00 30 min Panel Discussion Wim Van Damme, Steve Ahuka & Veerle Van Lerberghe

Noon   13:00 - 14:30

Start time End time Duration Activity Chair & speakers
13:00 14:00 60 min Lunch
Poster Viewing
14:00 14:20 20 min State-of-the-art lecture - Evaluation of various vaccine concepts Kevin Ariën
14:20 14:30 10 min State-of-the-art lecture - BelCoVac studies Pieter Pannus

Session 2   14:30 - 20:00
Why Heterogeneous burden of COVID-19 in Latin America?

Start time End time Duration Activity Chair & speakers
14:30 14:50 20 min Overview of the COVID-19 epidemic in Latin-America Rodrigo Henriquez Trujillo
14:50 15:10 20 min Heterogeneous spatio-temporal burden of COVID-19 in Brazil: virological, immunological and socioeconomic factors Gabriel da Luz Wallau
15:10 15:30 20 min Metrics and interpretation of Cuba’s burden of COVID-19 Armando Seuc
15:30 15:40 10 min Challenges to collect and interpret routine data on COVID-19 in Peru Victor Vega and Javier Silva
15:40 16:00 20 min Integrated epidemiological, social and urban description of COVID in Lima Larissa Otero with Claudia Nieto – Stefanie Dens
16:00 16:30 30 min Coffee Break
Poster viewing
16:30 16:45 15 min Cuba’s health system response to COVID-19 Yanaris Lopez
16:45 17:00 15 min Vaccine development and roll-out in Cuba María Eugenia Toledo
17:00 17:10 10 min Situation in Peruvian hospitals during the pandemic Coralith Garcia
17:10 17:20 10 min Telemonitoring of COVID-19 in Peru Fiorella Krapp Lopez
17:20 17:30 10 min Vaccine research in Peru: the CureVac trial Theresa Ochoa
17:30 18:00 30 min Panel discussion Rodrigo Henriquez Trujillo, Tine Verdonck, Gert van der Auwera
18:00 20:00 120 min Reception

Morning   8:15 - 8:50

Start time End time Duration Activity Chair & speakers
8:15 8:45 30 min Registration and coffee
8:45 8:50 5 min Introduction

Session 3   09:50 - 10:40
COVID-19 in Asia

Start time End time Duration Activity Chair & speakers
8:50 9:10 20 min Overview of COVID-19 in Asia Nima Asgari-Jirhandeh
9:10 9:25 15 min CAMBODIA: Epidemiology, Response and Lessons learned Srean Chhim and Ir Por
9:25 9:40 15 min INDIA: Diverse experience of COVID-19 in India with focus on vulnerable communities in southern India Prashanth N Srinivas
9:40 9:55 15 min NEPAL: Epidemiology and health sector response to COVID-19 in Nepal Meghnath Dhimal
9:55 10:10 15 min INDONESIA: Health Systems Response to COVID-19 in Indonesia and the role of Academia Yodi Mahendradhata
10:10 10:40 30 min Panel discussion Henk Bekedam, Nima Asgari-Jirhandeh and Willem van de Put
10:40 11:10 30 min Coffee Break
Poster viewing

Session 4   11:15 - 13:00
Pandemic data management, sharing and translation

Start time End time Duration Activity Chair & speakers
11:15 11:40 25 min Epidemic in Belgium and Europe: impact of measures Geert Molenberghs
11:40 11:55 15 min unCoVer (Unravelling data for rapid evidence-based response to COVID-19) José Peñalvo
11:55 12:10 15 min MOOD: MOnitoring Outbreak events for Disease surveillance: Trouble in the science-policy interface: insights from scientists and decision-makers on national COVID-19 response management in Finland and France Esther van Kleef
12:10 12:25 20 min COVID19 as a social disease: qualitative community-based study among racialized/ethnic minorities in Antwerp Christiana Noestlinger
12:30 13:00 30 min Panel discussion on sharing and use of data for pandemic response Geert Molenberghs, Esther Van Kleef

Noon   13:00 - 14:00

Start time End time Duration Activity Chair & speakers
13:00 14:00 60 min Lunch
Poster Viewing

