Telemedicine during the FIFA World Cup 2022: a potential tool to curtail the spread of infectious disease during times of pandemic

• Authors: Ismail Dergaa, University of Sfax; Karim Chamari, Aspetar, Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital; Ramadan Abdelmoez Farahat, Kafrelsheikh University; Mohamed Romdhani, Le Mans Université; Morteza Taheri, Imam Khomeini International University; Ziad A Memish, Emory University; Samya A Al Abdulla, Primary Health Care Corporation,Doha
• Journal Title: International journal of surgery (London, England)
• Volume: Volume 109, Number 2
• Publisher: Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc | 2023-02-01, Pages 147-149
• Type of Work: Article | Final Publisher PDF
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.1097/JS9.0000000000000004
• Subjects: Education, Physical; Health Sciences, Public Health
• Keywords: Humans; Pandemics; Soccer; Communicable Diseases; Telemedicine

Abstract

Infectious disease outbreaks at large gatherings can put a strain on the local health system and endanger both local and global health. The FIFA World Cup (FIFA-WC) is the biggest global mass gathering event in sports. Given its size and the variety of attendees, this event does indeed present unique challenges to hosting countries. One of the key challenges are the potential rapid spread of highly transmissible infectious disease among event attendees from imported or endemic communicable diseases due to close human proximity, such as seasonal influenza, measles, and other tropical endemic diseases1. The 22nd FIFA-WC 2022, taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, is unique in a number of ways. Indeed, this is the first FIFA-WC to ever being hosted during an ongoing declared pandemic [i.e. coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)]2,3. In addition to COVID-19, the monkeypox virus, causing the monkeypox disease (MPX), was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in 23 July 2022. As of 8 November 2022, 77 430 confirmed cases were reported to WHO from several nonendemic countries worldwide corresponding to a short period of time preceding the FIFA-WC 2022 kick-off4,5. Moreover, Qatar, one of the smallest nations in the Middle East, is also the smallest nation in terms of population and territory to ever host the FIFA-WC2,3. During the event, Qatar is anticipating 1.7 million fans, which could potentially accelerate the spread of any emerging/outbreak of infectious diseases (e.g. MPX and/or COVID-19), due to the close contact of the concentrated crowd in a small area2,3. Therefore, to improve their emergency response and resilience, the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC), the main primary health facility in Qatar, overseeing 28 health centers, and Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), the main provider of secondary and tertiary healthcare in Qatar, have assumed the responsibility for the FIFA-WC mass casualty incident plan5. Indeed, any shortcomings in earlier planning were being thoroughly investigated and fixed, and Qatar’s hospitals and stockpiles are expected to have the capacity to handle the possibility of mass casualties during the FIFA-WC 2022.