Multi-dimensional strategic approach to the communicable diseases with systemic risks by using IT2 fuzzy decision-making modelling

Abstract Background: Communicable diseases lead to significant social and financial burden for the countries. Therefore, countries should define their social and technical factors for struggling these problems. The main purpose of this study is to determine the effective strategies to minimize socio-economic burden of these diseases.Methods: For this purpose, 8 different criteria are identified based on the literature analysis. In the evaluation process, the significance levels of these factors are calculated by considering interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy (IVIF) DEMATEL.Results: The findings show that technological infrastructure, social distance, and tendency of obeying rules are the most significant items to control these problems. This situation explains that countries should have the necessary equipment to make the diagnosis quickly and effectively. In addition, countries that have effective laboratories in which vaccines and drugs can be developed can be more successful in combating these pandemics. Additionally, it is also defined that cultural factors play also key role to control these problems.Conclusions: In this framework, it is vital that the people in the country take the rules set by the government seriously and without exception. For this purpose, it should be explained to citizens living in the country that personal hygiene, social distance and not entering crowded environments are very important to manage these problems. For this purpose, role model people in the country can be preferred in different platforms so that it can be more effective on the citizens.