The role of the World Bank and WHO Model Disability Survey in public health

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 262-264
Author(s):  
Carla Sabariego

Abstract: The Model Disability Survey (MDS) is the tool recommended by the world health organization (WHO) to collect data on disability at the population level. It consciously promotes a narrative of inclusion, as disability is understood as a continuum, ranging from low to high levels. Public health currently faces the challenge of responding to demographic and health shifts leading to an increase in disability in the population. The MDS provides the information needed to meet these challenges and develop targeted public health interventions.

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. i45-i46
Author(s):  
A Peletidi ◽  
R Kayyali

Abstract Introduction Obesity is one of the main cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors.(1) In primary care, pharmacists are in a unique position to offer weight management (WM) interventions. Greece is the European country with the highest number of pharmacies (84.06 pharmacies per 100,000 citizens).(2) The UK was chosen as a reference country, because of the structured public health services offered, the local knowledge and because it was considered to be the closest country to Greece geographically, unlike Australia and Canada, where there is also evidence confirming the potential role of pharmacists in WM. Aim To design and evaluate a 10-week WM programme offered by trained pharmacists in Patras. Methods This WM programme was a step ahead of other interventions worldwide as apart from the usual measuring parameters (weight, body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure (BP)) it also offered an AUDIT-C and Mediterranean diet score tests. Results In total,117 individuals participated. Of those, 97.4% (n=114), achieved the programme’s aim, losing at least 5% of their initial weight. The mean % of total weight loss (10th week) was 8.97% (SD2.65), and the t-test showed statistically significant results (P<0.001; 95% CI [8.48, 9.45]). The programme also helped participants to reduce their waist-to-height ratio, an early indicator of the CVD risk in both male (P=0.004) and female (P<0.001) participants. Additionally, it improved participants’ BP, AUDIT-C score and physical activity levels significantly (P<0.001). Conclusion The research is the first systematic effort in Greece to initiate and explore the potential role of pharmacists in public health. The successful results of this WM programme constitute a first step towards the structured incorporation of pharmacists in public’s health promotion. It proposed a model for effectively delivering public health services in Greece. This study adds to the evidence in relation to pharmacists’ CVD role in public health with outcomes that superseded other pharmacy-led WM programmes. It also provides the first evidence that Greek pharmacists have the potential to play an important role within primary healthcare and that after training they are able to provide public health services for both the public’s benefit and their clinical role enhancement. This primary evidence should support the Panhellenic Pharmaceutical Association, to “fight” for their rights for an active role in primary care. In terms of limitations, it must be noted that the participants’ collected data were recorded by pharmacists, and the analysis therefore depended on the accuracy of the recorded data, in particular on the measurements or calculations obtained. Although the sample size was achieved, it can be argued that it is small for the generalisation of findings across Greece. Therefore, the WM programme should be offered in other Greek cities to identify if similar results can be replicated, so as to consolidate the contribution of pharmacists in promoting public health. Additionally, the study was limited as it did not include a control group. Despite the limitations, our findings provide a model for a pharmacy-led public health programme revolving around WM that can be used as a model for services in the future. References 1. Mendis S, Puska P, Norrving B, World Health Organization., World Heart Federation., World Stroke Organization. Global atlas on cardiovascular disease prevention and control [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization in collaboration with the World Heart Federation and the World Stroke Organization; 2011 [cited 2018 Jun 26]. 155 p. Available from: http://www.who.int/cardiovascular_diseases/publications/atlas_cvd/en/ 2. Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union. Pharmacy with you throughout life:PGEU Annual Report [Internet]. 2015. Available from: https://www.pgeu.eu/en/library/530:annual-report-2015.html


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilfried GUETS ◽  
Deepak Kumar Behera

Abstract Background COVID-19 outbreak has been declared as an emerging and conflict situation by the World Health Organization (WHO) due to the multiple nature of infection through international spread that poses a serious threat to populations’ health and socio-economic conditions household in general. Objective This study aims to analyse the behaviour adopted by households’ heads for preventing COVID-19 infection in Mali. Methods We collected data from the COVID-19 Panel Households survey collected in Mali by the National Statistical Office, Institut National de la Statistique (INSTAT), in collaboration with the World Bank in October 2020. We used a multivariate logistic regression model. Results A total of 1,514 households heads were included. The age between 20 and 90 years old. The poor households represented 27%. Being a household with a low-income reduced the probability of using masks (p < 0.1). Being poor increased the probability to agree with vaccination (p < 0.01). The health services utilisation increased the probability of wear masks (p < 0.01), getting tested (p < 0.01), and agree with the vaccine (p < 0.01). People with a high occupation volume were more likely to wear protective masks (p < 0.1). Conclusion Behaviour and attitude prevention varied according to households characteristics. Local government and policymakers should continue to provide more economic, medical and social assistance to protect the population, which would reduce the spread of the disease, particularly to households living in vulnerable regions of the country most affected by conflict and food insecurity.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 211-230
Author(s):  
Christian McMillen

Abstract Economic development and good health depended on access to clean water and sanitation. Therefore, because economic development and good health depended on access to clean water and sanitation, beginning in the early 1970s the World Bank, the World Health Organization (WHO), and others began a period of sustained interest in developing both for the billions without either. During the 1980s, two massive and wildly ambitious projects showed what was possible. The International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade and the Blue Nile Health Project aimed for nothing less than the total overhaul of the way water was developed. This was, according to the WHO, “development in the spirit of social justice.”


