Table 2 Public health roles during sanitary crises for generating social value

1. “Do not harm”: remain vigilant and do not exacerbate social inequalities by considering equity in all actions taken. Assess the potential risks of innovation on population and planetary health before implementation.

2. “Do not let stigmatization arise”: adopt non-stigmatizing and inclusive communication and sensitive communication mechanisms for existing inequalities (literacy, access to digital tools, allophone populations, etc.). Set up targeted communication approaches and sustainable popular education mechanisms and involve local and community institutions to prevent the spread of fake news.

3. Improve R&D funding: enhance the funding schemes for innovations that emerge on the periphery of institutions and set up funding mechanisms to combat emerging diseases in poor areas. Establish some main principles at the level of all the actors responsible for R&D projects financed by public authorities such as co-creation with the partners involved, citizen participation, a vision of the social determinants of health, and the imperative that innovation meets the real health needs of communities.

4. Improve the sustained funding and visibility of prevention and health promotion systems in different domains such as health mental, suicidal behaviour prevention, and familial violence.

5. Build bridges between institutions and citizens: stimulate citizen participation through mechanisms that can bring public authorities and citizens closer together and strengthen the bonds of trust in society. Promote citizen participation and social mobilization by using existing community networks and resources while promoting civic education and civic literacy.

6. Contextualize and adapt emergency public health measures to different localities: this should be based not only on epidemiological measures, but also on social, cultural and political realities.

7. Set up mechanisms for sustainable and secure coordination and collaboration for different actors and areas of expertise and at different scales (global, national, regional, and local).

8. Ensure the accessibility (financial, geographic, and cultural) of the health innovations developed.

9. Plan and frame actions according to a temporal logic that takes into account not only emergency measures but also long-term measures.