This project was runner-up for the "Other Exceptional Project" prize on our Pandemics (May 2024) course. The text below is an excerpt from the final project.

Environments (PREPARE) Study: 

An implementation science proposal to improve pandemic preparedness by training village chiefs in outbreak response using refined disease modeling and pandemic simulations.

Key messages

• Rural Africa is always at the end of the distribution list for novel vaccines and treatments, and the time lag between pandemic onset and vaccine or treatment access requires a sustained non-pharmaceutical response to slow transmission
• When the next pandemic hits, we could have the potential to save tens of thousands of lives in rural Africa by leveraging the existing leadership roles of social structures
• National governments don’t have the direct relationship needed to influence and sustain a long period of transmission control measures at the community level
• Traditional and religious community leaders have the relationships, influence and authority needed: Their training and engagement in pandemic preparedness and response presents an opportunity to save countless lives
• Disease modeling is a complex field but its utility in pandemic response can be clearly explained in daily life metaphors. However, disease models are not currently optimized for structural interventions that rely on community compliance
• We can adapt disease models and pandemic simulators to incorporate interventions and compliance at community level, and use a refined model and simulator as a tool to train community leaders on pandemic response

This low-cost, innovative approach to pandemic preparedness, if brought to scale, could save tens of thousands of lives in the next pandemic

Full project

You can view the full project here.