Volume 33, no. 6, June 2020. Alcohol and COVID-19. COVID-19: Safety of the integrated water cycle. Regulation (EU) 2017/745: the Medical Devices. Health & Justice in places of restriction. Measures for the prevention and control of COVID-19 in prison. Gender-based violence. Surveillance system for the determinants of health in early childhood - ISS (EN)

Abstracts:

Alcohol and COVID-19: the actions of the National Alcohol Observatory and the WHO Center for research andhealth promotion on alcohol and alcohol-related problems
With the COVID-19 emergency, the National Observatory on Alcohol and the WHOCC-ITA79 have launched initiatives to counteract fake news circulation, to spread useful information and to investigate the harmful effects of social isolation in terms of alcohol consumption and alcohol dependence,detecting serious weaknesses in the dedicated services. In light of this, alcohol initiatives were discussed and reviewed during the various European and international webinars.

Webinar COVID-19: Safety of the integrated water cycle and research perspectives
Discussed during the webinar aimed at addressing, in light of the first findings in Italy of genetic material of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater, the feasibility and strategic value of environmental surveillance on viruses in wastewater. This could be a possible tool for prevention and control of epidemic outbreaks, also through specific updates on the analytical research of the virus in complex water matrices. The webinar was organized by the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS) with the collaboration of the Institute for Water Research of the National Research Council (CNR-IRSA).

Regulation (EU) 2017/745: what changes for the traceability of Medical Devices?
The univocal identification of Medical Devices (MD) along the supply chain allows to track the entire path, from design to manufacture, distribution, up to the end user. In case of non-compliant MD, it allows to do promptly corrective actions on devices and patients. In order to minimize the lack of traceability of MD, that is a serious risk for end users, actors such as manufacturers, authorised representatives, importers, and distributors who are involved in the MD management processes, must have a harmonized and shared identification system to ensure at any time the MD traceability. The new Regulation (EU) 2017/745 of the European Parliament and the Council on medical devices has provided a common strategy, based on internationally recognized principles, through the establishment of a unique device identification system (UDI system). The Regulation focuses particularly on the MD traceability and clearly defines tasks for the economic operators involved in the supply chain of the MD, who are called to satisfy new requirements and to take on specific responsibilities. This paper is up to date with the new amendment to the Regulation due to the COVID-19 emergency.

Conference - Health & Justice in places of restriction
The Conference aimed to open a discussion table between multidisciplinary experiences and expertises to address health problems in places of restriction, to propose evidence-based strategies for reducing the inequalities between free and restricted population, and to guarantee everyone the right health/judicial intervention focusing the debate on the person and his/her individual needs.

Measures for the prevention and control of COVID-19 in prison and other place of detention for adult and juvenile
In order to provide indications for the prevention and control of COVID-19 in the population of adult and minor inmates, a Working Group was formed at the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS), including ISS researchers and external experts. The scientific work of the Group highlighted prison health issues that are still poorly understood, and represents an opportunity to address existing gaps and to overcome health inequalities through the development of specific intervention strategies tailored to this vulnerable population.

Meeting - Gender-based violence: identify to prevent and contrast it, and support women who are experiencing violence
Violence against women is a major global public health problem. It must be addressed with the involvement of all the healthcare, welfare and research professionals. In order to combat this phenomenon, the Italian National Institute of Health organized a conference to raise the awareness of social and health professionals on the issue.

Meeting - Surveillance system for the determinants of health in early childhood
The meeting, organized by the Italian National Institute of Health and the Italian Ministry of Health, disseminated the results of the 0-2 years Child Surveillance System to professionals involved in early childhood health protection and promotion. During the meeting, international and national policies on the protection and promotion of health in the first 1,000 days of life were addressed. Strategies and actions to promote health in the first 1,000 days of life were discussed in a Round table of national and regional social and health experts. In the current scenario, this surveillance is an important resource to monitor the health behaviour of children in order to identify and promote appropriate interventions and contrast health inequalities, which the COVID-19 emergency has unfortunately aggravated.