Public policy phd programs

The graduate assistantship provides an opportunity for students to work on teaching and collaborative research with one of our faculty members. All funding packages include full tuition remission and a competitive stipend for living expenses during the academic year. A variety of additional internal fellowship and funding opportunities exist for students, including excellent travel support for attending professional conferences, and summer income assisting faculty on externally funded research projects.

Sign up to browse our fellowships database to learn about other opportunities to fund graduate and doctoral study. Great list! Keep up the good work as I will be looking to pursue a PhD and a comprehensive list is immensely helpful. Interesting list. Any chance you will be compiling one for funded Public Health PhD programs? Or the even more elusive- DrPH? I want to do fully funding PhD programme in environmental engineering in the US. Please send the details of top US universities for a PhD in environmental engineering.

I am searching for a fully funded PhD program in social Policy. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. WAQ earned her Ph.

WAQ has over 30 publications and book chapters related to vector control and pathogen transmission. He has over 25 years worth of experience in the vector control program of Ecuador and currently teaches as a Infectious Diseases professor at Universidad Estatal de Guayaquil, Facultad de Medicina.

He earned a Medical Doctor and a Ph. RDX work focuses on applied research and control operations of mosquito control programs. The scope of his experience deals with administration of programs, development of research, and training of administrators, field workers, and students.

He is the lead representative for dengue at SNEM. He investigates community based participatory research for dengue control. His research focuses on the ecology and control of multiple vector-borne diseases, including malaria and dengue. He is a leader in the research of vector borne diseases and interacts with international collaborators and University of Miami staff, faculty, and students from several departments and centers.

He has over publications and is the editor of Acta Tropica. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. BMC Public Health.

Published online Jul 2. Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Disclaimer. Corresponding author. Diana P Naranjo: ude. Received Jan 13; Accepted Jun This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. Abstract Background Vector-borne diseases VBDs and mosquito control programs MCPs diverge in settings and countries, and lead control specialists need to be aware of the most effective control strategies.

Methods Methods included descriptive findings of the MCP operations. Results Organizationally, the Floridian MCP is a tax-based District able to make decisions independently from county government officials, with the oversight of an elected board of commissioners.

Conclusion IVM based recommendations direct health policy leaders toward improving surveillance systems both entomologically and epidemiologically, improving community risk perceptions by integrating components of community participation, maximizing resources though the use of applied research, and protecting the environment by selecting low-risk pesticides.

Background Mosquito control programs MCPs have been developed and operate to protect individuals from vector-borne diseases VBDs [ 1 ]. Methods Study sites Anastasia mosquito control district of saint Johns County AMCD is located at the northeastern side of Florida in Saint Johns County and controls over 43 nuisance and vector species of mosquitoes [ 16 ].

Field trips and surveys, SWOT analysis, and the integrated vector management pillars Field trips and interviews and surveys We accompanied technicians on daily routine operational field visits to residential properties for house inspection and larviciding. Integrated vector management pillars for policy making The IVM questionnaires and recommendations for policy-making by Van den Berg et al. Results Operational and organizational structure Anastasia mosquito control district The daily routine of the operational staff includes surveillance of mosquito populations, environment rainfall, temperature, tide and presence of West Nile virus WNV , eastern equine encephalitis virus and St.

Open in a separate window. Figure 1. Figure 2. SWOT analysis SWOT analysis revealed critical issues with decision-making, financing, and delivery of the different control strategies. Strengths: Research based operations and community participation One of the identified strengths of AMCD is their research-based operational program, which aims to conduct tests on equipment and pesticides ensuring the optimal use of resources; i.

Weaknesses: Epidemiological-entomological surveillance and insecticide resistance The lack of an epidemiological surveillance system represents one of the main weaknesses at AMCD. Table 1 Entomological and epidemiological profile of most important pathogens and mosquito species controlled at Anastasia Mosquito Control District and Service of National Malaria Eradication. Anopheles albimanus, An. Opportunities: Capacity building, research collaborations and improved municipal services The educational program at AMCD informs their constituents on personal protection knowledge and promotes community awareness of VBD risk through the participation of the District in community fairs and school visits.

