Triage Management, Survival, and the Law in the Age of Ebola

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick M Burkle ◽  
Christopher M Burkle
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
International Health ◽  
Epidemiological Data ◽  
Population Based ◽  
World Health ◽  
Economic Stability ◽  
Budget Cuts ◽  
The Public ◽  
Level 3 ◽  
Health Organization

AbstractLiberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea lack the public health infrastructure, economic stability, and overall governance to stem the spread of Ebola. Even with robust outside assistance, the epidemiological data have not improved. Vital resource management is haphazard and left to the discretion of individual Ebola treatment units. Only recently has the International Health Regulations (IHR) and World Health Organization (WHO) declared Ebola a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, making this crisis their fifth ongoing level 3 emergency. In particular, the WHO has been severely compromised by post-2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) staffing, budget cuts, a weakened IHR treaty, and no unambiguous legal mandate. Population-based triage management under a central authority is indicated to control the transmission and ensure fair and decisive resource allocation across all triage categories. The shared responsibilities critical to global health solutions must be realized and the rightful attention, sustained resources, and properly placed legal authority be assured within the WHO, the IHR, and the vulnerable nations. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2014;0:1-6)

scholarly journals 50 States or 50 Countries: What Did We Miss and What Do We Do Now?

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 353-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick M. Burkle ◽  
Asha V. Devereaux
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Management ◽  
International Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
Population Based ◽  
World Health ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Music Department ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
And Control

AbstractThere have been multiple inconsistencies in the manner the COVID-19 pandemic has been investigated and managed by countries. Population-based management (PBM) has been inconsistent, yet serves as a necessary first step in managing public health crises. Unfortunately, these have dominated the landscape within the United States and continue as of this writing. Political and economic influences have greatly influenced major public health management and control decisions. Responsibility for global public health crises and modeling for management are the responsibility of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Health Regulations Treaty (IHR). This review calls upon both to reassess their roles and responsibilities that must be markedly improved and better replicated world-wide in order to optimize the global public health protections and its PBM.“Ask a big enough question, and you need more than one discipline to answer it.”Liz Lerman, MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, Choreographer, Modern Dance legend, and 2011 Artist-in Residence, Harvard Music Department

Public/Private Partnerships in the Public Health Sector

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 359-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gian Luca Burci
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
International Health ◽  
World Health ◽  
Public Private Partnerships ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Market Mechanisms ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Health Cooperation

AbstractThis article reviews and analyses the growing phenomenon of public-private partnerships in the field of international public health cooperation (PPPs). This trend has been led by the changing political dynamics surrounding international health issues as well as by the perception of the inadequacy of market mechanisms and the inability of existing international institutions for tackling pressing health problems in developing countries. The article analyses in particular the remarkable developments in international health governance that PPPs have ushered in as well as the role played and the challenges faced by the World Health Organization.

scholarly journals Public health response to two incidents of confirmed MERS-CoV cases travelling on flights through London Heathrow Airport in 2014 – lessons learnt

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (18) ◽  
Author(s):  
F Parry-Ford ◽  
N Boddington ◽  
R Pebody ◽  
N Phin ◽  
Collective on behalf of the Incident Management Team
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
International Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health Response ◽  
Health Organization

In May 2014, Public Health England was alerted to two separate laboratory-confirmed cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection who transited through London Heathrow Airport while symptomatic on flights from Saudi Arabia to the United States of America. We present the rationale for the public health response to both incidents, and report results of contact tracing. Following a risk assessment, passengers seated two seats around the cases were prioritised for contact tracing and a proactive media approach was used to alert all passengers on the planes of their possible exposure in both incidents. In total, 64 United Kingdom (UK) residents were successfully contacted, 14 of whom were sat in the priority area two seats all around the case(s). Five passengers reported respiratory symptoms within 14 days of the flight, but all tested were negative for MERS-CoV. Details of non-UK residents were passed on to relevant World Health Organization International Health Regulation focal points for follow-up, and no further cases were reported back. Different approaches were used to manage contact tracing for each flight due to variations in the quality and timeliness of the passenger contact information provided by the airlines involved. No evidence of symptomatic onward transmission was found.

scholarly journals How Loud and Clear Rung the Alarm Bell: The Communication Efforts of WHO on the Beginning of COVID-19 Outbreak

2021 ◽  
pp. 002073142110249
Author(s):  
Huriye Toker
Keyword(s):  
Risk Communication ◽  
International Development ◽  
International Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
World Health ◽  
The Public ◽  
News Releases ◽  
The Media ◽  
Credible Information ◽  
Health Organization

As seen clearly from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, health is an important foreign policy and diplomatic issue connected with security, economic well-being, and international development. According to risk communication researchers, effective, transparent, and timely information sharing is the most important tool after vaccines for responding to pandemics. This study aims to start a scholarly discussion on the risk communication efforts of the World Health Organization (WHO) during the COVID-19 outbreak. We analyzed WHO’s communication efforts during the first 3 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the leading international health organization, WHO was responsible for providing rapid, up-to-date, and credible information for the public and the media. The selected research items were 42 news releases and statements provided by WHO between December 31, 2019, and March 30, 2020. These were subjected to qualitative and quantitative content analyses using the NVivo 12 qualitative analysis software program for coding. The data were coded under 6 variables (date of publication, topics, frequency, wording of the COVID-19 outbreak, sourcing, and themes of the releases). While 54.7% of WHO's communications were devoted to the COVID-19 outbreak, more than half were not issued until March. That is, instead of early risk communication and clear warnings about the outbreak, WHO acted overcautiously, preferring messages related to solidarity and cooperation during the most devastating pandemic of the 21st century.

