Major Cities and Disease Crises: A Comparative Perspective

1989 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ira Cohen ◽  
Ann Elder
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Communicable Disease ◽  
Mandatory Reporting ◽  
Political Campaigns ◽  
Sexually Transmitted ◽  
Public Health Professionals ◽  
The Face ◽  
Public Health Officials ◽  
Effective Treatments

Any communicable disease that strikes urban populations poses difficult problems for public health officials. First, treatment in the early stages of these diseases may be based primarily on guesswork; before the etiology of the disease is fully known, public health officials are often prompted by public fear to take action to curb and treat the disease (Terris, 1985). Second, even when effective treatments have been identified, these may be politically costly. When dealing with communicable diseases, responsible public health professionals have at times concluded that measures such as quarantine, mass screening, or mandatory reporting of the disease are necessary. Mandatory reporting of previous sexual partners by carriers of any sexually transmitted diseases may prove embarrassing or destructive to an individual’s business or social life. In the face of such threats, individuals who face such measures may mount political campaigns against them, making them risky for public health officials. Third, even when effective treatments are known, they may be very expensive to administer and may tax existing public facilities (hospitals, clinics) and funding for public health.

Regulation

2020 ◽  
pp. 372-381
Author(s):  
Lawrence Gostin
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
International Law ◽  
Legal Change ◽  
The Face ◽  
Public Health Officials ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Impact

The objectives of this chapter are to help you understand: the impact of legislation, regulations, and litigation on the public’s health; the powers, duties, and restraints imposed by the law on public health officials; the potential of legal change to improve the public’s health; the role of international law and institutions in securing public health in the face of increasing globalization.

“HIV Stops with Me”

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor Hoppe
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Hiv Prevention ◽  
Condom Use ◽  
Communicable Disease ◽  
People Living With Hiv ◽  
Public Health Officials ◽  
Living With Hiv ◽  
Policy Shifts ◽  
New Strategies ◽  
Health Experts

When the CDC announced its new priorities for HIV prevention in 2003, many public health advocates were alarmed—where were the condoms? This announcement came on the heels of a growing sentiment among public health experts that declining rates of condom use required new strategies for keeping the epidemic in check. This chapter tells the story of how a series of CDC policy shifts over the next decade worked to “repolarize” the very notion of HIV prevention away from targeting HIV-negative people and toward targeting people living with HIV. By framing people living with HIV as individually responsibility for preventing new infections, public health officials contributed to the notion that people with a communicable disease are responsible for their illness and, as such, blameworthy for its continued spread.

US State-Level Legislative Responses to the Ebola Outbreak, 2014-2015

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 649-653
Author(s):  
Lainie Rutkow ◽  
Alexandra Jabs
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Communicable Disease ◽  
State Level ◽  
Hemorrhagic Fever ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Electronic Data Collection ◽  
The Face ◽  
Collection Form ◽  
Definition Of

AbstractObjectiveWe sought to systematically identify and analyze state-level legislative responses to Ebola from April 2014 through June 2015.MethodsUsing standardized search terms, we searched the LexisNexis State Capital database to identify bills or resolutions that explicitly mentioned Ebola or viral hemorrhagic fever in all 50 US states and Washington, DC, from April 2014 through June 2015. Information was abstracted from relevant bills or resolutions by using an electronic data collection form. Abstracted information was analyzed to identify themes and patterns.ResultsOur search processes returned 273 bills and resolutions; 17 met our inclusion criterion. These 17 bills and resolutions were introduced in 11 states. The primary goals of these materials concerned the following: protecting or acknowledging public health and health care workers (n=4), revising the definition of “communicable disease” (n=3), financial considerations (n=5), establishing a task force (n=2), and updating or creating facilities (n=3). Six bills were enacted and 4 resolutions were adopted.ConclusionApproximately 20% of the states introduced bills or resolutions concerning the Ebola outbreak. These bills and resolutions highlight important practice considerations, including protections for those who assist in treating Ebola and revision of laws in the face of emerging infectious disease threats. Policy-makers and emergency planners would benefit from incorporating lessons learned from states’ Ebola responses into their preparedness activities. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:649–653)

The uneasy politics of epidemic aid: the CDC’s mission to Cold War East Pakistan, 1958

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Greenough
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Active Surveillance ◽  
Communicable Disease ◽  
Health Department ◽  
Record Keeping ◽  
Global Campaign ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Government ◽  
Public Health Officials

