scholarly journals On the Interrelationship Between Global and Public Health and a Healthy Environment: A Discussion with Professor Linda Selvey

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 13-16
Author(s):  
Maximilian Andreas Storz ◽  
Eric P Heymann
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Santé Publique ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Associate Professor ◽  
World Health ◽  
Healthy Environment ◽  
Health Physician ◽  
Environmental Campaigns ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Sante Publique

ABSTRACTDr. Linda Selvey is currently associate professor in the School of Public Health at Curtin University in Perth, Australia. She is not only a renowned Public Health physician but also has a PhD in Immunology. Her remarkable career includes projects and campaigns around the globe, encompassing countries such as Australia, Nepal, India, the Philippines and Liberia [1,2]. More recently, she was involved in the response to the Ebola epidemic and worked for the World Health Organization as a Field Coordinator for the Montserrado County in Liberia [3].In the early 1980s she became an active environmentalist and is particularly passionate about climate change and its health implica­tions. She has been involved in many environmental campaigns and between 2009 and 2011 she was CEO of Greenpeace Australia Pa­cific. Based on her huge experience in both global (and public) health and medicine, she often emphasizes on the strong links between environmentalism and health advocacy. These are going to be discussed in the interview below, including useful advice for medical students interested in global and public health.RÉSUMÉDre Linda Selvey travaille actuellement comme professeure agrégée au sein de l’École de santé publique de l’Université Curtin à Perth, en Australie. Détentrice d’un doctorat en immunologie, son travail en santé publique se distingue par de nombreux projets interna­tionaux l’ayant menée dans divers pays, y compris l’Australie, le Népal, l’Inde et les Philippines. Elle a également récemment participé aux efforts de contrôle et d’éradication de l’Ebola au Liberia en tant que coordinatrice sur le terrain pour l’Organisation mondiale de la Santé [1-3].Depuis les années 1980, Dre Selvey a une passion pour le changement climatique et ses effets parfois délétères sur l’homme et la santé publique. Cet intérêt s’est traduit entre autres par plusieurs campagnes pour l’environnement, allant jusqu’à siéger comme PDG de Greenpeace pour la région Australie Pacifique. S’établissant sur de longues années d’expérience, Dre Selvey préconise aujourd’hui une surveillance étroite entre la santé publique et l’environnement. C’est avec cela en tête que nous nous sommes entretenues avec Dre Selvey. Cet entretien comprend entre autres des recommandations pour les étudiants en médecine qui s’intéressent à la santé publique.

scholarly journals COVID-19 and the rise of social activism in Southeast Asia: a public health concern

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff Clyde G Corpuz
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Social Activism ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Health Organization

Abstract The current public health crisis has radically altered the social and civic involvement in Southeast Asia. Although the virus has shifted the landscape of engagement, it has not dampened the enthusiasm of the public. In 2020–2021, more people than ever seem to be paying attention and even getting involved in activism. Many dramatic events happened during the coronavirus crisis such as from protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, public activism around the environment, economic inequality, authoritarianism and human rights violations. In Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and just recently Myanmar. The journal has lately published about the ‘Relationship of George Floyd protests to increases in COVID-19 cases using event study methodology’ and it has rightly expressed that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-recommended social distancing guidelines must be followed in a protest situation. In response to the situation of social activism in Southeast Asia, one must follow the CDC-recommended and World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines in the Region. Although protesting is an individual human right, one must also be cautious and be aware of the deadly virus since we are still in a pandemic and the COVID-19 virus continues to mutate.

scholarly journals Interference in public health policy

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabrina Granheim Ionata ◽  
Katrin Engelhardt ◽  
Patti Rundall ◽  
Stella Bialous ◽  
Alessandro Iellamo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Tobacco Industry ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Baby Food ◽  
World Health ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
Published Evidence ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Front Groups

