Jonathan Mann's Legacy to the 21st Century: The Human Rights Imperative for Public Health

2001 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen P. Marks
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
Public Health Official ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Health Official ◽  
The World ◽  
Set Up ◽  
High Level

Professor Gostin is a leading authority on health law, whose writing and teaching are among the most authoritative in the United States, as exemplified by his recent work, Public Health Law: Power, Duty, Restraint. Gostin's article in this issue of the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics pays homage to Jonathan Mann (1947-1998) by expressing the debt he feels toward this extraordinary doctor and public health official with whom he had collaborated on several projects.As many will remember, Mann held high-level positions at the Centers for Disease Control and worked on AIDS research in Central Africa before setting up the World Health Organization's Global Programme on AIDS, which he ran from 1986 to 1990. Thanks to his profound commitment and consummate communication skills, he achieved the unprecedented feat of raising the budget within two years to almost $100 million from the initial set-up of “himself, a secretary, and one typewriter,” as described by Daniel Tarantola.

(Mis)Information on Digital Platforms: Lessons from Twitter and Sina Weibo in the COVID-19 Pandemic (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Kreps
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
Sina Weibo ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Relative Prevalence

BACKGROUND Misinformation about COVID-19 has presented challenges to public health authorities during pandemics. Understanding the prevalence and type of misinformation across contexts offers a way to understand the discourse around COVID-19 while informing potential countermeasures. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to study COVID-19 content on two prominent microblogging platform, Twitter, based in the United States, and Sina Weibo, based in China, and compare the content and relative prevalence of misinformation to better understand public discourse of public health issues across social media and cultural contexts. METHODS A total of 3,579,575 posts were scraped from both Weibo and Twitter, focusing on content from January 30th, 2020, when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” and February 6th, 2020. A 1% random sample of tweets that contained both the English keywords “coronavirus” and “covid-19” and the equivalent Chinese characters was extracted and analyzed based on changes in the frequencies of keywords and hashtags. Misinformation on each platform was compared by manually coding and comparing posts using the World Health Organization fact-check page to adjudicate accuracy of content. RESULTS Both platforms posted about the outbreak and transmission but posts on Sina Weibo were less likely to reference controversial topics such as the World Health Organization and death and more likely to cite themes of resisting, fighting, and cheering against the coronavirus. Misinformation constituted 1.1% of Twitter content and 0.3% of Weibo content. CONCLUSIONS Quantitative and qualitative analysis of content on both platforms points to cross-platform differences in public discourse surrounding the pandemic and informs potential countermeasures for online misinformation.

scholarly journals Epidemiological surveillance of West Nile virus in the world and Brazil

2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. e164335
Author(s):  
Erica Azevedo Costa ◽  
José Joffre Martins Bayeux ◽  
Aila Solimar Gonçalves Silva ◽  
Guilherme Alves De Queiroz ◽  
Beatriz Senra Álvares da Silva Santos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
West Nile Virus ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Public Health Intervention ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
West Nile ◽  
Serological Screening ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

West Nile virus (WNV) is a neurovirulent mosquito-borne Flavivirus that is maintained in nature by a zoonotic transmissioncycle between avian hosts and ornithophilic mosquito vectors, mostly from the Culex genus. Until the 1990s, WNV wasconsidered to be an old-world arbovirus, but in 1999, WNV emerged in the United States (US) and spread rapidly, becoming amajor threat to public health. WNV adapted to the transmission cycle involving American mosquitoes and birds and reachedCentral and South America in subsequent years. In 2003, the National West Nile Fever Surveillance System was created in Brazilbased on serological screening of animals and sentinel vectors, as recommended by the Pan American Health Organization(PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Since 2008, serological evidence of WNV infection in Brazilian horseshas been reported, and the circulation of WNV has been monitored through the regular serological screening of sentinel horsesand reporting of encephalomyelitis cases. Horses are highly susceptible to WNV infection, and outbreaks of neurologicaldisease among horses often precede human cases. In this regard, equine surveillance has been essential in providing earlywarning to public and animal health authorities in several countries, including Brazil. This demonstrates the need for animaland public health intervention programs to allocate resources to make veterinarians aware of the role they can play in thehuman surveillance processes by monitoring horses. This review discusses the importance of equine surveillance and the gapthat veterinarians can fill on the front line in human surveillance, in Brazil and worldwide, in the context of “One Health”

scholarly journals SARS: current overview, aetiology and epidemiology

2003 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 46-55
Author(s):  
Semra Čavaljuga ◽  
Michael Faulde ◽  
Jerrold J. Scharninghausen
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Air Travel ◽  
World Health ◽  
New Disease ◽  
The Past ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
The World ◽  
Public Health Authorities

