ZonMw has funded a new project on the development of an integrated assessment framework for pandemic preparedness and response. The project, led by Dr. Anja Schreijer, Medical Director of the PDPC, is called ‘UNified Integration of Health and Societal Impact Translation of Yield to policy and practice’ (UNITY) and will bring together biomedical and societal perspectives and integrate insights from multiple disciplines to provide actionable, evidence-based advice for policymakers. UNITY is a collaborative project between different disciplines and involves various participants, including scientists, policymakers, public health professionals and citizens. In total, the collaboration partners will receive 1.99 million from ZonMw. 

Background

Pandemics affect not only health but also social and psychological well-being and economic livelihoods. Effective crisis management must balance these dimensions to maintain public trust and minimize unintended harms. Dutch advisory structures – historically centered around the biomedical-focused Outbreak Management Team OMT – have lacked systematic inclusion of socio-economic dimensions. Establishment of the Societal Impact Team (MIT) in 2022 is a big step forward, but challenges persist in generation, flow and integration of data and information into advisory mechanisms. Moreover, pandemic response often involves rapid decision-making under uncertainty, highlighting the need for effective, timely, actionable and trustworthy scientific advice and underlying data. The COVID-19 pandemic underlined the lack of an integrated framework capable of synthesizing insights from diverse disciplines – such as epidemiology and socioeconomics – while also addressing uncertainty, values, vulnerabilities, citizen engagement, and the science-policy interface.

Objective & Approach

To address these challenges, the UNITY project aims to develop a robust, scientifically grounded, and practically applicable integrated assessment framework for pandemic preparedness and response. The framework brings together biomedical and societal perspectives and will integrate insights from multiple disciplines, including epidemiology and socioeconomics, to provide actionable, evidence-based advice for policymakers. UNITY will make use of a variety of data sources, like epidemiological models, biomedical and socio-economic data, public health records, simulation exercises and stakeholder surveys, interviews & focus groups.

Partners

UNITY will carry out collaborative scientific research from different disciplines and involve various participants, including scientists, policymakers, public health professionals and citizens. The UNITY project is a collaboration between Erasmus MC (departments of Viroscience, Public Health and the Pandemic and Disaster Preparedness Center (PDPC)), Erasmus University (ESSB and ESHPM), Radboudumc (departments of Primary Medicine and IQ Health), UMC Utrecht (Julius Centrum), Maastricht University (CAPHRI), Universiteit Utrecht (Ethics Institute), Amsterdam UMC (Public and Occupational Health), Universiteit van Amsterdam (ASCoR), Stichting SEO Economisch Onderzoek and Nivel. Expert input will be provided by NCOH, BePrepared, SCP, RIVM, GGD Amsterdam, TU/e, TNO, Utwente and Tilburg University.

Outlook

Evaluations and lessons from countries such as Ireland, Switzerland, the UK and others show that integrated interdisciplinary advice is beneficial and feasible. UNITY builds on these to promote balanced, coordinated, and context-sensitive advisory practices in the Netherlands, enhancing policymakers’ ability to make informed decisions that account for complex interdependencies, leading to enhanced preparedness, improved compliance, and reduced negative societal impacts. By creating an integrated tool for science-policy interaction, the project hopes to improve the advisory and decision-making process during pandemics, particularly by incorporating diverse scientific perspectives and engaging citizens. The results of the UNITY project will help ensure that vulnerable populations and societal impacts are considered in response strategies.

Dr. Anja Schreijer: “We hope that the UNITY project will contribute to a better pandemic preparedness of the Netherlands.”

Read more about Integrated Science for Policy here!