Despite countries’ commitments to improve nutrition, starting with the protection of breastfeeding, aggressive marketing of breastmilk substitutes continues to promote their indiscriminate use. The baby food industry appears to use similar interference tactics as the tobacco industry to influence public health, promote their products and expand their markets. Learning from the tobacco experience, this paper assesses whether the baby food industry uses any of the six tobacco industry interference tactics recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and summarizes examples of documented evidence. We conclude that the baby food industry uses all six tactics: (1) manoeuvring to hijack the political and legislative process; (2) exaggerating economic importance of the industry; (3) manipulating public opinion to gain appearance of respectability; (4) fabricating support through front groups; (5) discrediting proven science; and (6) intimidating governments with litigation. There is abundant anecdotal evidence. Published evidence is limited and varies by tactic. Examples of interference are provided for the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Turkey, Ecuador, Hong Kong, Mexico and the United Kingdom, and most for Tactic 3. Interference in public health policies shows commonalities between the two industries. The tobacco control movement offers a useful framework for classifying and addressing interference with public policy by the baby food industry. Revealing the depth and extent of interference used by the baby food industry is critical if countries are to counter interference and implement commitments to improve nutrition.

scholarly journals Risk assessment of Ebola Reston virus in humans in the Philippines

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Johnette Agpoon Peñas ◽  
Mary Elizabeth Miranda ◽  
Vikki Carr de los Reyes ◽  
Rio Magpantay ◽  
Ma. Nemia Sucaldito
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Risk Assessment ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
World Health ◽  
The One ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Control And Management ◽  
Potential Pathogenicity ◽  
And Control ◽  
Reston Virus

Objective: There have been five documented outbreaks of Ebola Reston virus (RESTV) in animals epidemiologically linked to the Philippines. This assessment was conducted to determine the risk of RESTV occurring in humans in the Philippines and its potential pathogenicity in humans. Methods: The World Health Organization Rapid Risk Assessment of Acute Public Health Events Manual was used for the assessment. A literature review was done and a risk assessment matrix was used for the risk characterization of the outbreaks in the Philippines. The risk assessment was conducted by the Philippines Field Epidemiology Training Program. Results: The risk of RESTV occurring in humans in the Philippines and its potential pathogenicity in humans were both assessed as moderate. Animals involved in RESTV outbreaks in the Philippines were non-human primates and domestic pigs. The presence of RESTV in pigs poses a possibility of genetic evolution of the virus. Although RESTV has been identified in humans, there was no death or illness attributed to the infection. The Philippines Inter-agency Committee on Zoonoses oversees collaboration between the animal and human health sectors for the prevention and control of zoonoses. However, there is no surveillance of risk animals or previously affected farms to monitor and facilitate early identification of cases. Discussion: The moderate risk of RESTV recurring among humans in the Philippines and its potential pathogenicity in humans reinforces the need for early detection, surveillance and continued studies of RESTV pathogenesis and its health consequences. The One Health approach, with the involvement and coordination of public health, veterinary services and the community, is essential in the detection, control and management of zoonosis.

Should Public Health and Policy Communities Interact With the Food Industry? It Depends on Context Comment on "Towards Preventing and Managing Conflict of Interest in Nutrition Policy? An Analysis of Submissions to a Consultation on a Draft WHO Tool"

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Cullerton ◽  
Jean Adams ◽  
Martin White
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Conflict Of Interest ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Nutrition Policy ◽  
World Health ◽  
Business Goals ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Intractable Problem ◽  
Policy Communities

The issue of public health and policy communities engaging with food sector companies has long caused tension and debate. Ralston and colleagues’ article ‘Towards Preventing and Managing Conflict of Interest in Nutrition Policy? An Analysis of Submissions to a Consultation on a Draft WHO Tool’ further examines this issue. They found widespread food industry opposition, not just to the details of the World Health Organization (WHO) tool, but to the very idea of it. In this commentary we reflect on this finding and the arguments for and against interacting with the food industry during different stages of the policy process. While involving the food industry in certain aspects of the policy process without favouring their business goals may seem like an intractable problem, we believe there are opportunities for progress that do not compromise our values as public health professionals. We suggest three key steps to making progress.

