Olivia Biermann

• PhD in Global Public Health
• Researcher at Karolinska Institutet

Background In Sweden, adolescents (10-19-year-olds) increasingly face problems related to their mental health and well-being, driving the rise in rates of mental ill-health (e.g., anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation and self-harm), and care-seeking for psychiatric conditions. Although awareness about adolescent mental health and well-being (AMH)...

Background The challenges that the world faces to ensure good life for future generations are vast and complex. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to meet these challenges. A growing number of higher education institutions have integrated them within their curricula, but there are indications that health professional educat...

Purpose The Covid-19 pandemic has exacted a significant physical, financial, social, and emotional toll on populations throughout the world. This study aimed to document the association between pandemic stressors and mental health during the pandemic across countries that differ in cultural, geographic, economic, and demographic factors. Methods W...

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Background In 2015, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Higher education institutions have a role in raising awareness and building skills among future professionals for implementing the SDGs. This review describes how the SDGs have been integrated into highe...

Worldwide, 85% of all children who die are under the age of five. A recent scoping review examining the literature from 2000 to 2021 shows the importance of sustainable integrated preventive child health care for improving child health, enhancing the uptake of preventive child health services, and decreasing health-care costs. In 2022, we organised...

In people with TB, co-existence of long-term conditions (e.g., depression, diabetes and HIV) and risk factors (e.g.,alcohol misuse, malnutrition, and smoking) are associated with increased mortality and poor treatment outcomes including delayed recovery, TB treatment failure and relapse. However, it is unclear as to what extent these comorbidities...

Background: While a lot has been written about Sweden's COVID-19 control strategy, less is known about Swedish residents' media use during the pandemic and trust in and perceived agreement among key stakeholders commenting in the media. Methods: Eight online, nationwide surveys were fielded between March and August 2020, during the first wave of...

Background: Systematic screening in high-burden settings is recommended as a strategy for early detection of pulmonary tuberculosis disease, reducing mortality, morbidity and transmission, and improving equity in access to care. Questioning for symptoms and chest radiography (CXR) have historically been the most widely available tools to screen fo...

Objective Psychosocial and economic (socioeconomic) barriers, including poverty, stigma and catastrophic costs, impede access to tuberculosis (TB) services in low-income countries. We aimed to characterise the socioeconomic barriers and facilitators of accessing TB services in Nepal to inform the design of a locally appropriate socioeconomic suppor...

Housing is a paradigmatic example of a social determinant of health, as it influences and is influenced by structural determinants, such as social, macroeconomic, and public policies, politics, education, income, and ethnicity/race, all intersecting to shaping the health and well-being of populations. It can therefore be argued that housing policy...

More than a decade after the World Health Organization Commission on the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH), it is becoming widely accepted that social and economic factors, including but not limited to education, energy, income, race, ethnicity, and housing, are important drivers of health in populations. Despite this understanding, in most cont...

Food is an important determinant of health, featuring prominently in the Sustainable Development Goals. The term “big data” is seldom used in relation to food, partly because food data are scattered across different sectors. The increasing availability of food-related data presents an opportunity to glean new insights on food and food systems. Thes...

Background Vietnam has a high burden of undetected tuberculosis (TB). The Vietnamese National TB Strategic Plan highlights active case-finding (ACF) as one strategy to find people with TB who are currently unreached by the existing government health services. The IMPACT TB (Implementing proven community-based active TB case-finding intervention) pr...

Background Nepal has a high burden of undetected tuberculosis (TB). In line with the World Health Organization’s End TB Strategy, the National TB Programme promotes active case-finding (ACF) as one strategy to find people with TB who are unreached by existing health services. The IMPACT TB (Implementing proven community-based active TB case-finding...

Background Active case-finding (ACF), also referred to as community-based tuberculosis screening, is a component of the World Health Organization’s End TB Strategy. ACF has potential benefits but also harms, which need to be carefully assessed when developing and implementing ACF policies. While empirical evidence on the benefits of ACF is still we...

Introduction Menstrual hygiene management can be challenging in low-income settings and among school-aged girls due to traditional beliefs, lack of knowledge and information on best hygienic practices, and limited access to appropriate and affordable menstrual hygiene products. An alternative method for menstrual hygiene management, instead of sani...