Session 5   14:00 - 15:15
Contribution of young researchers

Start time End time Duration Activity Chair & speakers
14:00 14:05 5 min Perspectives on Sustainable health and multisectoral collaborations in Uganda in the COVID-19 response Rawlance Ndejjo
14:05 14:10 5 min Exploring children’s knowledge of COVID-19 and stress associated with the pandemic in Nigeria: a mixed-method study Osamagbe Asemota
14:10 14:15 5 min COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance in the Democratic Republic of Congo: a Cross-Sectional Survey Armand Mutwadi
14:15 14:20 5 min Inequality in COVID vaccination and factors affecting it in Nepal Mandira Lamichhane Dhimal
14:25 14:30 5 min SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Seroprevalence after the second epidemic wave in Kinshasa, DR. Congo Yannick Munyeku
14:30 14:35 5 min Materno-fetal outcomes of COVID-19 infected pregnant women at the Douala Gynaeco-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital – Cameroon Alphonse Ngalame
14:35 14:40 5 min Feasibility and acceptability of integrating mobile phone SMS into antenatal, maternity, postnatal and preschool consultations to improve mothers' access to health information in the Covid-19 Context: Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial in Lubumbashi, DRC Angele Musau
14:40 14:45 5 min Reasons and factors related to Covid19 vaccine hesitancy among health care workers: a qualitative study in two conflicted Regions of Cameroon Adalbert Tchetchia
14:45 14:50 5 min Factors associated with co-existence of COVID-19 cases in households in Ouagadougou Mahugnon Christian Urlyss Agossou
14.50 14.55 5 min Use of GIS in Kenya’s response to COVID-19: vulnerability indices Peter Macharia
14:55 15:00 5 min Community based Detection of Covid-19 infection – Innovation of Colorimetric Sensing Device using exhaled breath of COVID19 Patients: Quick, cost effective and Non-Invasive Diagnostic Device. Thomas Toms

Session 6   15:15 - 18:00
COVID-19 Diagnostics Vaccines and Medicines

Start time End time Duration Activity Chair & speakers
15:15 15:30 15 min COVAX – the “only global solution” to vaccine equity? Katerini Storeng
15:30 15:45 15 min Redesigning our medical innovation ecosystem to deliver health technologies as common goods Els Torreele
15:45 16:00 15 min Local Production as a way to improve access to COVID-19 vaccines and beyond: strengths and barriers Nico Vandaele
16:00 16:30 30 min Coffee break
Poster viewing
16:30 16:55 25 min The African perspective on COVID-19 diagnostics and vaccines Dr. Ahmed Ogwell Ouma
16:55 17:10 15 min The African perspective on COVID-19 medicines Dr. Michel Sidibé
17:10 17:20 10 min Adress by Heidy Rombouts Heidy Rombouts
17:20 17:50 30 min Panel discussion with speakers and audience Marc-Alain Widdowson, Jean Van Wetter, Dr. Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, Els Torreele, Katerini Storeng & Heidy Rombouts

Closure   18:00 - 20:00

Start time End time Duration Activity Chair & speakers
18:00 20:00 120 min Closure + reception Marc-Alain Widdowson

Rewatch the 63rd ITM Colloquium

Session 1

Session 2

Session 3

Session 4

Session 5

Session 6

State of the art

State of the art

Speakers

Marc-Alain Widdowson
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Emmanuel Bottieau
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Wim Van Damme
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Steve Ahuka Mundeke
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Placide Mbala Kingebeni
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Joule Madinga
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Esther van Kleef
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Javier Silva Valencia
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Isidore Tiandiogo TRAORE
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Waasila Jassat
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Alexandre Delamou
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Faustin Chenge
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Kéfilath Bello
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Aline Semaan
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KHOSO MUAKA César-Augustin
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Marie Meudec
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Veerle Van Lerberghe
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Kevin Ariën
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Pieter Pannus
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Rodrigo Henríquez
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Tine Verdonck
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Gabriel da Luz Wallau
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Armando Humberto Seuc Jo
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Victor Vega
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Larissa Otero
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Stefanie Dens
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Claudia Nieto-Sanchez
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Yanaris López Almaguer
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Maria Eugenia Toledo Romani
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Coralith Garcia
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Fiorella Krapp-Lopez
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Theresa J. Ochoa
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Gert Van der Auwera
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Henk Bekedam
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Nima Asgari
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Srean Chhim
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Prashanth N Srinivas
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Meghnath Dhimal
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Yodi Mahendradhata
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Willem van de Put
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Geert Molenberghs
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José L. Penalvo
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Christiana Nöstlinger
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Raffaella Ravinetto
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Katerini T. Storeng
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Els Torreele
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Nico Vandaele
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Ahmed Ogwell
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Michel Sidibé
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Heidy Rombouts
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Jean Van Wetter
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ITM COLLOQUIUM 2022: GLOBAL EXCHANGE ON COVID-19

The ITM Colloquium gathers our partner institutions, our students, staff and alumni, as well as invited researchers. Together we will share expertise and knowledge on the COVID-19 pandemic and its heterogeneity, discuss the evidence and try to interpret the various courses of the epidemics. We will also zoom in on the effect of different containments policies, the access and implementation of diagnostics, therapy and vaccines as well as the direct and indirect effects of COVID-19 on the health systems and societies.

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