Scientific Advice And Evidence In Emergencies

Author : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee,Andrew Miller
Publisher : The Stationery Office
Page : 260 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 2011-03-02
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 0215556569

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Scientific advice and evidence in emergencies by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee,Andrew Miller Pdf

In this report, the Science and Technology Committee examines how scientific advice and evidence is used in national emergencies, when the Government and scientific advisory system are put under great pressure to deal with atypical situations. The inquiry focused on four case studies: (i) the 2009-10 H1N1 influenza pandemic (swine flu); (ii) the April 2010 volcanic ash disruption; (iii) space weather; and (iv) cyber attacks. While science is used effectively to aid responses to emergencies, the detachment of the Government Chief Scientific Adviser (GCSA) from the National Risk Assessment (NRA) - the key process of risk evaluation carried out by the Cabinet Office - is a serious concern. The Committee recommends that the NRA should not be signed off until the GCSA is satisfied that all risks requiring scientific input and judgements have been properly considered. A new independent scientific advisory committee should be set up to advise the Cabinet on risk assessment and review the NRA. The Icelandic volcanic eruption in April 2010 is a stark example of the lack of scientific input in risk assessment: the risk of disruption to aviation caused by a natural disaster was dropped from the assessment process in 2009, despite warnings from earth scientists. There are concerns over how risk was communicated to the public during the 2009-10 swine flu pandemic are raised in the report, with sensationalised media reporting about the projected deaths from swine flu. The Scientific Advisory Groups in Emergencies, set up to advise government during emergencies, were found to work in an unnecessarily secretive way.

Author : Great Britain
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 2011
Category : Crisis management
ISBN : OCLC:921219300

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Scientific Advice and Evidence in Emergencies by Great Britain Pdf

Author : Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Science and Technology,Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee,Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 30 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2011-05-17
Category : Great Britain
ISBN : 0215559622

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Scientific Advice and Evidence in Emergencies by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Science and Technology,Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee,Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons Pdf

Government response to HC 498, session 2010-12 (ISBN 9780215556561)

Author : Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Science and Technology,Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee,Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 14 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 2011-07-18
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 0215560736

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Scientific Advice and Evidence in Emergencies by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Science and Technology,Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee,Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons Pdf

Scientific advice and evidence in Emergencies : Follow-up, oral and written evidence, 15 June 2011, Professor Sir John Beddington, Government Chief Scientific Advisor, Christina Scott, Head of the Civil Contingencies Secretariat, Cabinet Office, and Julia

Author : National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine,Health and Medicine Division,Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice,Board on Health Sciences Policy,Committee on Evidence-Based Practices for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response
Publisher : National Academies Press
Page : 501 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2020-11-28
Category : Medical
ISBN : 9780309670388

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Evidence-Based Practice for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine,Health and Medicine Division,Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice,Board on Health Sciences Policy,Committee on Evidence-Based Practices for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Pdf

When communities face complex public health emergencies, state local, tribal, and territorial public health agencies must make difficult decisions regarding how to effectively respond. The public health emergency preparedness and response (PHEPR) system, with its multifaceted mission to prevent, protect against, quickly respond to, and recover from public health emergencies, is inherently complex and encompasses policies, organizations, and programs. Since the events of September 11, 2001, the United States has invested billions of dollars and immeasurable amounts of human capital to develop and enhance public health emergency preparedness and infrastructure to respond to a wide range of public health threats, including infectious diseases, natural disasters, and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear events. Despite the investments in research and the growing body of empirical literature on a range of preparedness and response capabilities and functions, there has been no national-level, comprehensive review and grading of evidence for public health emergency preparedness and response practices comparable to those utilized in medicine and other public health fields. Evidence-Based Practice for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response reviews the state of the evidence on PHEPR practices and the improvements necessary to move the field forward and to strengthen the PHEPR system. This publication evaluates PHEPR evidence to understand the balance of benefits and harms of PHEPR practices, with a focus on four main areas of PHEPR: engagement with and training of community-based partners to improve the outcomes of at-risk populations after public health emergencies; activation of a public health emergency operations center; communication of public health alerts and guidance to technical audiences during a public health emergency; and implementation of quarantine to reduce the spread of contagious illness.