COVID-19: A comparative study of SARS, MERS and COVID-19

Coronaviruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 01 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chandra Mohan ◽  
Vinod Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Central China ◽  
World Health ◽  
Unknown Aetiology ◽  
Economic Sectors ◽  
Past Life ◽  
Current Article ◽  
Disease Spreading ◽  
Health Organization

: World Health Organization (WHO) office in China received the information of pneumonia cases of unknown aetiology from Wuhan, central China on 31st December 2019, subsequently this disease spreading in china and rest of world. Till the March 2020 end, more than 2 lakhs confirmed cases with more than 70000 deaths were reported worldwide, very soon researchers identified it as novel beta Corona virus (virus SARS-CoV-2) and its infection coined as COVID-19. Health ministries of various countries and WHO together fighting to this health emergency, which not only affects public health, but also started affecting various economic sectors as well. The main aim of the current article is to explore the various pandemic situations (SARS, MERS) in past, life cycle of COVID-19, diagnosis procedures, prevention and comparative analysis of COVID-19 with other epidemic situations.

scholarly journals Evaluation of the first pharmacy-led weight management programme in Greece

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. i45-i46
Author(s):  
A Peletidi ◽  
R Kayyali
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Annual Report ◽  
World Health ◽  
Public Health Services ◽  
Cvd Risk ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

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

A Framework Convention on Alcohol Control: Getting Concrete about Its Contents

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Robin ROOM ◽  
Jenny CISNEROS ÖRNBERG
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
World Health ◽  
Alcohol Industry ◽  
Alcohol Control ◽  
The World ◽  
Draft Convention ◽  
History Of ◽  
Supplementary Material ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Narcotic Drugs

This article proposes and discusses the text of a Framework Convention on Alcohol Control, which would serve public health and welfare interests. The history of alcohol’s omission from current drug treaties is briefly discussed. The paper spells out what should be covered in the treaty, using text adapted primarily from the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, but for the control of trade from the 1961 narcotic drugs treaty. While the draft provides for the treaty to be negotiated under the auspices of the World Health Organization, other auspices are possible. Excluding alcohol industry interests from the negotiation of the treaty is noted as an important precondition. The articles in the draft treaty and their purposes are briefly described, and the divergences from the tobacco treaty are described and justified. The text of the draft treaty is provided as Supplementary Material. Specification of concrete provisions in a draft convention points the way towards more effective global actions and agreements on alcohol control, whatever form they take.

scholarly journals Public Health Considerations for PM10 in a High-Pollution Megacity: Influences of Atmospheric Condition and Land Coverage

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 118
Author(s):  
Carlos Zafra ◽  
Joaquín Suárez ◽  
Jorge E. Pachón
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mixing Layer ◽  
Atmospheric Condition ◽  
World Health ◽  
Measuring Devices ◽  
Reference Limits ◽  
High Pollution ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Daily Pm10 ◽  
Research Period

This paper analyzes the PM10 concentrations and influences of atmospheric condition (AC) and land coverage (LC) on a high-pollution megacity (Bogota, Colombia) from a public health viewpoint. Information of monitoring stations equipped with measuring devices for PM10/temperature/solar-radiation/wind-speed were used. The research period lasted eight years (2007–2014). AC and LC were determined after comparing daily PM10 concentrations (DPM10) to reference limits published by the World Health Organization (WHO). ARIMA models for DPM10 were also developed. The results indicated that urban sectors with lower atmospheric instability (AI) had a 2.85% increase in daily mortality (DM) in relation to sectors with greater AI. In these sectors of lower AI, impervious LC predominated, instead of vegetated LC. An ARIMA analysis revealed that a greater extent of impervious LC around a station led to a greater effect on previous days’ DPM10 concentrations. Extreme PM10 episodes persisted for up to two days. Extreme pollution episodes were probably also preceded by low mixing-layer heights (between 722–1085 m). The findings showed a 13.0% increase in WHO standard excesses (PE) for each 10 µg/m3 increase in DPM10, and a 0.313% increase in DM for each 10% increase in PE. The observed average reduction of 14.8% in DPM10 (−0.79% in DM) was probably due to 40% restriction of the traffic at peak hours.

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