At this moment, public health authorities, physicians and scientists around the world are struggling to cope with a severe and rapidly spreading new disease in humans called severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. According to World Health Organisation (WHO) this appears to be the first severe and easily transmissible new disease to emerge in the 21st century. Though much about the disease remains poorly understood, including the details of the causative virus, we do know that it has features that allow it to spread rapidly along international air travel routes. As of 10 May 2003, a cumulative 7296 probable SARS cases with 526 deaths have been reported from 30 countries on three continents (WHO, ProMED). In the past week, more than 1000 new probable cases and 96 deaths were reported globally. This represents an increase of 119 new cases and 8 new deaths compared with 9 May 2003 (China (85), Taiwan (23), and Hong Kong (7) represented the overwhelming majority, with one additional case each reported from France, Malaysia, Singapore, and the United States). Only in China, as of 10 May 2003 (WHO) total of 4884 with 235 deaths have been reported. Some outbreaks have reassuring features.

scholarly journals Coronavirus and Pharmacists

2020 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-6
Author(s):  
Ken Thai
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Health Emergency ◽  
World Health ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Wuhan City ◽  
The World ◽  
High Season ◽  
Health Organization

Pharmacists and our fellow healthcare colleagues typically expect a break from our “high season” of cough, cold, and flu patients that have filled our pharmacies, clinics, and hospitals by this time of the year. Everyone is prepping for the end of the winter and the dawning of spring. This year was unlike many as we have heard loud cries across the globe regarding the outbreak of the novel “new” coronavirus. The virus was first detected from the Wuhan City of China. It has since infected tens of thousands of people in China and across the world. In fact, the World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern.” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar declared a public health emergency for the United States to aid the nation's healthcare community in responding. A proclamation was signed on January 31, 2020, by the United States to suspend entry of anyone who poses a risk of transmitting the coronavirus.

THE PEDIATRICIAN AND THE PUBLIC

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1955 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-220
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
New York ◽  
Mississippi River ◽  
Puget Sound ◽  
New York Times ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
The Public ◽  
The World ◽  
Foreign Operations

I WAS among 5 from the Seattle-King County Department of Public Health and 1 from the Medical School who left for Iran early in 1951 and 1952 and, as the Seattle Times reported after my return— "Halfway Around the World from Puget Sound, a handful of `Shirt-Sleeve Diplomats' from Seattle have been fighting communists for the past 2 years by killing mosquitoes. "The first phases of their program have worked so well that in one Iranian city the undertaker complained that he had too little business and demanded a salary from the public treasury. He got it too!" The Director of the Foreign Operations Administration's Mission in Iran, Mr. William E. Warne, in an interview with the New York Times last spring credited the public health program in Iran as the greatest single factor in keeping Iran on this side of the Iron Curtain. The Seattle group were among 37 American public health specialists, most of them commissioned as officers in the U.S. Public Health Service, employed in the Point IV program, now a part of the Foreign Operations Administration, in Iran, a country almost as large as all of the United States east of the Mississippi River. The World Health Organization was in Iran too. When we arrived, WHO had a malaria control advisory unit of 3 technicians:

scholarly journals Between “Essential Services” and Culpable Homicide

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 129-151
Author(s):  
Danielle N. Boaz
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Religious Leaders ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Essential Services ◽  
The World ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization

Abstract On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared covid-19—the disease caused by the novel coronavirus—a global pandemic. As this coronavirus spread throughout the world, most countries implemented restrictions on public gatherings that greatly limited religious communities’ ability to engage in collective worship. Some religious leaders objected to these regulations, opining that faith would spare their congregants from illness or that their religious freedom is paramount to public health. Meanwhile, growing numbers of covid-19 infections were being traced back to religious leaders or gatherings. This article explores how governments have balanced freedom of worship and public health during the 2020 pandemic. Through the comparison of controversies in South Korea, India, Brazil and the United States, it highlights the paradoxes in debates about whether to hold religious communities accountable for the spread of this highly contagious and deadly disease.

