scholarly journals An evaluation of the evidence submitted to Australian alcohol advertising policy consultations

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0261280
Author(s):  
Julia Stafford ◽  
Tanya Chikritzhs ◽  
Hannah Pierce ◽  
Simone Pettigrew
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Alcohol Advertising ◽  
Quality Requirements ◽  
The Public ◽  
Minimum Standards ◽  
Publication Time ◽  
Primary Focus ◽  
Public Consultations ◽  
Quality Features

Background Industry self-regulation is the dominant approach to managing alcohol advertising in Australia and many other countries. There is a need to explore the barriers to government adoption of more effective regulatory approaches. This study examined relevance and quality features of evidence cited by industry and non-industry actors in their submissions to Australian alcohol advertising policy consultations. Methods Submissions to two public consultations with a primary focus on alcohol advertising policy were analysed. Submissions (n = 71) were classified into their actor type (industry or non-industry) and according to their expressed support for, or opposition to, increased regulation of alcohol advertising. Details of cited evidence were extracted and coded against a framework adapted from previous research (primary codes: subject matter relevance, type of publication, time since publication, and independence from industry). Evidence was also classified as featuring indicators of higher quality if it was either published in a peer-reviewed journal or academic source, published within 10 years of the consultation, and/or had no apparent industry connection. Results Almost two-thirds of submissions were from industry actors (n = 45 submissions from alcohol, advertising, or sporting industries). With few exceptions, industry actor submissions opposed increased regulation of alcohol advertising and non-industry actor submissions supported increased regulation. Industry actors cited substantially less evidence than non-industry actors, both per submission and in total. Only 27% of evidence cited by industry actors was highly relevant and featured at least two indicators of higher quality compared to 58% of evidence cited by non-industry actors. Conclusions Evaluation of the value of the evidentiary contribution of industry actors to consultations on alcohol advertising policy appears to be limited. Modifications to consultation processes, such as exclusion of industry actors, quality requirements for submitted evidence, minimum standards for referencing evidence, and requirements to declare potential conflicts, may improve the public health outcomes of policy consultations.

Exempting the state and responsibilizing individuals during pandemic governance: Analyzing the health minister’s responses to the Covid-19 pandemic in Turkey

2021 ◽  
pp. 136345932110607
Author(s):  
G Ezgi Akguloglu ◽  
Gulcin Con Wright
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Collective Actions ◽  
Protective Measures ◽  
The Public ◽  
New Public Health ◽  
New Public ◽  
Unique Nature ◽  
Primary Focus ◽  
Public Health Strategies

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed the governments of the world to implement different regulative and protective measures. Although these measures required serious re-considerations of public health strategies, they were still grounded on pre-existing contexts of countries’ health systems, namely the “new public health” paradigm. Turkey’s neoliberal health reforms since 2003 coincide with the principles of this paradigm’s trends toward marketizing services and responsibilizing individuals; yet the Turkish context of the pandemic also stands out due to its mixed and unique form of governance. Utilizing the tweets of the Turkish Health Minister between March 13th and October 1st, 2020, we conducted a thematic qualitative analysis investigating the Turkish state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our analysis revealed that state responsibility was framed around building new pandemic hospitals, informing the public, and building trust. Conversely, his tweets assigned Turkish individuals an active role in shaping pandemic outcomes through their “informed” and “empowered” agency. Finally, he coined “togetherness,” referring to the sum of individual actions, as an indispensable goal in assuring public compliance with precautions. The Minister’s tweets reflect the unique nature of pandemic governance in Turkey with a relatively imposing and swift response of centralized power but a primary focus on “responsibilized” individuals’ collective actions.

scholarly journals The Public Health Value of Opioid Litigation

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca L. Haffajee
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Prescription Opioid ◽  
Behavior Changes ◽  
Public Accountability ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health Value ◽  
Lead Paint ◽  
Tort Litigation ◽  
Harmful Behavior

Opioid litigation continues a growing public health litigation trend in which governments seek to hold companies responsible for population harms related to their products. The litigation can serve to address gaps in regulatory and legislative policymaking and in market self-regulation pervasive in the prescription opioid domain. Moreover, prior opioid settlements have satisfied civil tort litigation objectives of obtaining compensation for injured parties, deterring harmful behavior, and holding certain opioid manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies accountable for their actions. In this way, opioid litigation represents progress over prior public health litigation campaigns involving tobacco, lead paint, and asbestos, which had more limited tort litigation effects. Although opioid litigation is not a comprehensive solution to the opioid crisis, it can complement other strategies and infuse much needed money, behavior changes, and public accountability for prescription opioid and related harms.