Global smallpox eradication was achieved only after decades of unsuccessful experiments in smallpox-endemic countries. A case in point occurred in 1958 when a severe epidemic imposed heavy mortality on East Pakistan. In response a Bengali regional-nationalist ‘Citizens Provincial Epidemic Control Committee’ pushed aside the provincial health department and launched an eradication campaign based on student volunteers using foreign-donated vaccine. In a period of ten weeks thousands of volunteers vaccinated thirty million Bengalis, albeit relying on shortcuts in sterile technique and neglect of patient record-keeping. The US government, in support of its Cold War ally, Pakistan, provided half of the vaccine supplies. The US also sent a team of Communicable Disease Center epidemiologists to assist public health officials. The team, led by Alexander D. Langmuir, proposed ‘active surveillance’ methods but was constrained by T. Aidan Cockburn, the Chief Public Health Adviser, who favored the Bengalis’ volunteer approach. A struggle developed between politicised volunteerism and epidemiological professionalism, and the CDC experts failed to prevail. The two sides' published reports thus made contradictory recommendations to the global campaign, but subsequent experience has shown that both mass participation and active surveillance are critical ingredients for successful disease control and eradication programmes.

Communicable Disease and Mental Health: Restrictions of the Person

1986 ◽  
Vol 12 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 381-403
Author(s):  
Frank P. Grad
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Communicable Disease ◽  
Health Law ◽  
American Public Health Association ◽  
Health Control ◽  
Public Health Professionals ◽  
Human Conduct ◽  
Health Association

AbstractLaws for the protection of public health control either the environment, as in the case of sanitation or air pollution regulations, or human conduct. This Article deals with limitations imposed upon individuals in order to prevent the spread of communicable disease and the harm resulting from mental illness. The restraints discussed include compulsory examination and immunization, and forms of compulsory detention or commitment.This Article is a revised chapter of the author's Public Health Law Manual, first published by the American Public Health Association in 1965. The Manual is intended to help public health professionals to understand the law relevant to their practice, and to apply it more effectively.

scholarly journals Emerging and re-emerging infections: threat to the world

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 788
Author(s):  
Harish Veerapalli
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Research Funding ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Emerging Infections ◽  
Emerging Pathogens ◽  
Human Race ◽  
The World ◽  
The Face ◽  
Public Health Officials ◽  
Organizational Cooperation

Emerging and reemerging infections are a huge threat to the human race which can destabilize humans from the roots. It is a global problem and not a problem for any single country. 15 million deaths occur annually across the globe due to infections, and 12% of them are due to emerging pathogens. These infections are returning every year with an increased incidence rate and higher virulence. In the present era of globalization and living conditions, such as living in crowded areas increases the potential for the spread of these emerging and reemerging infections, eventually affecting public health. The most prominent challenge that poses in the face of public health officials is the achievement of global preparedness to combat these infections. Aggressive research is needed in this field to help being prepared for an attack by these infections. Global organizational cooperation, international research funding, and poverty reduction are very much necessary for taking measures against these infections.

scholarly journals Under-reporting of sexually transmitted infection with chlamydia trachomatis - a revision of surveillance system is required

2016 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 174-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanja Kustec ◽  
Darja Keše ◽  
Irena Klavs
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Surveillance System ◽  
Demographic Variables ◽  
Mandatory Reporting ◽  
Surveillance Data ◽  
Chlamydia Infection ◽  
Unique Identifier ◽  
Transmitted Infection ◽  
Sexually Transmitted ◽  
Individual Variables

Abstract Introduction To consider whether a revision of the national chlamydia surveillance system is needed, the objectives were to estimate the proportion of laboratory confirmed cases at the Institute of Microbiology and Immunology (IMI) not reported to the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH), and to assess the completeness of reporting for individual data items. Methods The dataset with information about the cases diagnosed at the IMI during 2007-2010, and the national chlamydia surveillance data at the NIPH, were linked using SOUNDEX code and the date of birth as unique identifier. The proportion of unreported cases was calculated. The proportions of records with missing data for individual variables were estimated for all reported cases during the same period. Chlamydia testing and reported rates for the period 2002-2010 were presented. Results Of 576 laboratory confirmed chlamydia cases at the IMI during 2007-2010, 201 were reported to the NIPH, corresponding to 65.1% of the overall underreporting (50.4% among dermatovenerologists, 90.1% among gynaecologist and 100% among other specialists). Item response was above 99% for demographic variables and from 69% to 81% for sexual behaviour variables. Higher testing rates corresponded to higher diagnosed rates. Conclusions Surveillance data underestimated diagnosed chlamydia infection rates. Mandatory reporting of cases by laboratories with less variables, including unique identifier, gender, date of diagnosis, and reporting physician specialty, together with numbers of tests performed (for estimating testing and positivity rates) would simplify the surveillance system and eliminate underreporting of laboratory confirmed cases, while still providing necessary information for public health policies.

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