Modeling of COVID-19 in Brazil and the interplay between Academia and health managers during the Pandemic

Abstract

Modeling played a significant role in underpinning public policy during the COVID-19 pandemic, when decision-making faced a context of limited evidence. This is a cross-sectional study that included and characterized institutions and research groups that worked with COVID-19 modeling and decision-making support. Two strategies were used for identification: 1) scoping review, and 2) group identification by snowball sampling. A total of 100 studies and 30 institutions were identified. Of the 40 researchers who reported interaction with health managers, 20 pro-grammers, mathematicians, physicians, epidemiologists, statisticians and physicists were interviewed. With respect to institutional partnerships, 14 researchers reported having participated in national and/or international partnerships. Only a few (5/20) reported some type of formal collaboration between the group and health management. A deficiency was observed in the demand for modeling and in communication to support management during the COVID-19 pan-demic. Reshaping the process of formulating and implementing public policy in health emergencies can promote strong health systems and ensure a better response to pandemics.