Lahari Yaddanapudi

Background: Adherence to COVID-19 measures depended on a range of factors, including trust in authorities, knowledge of the virus, and public perception. This study compares Germany and India to examine the association of these factors on compliance and contributes to the debate between knowledge and trust. It also explores public acceptance of virus-deactivating technologies, which could reduce reliance on individual preventive behaviours and surveillance tools, offering new insights for pandemic response and public health strategies. Methods: Data was collected through an online primary survey using stratified random sampling in India and Germany. The questionnaire consisted of five sections: socio-demographics, knowledge, trust, preventive behaviours, and technology acceptance. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics and statistical analyses of linear regression and ordinal logistic regression. Results: Almost all preventive behaviours were more frequent in India than in Germany, while German respondents had higher overall knowledge scores. The regression analysis showed no significant relationship between knowledge and trust in India. In contrast, Germany showed a weak positive association, indicating knowledge is modestly associated with trust, though other factors are also significant. The logistic regression analysis highlighted that trust was associated with all preventive behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic in India and Germany, consistently emerging as a significant factor. While socio-demographic factors like age, education, and income also predicted some behaviours, knowledge had only a limited association. Similar results were found for the acceptance of virus-deactivating air-purification technologies in both Germany and India. Specifically, UV-light-based air purification systems, seen as a potential replacement for measures like masks and school closures, showed high acceptance: 76% in Germany and 57% in India, suggesting a likelihood of real-world implementation. Conclusions: This study adds to existing discussions on the role of knowledge, finding that trust showed a stronger association with adherence to COVID-19 measures. Comparing Germany and India, findings show that despite vast differences in healthcare systems and priorities, trust played a similarly crucial role in both contexts for preventive behaviours and acceptance of virus-deactivating technologies. Transparent communication, co-design and co-creation approaches, as well as reflexive socio-technical collaboration may support trust-building and improve public health strategies during crises.

Integrating societal considerations into public health research, particularly during crises, can foster public trust, support inclusive policy-making, and enhance technology development. Interdisciplinary collaboration may enhance researchers' capacities to reflect on the societal impacts of scientific advancements as they occur. This qualitative Socio-Technical Integration Research (STIR) study investigated these claims among four early-career researchers in virology, physics, and engineering, working in a large-scale COVID-19 research project across Germany. The collaboration involved 12 weeks of protocol-based dialogue exercises, pre- and post-study interviews, and participant observation, and was analyzed using the "Midstream modulation" framework. We found that the exercises documented, and in some cases stimulated, changes in participants' awareness, attitudes, and behaviours regarding their research's broader social context. One participant grew more aware of their work's social impact over time, recognizing stakeholders beyond the laboratory. Another shifted attitudes toward science communication, while a third demonstrated greater empathy for public reactions to scientific advice. These enhanced capacities for reflexivity suggests potential of STIR for improved communication among scientists, the public, and policymakers, strengthening the science-society interface in COVID-19 and broader health research. Such collaborations can build public trust, inform interventions, and improve the translation of basic research into effective health policies.

Worldwide, attempted suicide and suicide death are one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Women in South-East Asia are especially vulnerable, as almost 50% of all global female suicides occur in the 11 countries of the WHO South-East Asia Region. This scoping literature analysis aimed to identify and analyze the predictors or risk factors for attempted suicide and suicide death among South-East Asian women. A scoping literature review was conducted. Five databases—PubMed, MEDLINE, EBSCOhost, PsycINFO, and EMBASE—were searched. Forty studies and twelve literature reviews were eligible for inclusion. Women in South-East Asia, particularly those who are young and married, living in poverty, with low or no education, living in rural areas, with no employment outside the home, with lower socioeconomic position, and living within joint families are highly vulnerable to suicidality. This review identified gender disadvantage, infertility, domestic abuse, intimate partner violence, family conflicts, husband’s alcohol misuse, child marriage, forced marriages, and dowry disputes as the most significant predictors of attempted suicide and suicide death among South-East Asian women. A better understanding of the phenomenon is essential to develop effective gender-specific and culturally appropriate suicide prevention strategies or interventions.

