scholarly journals A morning with Louis Pasteur: a short history of the “clean hands”

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cláudio Tadeu Daniel-Ribeiro ◽  
Marli Maria Lima
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Hand Hygiene ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Short History ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health History ◽  
Public Health History ◽  
History Of

Abstract: This article examines the story of Louis Pasteur from the point of view of a classic movie presented at the Weekly Seminars of the “Oswaldo Cruz Institute”, at the end of the 2017 activities. Although very old, the movie The Story of Louis Pasteur (Warner Bros., 1936) inspired spectators and gave rise to an energetic debate that led the authors to decide for publishing the comments of the Seminar Coordinator, the guest commentator and the audience. The movie communicates to the public the legacy of one of the greatest precursors of the public health history using also fictional characters. The article presents the reliable passages in Pasteur’s biography and the fictional ones, without disrespecting the production of the creators of cinematographic work. The major merit of the movie, one of the first steps towards the policy of scientific diffusion, is to disclose the importance of vaccines and hand hygiene to prevent infectious diseases. The authors argue that the film-maker impeccably captured the scientist’s tenacity in the relentless search for discoveries and Pasteur’s idea that only persistent work can lead to rewarding results, remembering that the context created by previous researchers enabled Pasteur to establish new paradigms. Finally, the authors cite movie passages illustrating realities that are still in force: (i) the inertial resistance of science to new paradigms, illustrated by the medical-scientific community opposing to simple practices proposition, such as washing hands and boiling instruments, and (ii) the excessive confidence, and even arrogance, of some specialists, instead of serenity and humility that arise from committed study and accumulated knowledge.

scholarly journals Introduction

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Katerina Gardikas
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Medical History ◽  
Social Medicine ◽  
Social Relevance ◽  
Health History ◽  
Public Health History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Recent Trends

This collection of articles was conceived long before the outbreak and worldwide spread of Covid-19. It was intended as a review of recent trends in the writing of modern medical history in Greece thanks to the broader social relevance of public health history. While it still represents current ideas on the history of health and medicine among its Greek practitioners, it appears, nonetheless, at a time when public opinion has put the notions of public health, contagion and governance into sharp relief as societies are being overwhelmed by insecurity and a primal sensation of fear. Thus, public health and social medicine have entered the historiographical limelight.

Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Kathleen Bachynski
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Sports History ◽  
Cultural Attitudes ◽  
Health History ◽  
Public Health History ◽  
Values And Beliefs ◽  
History Of ◽  
Tackle Football ◽  
American Schools

Questions about the safety of youth tackle football, its intimate association with American schools, and its existence as a form of entertainment for adults are as old as the game itself. This book examines the history of debates over the safety of youth football—not only changing medical understandings of the sport’s health effects but also the social and cultural attitudes that shaped those understandings. With its focus on safety debates, No Game for Boys to Play provides a bridge between sports history and public health history, examines the values and beliefs animating the development of one of America’s most popular activities for boys, and considers how football’s effects on children’s bodies came to be framed as a matter of public health and well-being.

scholarly journals THE INTRODUCTION OF BIOTERRORISM IN MALAYSIA: A LEGAL APPROACH

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rohani Abdul Rahim ◽  
Nor Anita Abdullah
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
International Law ◽  
Legal History ◽  
Biological Agents ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Real Situation ◽  
The Public ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of International Law

The deliberate use of biological agents and the emergence of infectious diseases which can produce harm to human health and give effects to the public health and security are well recognised. A few years back, an attack of biological agents would be the most unthinkable situation to happen. However, the threat of bioterrorism is real and it is growing. It continues to be a major challenge today and the possibility of bioterrorism is undeniable as it is increasingly defined globally as ‘not if, but when’. Therefore, this paper attempts to give a brief explanation on the threat of bioterrorism as to the emergence of infectious diseases and the legal history of international law on bioterrorism. The main objective of this paper is to find out the need for bioterrorism law in Malaysian i.e. a legal approach. The study is a social legal research, which uses a qualitative approach. Thus, due to lack of materials and publications in Malaysia, in order to achieve the objectives, the methodology used was based on a semi structured interviews conducted with three respected experts in public health and security to explore the real situation in Malaysia. The authors found out that the finding of this study had established that an outbreak of infectious diseases can now be viewed as a threat that may result to bioterrorism if there is no preparation to handle it. Keywords: Bioterrorism, biological agents, infectious diseases, legal and preparedness

scholarly journals The choice of pseudoscientific therapies as an alternative to scientific medicine

