Updated on: 2020-05-13
| Response | |
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| Q1A. What arrangements, if any, do you have in place to ensure scientific advice informs national policy and decision making in relation to Covid-19? | The World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Union (EU) require each Member State to have a structure capable of dealing with any health crisis. To this end, Belgium has set up a strong structure with three components: a Risk Assessment Group (RAG); a Risk Management Group (RMG) and; the National Focal Point (NFP). The RAG conducts public health risk assessments based on epidemiological and scientific data and is composed of experts from the health authorities and Sciensano (a federal research institution which is the leading scientific institution in the epidemiology of infectious diseases); the RMG takes action to protect public health based on the work of the RAG. A special scientific committee was also convened to advise the authorities on the latest scientific developments, so as to assure the swift elaboration of any necessary measures. |
| Q1B. In what ways, if any, are you coordinating on Covid-19 STI responses at international level? | The Belgian government is in constant contact with the World Health Organization and European Union for the latest news and recommendations. At European level, Belgium provides input and feedback on R&I needs via different fora, such as the EU Horizon 2020 SC1 Health, Wellbeing Programme Committee. |
| Q2.Do you have dedicated arrangements in place for communicating science advice and for refuting misleading information to the public on Covid-19? | Concerning science advice, Belgium's daily briefing to citizens is (as the British newspaper "Financial Times" described it) "fronted not by politicians, but by scientific experts and spokespeople of the Belgium government’s crisis centre". Those briefings are also used to clarify misunderstandings and to fight back attempts to deviate from the lockdown conditions and rumours. Concerning misinformation, Belgium, through its Centre for Cybersecurity, tries to alert people against misleading communication about the coronavirus and provides links to Belgian sites where official reports are available. The Centre has also developed some tools, like an online test to see if you can recognise phishing (see https://www.safeonweb.be/en/quiz/phishin...). At regional level, there are also important initiatives; e.g.: the Flemish agency of Care and Health (agentschap Zorg en gezondheid) has created a dedicated fact checking webpage on its ‘health and science’ website (https://www.gezondheidenwetenschap.be/do...) to help debunk fake news on COVID-19. |
| Q3. What new STI policy measures, if any, is your country taking to respond specifically to the Covid-19 crisis? | Flanders regional measures: https://stiplab.github.io/Covid19/files/... Wallonia regional measures: http://stiplab.github.io/Covid19/files/2... In the last two weeks, we have seen in Belgium numerous initiatives to respond to the Covid-19 crisis. However, these are mainly bottom-up. Everywhere around the country, research groups in all universities and in research centres, as well as in companies, have reallocated budgets to address different issues. One example is the case of the Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB) that announced the reallocation of about 1 million Euro of its budgets for its Grand Challenges Programme to COVID-19 projects. In the region of Wallonia, the BioWin cluster (active in the field of health biotechnology and medical technologies) has developed an interactive platform for centralization of health initiatives related to COVID-19 around 6 urgent themes: manufacturing, supply and recycling of masks for companies; development and repair of ventilators; development and manufacturing of hydroalcoholic gels; development and manufacturing of new diagnostic approaches; development of new treatments; and new sources of funding (https://www.biowin.org/en/news/covid-19-...). Another example is the case of ITM (Institute of Tropical Medicine) experts who joined colleagues of the Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven) to set up an epidemiological database. Also the Young Academy (an interdisciplinary and inter-university group of top young researchers and artists in Flanders) launched a number of initiatives to join forces among scientists from all disciplines, including coordination on the production of ventilation equipment and the collection of initiatives in a Slack-environment for scientists. |