Background: Public trust is crucial during health crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, for the effective implementation of scientific and policy interventions. This study investigates factors contributing to the decline in trust in the health sector within the European Union during the pandemic. Methods: Using the publicly available 2020–2022 Standard Eurobarometer dataset, we employed a "geography of trust" approach. We applied equal quantile mapping to visualise high and low trust countries and Local Spatial Autocorrelation (LISA) to identify statistically significant clusters. Using a series of one-way ANOVA, we found associations between socio-economic and other variables available in the same dataset with trust. Results: Trust in health institutions and medical staff declined in 20 of 27 EU countries from 2020 to 2022. Clear geographical clusters of Western and Central Europe as the high-trust countries and Eastern Europe as the low-trust countries emerged through mapping. One-way ANOVA revealed that contrary to several studies, age, gender, and most demographics did not vary with trust, but trust was directly associated with the satisfaction with measures taken to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, and individual perceptions about their life and national affairs (p < 0.001). Conclusion: High-trust Western European countries share characteristics in health systems, governance, and pandemic responses. Understanding this interplay could inform trust-building strategies. The persistent low trust in Eastern Europe may stem from slow government responses and requires nuanced approaches considering unique contexts. The decline in traditionally high-trust countries highlights challenges even in established social contexts. This study provides valuable insights for policymakers aiming to foster trust during health crises.

Background: Public trust is essential for easier acceptance of scientific, technological and policy interventions during crises. COVID-19 pandemic witnessed varied public responses to safety measures, highlighting the need for detailed public trust studies, especially in the health sector. Research shows considerable variation in trust in neighbouring regions to countries which is useful to understand in order to respond better to future pandemics. Objectives: To analyze public trust in health institutions within the EU, to identify spatial clusters of the same at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to the present, and understand factors contributing to decreasing trust. Methods: Data from the Standard Eurobarometer surveys between 2020 to 2022 was used to perform spatio-temporal analysis of trust in health institutions & medical staff. Results: Data shows that trust in health institutions and medical staff decreased in most EU countries from 2020 to 2022. Mapping these values showed clear geographical clusters of varying trust. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Eastern Europe (52-66%) trusted less in health institutions and medical staff compared to Central (66-85%) or Western Europe (85-97%). By 2022, although Eastern Europe maintained their tendency to not trust, the percentage of people who trusted health institutions reduced in Western and Central Europe. Interestingly, socio-demographic factors such as age, gender, education and income were found to not be associated with trust. However, several factors of perception such as life going in the right direction and difficulty in paying bills were identified to be significantly associated with trust. Conclusions: It is essential to understand the reasons for this decrease in trust, whether pandemic responses of health institutions or by policy is what contributed to this pattern. Understanding these changes can enable better policy responses towards supporting trust in health institutions. Key messages: • There is clear geographical clustering of public trust in the EU - Eastern European countries tended to not trust health institutions during the pandemic. • Socio-demographics showed no significant association with public trust. Interestingly, factors of perception were significantly associated.

Background: When the public exhibit high levels of trust in science, adoption of new technologies becomes easier. Yet, one can note a crisis of trust in science, as declared by the UK Government in 2000, which found that lowering trust causes less public support for science. Especially in precarious situations like the COVID-19 pandemic, quick acceptance and adoption of regulations, measures and technologies are important. Objectives: To identify whether scientific knowledge or trust in science, health institutions & governments lead to preventive behaviours during COVID-19 pandemic, & greater acceptance of technologies designed to battle it. Methods: An online public opinion survey is conducted in Germany (n1=1000) and India (n2=1000) using stratified random sampling. The questionnaire consists of 4 sections: COVID-19 knowledge, preventive behaviours during various phases of the pandemic, trust in self & institutions, and acceptance of technologies. Knowledge items are scored, and preventive behaviours are evaluated in categories. The trust section consists of imaginary scenarios in each of the components of trust - integrity, responsiveness, reliability, openness and fairness. These trust scenarios identify the level of trust in individuals, close friends & family, scientists & researchers, and the government. Correlations between knowledge scores, preventive behaviours, trust, and acceptance of technologies are explored and reported. Results: It is expected that knowledge can be correlated to preventive behaviours. But, for acceptance of technologies, it is expected that trust might play a greater role rather than knowledge. Conclusions: This study is unique in its design where public trust is not just a single variable but is measurable due to severable scenarios for each of the components of trust. Additionally, this study provides a direction for policy and institutional responses to future pandemics- answering whether to focus on knowledge or build more trust. Key messages: • Online, representative public opinion surveys in Germany & India compare and contrast whether knowledge or trust is responsible for preventive behaviours and acceptance of technologies during COVID-19. • Adoption of new technologies becomes easier when public exhibit higher levels of trust. However, knowledge can be important for preventive behaviours.