Author : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee
Publisher : The Stationery Office
Page : 124 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2012-07-09
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 0215046706

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Devil's bargain? by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee Pdf

The UK Government's position as an advocate for nuclear power makes it difficult for the public to trust it as an impartial source of information. Technically competent public bodies that are independent of Government - such as the Health & Safety Executive and Office for Nuclear Regulation - are in a much better position to engender public trust and influence risk perceptions. The Committee calls on these regulators to make greater efforts to communicate risk to the public and develop their role as trusted sources of information for lay people, in addition to providing risk information for technical audiences. There is also a lack of strategic coordination across Government when it comes to risk communication. A senior individual in Government should lead a Risk Communication Strategy team, drawing together existing expertise within Departments and public bodies - and be visibly responsible for overseeing risk communication. Furthermore, the decision to class the Fukushima incident at the same 'Level Seven' magnitude as Chernobyl - despite there being significantly lower levels of radioactive material released into the atmosphere and no deaths directly attributable to the accident - demonstrates the need to revise the scale used to communicate the magnitude of nuclear accidents. The global body responsible for the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) should review the scale. This report also calls on sources to emphasise to the public that exceeding recommended minimal radiation exposure levels may not pose any risk to people or the environment

Author : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee
Publisher : The Stationery Office
Page : 188 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2013-04-11
Category : Science
ISBN : 0215056787

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Marine Science by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee Pdf

Properly managed Marine Conservation Zones will protect marine life the UK's coastal waters and ensure the fishing industry has a sustainable long- term future. The Government is currently letting the project flounder while sensitive environments are further degraded and the industry is subjected to further uncertainty. It has been over three years since the Marine and Coastal Access Act was passed, with cross-party consensus that Marine Conservation Zones were necessary and has widespread public support. Despite this, the designation process has been repeatedly delayed and Marine Conservation Zones have become increasingly controversial. 127 Marine Conservation Zones have been proposed, but Defra has consulted on only 31 of these, without setting out the zone selection process, when these would be implemented or exactly how they would be managed. The Committee welcomes the publication of the Marine Science Strategy and establishment of the Marine Science Coordination Committee. However, it notes concerns about the effectiveness of these measures and highlights the risk that changes to funding mechanisms could undermine support for long-term strategic marine science. It is also recognised that the Natural Environment Research Council is currently operating with inadequate resources, but it should consider the impact that restructuring its research funding has had on its support for strategic marine science. The Committee recommended there should be a duty on commercial operations to share the data they collect. It is concerning that funding for important long-term monitoring programmes remains opportunistic and piecemeal. Developments in technologies such as autonomous underwater vehicles could dramatically alter the way in which marine data is collected

Author : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee
Publisher : The Stationery Office
Page : 258 pages
File Size : 51,5 Mb
Release : 2011-07-28
Category : Science
ISBN : 0215560884

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Peer review in scientific publications by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee Pdf

This report indicates that the oversight of research integrity in the UK is unsatisfactory. The Science and Technology Committee concludes that in order to allow others to repeat and build on experiments, researchers should aim for the gold standard of making their data fully disclosed and made publicly available. The report examines the current peer-review system as used in scientific publications and the related issues of research impact, data management, publication ethics and research integrity. The UK does not seem to have an oversight body for research integrity covering advice and assurance functions across all disciplines and the Committee recommends the creation of an external regulator. It also says all UK research institutions should have a specific member of staff leading on research integrity. The report highlights concerns about the use of journal Impact Factor as a proxy measure for the quality of research or of individual articles. Innovative ways to improve current pre-publication peer-review practices are highlighted in the report, including the use of pre-print servers, open peer review, increased transparency and online repository-style journals. The growth of post-publication peer review and commentary also represents an enormous opportunity for experimentation with new media and social networking tools, which the Committee encourages. There should also be greater recognition of the work-sometimes considered to be a burden-carried out by reviewers, by both publishers and employers. In order to do this, publishers need to have in place systems for recording and acknowledging the contribution of those involved in peer review.

