Post-Flood Rapid Needs Assessment in Srinagar City, Jammu and Kashmir State, India, September, 2014

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (02) ◽  
pp. 133-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajesh Yadav ◽  
Dundaiah Somashekar ◽  
Samir V. Sodha ◽  
Kayla F. Laserson ◽  
Srinivasa Venkatesh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Needs Assessment ◽  
Psychological Symptoms ◽  
Tap Water ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Cluster Sampling ◽  
Jammu And Kashmir ◽  
Adequate Food ◽  
Mental Trauma ◽  
Srinagar City

AbstractObjectivesTorrential rainfall and flooding from September 2-6, 2014 submerged >350 villages in Jammu and Kashmir state. We conducted rapid needs assessment in capital Srinagar from 27 September to 1 October to assess population health and safety needs.MethodsBased on Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER) methodology, we selected 7 households each from 30 census blocks using 2-stage cluster sampling. We collected information on demographics, needs, and illnesses using structured questionnaire.ResultsOf the 210 households surveyed, an estimated 57% (CI: 41%-73%) reported significant damage, 50% (CI: 36%-63%) were evacuated, and 16% (CI: 10%-22%) reported injuries. Households lacked electricity (22%; CI: 8.8%-36%), tap water (13%; CI: 5%-21%), working toilets (11%; CI: 4%-19%), and adequate food supply (14%; CI: 8%-20%). Moreover, 55% (CI: 45%-64%) of households reported cough, cold, fever, rashes, or diarrhea; 68% (CI: 59%-77%) experienced agitation, anxiety, depression, or nightmares since the flooding. Of the households with a member on medicines for non-communicable diseases, 40% did not have a week’s supply. Restoring basic essentials (30%; CI: 22%-37%) and repairing houses (30%; CI: 19%-40%) were the most urgent needs expressed.ConclusionsFloods damaged >1/2 of households in Srinagar, disrupting basic essentials, and causing mental trauma. These findings helped authorities prioritize assistance with psychological symptoms and availability of prescription medicines. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2019;13:133–137)

Results of Rapid Needs Assessments in Rural and Urban Iowa Following Large-scale Flooding Events in 2008

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 287-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Quinlisk ◽  
Mary J. Jones ◽  
Nathan A. Bostick ◽  
Lauren E. Walsh ◽  
Rebecca Curtiss ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Needs Assessment ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Cluster Sampling ◽  
Future Health ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
Needs Assessments ◽  
Acute Injuries ◽  
Ongoing Surveillance

ABSTRACTBackground: On June 8 and 9, 2008, more than 4 inches of rain fell in the Iowa-Cedars River Basin causing widespread flooding along the Cedar River in Benton, Linn, Johnson, and Cedar Counties. As a result of the flooding, there were 18 deaths, 106 injuries, and over 38 000 people displaced from their homes; this made it necessary for the Iowa Department of Health to conduct a rapid needs assessment to quantify the scope and effect of the floods on human health.Methods: In response, the Iowa Department of Public Health mobilized interview teams to conduct rapid needs assessments using Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based cluster sampling techniques. The information gathered was subsequently employed to estimate the public health impact and significant human needs that resulted from the flooding.Results: While these assessments did not reveal significant levels of acute injuries resulting from the flood, they did show that many households had been temporarily displaced and that future health risks may emerge as the result of inadequate access to prescription medications or the presence of environmental health hazards.Conclusions: This exercise highlights the need for improved risk communication measures and ongoing surveillance and relief measures. It also demonstrates the utility of rapid needs assessment survey tools and suggests that increasing use of such surveys can have significant public health benefits.(Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2011;5:287–292)

Some Experimental Discussion of Accuracies in Quantitative Virus Assessment for Water Supply

1985 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
pp. 127-138
Author(s):  
Hisashi Sumitomo
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Organic Compounds ◽  
Lake Biwa ◽  
Tap Water ◽  
Statistical Procedure ◽  
Statistical Nature ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Risk ◽  
Precise Assessment

