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Open research questions in Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology

261 gap statements mined from Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 2,672 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.

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What the literature leaves open

  • Future research should focus on evaluating the effectiveness of NCD policies in EECA, particularly their implementation, enforcement, and population-level impact.

    Assessing the progress in implementing population-based policies to reduce the burden of noncommunicable diseases in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 2010–2024 · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research could examine whether and how stability varies within single-lead governance. First, we only included published literature due to resource constraints, and further reviews could explore the types of multisectoral governance for health that have not been documented academically.

    Multi-sectoral governance for health: a scoping review and typology development · 2026 · DOI

  • Associations between agreements and marketing frequency support examining this pathway, while null policy and intervention findings show that formal adoption alone is insufficient evidence of change.

    Institutional gatekeeping of food and beverage marketing in schools and youth sport · 2026 · DOI

  • Our findings highlight clear, actionable policy levers that governments can adopt to close these gaps, providing direction for immediate policy strengthening while also identifying areas where data are lacking and thus national assessments may be needed.

    Assessing the progress in implementing population-based policies to reduce the burden of noncommunicable diseases in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 2010–2024 · 2026 · DOI

  • Building on this foundation, future research could examine sectoral coordination, state-versus-central implementation strategies, distributional effects of such policies, and participatory approaches to fiscal interventions in nutrition.

    The political economy of novel food taxes and subsidies in India: insights from stakeholder interviews and a scoping review · 2026 · DOI

  • However, the extent of the alcohol industry's relationships with the UN remains unclear due to limited reporting.

    United Nations Partnerships With the Alcohol Industry · 2026 · DOI

  • The food industry in Portugal primarily relies on reputational and co-regulatory strategies, with limited evidence of overtly confrontational tactics.

    Reputation, Co-Regulation, and "Soft Capture": Corporate Political Activity of the Portuguese Food Industry · 2026 · DOI

  • Several technical and political barriers were commonly experienced when designing and implementing food system policies, regardless of the jurisdiction, context or region, such as insufficient financial resources, lack of political will, limited data, and inadequate monitoring and enforcement mechanisms.

    Barriers and Facilitators to the Development and Implementation of Public Policies Addressing Food Systems in Five Sub-Saharan African Countries and Five of Their Cities · 2025 · DOI

  • Alcohol taxation is a key policy to reduce consumption and alcohol harm but evidence on tax design and indicators to assess taxation policy are lacking.

    Investigating Indicators to Assess and Support Alcohol Taxation Policy: Results From the International Alcohol Control (IAC) Study · 2025 · DOI

  • Australia's environmental laws are insufficient to protect both nature and the environment.

    Commercial Determinants Drive Political Determinants of Health in a Neoliberal Society; Comment on "Energy as a Social and Commercial Determinant of Health: A Qualitative Study of Australian Policy" · 2025 · DOI

  • A now extensive literature has documented political strategies of health-harming industries (HHIs), but little is known about their engagement with parliamentary select committees.

    Tobacco Industry Engagement in the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee E-Cigarettes Inquiry · 2024 · DOI

  • The care-access gradient for allergic diseases is profound, with the tools to diagnose and treat often being least available where the burden is greatest. There is a lack of scalable, equity-driven strategies to address this gap.

    The forgotten billion: bridging the global allergy care chasm through scalable, equity-driven strategies · 2026 · DOI

  • The study identifies a gap in the implementation of One Health principles in the Dominican Republic, particularly in terms of weak governance structures and limited cross-sectoral collaboration. The study highlights the need for more effective strategies to address workforce retention challenges.

    Assessing the implementation of cross sectoral coordination and surveillance integration for One Health in the Dominican Republic · 2026 · DOI

  • It therefore lacks the procedural safeguards, defined criteria, and binding effects associated with a PHEIC. As the WHO’s Legal Counsel stated during the COVID-19 outbreak, “the IHR contain no legal definition of ‘pandemic’; it is a descriptive term used for risk communication”.

    The Legal Mandate of the WHO in Declaring a Pandemic: Between Soft Law and Binding Obligations · 2026 · DOI

  • The lack of a clear definition of a pandemic leads to a discretionary zone in the decision-making process. The pandemic declaration is sensitive to political factors, which can lead to delays or inconsistent decisions.

