The Complex Relationship of Genetics, Groups, and Health: What it Means for Public Health

2002 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 290-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen Wright Clayton
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Clinical Utility ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Sudden Infant Death ◽  
Acid Oxidation ◽  
Sudden Infant ◽  
The Public ◽  
Metabolic Defects ◽  
Relationship Of

Genetics offers real opportunities for public health actors. Increased understanding of genetics will illuminate some of the factors that affect disease and, in many cases, will lead to more effective treatments. The recognition that phenylketonuria was caused by a metabolic defect that led to the accumulation of toxic levels of phenylalanine, an elevation that could largely be averted by adopting a low-phenylalanine diet, is an early example. Some cases of what was thought to be Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, a diagnosis used when no etiology is known, now appear to have been caused by metabolic defects in fatty acid oxidation and sodium channel defects. One of the tasks that has already been undertaken by the public health sector is to ensure that genomic information is incorporated into clinical care when the robusmess of findings and their clinical utility have been well defined.

Corrupt Practices in the Public Health Sector: A Focus on Metropolitan Local Government Areas of Kano State, Nigeria

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 149
Author(s):  
Mohammed Mustapha Namadi
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Healthcare Provision ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Health Sector ◽  
The Government

Corruption is pervasive in Nigeria at all levels. Thus, despite recent gains in healthcare provision, the health sector faces numerous corruption related challenges. This study aims at examining areas of corruption in the health sector with specific focus on its types and nature. A sample size of 480 respondents aged 18 years and above was drawn from the eight Metropolitan Local Government Areas of Kano State, using the multistage sampling technique. The results revealed evidence of corrupt practices including those related to unnecessary-absenteeism, diversion of patients from the public health facilities to the private sector, diverting money meant for the purchase of equipment, fuel and diesel, bribery, stealing of medications, fraud, misappropriation of medications and unjustifiable reimbursement claims. In order to resolve the problem of corrupt practices in the healthcare sector, the study recommended the need for enforcement of appropriate code of ethics guiding the conduct of the health professionals, adoption of anti-corruption strategies, and strengthening the government monitoring system to check corruption in public health sector in order to ensure equitable access to healthcare services among the under-privileged people in the society.

Navigating the Ethics of Big Data in Public Health

2019 ◽  
pp. 353-367
Author(s):  
Effy Vayena ◽  
Lawrence Madoff
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Big Data ◽  
Credit Card ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Public Health Research ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health Community ◽  
Digital Disease Detection ◽  
The Public Sphere

“Big data,” which encompasses massive amounts of information from both within the health sector (such as electronic health records) and outside the health sector (social media, search queries, cell phone metadata, credit card expenditures), is increasingly envisioned as a rich source to inform public health research and practice. This chapter examines the enormous range of sources, the highly varied nature of these data, and the differing motivations for their collection, which together challenge the public health community in ethically mining and exploiting big data. Ethical challenges revolve around the blurring of three previously clearer boundaries: between personal health data and nonhealth data; between the private and the public sphere in the online world; and, finally, between the powers and responsibilities of state and nonstate actors in relation to big data. Considerations include the implications for privacy, control and sharing of data, fair distribution of benefits and burdens, civic empowerment, accountability, and digital disease detection.