Threats: Political, geographical situation, environmental and social constraints Threats to AMCD fall within political, administrative, and environmental demands. Integrated vector management and driving forces for policy-making: resources and decision-making Generally, limited resources are the number one driving force for decision-making on both MCPs. Figure 3. Discussion Recommendations Evidence based decision-making The quick response of AMCD to environmental threats is based upon the knowledge of their entomologists, employees, and leaders.

Integrated approaches To ensure the rational use of available resources we need to establish a multi-disease control approach [ 10 ]. Capacity building Training of specialist and technicians in the use and implementation of tools for controlling the transmission of VBDs including modern technologies may result in improving risk assessment and disease control.

Advocacy, social mobilization, and legislation The IVM analysis results further promotes knowledge sharing from social ecological standpoint. Collaboration among sectors Globally, the control and elimination of VBDs requires inter-sectorial and multidisciplinary policies that connect public health data with targeted interventions. Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Exploiting the potential of vector control for disease prevention. Bull World Health Organ.

In: Biology of disease vectors. Marquardt W, editor. Mosquitoes, the Culicidae; pp. Natural Resources Defense Council. New York, NY; Mosquito-Borne dengue fever threat spreading in the Americas; p.

Comparison of mosquito control programs in seven urban sites in Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas. Health Policy. Core structure for training curricula on integrated vector management. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; Global strategic framework for integrated vector management. WHO position statement on integrated vector management.

Handbook for integrated vector management. Malaria in Uganda: Improved outcomes when the health sector joins forces with agriculture. Washington D. Integrated vector management for malaria control. Malaria J. Integrated vector management: the Zambian experience. Operational scale entomological intervention for malaria control: strategies, achievements and challenges in Zambia. BMC Infect Dis. Household behavioural responses following successful IRS malaria control: challenges for health education and intervention strategies.

SWOT analysis - Idea, methodology, and a practical approach. Norderstedt, Germany: Grin Verlag; About AMCD operations. Saint Augustine, FL; Bureau of the Census. Washington, DC; Budget summary of the Anastasia Mosquito Control District.

Ecuador: Never a Banana Republic. Latin Trade Group; Division administrativa de Guayaquil. Muy Ilustre Municipalidad de Guayaquil; Reporte de projecto de prevencion, control y vigilancia de vectores transmisores de enfermedades en el Ecuador. Reporte de coordinacion financiera del Ecuador, presupuesto de gastos e inversiones del ano Guidance on policy-making for integrated vector management. Geneva, Switzerland: World Heath Organization; Methods of Mosquito Control.

Transition in the cause of fever from malaria to dengue, Northwestern Ecuador, — Emerg Infec Dis. Alianza contra el dengue. Quito, Ecuador; The importance of mosquito behavioural adaptations to malaria control in Africa. Evolution; Int J Org Evol. Pyrethroid resistance in Aedes aegypti from Grand Cayman. Am J Trop Med Hyg. Pyrethroid resistance in African anopheline mosquitoes: what are the implications for malaria control?

Trends Parasitol. Interactions of climate change with biological invasions and land use in the Hawaiian Islands: Modeling the fate of endemic birds using a geographic information system. Quito, Ecuador: Gobierno Nacional del Ecuador; Global climate change and its potential impact on disease transmission by salinity-tolerant mosquito vectors in coastal zones. Front Physiol.

Potential impacts of climate variability on dengue hemorrhagic fever in Honduras, Trop Biomed. Application of ovitraps in the U. Aedes aegypti eradication program. Infestation of Aedes aegypti estimated by oviposition traps in Brazil. Rev Saude Publica. Using administrative medical claims data to supplement state disease registry systems for reporting zoonotic infections. Multi-disease data management system platform for vector-borne diseases. Costs of dengue prevention and incremental cost of dengue outbreak control in Guantanamo, Cuba.

Trop Med Int Health. Reframing critical needs in vector biology and management of vector-borne disease. Effectiveness of a multiple intervention strategy for the control of the tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus in Spain. Res Ecol. Geographic profiling as a novel spatial tool for targeting infectious disease control. Int J Health Geog. Linking land cover and species distribution models to project potential ranges of malaria vectors: an example using Anopheles arabiensis in Sudan and Upper Egypt.

