Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The disease was first detected in Wuhan, the capital of China’s Hubei province, in December 2019 and has since spread globally, especially to Europe and North America, resulting in the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic disaster of 2019–2020. Although most cases have mild symptoms, there is some progression to viral pneumonia and multi-organ failure and death. More than 4.6 million cases have been registered across 216 countries and territories as of 19 April 2020, resulting in more than 311,000 deaths. Risk to communities with continued widespread disease transmission depends on characteristics of the virus, including how well it spreads between people; the severity of resulting illness; and the medical or other measures available to control the impact of the virus (for example, vaccines or medications that can treat the illness) and the relative success of these. In the absence of vaccines or medications, non-pharmaceutical interventions were the most important response strategy based on community interventions such as person-to-person distancing, mask-wearing, isolation and good personal hygiene (hand-washing)—all of which have been demonstrated can reduce the impact of this seemingly unstoppable globally spreading natural disaster. This paper presents the results of quantitative research regarding the level of citizen preparedness for disasters caused by coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Serbia. The survey was conducted using a questionnaire that was requested and then collected online among 975 respondents during disaster in April 2020. The questionnaire examined citizens’ basic socio-economic and demographic characteristics, their knowledge, preparedness, risk perception and preventive measures taken individually and as a community to prevent the death and widespread transmission of novel coronavirus disease 2019 in the Republic of Serbia. Based on the findings that there are major differences in the public’s perception of risks posed by communicable disease threats such as presented by COVID-19, emergency management agencies should use these differences to develop targeted strategies to enhance community and national preparedness by promoting behavioral change and improving risk management decision-making.

Worldwide, the establishment of national forensic DNA databases has transformed personal identification in the criminal justice system over the past two decades. It has also stimulated much debate centering on ethical issues, human rights, individual privacy, lack of safeguards and other standards. Therefore, a balance between effectiveness and intrusiveness of a national DNA repository is an imperative and needs to be achieved through a suitable legal framework. On its path to the European Union (EU), the Republic of Serbia is required to harmonize its national policies and legislation with the EU. Specifically, Chapter 24 of the EU acquis communautaire (Justice, Freedom and Security) stipulates the compulsory creation of a forensic DNA registry and adoption of corresponding legislation. This process is expected to occur in 2016. Thus, in light of launching the national DNA database, the goal of this work is to instigate a consultation with the Serbian public regarding their views on various aspects of the forensic DNA databank. Importantly, this study specifically assessed the opinions of distinct categories of citizens, including the general public, the prosecutors' offices staff, prisoners, prison guards, and students majoring in criminalistics. Our findings set a baseline for Serbian attitudes towards DNA databank custody, DNA sample and profile inclusion and retention criteria, ethical issues and concerns. Furthermore, results clearly demonstrate a permissive outlook of the respondents who are professional "beneficiaries" of genetic profiling and a restrictive position taken by the respondents whose genetic material has been acquired by the government. We believe that this opinion poll will be essential in discussions regarding a national DNA database, as well as in motivating further research on the reasons behind the observed views and subsequent development of educational strategies. All of these are, in turn, expected to aid the creation of suitable legislation and to increase societal confidence that the repository will be used in the legal system without interference with individual rights and freedoms.

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