scholarly journals How the Biden Administration Can Reinvigorate Global Health Security, Institutions, and Governance

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 115 ◽  
pp. 74-79
Author(s):  
Lawrence O. Gostin ◽  
Eric A. Friedman ◽  
Sarah Wetter
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Global Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Security ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Global Institutions ◽  
Health Leadership ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Right

Joseph R. Biden was elected President of the United States during a period of compound crises for global health and security: the worst pandemic in a century, as well as steep reverses in progress toward reducing poverty, hunger, and disease. The United States has been in full retreat from global health leadership, fraying relationships with allies, weakening global institutions, and engaging in nationalist populism that threatens global cooperation to address worldwide challenges. Yet these tragic circumstances are also fertile soil for deep structural reforms. President Biden can both bolster the immediate responses to COVID-19 and its vast ramifications, and spearhead lasting changes to create a healthier and safer world, from which the United States would richly benefit. His immediate task will be to bring U.S. economic and scientific strength to the COVID-19 response in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO). The Biden administration should also assume financial and strategic leadership in bolstering world efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including its singular pledge to leave no one behind. Finally, President Biden should empower the WHO and lead on reforms to the global health architecture to advance the right to health.

scholarly journals The World Health Organization Global Health Emergency Workforce: What Role Will the United States Play?

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 531-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick M. Burkle
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Global Health ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
Training Requirements ◽  
Emergency Medical ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

AbstractDuring the May 2016 World Health Assembly of 194 member states, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the process of developing and launching emergency medical teams as a critical component of the global health workforce concept. Over 64 countries have either launched or are in the development stages of vetting accredited teams, both international and national, to provide surge support to national health systems through WHO Regional Organizations and the delivery of emergency clinical care to sudden-onset disasters and outbreak-affected populations. To date, the United States has not yet committed to adopting the emergency medical team concept in funding and registering an international field hospital level team. This article discusses future options available for health-related nongovernmental organizations and the required educational and training requirements for health care provider accreditation. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:531–535)

The Ethics of COVID-19 Vaccine Passports

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
Joseph Meaney ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
The United States ◽  
Scientific Data ◽  
World Health ◽  
Medical Decisions ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Divided Society ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

COVID-19 vaccine passports run the risk of creating a divided society where social privileges or restrictions based on “fitness” lead to discrimination based on immunization status. Individuals have a strong right to be free of coercion to take a COVID-19 vaccine, and we should be very leery of further invasion of private medical decisions. These concerns are shared both internationally and in the United States, and the World Health Organization, the Biden administration, and many US governors oppose COVID-19 vaccine credentials. In addition, regulations for COVID-19 vaccine credentials face practical barriers, including lack of access globally, especially among the poor; and lack of scientific data on the efficacy of these vaccines.

scholarly journals THE HUMAN RIGHT TO HEALTH: A RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS AFTER 70 YEARS OF INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

2018 ◽  
pp. 24-42
Author(s):  
MARÍA DALLI
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Right To Health ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
Human Right ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right

In 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the first international text recognising universal human rights for all; the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 25 recognises the right to an adequate standard of living, which includes the right to health and medical care. On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Declaration, this article presents an overview of the main developments that have been made towards understanding the content and implications of the right to health, as well as an analysis of some specific advancements that aim to facilitate the enforcement thereof. These include: a) the implication of private entities as responsible for right to health obligations; b) the Universal Health Coverage goal, proposed by the World Health Organization and included as one of the Sustainable Development Goals; and c) the individual complaints mechanism introduced by the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (adopted on the 10th December 2008, 60 years after the UDHR).

Annual Summary of Vital Statistics—1976

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1977 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 797-804
Author(s):  
Myron E. Wegman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United Nations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Vital Statistics ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Statistics ◽  
The World ◽  
States Data ◽  
International Data ◽  
Health Organization

Data for this article, as in previous reports,1 are drawn principally from the Monthly Vital Statistics Report,2-5 published by the National Center for Health Statistics. The international data come from the Demographic Yearbook6 and the quarterly Population and Vital Statistics Report,7 both published by the Statistical Office of the United Nations, and the World Health Statistics Report,8 published by the World Health Organization. All the United States data for 1976 are estimates by place of occurrence based upon a 10% sample of material received in state offices between two dates, one month apart, regardless of when the event occurred. Experience has shown that for the country as a whole the estimate is very close to the subsequent final figures.

scholarly journals The Stellenbosch Consensus on Legal National Responses to Public Health Risks

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-68
Author(s):  
Roojin Habibi ◽  
Steven J. Hoffman ◽  
Gian Luca Burci ◽  
Thana Cristina de Campos ◽  
Danwood Chirwa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Global Health ◽  
International Health ◽  
World Health ◽  
Vienna Convention ◽  
Health Security ◽  
Public Health Emergencies ◽  
The Face ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Health Regulations

Abstract The International Health Regulations (ihr), of which the World Health Organization is custodian, govern how countries collectively promote global health security, including prevention, detection, and response to global health emergencies such as the ongoing covid-19 pandemic. Countries are permitted to exercise their sovereignty in taking additional health measures to respond to such emergencies if these measures adhere to Article 43 of this legally binding instrument. Overbroad measures taken during recent public health emergencies of international concern, however, reveal that the provision remains inadequately understood. A shared understanding of the measures legally permitted by Article 43 is a necessary step in ensuring the fulfillment of obligations, and fostering global solidarity and resilience in the face of future pandemics. In this consensus statement, public international law scholars specializing in global health consider the legal meaning of Article 43 using the interpretive framework of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.

