Updated on: 2020-04-22
| Response | |
|---|---|
| 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 Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Information is articulating a series of policy actions that are detailed in this report. It is also part of the Presidential Emergency Committee, that brings together many authorities (including the Presidency, the Ministers of Health, Defense, General Government Secretariat, among others, and the Undersecretaries of Public Health and Assistance Networks, also among others). |
| Q1B. In what ways, if any, are you coordinating on Covid-19 STI responses at international level? | [Left blank] |
| Q2.Do you have dedicated arrangements in place for communicating science advice and for refuting misleading information to the public on Covid-19? | The Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Information’s social media accounts regularly produces and share content clarifying or refuting misleading information. |
| Q3. What new STI policy measures, if any, is your country taking to respond specifically to the Covid-19 crisis? | The Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge e Innovation together with CORFO and the support of the Government Laboratory, launched two calls of Covid-19 Innovation Challenges. The first one is focused on generating rapid implementation solutions for the local demand of personal health protection elements related to possible contagion by droplets and personal contact (mask, gloves, health clothing, etc). This call will bring a CL$90 million (US$104.000) grant per project in two stages, during 6 months. https://www.corfo.cl/sites/cpp/convocato... The second one calls entrepreneurs, companies, universities and technology centers to register their developments in diagnostic technologies for COVID19 as well as other viral pathogens that affect human health. These technologies could cover the entire chain from sampling, extraction supplies, reagents, others, to diagnosis and its results. This registration does not involve financing. https://www.corfo.cl/sites/cpp/convocato... |
| 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? | 1.- Enhancing the national diagnostic capabilities. The Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation, along with the National Research and Development Agency (ANID), scientific societies and universities, in a February 18th meeting, identified the need to amplify the diagnostic capabilities of the certified network of the National Public Health Institute (ISP), in order to react to the COVID-19 pandemic (sampling and detection). • A Network of Certified University Research Labs was created, changing their operation to emergency COVID-19 diagnostic centers, reaching the whole country, north to south: nine are currently functioning, seven are ready to start processing samples, and five are calibrating equipment (as of April 21st). • To support this Network, a CLP 1500000 fund was created by the Ministry, and allocated by ANID. 2.- Mechanical Ventilators: The Chilean Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation and the Ministry of Economy, in collaboration with SOFOFA Hub, Socialab and the Inter-American Development Bank launched the “Un respiro para Chile (A breath for Chile)” initiative (https://cl.socialab.com/challenges/unres...), a public-private platform, with the goal to promote the development and upscaling of local ventilator prototypes. • These ventilators may be developed by universities, companies or others, and must follow the technical specs of the National Health Institute (ISP) and the Chilean Society of Intensive Medicine (SOCHIMI) • SOCHIMI will conduct a thorough technical evaluation and the Ministry of Health will provide an emergency certification. • As of April 21st, 35 projects were filed by developers, and 5 were pre-selected, according to the fulfilment of security criteria, local material procurement and availability, technical maturity of the manufacturing process, and their technical teams’ capacities. • During the next 2 weeks, SOCHIMI will tests the five prototypes. |
| 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? | [Left blank] |
| 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.)? | Data Sub – Workgroup of the Covid-19 Social Workgroup. The COVID-19 Social Workgroup brings together government authorities, mayors, academia, and health professionals, with its main goal being to dialogue, coordinate and collaborate in the Pandemic Action The Data Sub-Workgroup is derived from the Social Workgroup. Its objective is to make available data for predictive, scientific and clinical pandemic analysis, to contribute with evidence-based decision making. The phases of the work are as follows: - Phase one: to make available public epidemiological information from the Ministry of Health in standard format, with commentary, quality control and international nomenclature. Currently available at http://www.minciencia.gob.cl/covid19 - Phase two: to make available public information on transport and mobility, along with the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications. |
| 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? | [Left blank] |
| 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? | [Left blank] |