Author : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee
Publisher : The Stationery Office
Page : 132 pages
File Size : 53,7 Mb
Release : 2012-10-26
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 0215049632

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Building Scientific Capacity for Development by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee Pdf

The UK has benefitted from having strong scientific advice available to Ministers and developing nations would see a huge benefit from being able to draw on strong home-grown institutions to inform policy decisions. A previous report by the Science and Technology Committee had criticised the Government for not paying enough attention to building the science base of developing nations. While concerns remain, MPs considered that the Department for International Development had made improvements in using a more robust evidence base and developing its own in-house expertise. An important feature raised in this report is that there had to be more attention paid to ensuring that scientists, especially those trained through UK support, were facilitated in staying in their home country and utilising the skills they had acquired. More support was needed to permit scientists from developing nations to build and develop their early career within in their native country. Only then could programmes to build scientific capacity eventually become self-sustaining. UK science benefits from collaborations in developing nations and through building connections with growing economies of the world but the MPs found that current funding streams actively discourage the participation of UK scientists. The MPs recommended that exercises such as the Research Excellence Framework recognise the contribution made by these scientists beyond their publication record.

Author : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee
Publisher : The Stationery Office
Page : 136 pages
File Size : 48,9 Mb
Release : 2012-02-21
Category : Science
ISBN : 0215041879

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Science in the Met Office by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee Pdf

The Met Office currently operates as a Trading Fund within the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). The Committee welcomes the move to BIS, particularly given the potential for closer links with the research base and the opportunity to develop further its commercial activities. Core services though for the public service must be maintained. The Met Office generates a significant proportion of its revenues from Government contracts and Customer Service Agreements, in addition to its' commercial services and the Government should provide clearly defined funding commitments. This would allow the Met Office to take a longer-term perspective on scientific and operational development. The Government has no plans to privatise the Met Office, which the Committee saw as putting at risk the strong partnerships built with international partners and the sharing of crucial meteorological data. Also the Committee welcomes the Government's initiative of Public Data Corporation. Some concern though is expressed that scientific advances in weather forecasting and the associated public benefits (particularly in regard to severe weather warnings) are available but are being held back by insufficient supercomputing capacity. The Met Office should attempt to streamline the scrutiny of science under one committee and develop a strong customer relationship with key government departments.

Author : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee
Publisher : The Stationery Office
Page : 210 pages
File Size : 41,6 Mb
Release : 2013-09-17
Category : Medical
ISBN : 0215062329

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House of Commons - Science and Technology Committee: Clinical Trials - HC 104 by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee Pdf

Many of the trials taking place today are unregistered and unpublished, meaning that the information that they generate remains invisible to both the scientific community and the public. This undermines public trust, slowing the pace of medical advancement and potentially putting patients at risk. All trials conducted on NHS treatments-and all other trials receiving public funding-should be prospectively registered and their results published in a scientific journal. While the focus should be on implementing this change for future trials, the Government must also do what it can to ensure that historic trials are registered and published, particularly where they have been publically funded. The Government should also take steps to facilitate greater sharing of the raw data generated during a trial in a responsible and controlled way, with the knowledge and consent of patients. The report also draws attention to the recent fall in the number of trials taking place in the UK. It finds that the need for multiple governance approvals from participating NHS organisations remained the biggest barrier to setting up a UK trial, but that lack of public awareness was also a key issue. Recruiting participants can also be a challenge. The report calls on the Government to take its recommendations into account in ongoing discussions regarding the revision of European clinical trials legislation and in its response to the European Medicines Agency's consultation on the release of clinical trial data, which closes at the end of this month

Author : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee
Publisher : The Stationery Office
Page : 122 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2013-10-28
Category : Science
ISBN : 0215063244

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House of Commons - Science and Technology Committee: Work of the European and UK Space Agencies - HC 253 by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee Pdf