Background The World Health Organization (WHO) stresses the importance of active case-finding (ACF) for early detection of tuberculosis (TB), especially in the 30 high-burden countries that account for almost 90% of cases globally. Objective To describe the attitudes of National TB Programme (NTP) managers related to ACF policy development, implem...

Background: Knowledge translation (KT) is currently endorsed by global health policy actors as a means to improve outcomes by institutionalising evidence-informed policy-making. Organisational knowledge brokers, comprised of researchers, policy-makers and other stakeholders, are increasingly being used to undertake and promote KT at all levels of...

Background: WHO’s 2015 End TB Strategy advocates social and economic (socioeconomic) support for TB-affected households to improve TB control. However, evidence concerning socioeconomic support for TB-affected households remains limited, especially in low-income countries. Protocol: This mixed-methods study in Nepal will: evaluate the socioeconomi...

Objective To explore experts’ views on factors influencing national and global active case-finding (ACF) policy development and implementation, and the use of evidence in these processes. Design This is an exploratory study based on semistructured expert interviews. Framework analysis was applied. Participants The study involved a purposive sampl...

Background: WHO’s 2015 End TB Strategy advocates social and economic (socioeconomic) support for TB-affected households to improve TB control. However, evidence concerning socioeconomic support for TB-affected households remains limited, especially in low-income countries. Protocol: This mixed-methods study in Nepal will: evaluate the socioeconomi...

Objective: To explore antecedents, components and influencing factors on active case-finding (ACF) policy development and implementation. Design: Scoping review, searching MEDLINE, Web of Science, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and the World Health Organization (WHO) Library from January 1968 to January 2018. We excluded studies foc...

Although the End TB Strategy highlights that major global progress towards universal health coverage (UHC) and social protection are fundamental to achieving the global targets for reductions in tuberculosis (TB) incidence and deaths, there is still a long way to go to achieve them in low- and middle-income countries. A workshop on the End TB Strat...

Background In evidence-informed policy-making (EIP), major knowledge gaps remain in understanding the context and possibilities for institutionalisation of knowledge translation. In 2014, the WHO Evidence-informed Policy Network (EVIPNet) Europe initiated a number of pilot countries, with Hungary among them, to engage in a ‘situation analysis’ (SA)...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to better understand facilitators’ perceived role and influence on a policy dialogue’s (PD) process and impact. PDs enable interactions between policy makers, researchers and other stakeholders – one of the factors associated with promoting evidence-informed policy making. Design/methodology/approach This is an...

Background Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have a key role in improving health in low- and middle-income countries. Their work needs to be synergistic, complementary to public services, and rooted in community mobilization and collective action. The study explores how an NGO and its health services are perceived by the population that it serv...

This document is to serve EVIPNet Europe country teams and WHO country offices as a summary of the major communication considerations associated with communicating about and advocating for EVIPNet. It can serve as a “refresher” of related concepts, tools and “to-do’s”, or it can be used as a reference point (e.g. for planning how to convince a high...

This document guides policy dialogue (PD) facilitators and their teams in leading a PD process that will effectively and strategically input into policy-making. The document can be used for preparation for an individual or a team and for implementation and follow-up of a PD. It can serve as a “refresher” of PD-related concepts, tools and “things to...

Background There is a lack of scientific evidence on how socioeconomically disadvantaged tobacco users can be reached with tobacco cessation interventions in Swedish primary healthcare (PHC). In this setting other lifestyle interventions are available by prescription, and there is the potential to develop a similar tool for tobacco cessation. The a...

he European Advisory Committee on Health Research (EACHR) established a subcommittee on evidence-informed policy-making (EIP) in 2014. The EACHR identified EIP as a key mechanism in support of actions across governments and societies for the implementation of the Health 2020 policy framework. The first technical expert meeting to enhance EIP too...

Health systems in low- and middle-income countries in Southeast Asia face major challenges due to overall low levels of development, financial constraints and poor health indicators. This calls for efficient use of recourses and successful policy implementation. Our chapter focuses on the Lao National Drug Policy, which was implemented quickly and...

This article describes the patient safety work in Sweden and the cooperation between the Nordic countries in the area of patient safety. It depicts the national infrastructure, methods and partners in patient safety work as well as the development in key areas. Since 2000, the interest in patient safety and quality issues has significantly increase...