Chlorination has been believed to be the best sterilization method in water supply engineering for many years. However, the recent carcinogenic problem of trihalomethanes (THM) formed from organic compounds by chlorination requires us to assess the public health risk of THM. The author tried an assessment of a suitable chlorination technique considering both the effects of THM and viruses on human health, using Lake Biwa as a representative example of a water resource in Japan. Statistical handling of data was revealed to be important because of the statistical nature of the data. In other words, since both concentrations are very low in tap water, we need to quantify both the effects and concentrations with probabilities. In the first part of this paper, a statistical procedure and numerical results of the assessment of virus and THM risks are shown. In the second part some results of accuracies in virus experiments are briefly shown. These experiments concerning statistical problems are particularly important for more precise assessment of the public risk of viruses in tap water.

Public health implications of waste water reuse for fish production

1995 ◽  
Vol 32 (11) ◽  
pp. 145-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. El-S. Easa ◽  
M. M. Shereif ◽  
A. I. Shaaban ◽  
K. H. Mancy
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Waste Water ◽  
Water Reuse ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Fish Farming ◽  
Human Consumption ◽  
Fresh Water Fish ◽  
Adverse Health Effects ◽  
Treated Effluent

Public health and safety concerns have traditionally been the main reasons for resisting waste water reuse for fish farming. Potential adverse health effects in such applications could be avoided if the waste is sufficiently treated before reuse. In a full scale demonstration study in Suez, Egypt, about 400 m3/d of raw sewage were treated using a multi-compartment stabilization pond system, for a total residence time from 21-26 days. The treated effluent conformed to WHO guidelines and was used for rearing two types of local fish (tilapia and gray mullet). The produced fish were subjected to an extensive monitoring program. Bacteriological examination revealed that in all samples the fish muscles were free of bacterial contaminants. Nevertheless, low levels of Escherichia coli andAeromonas hydrophila, were isolated from the surface of the fish. Salmonellae, shigellae and staphylococcus aureus were absent from the surface of all the fish sampled. In addition, toxic metals (Pb, Cu, Zn, and Cd) were found to be at much lower levels than the international advisory limits for human consumption. It is concluded that fish reared in the treated effluent at Suez Experimental Station is (a) suitable for marketing for human consumption, and (b) it's quality is equal or better than fresh water fish in Egypt.

Occupational and Environmental Health

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Occupational Health ◽  
Environmental Health ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Practical Experience ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Practical Case ◽  
Environmental Sciences ◽  
Wide Range

This thoroughly updated seventh edition is a comprehensive, clearly written, and practical textbook that includes information on both occupational health and environmental health, providing the necessary foundation for recognizing and preventing work-related and environmentally induced diseases and injuries. National and international experts share their knowledge and practical experience in addressing a wide range of issues and evolving challenges in their fields. A multidisciplinary approach makes this an ideal textbook for students and practitioners in public health, occupational and environmental medicine, occupational health nursing, epidemiology, toxicology, occupational and environmental hygiene, safety, ergonomics, environmental sciences, and other fields. Comprehensive coverage provides a clear understanding of occupational and environmental health and its relationships to public health, environmental sciences, and government policy. Practical case studies demonstrate how to apply the basic principles of occupational and environmental health to real-world challenges. Numerous tables, graphs, and photographs reinforce key concepts. Annotated Further Reading sections at the end of chapters provide avenues for obtaining further infomation. This new edition of the book is thoroughly updated and also contains new chapters on climate change, children’s environmental health, liver disorders, kidney disorders, and a global perspective on occupational health and safety.

scholarly journals The Fine Line: Rural Justice, Public Health and Safety, and the Coronavirus Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 000276422110031
Author(s):  
Jennifer Sherman ◽  
Jennifer Schwartz
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Criminal Activity ◽  
Personal Liberty ◽  
Local Law Enforcement ◽  
Local Law ◽  
Sheriff's Department ◽  
Public Health And Safety