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amelie Cyr ◽  
Prosanta Mondal ◽  
Gregory Hansen

Objectives: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an early and consistent international and national response is needed to control a pandemic's spread. In this analysis, we evaluate the coordination of Canada's early response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in terms of public health interventions and policies implemented in each province and territory.Methods: Retrospective data was obtained from publicly accessible websites maintained by federal, provincial and territorial governmental agencies. Consistent with WHO's spreading of the disease pandemic action, individual and community-based public health interventions and policies were the focus. Time of intervention or policy, and COVID-19 cases per million at time of intervention was recorded for each province and territory.Results: Most public health interventions and policies demonstrated wide time ranges of implementation across individual provinces and territories. At time of implementation, there were also wide variations in the number of positive COVID-19 cases in these jurisdictions. Cases per million per implemented day were also not similar across interventions or policy, suggesting that other factors may have been preferentially considered.Conclusions: Whether an earlier and more structured national approach would have lessened the pandemic's burden is uncertain, calls for greater federal coordination and leadership should to examined.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riya Dave ◽  
Rashmi Gupta

The rise of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in a digital world has expectedly called upon technologies, such as wearables and mobile devices, to work in conjunction with public health interventions to tackle the pandemic. One significant example of this integration is the deployment of proximity tracking apps on smartphones to enhance traditional contact tracing methods. Many countries have adopted proximity tracking apps; however, there is a large degree of global differentiation in the voluntariness of the apps. Further, the concept of a mandatory policy—forcing individuals to use the apps—has been met with ethical concerns (e.g., privacy and liberty). While ethical considerations surrounding deployment have been put forth, such as by the World Health Organization, ethical justifications for a mandatory policy are lacking. Here, we use the Faden–Shebaya framework, which was formed to justify public health interventions, to determine if the compulsory use of proximity tracking apps is ethically appropriate. We show that while theoretically justified, due to the current state of proximity tracking applications and societal factors, it is difficult to defend a mandatory policy in practice.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 173-191
Author(s):  
Marta Hoffmann

This article presents selected results of a research project entitled Medicalization strategies of the World Health Organization1 in which the author analyzed and described three WHO policies characterized by a medicalizing approach. These three policies were compared with each other in terms of their conceptual (narrative) and institutional (practical) levels of medicalization and their effects. In order to better understand the role of a medicalized discourse in the global activities of the WHO, these three cases were also compared to one non-medicalizing policy. The aim of this article is twofold: firstly, to present two cases analyzed as part of the project, namely, the tobacco policy (a ‘medicalized’ one) and the ageing policy (a ‘non-medicalized’ one) and secondly, to consider the possible influence of WHO discourse on tobacco and ageing on public health policies in the European Union.


Epidemics of smallpox, cholera, plague and other infectious diseases in the world in the past were accompanied by the deaths of millions of people and often threatened humanity with destruction as a biological species. Therefore, society was forced to join forces to create an organization that would provide health protection on a global scale. On April 7, 1948, 26 UN member states created the World Health Organization, the main goal of which was to help provide the protection of health of the population of all countries of the world. Purpose of the study - analysis of the historical data of the process of creating the World Health Organization, achievements for all the years of its existence, financing in last years and formation of the opinions of authors on the role of this organization in solving health problems of all humanity. Results. The article presents data on stages of the formation of the World Health Organization. Information about positive results for more than 70 years in solving reproductive health problems, maternal and child mortality, eradicating many infectious diseases in different parts of the world and other problems is detailed. Joint resolutions of the World Health Organization with the United Nations were adopted about general and complete disarmament, protection of humanity from atomic radiation, ban on the use of chemical and bacteriological weapons, defining of the role of doctors and other health workers in the preservation and strengthening of the world. Information on the World Health Organization funding is provided. The prospects for the development of the organization are described. Conclusions. The World Health Organization actively continues its work – maintains contact with international experts, governments and partners for quick collection of scientific data on a new virus, tracks its distribution and assesses its virulence, provides to countries and population recommendations on health protection measures and preventing the spread of infection. The global climatic crisis and the coronavirus infection pandemic showed that the role of the World Health Organization should increase to prevent cataclysms in some countries and globally. It is the World Health Organization that has a huge positive international experience in fighting various public health problems and it remains the only effective organization that consolidates the efforts of most countries of the world to overcome the problems of all humanity.


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