title: Research agenda for mass gatherings: a call to action.
abstract: Public health research is essential for the development of effective policies and planning to address health security and risks associated with mass gatherings (MGs). Crucial research topics related to MGs and their effects on global health security are discussed in this review. The research agenda for MGs consists of a framework of five major public health research directions that address issues related to reducing the risk of public health emergencies during MGs; restricting the occurrence of non-communicable and communicable diseases; minimisation of the effect of public health events associated with MGs; optimisation of the medical services and treatment of diseases during MGs; and development and application of modern public health measures. Implementation of the proposed research topics would be expected to provide benefits over the medium to long term in planning for MGs.
authors.affiliation: Initiative for Vaccine Research, Family, Women's and Children's Health Cluster, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland. tams@who.int
authors.forename: John S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Tam
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barbeschi
authors.forename: Natasha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shapovalova
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Briand
authors.forename: Ziad A
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Memish
authors.forename: Marie-Paule
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Kieny
mesh_terms: D003441:Crowding; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious / Q000517:prevention & control*; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D011634:Public Health; D012106:Research; D014612:Vaccines / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D014612:Vaccines