    Political and Institutional Factors Influencing WHO Pandemic Declarations: An Analysis Beyond the Legal Framework of the IHR · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a lack of empirical evidence on the contribution of large-scale digital reporting systems to pandemic preparedness in low- and middle-income countries. There is a need to examine the experience of digital reporting systems in decentralized public health settings.

    Digital reporting in a decentralized public health system: lessons from Indonesia’s micro PPKM experience · 2026 · DOI

  • The study is limited by the availability of documented sources. The study is limited by the logistical and financial constraints associated with conducting fieldwork, surveys, or interviews across multiple SSA countries.

    Navigating the trends, strides and dilemmas of ingraining the fourth industrial revolution in health care delivery system in Sub-Saharan Africa · 2026 · DOI

  • Future studies should investigate the impact of 4IR on health outcomes in SSA. Future studies should examine the effectiveness of different 4IR technologies in improving healthcare provision. Future studies should explore the policy and regulatory frameworks that can support the adoption of 4IR in SSA.

    Navigating the trends, strides and dilemmas of ingraining the fourth industrial revolution in health care delivery system in Sub-Saharan Africa · 2026 · DOI

  • The world is not on track to meet the commitment to reduce premature mortality from non-communicable diseases by 2030. There is a need for multisectoral action to accelerate progress.

    KEYNOTE 3. Race to the Finish: Our Evolving Understanding of the Role of Active Mobility for a Sustainable Future · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a lack of systematic lipid profiling conducted at the population or large-cohort level in Sudan. The availability of epidemiological data concerning various diseases in many African nations is often restricted and disjointed.

    Cardiac Diseases in Sudan 1970–2025: Current Situation and Future Prospects · 2026 · DOI

  • Thematic gaps include the dominance of descriptive research, limited evidence on effective policy interventions, insufficient engagement with structural determinants and political economy, and underdeveloped attention to emerging drivers such as climate change, digitalization, and commercial determinants.

    From knowledge accumulation to transformative action: research to catalyze progress on social determinants of health equity · 2026 · DOI

  • Limited regulation of industry influence on health policy. The need to protect cancer-related policies from vested and commercial interests.

    Public support for better controls on lobbying and industry influence in Aotearoa New Zealand: findings from a national survey · 2026 · DOI

  • The question of to what extent increasing trade and investment in the health sector can effectively improve public health care delivery to the population. The extent to which trade policy in health services is disembedded from the question of public health care provision.

    Furthering Trade and Investment in India’s Healthcare Sector. What Cost to the Public Health Care System? · 2026 · DOI

  • China’s role as a global health donor in Africa: What can we learn from studying under reported resource flows? Globalization and Health, 10(84), 1–12.

    China’s global health governance in Africa before Covid-19: status signalling through conspicuous giving · 2026 · DOI

  • Given that the methodologies associated with the ROI are not provided in sufficient detail and given the lack of transparency in terms of the data used in its calculations, as it interpreting the ROI requires assumptions about the data sources, methodological stands, speculation and reconstruction, undermining the robustness of the WHO/WB estimates but also representing a key limitation of any attempt to reexamine…

    An investment too good to be true?: Reassessing the World Health Organization and World Bank return-on-investment estimates for pandemic preparedness · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology

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Open questions raised by papers listed on this page include: (1) Future research should focus on evaluating the effectiveness of NCD policies in EECA, particularly their implementation, enforcement, and population-level impact (“Assessing the progress in implementing population-based policies to reduce the…”, 2026); (2) Future research could examine whether and how stability varies within single-lead governance (“Multi-sectoral governance for health: a scoping review and typology development”, 2026); (3) Building on this foundation, future research could examine sectoral coordination, state-versus-central implementation strategies, distributional effects of such policies, and participatory approaches to fiscal interventions in nutrition (“The political economy of novel food taxes and subsidies in India: insights from…”, 2026); (4) The extent of the alcohol industry's relationships with the UN remains unclear due to limited reporting (“United Nations Partnerships With the Alcohol Industry”, 2026); (5) There is a lack of scalable, equity-driven strategies to address this gap (“The forgotten billion: bridging the global allergy care chasm through scalable,…”, 2026). 261 gap statements have been mined from Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 2,672 papers on the topic; the gaps come from whichever of those papers state one. They are mostly the research gaps the authors state and the papers' abstracts, plus future-work, limitations and challenges passages. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one, so you can read the original claim in context.

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