Preventive Medicine 2020 Online brought together leaders from medicine and public health to examine the most pressing issues in healthcare today, and how the Nation’s healthcare system can be transformed around prevention. This virtual meeting offered high-quality medical education programming, networking opportunities, and the recognition of the best in the profession.

The meeting was organized around critical topics including innovations in community health, public health policy, evidence and practice, health systems transformation and lifestyle medicine. Each meeting day was themed around two critical topics, with distinct sessions addressing shared themes in the practice of prevention.

 

Preventive Medicine 2020 Online focused on big, bold, upstream ideas and the people, places, and programs that are making them a reality today. Transformation is only possible with a clear vision, audacious goals, an innovative mindset, and the will to implement new policy and practice, honestly evaluate change, and engage stakeholders at every level.

Vaccines are a critical element of infectious disease control, particularly during times of public health emergencies due to emerging infectious diseases. Examples of recent vaccine development efforts during public health emergencies are discussed, including Ebola Virus Disease, Zika virus, and SARS-CoV-2. World Health Organization (WHO) considers vaccine hesitancy one of the “Top Ten Threats to Global Health” in 2019. Determinants of vaccine hesitancy are complex and context-specific, varying across time, place, and vaccine type. Examples are given from the use of smallpox and anthrax vaccines and the risk communication strategies used to mitigate vaccine hesitancy in these situations.

• Compare the development of vaccines to emerging infectious disease threats during a public health emergency to the usual development pipeline.
• Describe factors contributing to vaccine hesitancy challenges worldwide.
• Apply understanding of the US military’s unique experiences with anthrax vaccine and smallpox vaccine to the topic of vaccine hesitancy.

COL Jamie Mancuso

Dr. Margaret Ryan

Dr. Kayvon Modjarrad