scholarly journals Green Deal as a Climate Changes Dam on the Road to Health

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
M Jevtic ◽  
C Bouland
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Clinical Medicine ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Road ◽  
National Public Health ◽  
On The Road ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Public health professionals (PHP) have a dual task in climate change. They should persuade their colleagues in clinical medicine of the importance of all the issues covered by the GD. The fact that the health sector contributes to the overall emissions of 4.4% speaks to the lack of awareness within the health sector itself. The issue of providing adequate infrastructure for the health sector is essential. Strengthening the opportunities and development of the circular economy within healthcare is more than just a current issue. The second task of PHP is targeting the broader population. The public health mission is being implemented, inter alia, through numerous activities related to environmental monitoring and assessment of the impact on health. GD should be a roadmap for priorities and actions in public health, bearing in mind: an ambitious goal of climate neutrality, an insistence on clean, affordable and safe energy, a strategy for a clean and circular economy. GD provides a framework for the development of sustainable and smart transport, the development of green agriculture and policies from field to table. It also insists on biodiversity conservation and protection actions. The pursuit of zero pollution and an environment free of toxic chemicals, as well as incorporating sustainability into all policies, is also an indispensable part of GD. GD represents a leadership step in the global framework towards a healthier future and comprises all the non-EU members as well. The public health sector should consider the GD as an argument for achieving goals at national levels, and align national public health policies with the goals of this document. There is a need for stronger advocacy of health and public-health interests along with incorporating sustainability into all policies. Achieving goals requires the education process for healthcare professionals covering all of topics of climate change, energy and air pollution to a much greater extent than before.

scholarly journals Identifying and bridging the knowledge-to-practice gaps in rehabilitation professionals working with at-risk infants in the public health sector of South Africa: a multimethod study protocol

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. e039242
Author(s):  
Pragashnie Govender
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
South Africa ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Neonatal Intensive Care ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Critical Time ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Health Sector

IntroductionEarly childhood is a critical time when the benefits of early interventions are intensified, and the adverse effects of risk can be reduced. For the optimal provision of early intervention, professionals in the field are required to have specialised knowledge and skills in implementing these programmes. In the context of South Africa, there is evidence to suggest that therapists are ill-prepared to handle the unique challenges posed in neonatal intensive care units and wards with at-risk infants in the first few weeks of life. This is attributed to several reasons; however, irrespective of the causative factors, the need to bridge this knowledge-to-practice gap remains essential.Methods and analysisThis study is a multimethod stakeholder-driven study using a scoping review followed by an appreciative inquiry and Delphi process that will aid in the development, implementation and evaluation of a knowledge translation intervention to bridge knowledge-gaps in occupational and physiotherapists working in the field. Therapists currently working in the public health sector will be recruited for participation in the various stages of the study. The analysis will occur via thematic analysis for qualitative data and percentages and frequencies for descriptive quantitative data. Issues around trustworthiness and rigour, and reliability and validity, will be ensured within each of the phases, by use of a content validity index and inter-rater reliability for the Delphi survey; thick descriptions, peer debriefing, member checking and an audit trail for the qualitative data.Ethics and disseminationThe study has received full ethical approval from the Health Research and Knowledge Management Directorate of the Department of Health and a Biomedical Research Ethics Committee. The results will be published in peer-reviewed academic journals and disseminated to the relevant stakeholders within this study.

scholarly journals Overuse of Health Care in the Emergency Services in Chile

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 3082
Author(s):  
Ximena Alvial ◽  
Alejandra Rojas ◽  
Raúl Carrasco ◽  
Claudia Durán ◽  
Christian Fernández-Campusano
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Emergency Services ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Public Health Policies ◽  
The Public ◽  
Healthcare Network ◽  
Use Of Emergency Services ◽  
Low Coverage ◽  
Different Levels

The Public Health Service in Chile consists of different levels of complexity and coverage depending on the severity and degree of specialization of the pathology to be treated. From primary to tertiary care, tertiary care is highly complex and has low coverage. This work focuses on an analysis of the public health system with emphasis on the healthcare network and tertiary care, whose objectives are designed to respond to the needs of each patient. A review of the literature and a field study of the problem of studying the perception of internal and external users is presented. This study intends to be a contribution in the detection of opportunities for the relevant actors and the processes involved through the performance of Triage. The main causes and limitations of the excessive use of emergency services in Chile are analyzed and concrete proposals are generated aiming to benefit clinical care in emergency services. Finally, improvements related to management are proposed and the main aspects are determined to improve decision-making in hospitals, which could be a contribution to public health policies.

Will Nurses’ Work Still be Valued after the COVID-19 Pandemic?

