Clements Archie C A
Peninsula Medical School, University of Plymouth, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK.
Telethon Kids Institute, Nedlands, Perth, WA 6009, Australia.
Trop Med Infect Dis. 2023 Jun 9;8(6):314. doi: 10.3390/tropicalmed8060314.
The COVID-19 pandemic is the first major pandemic of the digital age and has been characterised by unprecedented public consumption of spatial and temporal disease data, which can enable greater transparency and accountability of governments to the public for their public health decisions. A variety of state and non-state actors have collated and presented maps, charts, and plots of data related to the pandemic in both static and dynamic formats. In particular, there has been a proliferation of online dashboards presenting data related to the pandemic. The sources and types of information displayed have evolved rapidly during the pandemic, with a general trend towards providing more specialised information pertinent to specific aspects of epidemiology or disease control, as opposed simply to disease and death notifications. Limited evaluation of the quality of COVID-19 data visualisation tools has been conducted and significant effort now needs to be spent on standardisation and quality improvement of national and international data visualisation systems including developing common indicators, data quality assurance mechanisms and visualisation approaches, and building compatible electronic systems for data collection and sharing. The increasing availability of disease data for public consumption presents challenges and opportunities for government, media organisations, academic research institutions, and the general public. A key challenge is ensuring consistency and effectiveness of public health messaging to ensure a coordinated response and public trust in intervention strategies. Capitalising on opportunities for greater government accountability for public health decision-making, and more effective mobilisation of public health interventions, is predicated on the provision of accurate and timely information.
新冠疫情是数字时代的首次重大疫情，其特点是公众对时空疾病数据的空前消费，这能提高政府在公共卫生决策方面对公众的透明度和问责制。各种国家和非国家行为体已以静态和动态形式整理并展示了与疫情相关的数据地图、图表和绘图。特别是，呈现疫情相关数据的在线仪表盘大量涌现。在疫情期间，所显示信息的来源和类型迅速演变，总体趋势是提供与流行病学或疾病控制特定方面相关的更专业信息，而不仅仅是疾病和死亡通报。对新冠疫情数据可视化工具质量的评估有限，现在需要投入大量精力对国家和国际数据可视化系统进行标准化和质量改进，包括制定通用指标、数据质量保证机制和可视化方法，以及建立兼容的数据收集和共享电子系统。越来越多可供公众使用的疾病数据给政府、媒体机构、学术研究机构和公众带来了挑战和机遇。一个关键挑战是确保公共卫生信息的一致性和有效性，以确保采取协调一致的应对措施并赢得公众对干预策略的信任。利用机会提高政府在公共卫生决策方面的问责制，并更有效地调动公共卫生干预措施，其前提是提供准确及时的信息。