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Sergi Cortiñas Rovira ◽  
Valentina Raffio
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health System ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Scientific Medicine ◽  
The Public ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Human Contact ◽  
Risk Patients

During the last decades, there has been an increasing interest in the analysis of a potentially dangerous phenomenon for the public health: pseudoscience. It can be defined as the set of false knowledge that attempts to resemble science even though it is not. Nowadays there are many who opt for these therapies not scientifically endorsed to solve their health problems. This situation is increased for risk patients or chronic diseases, who come to this type of therapies as a last resort. In these cases, the choice between science and pseudoscience can become a matter of life or death. Through qualitative and quantitative research techniques, we analyze the reasons why patients choose pseudoscience instead of conventional and scientific medicine. The data obtained from this research reveal that in extreme situations patients value most the human contact with the therapist that the validity of the therapy itself. This factor, coupled with the precariousness of the health system, generates a dynamic in which pseudosciences gain ground over scientific medicine. According to the experts interviewed, this phenomenon is increasing and may represent a danger to public health. This research reveals the possible causes and consequences of this phenomenon from the point of view of more than 60 professionals of the Spanish scientific community and 30 patients who have used both disciplines. The results obtained indicate that this situation is intensified due to the inaction of the competent institutions and the lack of regulation.

scholarly journals The choice of pseudoscientific therapies as an alternative to scientific medicine

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergi Cortiñas Rovira ◽  
Valentina Raffio
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health System ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Scientific Medicine ◽  
The Public ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Human Contact ◽  
Risk Patients

During the last decades, there has been an increasing interest in the analysis of a potentially dangerous phenomenon for the public health: pseudoscience. It can be defined as the set of false knowledge that attempts to resemble science even though it is not. Nowadays there are many who opt for these therapies not scientifically endorsed to solve their health problems. This situation is increased for risk patients or chronic diseases, who come to this type of therapies as a last resort. In these cases, the choice between science and pseudoscience can become a matter of life or death. Through qualitative and quantitative research techniques, we analyze the reasons why patients choose pseudoscience instead of conventional and scientific medicine. The data obtained from this research reveal that in extreme situations patients value most the human contact with the therapist that the validity of the therapy itself. This factor, coupled with the precariousness of the health system, generates a dynamic in which pseudosciences gain ground over scientific medicine. According to the experts interviewed, this phenomenon is increasing and may represent a danger to public health. This research reveals the possible causes and consequences of this phenomenon from the point of view of more than 60 professionals of the Spanish scientific community and 30 patients who have used both disciplines. The results obtained indicate that this situation is intensified due to the inaction of the competent institutions and the lack of regulation.

scholarly journals Perspectives from the History of Medicine Division of the United States National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health

2011 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 413-418
Author(s):  
Jeffrey S. Reznick
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
History Of Medicine ◽  
The United States ◽  
National Library ◽  
Surgeon General ◽  
Health History ◽  
Digital World ◽  
Public Health History ◽  
History Of

2011 marks the 175th anniversary of the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM) that traces its origins to 1836 and the commitment of the second US Army Surgeon General, Thomas Lawson (1789–1861), to purchase books and journals for active-duty medical officers. The occasion affords an opportunity to focus on the contributions of the NLM to the history of medicine and public health, and to look forward into the digital world of the twenty-first century as the NLM joins with like-minded institutions, scholars, educators, writers, students, and others to expand knowledge of medical and public health history for the advancement of scholarship across the disciplines and for the education of the general public. As more audiences become interested in medical and public health history, opportunities abound to broaden and deepen understanding of the past, present, and future of medicine and public health in order to help refine critical thinking about medicine and science, promote deeper understanding of medical and scientific concepts, and generally humanise medicine and public health by revealing the implications of disease and healthcare for individuals and communities in the United States and around the world.

Perspectives of Reforming the System of Interbudget Relations in Russia (in the Light of the International Experience)

2006 ◽  
pp. 112-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Nazarov
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
Intergovernmental Relations ◽  
International Experience ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Short History ◽  
History Of

The attempts to reconstruct the instruments of interbudget relations take place in all federations. In Russia such attempts are especially popular due to the short history of intergovernmental relations. Thus the review of the ¬international experience of managing interbudget relations to provide economic and social welfare can be useful for present-day Russia. The author develops models of intergovernmental relations from the point of view of making decisions about budget authorities’ distribution. The models that can be better applied in the Russian case are demonstrated.

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