Stefan ButtigiegMinistry for Health, Malta · Public Health
Stefan Buttigieg
Doctor of Medicine and Surgery
About
27
Publications
3,932
Reads
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170
Citations
Citations since 2017
Introduction
Resident Specialist in Public Health Medicine at the Ministry for Health in Malta, actively working in Digital Health, Public Health Informatics, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Marketing (specifically for Healthcare settings).
Publications
Publications (27)
The demand for the digitalisation of public health has been ongoing for more than a decade. The COVID-19 pandemic was the tipping point that accelerated the ideation, implementation, and scale-up of such public health projects. Despite the well-needed push, the same challenges that face every similar implementation will nonetheless be the same if n...
The creation of future proof infostructures requires a number of efforts on different levels within a health organisation. One important thing that we need to be genuinely realise and grow aware of is that there is an inherent need to move away from Excel Spreadsheets, Access Databases and legacy data tools (including paper) towards interoperable i...
Podcasts are one of the fastest growing communication channels globally with more than 850,000 podcasts available globally through all the different podcast distributors. Furthermore, Health-related podcasts are gathering steam on their own front and herein lies the opportunity for public health and digital health professionals to embrace this chan...
Information has always been central to public health practice. As digital health develops it becomes increasingly central to health care delivery, health system management, and population health monitoring. Despite enormous investment, and great effort in collecting these data, much of the potential value of health care information is lost because...
There are a world of opportunities waiting for public health professionals to get started with a regular audio-visual communication channel. The barrier of entry to start creating your very own podcast has been reduced to a bare minimum. This presentation intends to cover the basics to get started with your own podcast and intends to share the less...
Public Health Data Pipelines are critical in the implementation of scalable Digital Public Health projects as part of the reporting, evaluation and monitoring aspects of any public health intervention. The WHO Europe Programme of Work covering the period 2020 to 2025 puts an emphasis on “developing big-data capacity in surveillance, modelling and p...
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of digital health technologies and the role of effective surveillance systems. While recent events have accelerated progress towards the expansion of digital public health (DPH), there remains significant untapped potential in harnessing, leveraging, and repurposing digital technologies for publi...
Digital technologies are rapidly being integrated into a wide range of health fields, public health in particular. While ‘digital health' has the potential to significantly improve population health and well-being outcomes, its effective implementation and responsible use are contingent on building a public health workforce with a sufficient level...
Digital health is a strategic priority for the future of health in Europe. But development and deployment of digital solutions is not enough to guarantee a successful implementation. Public health services require a workforce that is ready to search and evaluate the best digital solutions for specific public health activities, such as epidemiologic...
Digitalization in itself is not simply a means to an end but involves an operational change in workflows that is on the critical-path to the digital transformation of public health. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a unique opportunity to put a shining light on all the different technologies that were available and also consider a large number of new...
As smartphone usage is more and more ubiquitous, the app market is flourishing in all fields, including health. Indeed, the availability and use of smartphone apps (SAs) in health has exponentially grown in recent years. It has been estimated that in 2018 there were over 97,000 health apps available and that, 15% and 8% of US phone users aged 18-29...
EUPHA President, and EJPH Editor Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat will present the structure and content of the European Journal of Public Health 2019 supplement on Digital Health
Background:
As digitalization is progressively permeating all aspects of society, how can be it fruitfully employed to sustain the public health goals of quality, accessibility, efficiency and equity in health care and prevention? In this paper, we reflect on the potential of applying digital tools to public health and discuss some key challenges....
Overall, the Maltese health system has been making remarkable progress, with improvements in avoidable mortality and low levels of unmet need. Maltese life expectancy continues to be high, and Maltese people spend on average close to 90% of their lifespan in good health, longer than in any other EU country. Malta has recently increased the proporti...
Maltese life expectancy is high, and Maltese people spend on average close to 90% of their lifespan in good health, longer than in any other EU country. Malta has recently increased the proportion of GDP spent on health to above the EU average, though the private part of that remains higher than in many EU countries. The total number of doctors and...
Health care has been deeply transformed by the Digital Revolution at every level and many new paradigms allowed by the application of information and Communication Technologies in medicine are already mainstreamed in everyday medical practice. e-Health allows a more patients centred, data driven, delivery of care, with big economical and efficiency...
Questions
Question (1)
I'm exploring the field of rapid economic growth in relation to specific health indicators and would like to get more information about the correct definition of rapid economic growth and how is it measured. Is it solely through GDP? GNP? or is there an academic model which takes into consideration all of these factors(such as Ratings by credit agencies)?
Looking forward to your insights.
Projects
Projects (8)
Based on the current pandemic crisis caused by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), a large amount of health information is available on the Internet considering issues such as diagnosis, treatment, protective behaviour, preventive measures, dashboard statistics and public recommendations. In response, and to pursue health and social science research questions in relation to corona and COVID-19, the Public Health Centre Fulda (PHZF) at Fulda University of Applied Sciences and the Interdisciplinary Centre for Health Literacy Research (IZGK) at Bielefeld University launched a research consortium (COVID-HL Consortium). The main goal of this consortium is to conduct health and social science research in different settings and population groups. The recent research activities include the implementation of two global studies: (1) the COVID-HL university students survey, and (2) the COVID-HL school survey.
