Citizen Science for Preparedness and Response to Disease Outbreaks

Abstract

Knowledge about the ways in which citizen science can contribute to community action and improved preparedness to health emergencies is scarce. In this solution room, we bring together perspectives from the global North and South. We introduce two studies. One is a study about citizen science for pandemic preparedness, focusing primarily on lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic in The Netherlands. The other is a study in four African countries about the role of community engagement and interaction in prevention and mitigation of health emergencies. The studies suggest that delayed and irregular responses from the official health system to health emergencies make frontline care heavily reliant on citizen action, while at the same time the health system is often poorly equipped to incorporate knowledge and actions generated by citizens. After sharing these studies, our solution room engages the audience interactively in a conversation (e.g. in World Café format) about how citizen science can contribute to preparedness and frontline responses to disease outbreaks, and what it takes to make that possible.