The Committee heard much positive feedback about the work of the UK Space Agency since its creation in 2011. The UK's space sector is one of our economy's fastest growing sectors, with an average growth rate of almost 7.5%, and it has ambitions to increase its annual turnover to £40 billion by 2030. The report welcomes recent increases in the UK's commitments to the European Space Agency, but urged the UK Space Agency to strengthen UK influence within the European Space Agency by providing support for UK candidates applying for future director-level positions within the Agency. There are a number of exciting developments happening in the UK space sector, including the expansion of the European Space Agency's operations at Harwell, the establishment of the Satellite Applications Catapult and Major Tim Peake's upcoming mission to the International Space Station. With continued cross-party support, we hope to see this sector expand in line with its ambitions and continue to attract jobs and businesses to the UK

Author : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee
Publisher : The Stationery Office
Page : 106 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2012-09-21
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 0215048482

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The Census and Social Science by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee Pdf

The Committee undertook an inquiry to consider the use of the data from the census by the Government, whether there were elements of the census that would be irreplaceable by other means and if the business of Government would be seriously impacted if census data was lost or changed. The Committee is concerned that there is no chief advisor as with other sciences, or a Minister who could answer for Government as a whole whether social science provision was adequate and whether the data from the census and other sources was fit for purpose. The key disadvantage of the census is the timeliness of the data. Yet census data provides a snapshot of the whole country at a moment in time. It enables detection of trends in the recent past, allows comparisons to be made of different areas in the country more accurately and provides a means to recruit to longitudinal studies. Good use is being made of non-census surveys to provide equivalent data in a number of areas in a much shorter timescale, but these do not have the same breadth as the census and do not provide a national coverage or standard. Social science could suffer if the census was to be discontinued without serious consideration as to how this data would be replaced. Though the absence of a census would also potentially stimulate a considerable amount of innovation in social science and examination of how to produce social data of an equivalent standard

Author : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee
Publisher : The Stationery Office
Page : 208 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2011-07
Category : Law
ISBN : 0215560329

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The Forensic Science Service by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee Pdf

The Science and Technology Committee is not confident that an orderly transition can be achieved by the extremely challenging deadline for closure of the Forensic Science Service of March 2012. Extending the deadline by at least six months would allow the government to consult on and determine a wider strategy for forensic science. In making its decision to close the FSS, the government failed to give enough consideration to the impact on forensic science research and development, the capacity of private providers to absorb the FSS's 60% market share and the wider implications for the criminal justice system. These considerations appear to have been hastily overlooked in favour of the financial bottom line. The report also draws attention to the historical inadequacies in government decision-making that brought the FSS to its current financial situation. The FSS's dire financial position appears to have arisen from a complex combination of factors, principally the shrinking forensics market, driven by increasing police in-sourcing of forensic science services, and a forensic procurement framework that has driven down prices and does not adequately recognise the value of complex forensic services. In the transition to closure, transferring work from the FSS to a non-accredited police or private laboratory would be highly undesirable, posing significant and unacceptable risks to criminal justice. Proposals should be brought forward immediately to provide the Forensic Science Regulator with statutory powers to enforce compliance with quality standards.

Author : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee
Publisher : The Stationery Office
Page : 52 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2011-09-14
Category : Education
ISBN : 0215561392

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Practical experiments in school science lessons and science field trips by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Science and Technology Committee Pdf

This Science and Technology Committee report on practical experiments in school science lessons and science field trips concludes that many students are receiving poor practical science experiences during their secondary school education. There was no credible evidence to support the frequently cited explanation of health and safety concerns for a decline in practicals and trips. Instead, more focus is needed on what happens after teachers have been recruited to the profession: knowledge and practical skills must be maintained and developed in order for high quality science education to be delivered. High quality science facilities and qualified and experienced technical support are vital. A career structure for technical staff should be provided and the government should ensure schools provide science facilities to match its aspirations for science education. Practical science is relatively expensive and carries little cachet for parents comparing schools. The inspection regime and the requirements set for exam boards should therefore drive higher quality with more and better practical science lessons. The Committee also found a lack of coherence in the provision of science educational materials. It urges the science community to utilise the STEM directories - the online database of STEM enhancement and enrichment activities for schools and colleges - and calls on the government to secure the future of the directories which provide vital contacts between schools and scientists. Finally, the committee urges the government to provide a detailed strategy on how it intends to achieve its ambition to increase participation in school science subjects.