User:Esalo001/Aura Timen

Aura Timen (Born June 10, 1966) is a physician and the head of the National Coordination of Infectious Disease Control at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in The Netherlands. She is also a professor by special appointment at the VU University Amsterdam. On April 15, 2022, she became head of primary care at Radboudumc Medical Center and professor of primary care at Radboud University.

Education/Early Life [ edit | edit source text ]

Timen was born in Cluj-Napoca, Romania on June 10, 1966. In 1991 she completed her medical studies at the Universitatea de Medicină și Farmacie (Iuliu Haţieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy) in Cluj-Napoca. In 1992 she came to the Netherlands where she married.

To be able to work in the Netherlands as a doctor, she had to do a large part of the training again and after doing so, she went on to graduate as a doctor from the Free University of Amsterdam in 1995. She specialized in infectious disease control at the Netherlands School of Public and Occupational Health. On December 15, 2010, she obtained her doctorate at Radboud University Nijmegen.

Timen is competent in four languages Dutch, English, French and Romanian

Career [ edit | edit source text ]

She has been employed by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment in The Netherlands since 2006, first as a Physician for Society and Health with the infectious disease control profile, in 2007 she became head of a department of the National Coordination of Infectious Disease Control, and since 2011 as head of the LCI.

In January 2018, she was also appointed professor by special appointment at the VU University Amsterdam, in the chair of 'Responses to communicable diseases in global health' associated with the Athena Institute. On April 17, 2019 she gave her inaugural lecture On global epidemics and society: a journey beyond the next crisis .

She is chair of the Infectious Diseases Section of the European Public Health Association (EUPHA). During the Coronavirus crisis in 2020, she was secretary of the Outbreak Management Team of the RIVM and she repeatedly appeared in the Dutch media with information about COVID-19.

Dr. Aura Timen has been appointed the head of the department of primary and community care of Radboud University medical center as of April 15th, 2022. On that day she was also be sworn in as the Professor of Primary and Community care by the executive board of Radboud University.

In the coming months, Aura will remain in position as head of LCI, secretary of the Outbreak Management Team (OMT) and responsible for its international duties. During this period, it will be considered who will take over those tasks as of April 15, 2022. After her departure, Aura will remain associated with RIVM through her involvement in several ongoing studies and supervision of PhDDoctor of Philosophy-students. She will also continue her position as professor by special appointment at the VU University Amsterdam with the chair 'Responses to communicable diseases in global health'.

Covid-19

Over the past decades, existing and new infectious diseases have shown their impact on the world's health by growing into global emergencies. The traditional systems for combating outbreaks and crises are being challenged more and more and the international reaction to this requires a different approach. This has to do with the increased mobility of people and goods, but also with changing perceptions and communication possibilities. Aura Timen's research concentrates on the dynamics of infectious disease crises and on the effect of the measures taken for individuals, risk groups and populations.

Even before it became a hotspot for Omicron variant cases, the Netherlands was one of the countries most affected by the latest wave of Covid-19. Experts say that the spike, despite an 85 percent adult vaccination rate, is partly due to Dutch ideas of personal freedom and social responsibility. Masks often remain unworn and Covid cards unchecked as the government shies away from enforcing its guidelines. This approach reflects a long-standing reliance on a "social contract" between citizens and authorities to keep this low-lying nation's head above the waves. Dutch authorities insist on the success of their vaccination campaign, which has now jabbed 85 percent of adults despite getting off to one of the slowest starts in Europe. The remaining portion of unvaccinated people accounts for 70 percent of the hospitalization in intensive care", Aura Timen, infectious diseases chief of the RIVM National Public Health Institute, told AFP. A combination of other factors is also at play, including that vaccines do not offer absolute protection; the infectiousness of the Delta variant; the Netherlands' high population density; and the increased spread of the virus in winter. But Timen also placed the onus on Dutch people to stick to the government's newest restrictions, under which shops and restaurants close at 5pm. "I hope that people in the Netherlands will stick to the measures, because they only work if people comply with them," Timen added. Cases "stabilized" last week in the wake of a first set of Covid curbs, rising by just one percent to 155,152, compared to a leap of 39 percent the week before, the RIVM said. The restrictions should "also work in controlling the further spread of the Omicron variant," Timen said.

Health authorities in the Netherlands said on Tuesday (30) that the variant omicron coronavirus was already present in the country on November 19, a week earlier than previously believed. The Dutch National Institute for Health and the Environment (RIVM) "detected the omicron variant in two tests conducted in the country on November 19 and 23," the institution said in a statement. Until now, it was thought that the first cases of omicron in the Netherlands were the 14 positives that landed in Amsterdam on two flights from South Africa on Nov. 26. With 16 confirmed cases, the country is one of the most affected by the omicron variant in Europe The 14 cases that arrived in Amsterdam are currently under quarantine. In this way, the Netherlands joins other European countries such as Belgium and Germany, which have recorded infections of omicron before the official notification to the WHO on November 24. According to Aura Timen, director of the national coordination of the fight against infectious diseases of RIVM, this situation will be repeated in other countries, when the tests of recent weeks are analyzed.

"We have the highest number because we did tests on two planes, I don't know what would happen if other countries did the same, they would probably have the same result," she added.

"When a new variant appears and is announced, it is likely that it is already widespread throughout the world", she assured.

References

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