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pasquot L ◽  
◽  
Giorgetta S ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Infection Rate ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Risk Of Infection ◽  
Initial State ◽  
Public Places ◽  
The Public ◽  
High Infection ◽  
A Minor ◽  
Second Wave

Many are the aspects we should ponder on, after 17 months from the burst of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially as nurses. Due to the numerous cuts to the public health sector in the last decades in Italy, the sanitary emergency has been a great sacrifice for health professionals, as public health was completely unprepared to withstand it. The Italian government reacted to this lack of preparation with exceptionally urgent measures. Although, these measures were implemented long after the initial state of confusion and of inappropriate management, they brought about stability and led to a containment strategy for the spread of the virus across the nation [1]. The reduction in the number of COVID-19 diagnoses was mainly achieved through social distancing. At first this was only required to a small number of communities affected by high infection rates, but was eventually extended to the rest of the country from March 2020 [2]. The national lockdown during the first COVID-19 wave (from March to May 2020), was replaced by regional lockdowns in the second wave (from November 2020). As of now, regional lockdowns are integrated by the vaccine campaign and Green Pass enforcement. In November 2020 the Italian Prime Minister at the time, issued legislative measures to enforce regional lockdowns, limiting nonessential movements, cafes, restaurants and other public places opening hours. This legislation established to classify the national territory in different levels of restriction based on the infection rate: red zones - highest risk of infection, orange zones - medium high risk and yellow zones with a minor risk of infection. A later legislation introduced the white zone for territories with the lowest risk of infection (DPCM-14th January 2021). The infection rate has been important to establish a region’s tier status; however, it is not the defining parameter anymore. A new legislation from July 2021 (n.105 - 23rd July 2021), opted to classify a region’s tier status according to the hospital bed’s occupancy rate for COVID-19 patients in intensive care and other medical areas.

Application of GIS technology in public health: successes and challenges

Parasitology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 143 (4) ◽  
pp. 401-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
STEPHANIE M. FLETCHER-LARTEY ◽  
GRAZIELLA CAPRARELLI
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Environmental Data ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Parasitic Diseases ◽  
Gis Technology ◽  
The Public ◽  
Application Of Gis

SUMMARYThe uptake and acceptance of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology has increased since the early 1990s and public health applications are rapidly expanding. In this paper, we summarize the common uses of GIS technology in the public health sector, emphasizing applications related to mapping and understanding of parasitic diseases. We also present some of the success stories, and discuss the challenges that still prevent a full scope application of GIS technology in the public health context. Geographical analysis has allowed researchers to interlink health, population and environmental data, thus enabling them to evaluate and quantify relationships between health-related variables and environmental risk factors at different geographical scales. The ability to access, share and utilize satellite and remote-sensing data has made possible even wider understanding of disease processes and of their links to the environment, an important consideration in the study of parasitic diseases. For example, disease prevention and control strategies resulting from investigations conducted in a GIS environment have been applied in many areas, particularly in Africa. However, there remain several challenges to a more widespread use of GIS technology, such as: limited access to GIS infrastructure, inadequate technical and analytical skills, and uneven data availability. Opportunities exist for international collaboration to address these limitations through knowledge sharing and governance.

scholarly journals Effects of passive smoking on children's health:a review

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 441-447
Author(s):  
A. Hawamdah ◽  
F. A. Kasasbeh ◽  
M. A. Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Coronary Heart Disease ◽  
Passive Smoking ◽  
Public Health Education ◽  
Respiratory Illness ◽  
Sudden Infant Death ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Sudden Infant ◽  
Poor Growth ◽  
Growth Indicators

Since the mid-1980s there has been increasing interest in the effects of passive smoking on the health of children. It has been estimated that the total nicotine dose received by children whose parents smoke is equivalent to their actively smoking between 60 and 150 cigarettes per year. This review article considers the evidence for a relationship between passive smoking and disorders such as: prenatal damage to the fetus; poor growth indicators; respiratory illness; atopy and asthma; coronary heart disease; and sudden infant death syndrome. We conclude that paediatricians should not be complacent about the hazards of passive smoking for children and that public health education efforts should be continued

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