| Q4A. At national level, what mechanisms are you developing or relying upon to bring together different STI actors (researchers, industry, government, health sector, foundations, etc.) to effectively collaborate on responses to Covid-19? | Belgium is putting scientific expertise at the service of public health. An example is the case of the specialised physicians of the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp (ITM) who recently strengthened the Antwerp University Hospital in the screening and treatment of COVID-19 patients as they are experienced in working with infectious diseases. Flanders has organised a taskforce to map, align and promote all public and private digital initiatives that aim to keep the world connected during the pandemic https://www.vlaanderen.be/vlaanderen-hel... A multidisciplinary consortium consisting of academic researchers, privacy experts and app developers has joined forces to develop a platform to map the further spread of the virus and to better contain the epidemic. The platform combines: a mobile app for citizens; a web app for medical personnel; a back-end for data aggregation; and an AI system to train models. All these components work together to map potential infected clusters, hotspots and super spreading. Contact tracing can furthermore be done more efficiently. Privacy experts have been involved from the outset. See also answers to questions Q1A et Q3. |
| Q4B. At international level, what mechanisms are you developing or relying upon to bring together different STI actors (researchers, industry, government, health sector, foundations, etc.) to effectively collaborate on responses to Covid-19? | Belgium is contributing to EU discussions in this area and has participated in a successful way in the recent call for projects launched within the EU R&I framework programme Horizon 2020 (4 out the 17 proposals selected for funding have at least one Belgian participant). Another European initiative in this area is the IMI2 JU call 21 (https://www.imi.europa.eu/apply-funding/...). Researchers from the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) in Belgium are preparing to provide support to African countries with fragile health systems. ITM is monitoring the situation closely and is in touch with its partner countries in Africa. The Institute is available to support public health responses and is considering studies to better understand the possible spread of the virus in these countries. |
| Q5. What novel approaches, if any, is your country using to address the coronavirus crisis (e.g. use of machine learning, open science initiatives boosting access and sharing of data and research results, development and use of prediction models, etc.)? | There is an increased demand for open science initiatives and a positive response to that demand. The Flemish Supercomputer Centre (VSC) provides computing time for research on Covid-19 both for academics and companies. More information can be found at www.vscentrum.be/covid19. In Belgium, as in most countries, postdoc evaluations are normally face-to-face, but that cannot be done for the moment. As a consequence, some Belgian universities have already decided to replace face-to-face evaluations with an online expert panel meeting. Some Belgian innovators have also seen an opportunity in the negative side effects of social distancing measures. Since queuing and grouping at authorized locations (food stores, pharmacies, hospitals, parks, etc.) may be problematic, the Belgian company Seaters – which normally helps to distribute sponsoring tickets for sports and cultural events – has transformed its product into a Virtual Queuing System. Via that system an appointment voucher for authorized locations can be requested. Each voucher mentions an hour of visit that takes into account the social distancing rules (max. 1 person per 10 m2) and the necessary time per person (max. 30 min. for groceries, for example). The demo version of the platform can be activated nationally in 24 hours. |
| Q6A. What impact on the STI system do you anticipate in the short-, medium- and long-term, and what measures are you implementing to address those? | In terms of impact, it is clear that many present and future R&I activities (like experiments) are placed on 'hold' (so that resources can be dedicated to the development of a response to the pandemic). This will cause important project delays and may lead, if the current situation is prolonged, to lack of expertise in other S&T areas. Possible measures some Belgian players are taking include: to make use of the regulatory option to spend means for staff and consumables up to 2 years after the formal end date of the project to finalise the research; to postpone submission deadlines for research proposals; and to invite researchers to indicate in their fellowship reports any problems they encountered due to the coronavirus situation. Another impact is on Postdoc evaluations. These are normally face-to-face but that cannot happen for the moment. Measure: reducing the 2-step procedure to a single and online expert panel meeting for the evaluation and ranking of the applications, based on the available evaluation and synthesis reports for the pre-selection step. |
| Q6B. Is support of the STI system part of planned stimulus packages aimed at supporting the economy? | [Left blank] |
| Q7. Is there anything else regarding the STI policy response to Covid-19 in your country you would like to mention? | Belgium pleads for great international solidarity during this crisis. All possibilities for international aid must be activated. Transparency and exchange of information are essential and existing networks should be used as much as possible such as the Early Warning and Response System (in Europe). |