Mass Gathering Medicine
Volume 2 • Issue 2
- ISSN: 3050-4562
The "Mass Gathering Medicine" journal is a peer-reviewed, open-access publication that disseminates original research articles, case reports, letters, editorials, perspectives… Read more
Subscription options
Institutional subscription on ScienceDirect
Request a sales quoteThe "Mass Gathering Medicine" journal is a peer-reviewed, open-access publication that disseminates original research articles, case reports, letters, editorials, perspectives, and review articles pertaining to Mass Gathering Medicine and allied topics with local and global significance.
Mass Gathering Medicine, as a distinct specialty, emerged in the aftermath of the 2009 pH1N1 crisis and was formalized during the first Lancet Conference on Mass Gathering Medicine in Riyadh in 2010. Subsequently, scientific discourse and on Mass Gathering Medicine emerged, ranging form the anecdotal evidence of the role of mass gatherings in the global spread of the 1958 influenza outbreak and polio, experience from hosting mass gatherings amidst MERS in 2013 and COVID-19, the occurrence of violence and injuries during mass gatherings, and the increasing need for clinical service delivery for both infectious diseases and chronic diseases. The World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control in Europe and the USA, and the ministries of health of various countries have since developed practice guidance for clinicians and advisories for disease control and compliance with the International Health Regulations.
Mass gatherings pose distinct challenges to the health of the attendees, the health service delivery and disease prevention capacity of host and home communities or countries, and the global health security. Mass gatherings such as religious pilgrimages, sporting and entertainment events, political gatherings, festivals and social and community celebrations are being held at unprecedented growth in scale and frequency. As migration becomes more common, increases in awareness of events, and increases opportunities for travel, many previous primarily domestic gatherings are attracting international participants. These large-scale events pose significant risks for the spread of infectious diseases, particularly respiratory tract infections. Of concern are also intentional and unintentional exposure to violence and injuries. The impact of climate change necessitates renewed efforts to respond to the impact on the health of participants in large gatherings to stem the broader impact on disease emergence. Increases in participation by aging populations in mass gatherings require the incorporation of chronic and metabolic disease management in mass-gathering medicine. Live animal transportation and sacrifices during some mass gatherings are important from a zoonotic disease perspective, while food and water safety are important determinants of healthy events. The congregation of large numbers of individuals represents a potential breeding ground for the development, propagation, and dissemination of infectious diseases on a global scale. Consequently, the field of mass gathering medicine has emerged as a specialized, inter-professional branch of public health.
Mass Gathering Medicine aims to enable mass gatherings to be healthy and risk-free. Such outcome is achievable through the establishment of evidence-based practices in clinical service delivery; disease and risk factor surveillance, including behavioral and anthropological dimensions of communicable and noncommunicable diseases and environmental genomic surveillance of select agents; assessing the utility of medical and nonmedical countermeasures; the development and dissemination of disease prevention strategies; and enhance global collaboration on relevant themes.
Among the key focal areas of public health research aimed at mitigating health risks during mass gatherings are the following:
Controlling the incidence of both noncommunicable and communicable diseases.
Reducing the incidence and impact of adverse public health events.
Enhancing medical services before, during, and after mass gatherings attendance.
Developing effective strategies for the prevention and treatment of diseases.
Opportunistic and strategic use of mass gatherings to advance global health security.
To achieve these goals, innovative approaches using emerging technologies and concepts are required. They include the integration of internet-based global infectious disease surveillance, utilization of mobile phone technology for data collection, photo-epidemiology to monitor crowd uptake of prevention measures, metapopulation epidemic modeling, crowd behavior modeling, and opportunistic and active microbial surveillance. Some annual global mass gatherings that represent nearly all countries in the world offer one-stop opportunities for genomic surveillance and the development of specimen banks.
To institutionalize the evidence, experience, and explorations on the above themes, there is an urgent need to highlight and document the scientific evidence in a format accessible to global researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and international stewards.
<P>In summary, the journal aims to provide a platform for disseminating research and knowledge that contributes to effectively managing public health challenges associated with Mass Gathering events of varying scales and types. By publishing diverse article types, we seek to foster a deeper understanding of these events and promote evidence-based practices to benefit local, regional, and international communities.
- ISSN: 3050-4562
- Volume 2
- Issue 2