International Health Regulations and Transmissible Diseases

2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-102
Author(s):  
Anika Klafki
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Global Health ◽  
International Health ◽  
Public Health Emergency ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Law ◽  
International Health Regulations ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Health Regulations

The world is increasingly vulnerable to infectious diseases. Although the fundamental reform of the International Health Regulations (IHR) in 2005 was heralded as the beginning of a new era of international health law, the Ebola outbreak 2014 shattered all hopes that the world would now be adequately equipped for epidemic outbreaks of transmissible diseases. The Ebola crisis is perceived as an epic failure on the part of the World Health Organization (WHO). The many dead are a sad testimony to the world's inability to adequately respond to the threat posed by contagions. In reaction to this defeat, policymakers now focus on hands-on initiatives to foster global health instead of reformulating international health law. So far, extensive investments and innovations within the WHO, the United Nations system, and in the private sector have multiplied rapidly. The mushrooming of various health initiatives, however, increases the complexity and reduces the consistency of the current global health landscape. The leadership role of the WHO needs to be restored to provide a coherent response for the next global scale public health emergency. To this end, a fundamental reform of the presently widely neglected international regulatory framework in the field of public law, the IHR, is of vital importance. Keywords: World Health Organization, International Health Regulations, Infectious Diseases, Ebola, Influenza, Public Health, Public Health Emergency

scholarly journals Regional differences in COVID-19 attack and case fatality rates in the first quarter of 2020: a comparative study

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Most Zannatul Ferdous ◽  
Lakshmi Rani Kundu ◽  
Marjia Sultana ◽  
Sheikh Jafia Jafrin
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
North America ◽  
South America ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
Study Results ◽  
The World ◽  
Mixed Approach ◽  
Health Organization

Background and Objective: The COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease 2019) outbreak has become a public health threat all over the world. From December 31, 2019 to March 19, 2020, 146 countries were affected. Evidence on the management approaches of current COVID-19 pandemic is still limited though the numbers of affected countries are increasing as the days go by. This study was aimed at determining the attack rate (AR) and case fatality rate (CFR) of Covid-19 in six different regions around the world in the first quarter of 2020. An attempt was also made to provide an overview of the ongoing situation of COVID-19. Methods: The design of the study was mixed approach where a retrospective analysis of surveillance data of six different regions around the world were collected from COVID-19 dashboard of World Health organization, between 31 December 2019 to 19 March 2020 (Time: 2:00 pm. BST [CET: 9 am]). Besides, other different validated sources (example: Worldometer, Center for Disease Control and Prevention) were used to assess the ongoing situation regarding COVID-19. A statistical software SPSS version 26 was used to analyze the data. Results: There were a total of 207,860 confirmed cases and 8779 deaths across six different regions around the world from 31 December 2019 to 19 March 2020, with the highest AR of 9.92/100,000 population in Europe region, followed by Asia (2.7/ 100,000), Australia (1.75/100,000), North America (1.42/100,000), South America (0.23/100,000) and Africa (0.06/100,000) regions. Study results revealed statistically significant association between attack rates and the six regions of the world (p=0.002), meaning that AR varied in the regions around the world. The CFR was high in Europe region (4.81%), followed by Asia (4.06%), Africa (2.72%), South America (1.41%), Australia (1.12%), and North America (0.69%) regions. Data reviewed from different countries revealed that the highest number of cases was confirmed in the United States, followed by Spain and Italy. The findings revealed that the reported confirmed cases varied widely in different regions of the world. Conclusion: The severity and variation in -geographical distribution of COVID-19 cases and deaths suggest that urgent response from various government and public health authorities should be taken and research regarding underlying factors determining this severity should be sought for. Ibrahim Med. Coll. J. 2020; 14(2): 1-10

scholarly journals COVID-19 in Low-Middle Income Setting Of Central America Four Region: Limitations on Prevention, Diagnosis, Management and Economic Implications

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 01-02
Author(s):  
Eleazar Sanchez
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Central America ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Health Emergency ◽  
World Health ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Economic Implications ◽  
The World ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization

The outbreak of novel coronavirus 2019 has spread rapidly; starting in Wuhan China, reporting a cluster of cases of Pneumonia associated with 2019-nCoV on December 31, 2019. Now with confirmed cases around the world, approximately 128 of 195 countries in total. By the end of January 2020, the World Health Organization declared the current COVID-19 epidemic a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHIC) along with the first confirmed case in the United States.

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