Potential impact of global climate change on malaria risk. Environ Health Perspect. Global strategy for dengue prevention and control. Door to door survey and community participation to implement a new county mosquito control program in Wayne County, North Carolina, USA.

Public health and vector-borne diseases - a new concept for risk governance. Minga is an organized activity through which residents are called out publicly to perform an action on a designated area that will benefit their own community.

During peak dengue season, the Mayor of the city of Guayaquil broadcasts a call for a minga in a particular neighborhood and those residents come out at an established time to perform source reduction activities, such as emptying water containers or cleaning the streets [ 29 ]. The lack of an epidemiological surveillance system represents one of the main weaknesses at AMCD.

In the case of VBDs, the lag time between case diagnosis at a health center and reporting by the Florida Department of Health to the District may be too long or not even reported. Data systems are absent in regards to reporting human mosquito borne disease cases to the MCP, thus citizens and local physicians may not be educated to screen local viruses in patients reporting fever, which may lead to underreporting of cases of WNV and dengue fever.

Table 1 illustrates the different pathogens both institutions survey. Moreover, high insecticide costs and limited number of active ingredients registered for use may represent a major setback for the program since rigorous control interventions with the same active ingredient can create resistance due to high selective pressures on the targeted mosquito population [ 30 ]. Efforts to reduce pathogen-carrying mosquitoes have been based on the use of insecticides and such efforts are ineffective in the presence of insecticide resistance within Anopheles spp.

Unforeseen environmental changes can worsen the above-mentioned situation [ 33 ]. Budget limitations at AMCD prevent hiring more field or administrative staff thereby hindering the ability of the District to respond to service requests within 24 hours. The District currently answers requests within 48—72 hours. Shortness of managerial staff can also delay required administrative or bureaucratic demands made by the Board of Commissioners, state laws, environmental agencies, and the FDACS which are mandatory for field operations.

The leaders of the Guayas-based program are usually medical doctors that may not have sufficient epidemiological training to apply public health approaches, strategic planning for entomological surveillance and response to environmental threats is absent as well. Insufficient entomological training for visitadores is a limitation as they may not be aware of potential breeding sites or correct mosquito identification.

Even though SNEM hires a large workforce, a number of visitadores are trained just once and may not be re-trained or hired for full time positions, thereby reducing the efficiency of control strategies.

SNEM also lacks a number of active ingredients for larviciding purposes. This restricts the ability of SNEM to counteract pesticide-resistance. Pesticide resistance testing is not done regularly and when it is done in the laboratory setting, field trials for these pesticides are not conducted to corroborate the lab work. Other practical measures such as aerial spraying and adulticiding are absent in the Guayas based program.

Available spraying trucks are limited, making the application of adulticides the last resort of their control strategy. Larviciding without other supporting forms of control may result in a city less resilient to outbreaks, due to the lack of supplies and equipment. The educational program at AMCD informs their constituents on personal protection knowledge and promotes community awareness of VBD risk through the participation of the District in community fairs and school visits.

These interactions between residents and MCPs are also seen at the scientific level. Research exchanges between scientists at the United States Department of Agriculture, universities, and international institutions increase the expertise and knowledge of AMCD professionals.

Additional collaboration with government entities and universities is done through annual AMCD-hosted workshops. The Ecuadorian government has capitalized from its oil industry and has made investments in roads, infrastructure, municipal services, healthcare, and capacity building.

Regarding healthcare, increased investments provides better access to care, treatment, and patient follow ups, therefore reducing human reservoirs of the pathogens. Through SENESCYT, country leaders aim to educate young individuals in doctorate programs and post-graduate fellowships and promote capacity building and technology transfer [ 34 ].

At best, opportunities are found through multiple sources of funding for training and education. In regards to training, international entomological workshops help SNEM personnel to learn about current trends for vector control. Such training takes place in countries abroad and is funded by non-governmental agencies.

The government also allocates funding for local training of technicians and community-based approaches, including home visits. Furthermore, the Ecuadorian government invests in educational campaigns on dengue prevention, which are broadcasted via newspapers, radio, television, and Internet advertisements. Threats to AMCD fall within political, administrative, and environmental demands. Politically, turnover of the elected officials or board members may delay communications between the District and regulating bodies and delay control actions.