Public Health Control Measures in Response to Global Pandemics and Drug Resistance

2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (S2) ◽  
pp. 49-56
Author(s):  
Polly J. Price
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Communicable Disease ◽  
International Health ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
World Health ◽  
Legal Authority ◽  
List Type ◽  
Resistant Disease ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Health Organization

These teaching materials explore the specific powers of governments to implement control measures in response to communicable disease, in two different contexts:The first context concerns global pandemic diseases. Relevant legal authority includes international law, World Health Organization governance and the International Health Regulations, and regulatory authority of nations.The second context is centered on U.S. law and concerns control measures for drug-resistant disease, using tuberculosis as an example. In both contexts, international and domestic, the point is to understand legal authority to address public health emergencies.

Multinational Outbreak Investigations

2019 ◽  
pp. 295-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Mahoney ◽  
James W. Le Duc
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
International Health ◽  
World Health ◽  
Roles And Responsibilities ◽  
Health Events ◽  
The World ◽  
Outbreak Investigations ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Health Regulations

Multinational collaborations on international outbreak investigations and response have a long history. Development of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948 was closely linked to efforts by the global community to prevent, detect, and respond to outbreaks of international concern. Through the International Health Regulations (IHR) of 2005, a legally binding instrument requiring countries to report certain outbreaks and public health events, WHO outlined a strategy for disease threat response. Efforts by global partners to strengthen cooperation have evolved over the years, including roles and responsibilities of WHO, its Member States, and other partners. Among the challenges faced by Member State and WHO in implementing the IHRs are limited funding to support staffing and operational support as well as sometimes conflicting multijurisdictional decision-making. The response to recent outbreaks provides evidence that much work remains to be done to strengthen IHR mechanisms.

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.

Health

2019 ◽  
pp. 338-354
Author(s):  
Allyn Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Health ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Contemporary Evolution ◽  
Public International Law ◽  
Intergovernmental Organization ◽  
Health Organization

The evolution of United Nations treaties in the domain of public health over the last two decades is one of the most significant developments in public international law. Although public health is one of the earliest fields of international legal cooperation and one of the first domains in which an intergovernmental organization was created, the scope of international legal cooperation in public health was, until recently, highly limited. This chapter provides an overview of the contribution of United Nations treaties in the evolving field of international health law. It examines the historical origins and the factors contributing to its contemporary evolution. In addition, the chapter briefly reviews the contribution of UN organizations, especially the World Health Organization, to the codification efforts in this realm.

scholarly journals The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2 (WHODAS 2.0): remarks on the need to revise the WHODAS

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shamyr Castro ◽  
Camila Ferreira Leite ◽  
Michaela Coenen ◽  
Cassia Maria Buchalla
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
World Health ◽  
Clinical Settings ◽  
Patient Centered ◽  
Public Health Perspective ◽  
Death Rates ◽  
The Public ◽  
Whodas 2.0 ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Functioning Assessment

Functioning and disability are concepts in increasing use in clinical settings and in public health. From the public health perspective, the use of functioning as a third health indicator could show more than the frequency of a disease and its death rates, offering information on how the population performs its activities and participation. Clinically, the functioning assessment can provide information for patient-centered health care and specific clinical interventions according to their functioning profile. WHODAS 2.0 is a generic tool to assess health and functioning according to the ICF functioning model. It is an alternative to assess functioning in a less time-consuming way, whereas the duration of the application is one of the main ICF critiques. This paper aims to present some of WHODAS 2.0 inconsistencies and weaknesses as well as strategies to cope with them. In this paper, we present some weaknesses related to the WHODAS layout; wording and scoring process. Some suggestions for strategies to correct these weaknesses are presented, as well.

scholarly journals The world health organization: The (un)attainable ideal?

2021 ◽  
Vol 60 (91) ◽  
pp. 271-286
Author(s):  
Jovana Blešić
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
International Health ◽  
Public Health Emergency ◽  
World Health ◽  
Director General ◽  
International Health Regulations ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Health Regulations

The World Health Organization (WHO) is one of the UN specialized agencies. Its work and functions gained even more importance in 2020 with the emergence of the corona virus. The eyes of the entire international community focused on this organization and its Director General. Nowadays, its efficiency has been subject to various forms of criticism. In this paper, the author first provides a brief overview of this organization and its significance. The central part of the paper focuses on the activities of the WHO during the Covid-19 pandemic, through the clarification of the concept of public health emergency of international concern and the use of International Health Regulations. Finally, the author discusses the possible reform of this body. The aim of this paper is to familiarize the readers with the World Health Organization and put its activities in the context of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

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