In this article, we provide an early glimpse into how the issues of public health and safety played out in the rural United States during the coronavirus pandemic, focusing on Washington State. We utilize a combination of news articles and press releases, sheriff’s department Facebook posts, publicly available jail data, courtroom observations, in-depth interviews with those who have been held in rural jails, and interviews with rural law enforcement staff to explore this theme. As elected officials, rural sheriffs are beholden to populations that include many who are suspicious of science, liberal agendas, and anything that might threaten what they see as individual freedom. At the same time, they expect local law enforcement to employ punitive measures to control perceived criminal activity in their communities. These communities are often tightly knit, cohesive, and isolated, with high levels of social support both for community members and local leaders, including sheriffs and law enforcement. This complex social context often puts rural sheriffs and law enforcement officers in difficult positions. Given the multiple cross-pressures that rural justice systems faced in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we explore the circumstances in which they attempted to protect and advocate for the health and safety of both their incarcerated and their nonincarcerated populations. We find that certain characteristics of rural communities both help and hinder local law enforcement in efforts to combat the virus, but these characteristics typically favor informal norms of social control to govern community health. Thus, rural sheriff’s departments repeatedly chose strategies that limited their abilities to protect populations from the disease, in favor of appearing tough on crime and supportive of personal liberty.

scholarly journals Dental Fluorosis in Children from Aguascalientes, Mexico: A Persistent Public Health Problem

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1125
Author(s):  
Osiel González Dávila
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Problem ◽  
Dental Fluorosis ◽  
Tap Water ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Normal Weight ◽  
Fluoride Removal ◽  
Public Elementary Schools ◽  
Ordered Logistic Regression ◽  
Guideline Value

This paper estimates the prevalence and severity of dental fluorosis among participants in the first wave of The Aguascalientes Longitudinal Study of Child Development (EDNA). The analytical sample includes 1052 children in 100 public elementary schools. Dental fluorosis is determined using the Modified Dean’s Index. There is a 43% general dental fluorosis prevalence, and the estimated Community Fluorosis Index is 0.99. Five municipalities report average groundwater fluoride concentrations above the official Mexican guideline value of 1.5 mg/L. In those municipalities, there is a 50% average dental fluorosis prevalence. An ordered logistic regression analysis indicates that obesity in participants increases the likelihood of suffering more severe dental fluorosis symptoms compared with normal-weight participants (OR = 1.62, p < 0.05). Households consuming tap water are more likely to have children suffering more severe dental fluorosis symptoms (OR = 1.63, p < 0.05). Children aged 8 years are more likely to present more severe dental fluorosis symptoms than their peers aged 7 years (OR = 1.37, p < 0.05). Dental fluorosis will persist as a public health problem in Aguascalientes State unless appropriate technologies for fluoride removal from water are installed and operated.

Associations Between Workplace Violence, Mental Health, and Physical Health among Korean Workers: The Fifth Korean Working Conditions Survey

2021 ◽  
pp. 216507992110238
Author(s):  
Hae Ran Kim
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Shift Work ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Workplace Violence ◽  
Physical Violence ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Verbal Abuse ◽  
Safety Education ◽  
Mental And Physical Health

Background: Workplace violence (WPV) is a global public health problem and a threat to the health of Korean workers. This study assessed the prevalence and risk factors of WPV and its association with mental and physical health among Korean workers. Methods: Data obtained for 50,205 respondents to the Fifth Korean Working Conditions Survey were utilized for this study. Verbal abuse, threats, physical violence, and sexual harassment were assessed individually and as a composite for “any WPV.” Workers were characterized by education, income, shift work status, access to a health and safety education program, work sector and overall health. Descriptive analyses and multiple logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the prevalence of WPV and its association with mental and physical health. Findings: Overall, 5.6% of workers reported experiencing one of four forms of WPV. The prevalence of verbal abuse, threats, physical violence, and sexual harassment were 4.9%, 0.7%, 0.2%, and 1.1%, respectively. Most perpetrators were customers. Prevalence of WPV was associated with lower education level, poor health status, long working hours, shift work, and no experience of health and safety education; 9.0% of service workers experienced violence. Workers who had experienced WPV were more likely to experience anxiety, sleep-related problems, depressive symptoms, back pain, headache/eye strain, and overall fatigue. Conclusions/Applications to Practice: Workplace violence is a serious occupational and public health concern in Korea. These results suggest managing WPV may improve workers’ well-being and that violence-prevention strategies, policies, and regulations should be implemented across most industries.

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