Increments in the amount of the bureaucracy, administrative workload, and record keeping are administrative threats. External constrains placed on the District to meet state pesticide reporting compliance escalates the amount of work required for the program to function. Urban, ecological, and geographical threats are also present due to city growth and increasing service request demands.

These requests may not be answered promptly because, despite city expansion, the District is not expanding and personnel are still limited. Slow responses in mosquito control treatments may result in the dissatisfaction of residents. Another factor includes the geographical location of Saint Johns County, which is surrounded by both salt and fresh water, resulting in diverse mosquito populations.

Climate events also affect the SNEM and they represent the main threats to the program. In , Zambrano et al. Guayas, due to its tropical climate and geographical location faces cyclical epidemics of dengue.

The number of dengue cases in the city has increased in the past decade and the presence of such climate phenomenon is expected every five to seven years. Another challenge for SNEM is the limited ability to treat dengue hot spot areas due to security reasons.

The rapid expansion of the city in the last 10 years is causing increased inner migration from rural to urban areas of Guayaquil, which is the largest area covered by SNEM.

Overcrowding leads to the development of slums or invasiones that are usually lack of municipal services and can become a hub of vectors and diseases. Crime rates in the aforementioned marginal neighborhoods are higher; thereby spray trucks drivers or larviciding teams may not feel safe to perform their jobs.

Likewise, some residents, due to security fears, may not allow visitadores to enter their properties. Generally, limited resources are the number one driving force for decision-making on both MCPs. High cost of insecticides is the major source of spending for both programs combined with lackluster efforts to improve insecticide resistance problems and VBD reduction, especially in the Guayas setting. SNEM relies heavily in larviciding alone while adulticiding methods are rarely used.

Seasons with high mosquito densities can result in an increase in MCPs spending on both insecticide and overtime personnel requirements. AMCD depletes budget and resources in the summer time for which they allocate moneys for strengthening aerial and land treatments as much as manpower. Our main findings are described in Figure 3 and such address the main questions of the previously discussed IVM recommendations of Henk van den Berg et al.

The quick response of AMCD to environmental threats is based upon the knowledge of their entomologists, employees, and leaders. An entomological component is needed in systems like the SNEM to aid in decision-making processes. Furthermore, implementation of such entomological components may not require outstanding investments.

One inexpensive option is to use oviposition traps made of water filled plastic cups to collect eggs laid by mosquitoes for surveillance of Aedes vectors [ 37 ].

In Northern Italy, an entomological surveillance method implemented during Chikungunya outbreaks drove a massive employment of oviposition traps for monitoring of Aedes mosquitoes in municipalities. The strategy strengthened their response system because of their improved entomological surveillance for disease prevention, furthermore egg density indices allow better evaluation of infestation rates at lower operational costs in Ae.

Supplementary to entomological approaches, epidemiological data systems are also essential. Health sectors may support data management systems to complement entomological information, thereby creating a clearer picture of VBD risk [ 39 ].

For instance, making site-specific records of human cases and matching these records with historical data can enhance decisions for control of vectors and associated pathogens. It can also produce geo-referenced information on the time and place of infections [ 40 ]. SIVE alerta system in Guayas provides the MCP with the time and location of human cases so they can activate vector control efforts accordingly.

For all the programs, surveillance systems need to be backed by data monitoring technologies that are readily available to field workers and public health leaders. Another factor affecting MCPs includes budgetary issues especially when outbreaks occur, stressing the importance of making cost-effective investments to manage epidemics. One of these approaches could be increasing funding towards preparedness initiatives and early warning systems as ways to forecast the epidemics.

Epidemics management is expensive and depletes funds of health care systems much more than investing on vector control. Research done in Cuba demonstrates that the total economic health expenditure per resident doubles during dengue outbreaks season compared with seasons of no transmission. The high costs are attributed to hospitalizations and case management but not on enforced vector population control [ 41 ]. If policy makers focus in vector control surveillance, outbreaks could be predicted earlier and overall disease burden, both financially and with respect to the individual, can be lessened.