Becoming a Voluntary Doula: Personal and Caring Motives

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-114
Author(s):  
Terese Bondas ◽  
Anita Wikberg
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Public Health Care ◽  
Public Health Care System ◽  
Midwifery Care ◽  
The Public ◽  
Primary Focus ◽  
Ethical Reflections

Background:Voluntary doula care, as a complement to midwifery care, is emerging as support for women and their families throughout the childbearing period. Doula care is not an official part of the public health care system in Nordic countries.Aim:The aim was to describe and interpret women’s experiences of becoming voluntary unpaid doulas and to generate a model as part of a research program.Method:Latent qualitative content analysis was chosen using interviews with nine voluntary doulas in an NGO group in Finland.Findings:Becoming a voluntary doula seems to be related to two motives, personal and caring. Interest in and fascination with childbearing, doula care as rewarding and joyous but challenging work, and networking and affinity in the doula group are personal motives. The caring motives were seeing doula care as important for the childbearing woman and her partner, being humble about childbearing knowledge, understanding vulnerability and uniqueness in childbearing based on their own experiences, and seeing doula care as a complement to midwifery care.Conclusion:A model has been created suggesting that the balance between the two motives might be crucial for doula care. Ethical reflections on the motives for becoming and being a doula need to be supported in a caring culture where the primary focus is the best care for the woman and her partner in childbearing.

Can’t see the woods for the trees: exploring the range and connection of tobacco industry argumentation in the 2012 UK standardised packaging consultation

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 448-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessamina Lih Yan Lie ◽  
Gary Fooks ◽  
Nanne K de Vries ◽  
Suzanne M Heijndijk ◽  
Marc C Willemsen
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Illicit Trade ◽  
The Public ◽  
Philip Morris ◽  
Better Regulation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Central Argument ◽  
Public Consultations

IntroductionTransnational tobacco company (TTC) submissions to the 2012 UK standardised packaging consultation are studied to examine TTC argumentation in the context of Better Regulation practices.MethodsA content analysis was conducted of Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco submissions to the 2012 UK consultation. Industry arguments concerning expected costs and (contested) benefits of the policy were categorised into themes and frames. The inter-relationship between frames through linked arguments was mapped to analyse central arguments using an argumentation network.Results173 arguments were identified. Arguments fell into one of five frames: ineffectiveness, negative economic consequences, harm to public health, increased crime or legal ramifications. Arguments highlighted high costs to a wide range of groups, including government, general public and other businesses. Arguments also questioned the public health benefits of standardised packaging and highlighted the potential benefits to undeserving groups. An increase in illicit trade was the most central argument and linked to the greatest variety of arguments.ConclusionsIn policy-making systems characterised by mandatory impact assessments and public consultations, the wide range of cost (and contested benefits) based arguments highlights the risk of TTCs overloading policy actors and causing delays in policy adoption. Illicit trade related arguments are central to providing a rationale for these arguments, which include the claim that standardised packaging will increase health risks. The strategic importance of illicit trade arguments to industry argumentation in public consultations underlines the risks of relying on industry data relating to the scale of the illicit trade.

scholarly journals Depoliticizing And Humanizing Climate Change Through A Public Health Frame: A Case Study Of Ontario’s Climate Change Policy Discourse

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luckrezia Awuor
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
Policy Discourse ◽  
Public Health Perspective ◽  
Political Issue ◽  
The Public ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Primary Focus

The relevance of a public health frame in supporting the climate change impact awareness and consensus on actions is well recognized but largely underutilized. Overall, supporting public health’s capacity in climate change has focused on projecting and highlighting public health impacts due to climate change, identifying public health policy responses, and emphasizing public health role. The integration of the public health perspective in the discussion and communication of climate change ideas has remained elusive.<div>Climate change is also a complex social problem whose construction of meaning and actions is rooted in institutionalized language, discourse, and human interactions. Thus, understanding of the construction of the relevance of public health in climate change discourse is central to understanding the impediments of the public health frame application. Unfortunately, this has been a neglected area of research, and the dissertation responded to that gap. </div><div>To delineate the impediments of the public health frame, the study used the case study of the context of climate change policy discourse in the Province of Ontario (Canada) to examine the construction of public health relevance, the extent of public health frame application, and the systematic influences in the discourse.</div><div>The analysis of policy documents and key informant interviews revealed that the public health frame remained isolated from the primary focus of Ontario’s climate change policy discourse. Instead, Ontario’s historically and socially constructed climate change as an economic and political issue solved through market strategies and technological innovations forwarded by political, bureaucratic, and technological elites. The focus substantiated the types of structures and processes of policies and decisions, the relevant actors and knowledge, and the values supporting the discursive, normative, and strategic practices. Ontario’s focus also limited the utilization of the public health frame and the supporting capacities through the misalignment between public health and the provincial strategic actions, the lack of recognition and integration of public health roles, mandate and structures, and limited public health capacity building initiatives.</div><div>Therefore, public health framing as an endpoint of climate change discourse requires legitimation of public health in the underlying institutional structures for, and governance of, climate change. </div>

scholarly journals Depoliticizing And Humanizing Climate Change Through A Public Health Frame: A Case Study Of Ontario’s Climate Change Policy Discourse

