Volume 34, no. 1, January 2021. Screening strategies for the elimination of Hepatitis C Virus in Italy. Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with dementia. How to make FAIR a project: open access to research data and the RaCHy - Radiotherapy Coupled with Hyperthermia research project. - ISS (EN)

Abstracts:

Screening strategies for the elimination of Hepatitis C Virus in Italy
According to the Italian Platform for the Study of Viral Hepatitis Therapies (PITER), coordinated by the National Center for Global Health of the Italian National Institute of Health, an active screening for chronic hepatitis C virus  (HCV) infection, starting with younger populations (1968-1987 birth cohorts) and key populations as drug users and inmates, and then expanding to older individuals (1948-1967 birth cohorts) before their disease advances, has shown to have the highest cost-effectiveness in Italy. Policy makers have recently taken important steps towards achieving the elimination goal and through the Milleproroghe Decree has allocated 71.5 million euros for the period 2020-2021 to introduce free-of-charge screening on persons from the general population, born between 1969 and 1989, on those under the supervision of public facilities for drug addiction, and on those in prison. The application of the screening will make Italy a country on track for the World Health Organization (WHO) HCV elimination goals within the year 2030.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with dementia
The COVID-19 outbreak is having a profound impact on the health and well-being of people with dementia. In Italy and in other world countries a high percentage of COVID-19-related deaths have occurred in people with dementia. A large proportion of patients, although not directly affected by the contagion, experienced a significant worsening of their clinical conditions. In parallel, the levels of stress for family members and caregivers has increased considerably. Finally, the organization of clinical and social care activities and services for people with dementia and their caregivers has been profoundly subverted by the pandemic.

How to make FAIR a project: open access to research data and the RaCHy - Radiotherapy Coupled with Hyperthermia research project
Open Science is the new keyword in scientific research: sharing data and results to increase the quality, impact, and benefits of science. Sharing accelerates the advancement of knowledge by making it more reliable, more efficient, and more accurate. This process also improves usability and understanding by the society. This is affirmed by the European Union and this is what is required in the management of data and knowledge that is produced in projects funded by Europe. This approach has been fully implemented within the RaCHy (Radiotherapy Coupled with Hyperthermia) European project to which the National Centre for Radiation Protection and Computational Physics of the Italian National Institute of Research (ISS) participates. The management of Open Science aspects in the RaCHy project was developed by the ISS project unit using the Zenodo platform, one of the possible solutions for the dissemination and reusability of research data over time. There are rules and guidelines to be implemented and followed both in the sharing of data within the project and in the way in which the data produced are then available to the scientific community and society.