To ensure the rational use of available resources we need to establish a multi-disease control approach [ 10 ]. This approach may entail collaboration across a broad spectrum of control programs allowing the identification of common factors that have not been controlled for maximum benefit [ 42 ].

Extrapolating malaria control success to dengue control may be difficult, however programs like SNEM can try to increase communication among their different branches for vector control trying to perform not only malaria diagnosis on site, but dengue clinical diagnosis or referrals as well.

Multiple strategy integration may also effectively diminish mosquito population grown. Such strategies like the one used in in Spain are disclosed here as a model. A multipronged approach using source reduction, larviciding treatments with Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis and diflubenzuron, adulticide treatments, and cleaning up uncontrolled landfills resulted in reduction of number of Aedes albopictus eggs in the areas with intervention.

A substantial component for success was the community participation, which increased at each year of intervention [ 43 ]. Environmental management may be the most effective way to reduce mosquito-breeding sites and can be adapted to different settings.

Studies in the US showcase the management of salt marshes used to create ponds and radial ditches as a way to reduce mosquito production and enhance fish predation on mosquitoes [ 44 ]. In other settings improving waste management, access to clean water, and providing better sewage services can also diminish breeding sites, however this approach must go along with urban planning.

Training of specialist and technicians in the use and implementation of tools for controlling the transmission of VBDs including modern technologies may result in improving risk assessment and disease control.

One of these approaches is utilizing GIS mapping technology to track malaria transmission or Aedes spp. Such instruments allow for profiling of risk areas in accordance to different factors such as: temperature, land use and land changes, vector exposure, among others [ 45 ].

These technologies integrate environmental, agricultural, and health data and provide ways to plan treatment patterns accordingly to reduce mosquito breeding habitats and reducing risks of contracting a VBD [ 46 , 47 ]. Rapid diagnostic tools, specifically for malaria programs necessitates to be adapted to local environments and utilized by local workers as control strategies campaigns during severe epidemiological and entomological manifestations [ 48 ]. For effective application of control methods both programs proved that community involvement was key for their success; consequently, stakeholders should strengthen investments in community education.

This study also identified that many residents were unaware that mosquitoes could breed in their own backyards [ 49 ]. A low risk perception in the community underestimates the high danger potential of VBDs, which also may impact the effectiveness of public health interventions [ 50 ]. The IVM analysis results further promotes knowledge sharing from social ecological standpoint.

To promote the interaction of the community with decision makers and health leaders can lead to sustainable solutions and creating sustainable policies [ 51 , 52 ]. Knowledge exchange should lead to tangible outcomes starting from a bottom up approach creating policies for each community that are also enforced at the local level.

Two country examples are worth reviewing. Thailand instituted infrastructural modifications that integrated dengue control into regular healthcare practices at the local level.

Now dengue control is a priority in health plans of the local Thai government. Careful implementation of local code abatements, notification of breeding sites by citizens, addressing issues of waste management disposal, proper maintenance of public spaces can aid in the definition of legislation that once implemented and followed can improve overall environmental management and identify better application strategies for vector control [ 54 ].

Globally, the control and elimination of VBDs requires inter-sectorial and multidisciplinary policies that connect public health data with targeted interventions. To execute such plans knowledgeable political and health leaders should guide integrated approaches at different organizational levels i.

To make a broad impact on the health and quality of life of populations at risk of VBDs, multiple stakeholders need to expand, maintain, and integrate MCPs to public health surveillance systems [ 56 ].

Given that AMCD was created mainly out of the necessity to control nuisance-biting mosquitoes, the American MCP makes a strong emphasis on pest management. Special considerations on virus surveillance include that many dengue and WNV may be asymptomatic and therefore undiagnosed.

Still, it is remarkable that no human cases from WNV have been reported in Saint Johns County since , even though the virus circulates among non-human hosts. Alternatively, SNEM was developed based on the necessity to mitigate disease and protect the economy of residents; therefore, their emphasis is mainly in human disease and management.

The epidemiological and entomological approach of both sites makes up for the main strengths of each program and provides the first finding of our analysis.