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luckrezia Awuor
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
Policy Discourse ◽  
Public Health Perspective ◽  
Political Issue ◽  
The Public ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Primary Focus

The relevance of a public health frame in supporting the climate change impact awareness and consensus on actions is well recognized but largely underutilized. Overall, supporting public health’s capacity in climate change has focused on projecting and highlighting public health impacts due to climate change, identifying public health policy responses, and emphasizing public health role. The integration of the public health perspective in the discussion and communication of climate change ideas has remained elusive.<div>Climate change is also a complex social problem whose construction of meaning and actions is rooted in institutionalized language, discourse, and human interactions. Thus, understanding of the construction of the relevance of public health in climate change discourse is central to understanding the impediments of the public health frame application. Unfortunately, this has been a neglected area of research, and the dissertation responded to that gap. </div><div>To delineate the impediments of the public health frame, the study used the case study of the context of climate change policy discourse in the Province of Ontario (Canada) to examine the construction of public health relevance, the extent of public health frame application, and the systematic influences in the discourse.</div><div>The analysis of policy documents and key informant interviews revealed that the public health frame remained isolated from the primary focus of Ontario’s climate change policy discourse. Instead, Ontario’s historically and socially constructed climate change as an economic and political issue solved through market strategies and technological innovations forwarded by political, bureaucratic, and technological elites. The focus substantiated the types of structures and processes of policies and decisions, the relevant actors and knowledge, and the values supporting the discursive, normative, and strategic practices. Ontario’s focus also limited the utilization of the public health frame and the supporting capacities through the misalignment between public health and the provincial strategic actions, the lack of recognition and integration of public health roles, mandate and structures, and limited public health capacity building initiatives.</div><div>Therefore, public health framing as an endpoint of climate change discourse requires legitimation of public health in the underlying institutional structures for, and governance of, climate change. </div>

scholarly journals The Public Health Responsibility Deal: Using a Systems-Level Analysis to Understand the Lack of Impact on Alcohol, Food, Physical Activity, and Workplace Health Sub-Systems

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. 2895 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cécile Knai ◽  
Mark Petticrew ◽  
Nick Douglas ◽  
Mary Durand ◽  
Elizabeth Eastmure ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Health Benefit ◽  
Voluntary Agreements ◽  
Workplace Health ◽  
The Public ◽  
Business Interests ◽  
Causal Pathways ◽  
Health Responsibility

The extent to which government should partner with business interests such as the alcohol, food, and other industries in order to improve public health is a subject of ongoing debate. A common approach involves developing voluntary agreements with industry or allowing them to self-regulate. In England, the most recent example of this was the Public Health Responsibility Deal (RD), a public–private partnership launched in 2011 under the then Conservative-led coalition government. The RD was organised around a series of voluntary agreements that aim to bring together government, academic experts, and commercial, public sector and voluntary organisations to commit to pledges to undertake actions of public health benefit. This paper brings together the main findings and implications of the evaluation of the RD using a systems approach. We analysed the functioning of the RD exploring the causal pathways involved and how they helped or hindered the RD; the structures and processes; feedback loops and how they might have constrained or potentiated the effects of the RD; and how resilient the wider systems were to change (i.e., the alcohol, food, and other systems interacted with). Both the production and uptake of pledges by RD partners were largely driven by the interests of partners themselves, enabling these wider systems to resist change. This analysis demonstrates how and why the RD did not meet its objectives. The findings have lessons for the development of effective alcohol, food and other policies, for defining the role of unhealthy commodity industries, and for understanding the limits of industry self-regulation as a public health measure.

scholarly journals Public space and alcohol advertising: Exploratory study of the role of local government

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 117-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Greg Swensen
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Traffic Safety ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Public Places ◽  
Alcohol Advertising ◽  
The Public ◽  
Street Furniture

Swensen, G. (2016). Public space and alcohol advertising: Exploratory study of the role of local government. The International Journal Of Alcohol And Drug Research, 5(3), 117-123. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v5i3.224The paper argues that local government bodies in Western Australia, which have a long-standing key role in overseeing public health standards and regulating business activities, potentially have a major, but under-recognized, capability to regulate the promotion and advertising of alcohol in public places overseen by them. It is contended that because local government bodies already possess extensive statutory powers to undertake this function, there is a compelling case for them to actively regulate alcohol advertising as they “own” most of the public space in Australian cities and towns.As the proposition would involve the prohibition of alcohol advertising, this could mean that local authorities may balk at assuming this responsibility due to a possible loss of revenue if they have already issued licenses to companies to construct and maintain key parts of the public infrastructure, like bus shelters, seating, and other street furniture, in return for being able to charge fees for advertising on these facilities.It is contended that local government authorities would ably perform a front-line role in regulating alcohol advertising in public places because of their reliance on community-based processes of consultation and decision-making for planning, in addition to understanding this role as an extension of a long standing role concerned with the advancement of public health and traffic safety.

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