Pandemic preparedness: why humanities and social sciences matter

Sally Frampton; Kingsley Orievulu; Philippa C Matthews; Alberto Giubilini; Joshua Hordern; Lizzie Burns; Sean Elias; Ethan Friederich; Nomathamsanqa Majozi; Sam Martin; Austin Stevenson; Samantha Vanderslott; Janet Seeley

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2024.1394569

Pandemic preparedness: why humanities and social sciences matter

Front Public Health. 2024 Aug 16:12:1394569. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1394569. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Sally Frampton¹, Kingsley Orievulu^{2

3

4}, Philippa C Matthews^{5

6

7

8}, Alberto Giubilini⁹, Joshua Hordern¹⁰, Lizzie Burns¹¹, Sean Elias¹², Ethan Friederich¹³, Nomathamsanqa Majozi², Sam Martin^{14

15}, Austin Stevenson¹⁶, Samantha Vanderslott¹⁴, Janet Seeley^{2

17}

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of History, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
² Africa Health Research Institute, Durban, South Africa.
³ Centre for China-Africa Studies, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa.
⁴ School of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
⁵ The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom.
⁶ Division of Infection and Immunity, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
⁷ Department of Infectious Diseases, University College London Hospital, London, United Kingdom.
⁸ Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
⁹ Uehiro Oxford Institute, Humanities Division, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
¹⁰ Faculty of Theology of Religion, Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
¹¹ Department of Pharmacology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
¹² Pandemic Sciences Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
¹³ Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities, Ethox Centre and Centre for the History of Science, Medicine and Technology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
¹⁴ Oxford Vaccine Group, University of Oxford and NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford, United Kingdom.
¹⁵ Rapid Research Evaluation and Appraisal Lab (RREAL), Department of Targeted Intervention, University College London (UCL), London, United Kingdom.
¹⁶ School of Ministry, Palm Beach Atlantic University, West Palm Beach, FL, United States.
¹⁷ Department of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Whilst many lessons were learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing reflection is needed to develop and maintain preparedness for future outbreaks. Within the field of infectious disease and public health there remain silos and hierarchies in interdisciplinary work, with the risk that humanities and social sciences remain on the epistemological peripheries. However, these disciplines offer insights, expertise and tools that contribute to understanding responses to disease and uptake of interventions for prevention and treatment. In this Perspective, using examples from our own cross-disciplinary research and engagement programme on vaccine hesitancy in South Africa and the United Kingdom (UK), we propose closer integration of expertise, research and methods from humanities and social sciences into pandemic preparedness.

Keywords: ethics; history; humanities; pandemic preparedness; religion; social sciences; vaccination; vaccine hesitancy.

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / epidemiology
COVID-19* / prevention & control
Humanities*
Humans
Pandemic Preparedness
Pandemics*
Public Health
SARS-CoV-2
Social Sciences*
South Africa
United Kingdom
Vaccination Hesitancy / psychology

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The Infecting Minds project received funding from the Wellcome Institutional Strategic Support Fund (ISSF), University of Oxford John Fell Fund, and public engagement support from the Francis Crick Institute. PM was funded by the Wellcome Trust (grant ref. 110110/Z/15/Z), University College London Hospital NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), and the Francis Crick Institute. For the purpose of Open Access, the author has applied a CC BY public copyright licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) version arising from this submission. The Africa Health Research Institute was supported by core funding from the Wellcome Trust [Core grant number (082384/Z/07/Z)]. AG was funded by the Wellcome Trust grant 203132/Z/16/Z. The study sponsors did not play any part, in study design in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the paper for publication.