scholarly journals SARS: Political Pathology of the First Post-Westphalian Pathogen

2003 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 485-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
David P. Fidler
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Century ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Security ◽  
The World ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Health Organization

In March 2003, the world discovered, again, that I humanity's battle with infectious diseases continues. The twenty-first century began with infectious diseases, especially HIV/AIDS, being discussed as threats to human rights, economic development, and national security. Bioterrorism in the United States in October 2001 increased concerns about pathogenic microbes. The global outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in the spring of 2003 kept the global infectious disease challenge at the forefront of world news for weeks. At its May 2003 annual meeting, the World Health organization (WHO) asserted that SARS is “the first severe infectious disease to emerge in the twenty-first century” and “poses a serious threat to global health security, the livelihood of populations, the functioning of health systems, and the stability and growth of economies.”

scholarly journals Water and Sanitation in Urban America, 2017–2019

2020 ◽  
Vol 110 (10) ◽  
pp. 1567-1572
Author(s):  
Drew Capone ◽  
Oliver Cumming ◽  
Dennis Nichols ◽  
Joe Brown
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
Water And Sanitation ◽  
Urban America ◽  
Joint Monitoring ◽  
Health Organization

Objectives. To estimate the population lacking at least basic water and sanitation access in the urban United States. Methods. We compared national estimates of water and sanitation access from the World Health Organization/United Nations Children’s Fund Joint Monitoring Program with estimates from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development on homelessness and the American Community Survey on household water and sanitation facilities. Results. We estimated that at least 930 000 persons in US cities lacked sustained access to at least basic sanitation and 610 000 to at least basic water access, as defined by the United Nations. Conclusions. After accounting for those experiencing homelessness and substandard housing, our estimate of people lacking at least basic water equaled current estimates (n = 610 000)—without considering water quality—and greatly exceeded estimates of sanitation access (n = 28 000). Public Health Implications. Methods to estimate water and sanitation access in the United States should include people experiencing homelessness and other low-income groups, and specific policies are needed to reduce disparities in urban sanitation. We recommend similar estimation efforts for other high-income countries currently reported as having near universal sanitation access.

scholarly journals A Quantitative Risk Assessment of Human Salmonellosis from Consumption of Walnuts in the United States

2018 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
SOFIA M. SANTILLANA FARAKOS ◽  
RÉGIS POUILLOT ◽  
GORDON R. DAVIDSON ◽  
RHOMA JOHNSON ◽  
INSOOK SON ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Rare Event ◽  
The United States ◽  
Quantitative Risk Assessment ◽  
World Health ◽  
Baseline Model ◽  
Log Reduction ◽  
Human Salmonellosis ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACT We assessed the risk of human salmonellosis from consumption of shelled walnuts in the United States and the impact of 0- to 5-log reduction treatments for Salmonella during processing. We established a baseline model with Salmonella contamination data from 2010 to 2013 surveys of walnuts from California operations to estimate baseline prevalence and levels of Salmonella during preshelling storage and typical walnut processing stages, considered U.S. consumption data, and applied an adapted dose-response model from the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization to evaluate risk of illness per serving and per year. Our baseline model predicted 1 case of salmonellosis per 100 million servings (95% confidence interval [CI], 1 case per 3 million to 1 case per 2 billion servings) of walnuts untreated during processing and uncooked by consumers, resulting in an estimated 6 cases of salmonellosis per year (95% CI, <1 to 278 cases) in the United States. A minimum 3-log reduction treatment for Salmonella during processing of walnuts eaten alone or as an uncooked ingredient resulted in a mean risk of <1 case per year. We modeled the impact on risk per serving of three atypical situations in which the Salmonella levels were increased by 0.5 to 1.5 log CFU per unit pretreatment during processing at the float tank or during preshelling storage or posttreatment during partitioning into consumer packages. No change in risk was associated with the small increase in levels of Salmonella at the float tank, whereas an increase in risk was estimated for each of the other two atypical events. In a fourth scenario, we estimated the risk per serving associated with consumption of walnuts with Salmonella prevalence and levels from a 2014 to 2015 U.S. retail survey. Risk per serving estimates were two orders of magnitude larger than those of the baseline model without treatment. Further research is needed to determine whether this finding reflects variability in Salmonella contamination across the supply or a rare event affecting a portion of the supply.

An Education Platform for Awareness and Prevention of Obesity Epidemic Among Children and Adolescents

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Majidreza M. Kazempour
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health It ◽  
Obesity Epidemic ◽  
Health And Nutrition ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Education Platform ◽  
Overweight Adults

Obesity is now replacing undernutrition and infectious diseases as the leading cause of ill health. It is considered as one of the greatest medical challenges to health in the United States; over 65% of American adults are either overweight or obese leading to 320,000 deaths each year in the United States (Kopelman, 2005). The annual medical costs of obesity in the United States are enormous (Bhattacharya and Bundorf, 2009). Globally, according to the World Health Organization, there are more than one billion overweight adults, of which at least 300 million are clinically obese. A recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data (2003–2006) has showed that for children aged 6–11 years and 12–19 years, the prevalence of overweight was 17.0% and 17.6%, respectively.

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