scholarly journals Investigating the Role of International Law in Controlling Communicable Diseases

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aliasghar Kheirkhah ◽  
Manuchehr Kheirkhah ◽  
Somayeh Zabihi-Mahmoodabadi
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
International Law ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
International Health ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
World Health ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
And Control

International law globally plays a key role in the surveillance and control of communicable diseases. Throughout the nineteenth century, international law played a dominant role in harmonizing the inconsistent national quarantine regulations of European nation states; facilitating the exchange of epidemiological information on infectious diseases; establishing international health organizations; and standardization of surveillance. Today, due to changed forms of infectious diseases and individuals' lifestyles as well as individuals' proximity caused by increased air travels, communicable diseases are in an international and cross-border form. In this regard, binding regulations and inconsistent rules adopted in international multilateral institutions like the World Health Organization, World Trade Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization can be of great use in surveillance and control of communicable diseases. With the globalization of public health, international law can be used as an essential tool in monitoring global health and reducing human vulnerability and mortality.

scholarly journals Modernisation of the International Health Regulations – WHO European Region

2004 ◽  
Vol 8 (22) ◽  
Author(s):  
A Nicoll ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
International Health ◽  
World Health ◽  
European Region ◽  
International Health Regulations ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
And Control ◽  
Health Regulations

The current International Health Regulations, which were published by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1969, were originally intended to help monitor and control six serious infectious diseases.

Organization of restrictive quarantine measures to prevent especially dangerous infections

2020 ◽  
pp. 6-11
Author(s):  
Petr Ilyin
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
International Health ◽  
World Health ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Entire History ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Former Ussr ◽  
Health Regulations

Especially dangerous infections (EDIs) belong to the conditionally labelled group of infectious diseases that pose an exceptional epidemic threat. They are highly contagious, rapidly spreading and capable of affecting wide sections of the population in the shortest possible time, they are characterized by the severity of clinical symptoms and high mortality rates. At the present stage, the term "especially dangerous infections" is used only in the territory of the countries of the former USSR, all over the world this concept is defined as "infectious diseases that pose an extreme threat to public health on an international scale." Over the entire history of human development, more people have died as a result of epidemics and pandemics than in all wars combined. The list of especially dangerous infections and measures to prevent their spread were fixed in the International Health Regulations (IHR), adopted at the 22nd session of the WHO's World Health Assembly on July 26, 1969. In 1970, at the 23rd session of the WHO's Assembly, typhus and relapsing fever were excluded from the list of quarantine infections. As amended in 1981, the list included only three diseases represented by plague, cholera and anthrax. However, now annual additions of new infections endemic to different parts of the earth to this list take place. To date, the World Health Organization (WHO) has already included more than 100 diseases in the list of especially dangerous infections.

Non-Communicable Diseases and Global Health Politics

2019 ◽  
pp. 626-659
Author(s):  
Roger Magnusson
Keyword(s):  
Respiratory Diseases ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
World Health ◽  
Global Response ◽  
Non Communicable Diseases ◽  
Health Politics ◽  
Chronic Respiratory Diseases ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
High Level ◽  
And Control

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes, are responsible for around 70 percent of global deaths each year. This chapter describes how NCDs have become prevalent and critically evaluates global efforts to address NCDs and their risk factors, with a particular focus on the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations (UN) system. It explores the factors that have prevented those addressing NCDs from achieving access to resources and a priority commensurate with their impact on people’s lives. The chapter evaluates the global response to NCDs both prior to and since the UN High-Level Meeting on Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases, held in 2011, and considers opportunities for strengthening that response in future.

scholarly journals Implementation of a national electronic reporting system in Lithuania

2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
Author(s):  
M Domeika ◽  
G Kligys ◽  
O Ivanauskiene ◽  
J Mereckiene ◽  
V Bakasenas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reporting System ◽  
National Level ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
World Health ◽  
Aggregated Data ◽  
Electronic Reporting ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
And Control ◽  
Further Development

Electronic reporting systems improve the quality and timeliness of the surveillance of communicable diseases. The aim of this paper is to present the process of the implementation and introduction of an electronic reporting system for the surveillance of communicable diseases in Lithuania. The project which started in 2002 was performed in collaboration between Lithuania and Sweden and was facilitated by the parallel process of adapting the surveillance system to European Union (EU) standards. The Lotus-based software, SmittAdm, was acquired from the Department of Communicable Diseases Control and Prevention of Stockholm County in Sweden and adopted for Lithuania, resulting in the Lithuanian software, ULISAS. A major advantage of this program for Lithuania was the possibility to work offline. The project was initiated in the two largest counties in Lithuania where ULISAS had been installed and put in use by January 2005. The introduction was gradual, the national level was connected to the system during late 2005, and all remaining counties were included during 2006 and 2007. The reporting system remains to be evaluated concerning timeliness and completeness of the surveillance. Further development is needed, for example the inclusion of all physicians and laboratories and an alert system for outbreaks. The introduction of this case-based, timely electronic reporting system in Lithuania allows better reporting of data to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) compared to the former reporting system with paper-based, aggregated data.

scholarly journals Ebola and the airplane – securing mobility through regime interactions and legal adaptation

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (01) ◽  
pp. 71-89
Author(s):  
Gearóid Ó Cuinn ◽  
Stephanie Switzer
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Disease Surveillance ◽  
International Health ◽  
World Health ◽  
Civil Aviation ◽  
Health Security ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
And Function ◽  
A Site

AbstractThis article concentrates on a particular controversy during the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa; the mass cancellation of flights to and from affected countries. This occurred despite authoritative advice against such restrictions from the World Health Organization (WHO). During a public health emergency such as Ebola, the airplane sits at a site of regulatory uncertainty as it falls within the scope of two specialist and overlapping domains of international law; the WHO International Health Regulations (2005) and the Convention on International Civil Aviation. We explore how legal technicalities and objects, by promoting functional interactions between these two specialized regimes of law, were utilized to deal with this uncertainty. We show how the form and function of these mundane tools had a significant impact; assimilating aviation further into the system of global health security as well as instrumentalizing the aircraft as a tool of disease surveillance. This encounter of regimes was law creating, resulting in new international protocols and standards designed to enable the resumption of flights in and out of countries affected by outbreaks. This article therefore offers significant and original insights into the hidden work performed by legal techniques and tools in dealing with regime overlap. Our findings contribute to the wider international law literature on fragmentation and enrich our understanding of the significance of relational regime interactions in international law.

Health

2019 ◽  
pp. 338-354
Author(s):  
Allyn Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Health ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Contemporary Evolution ◽  
Public International Law ◽  
Intergovernmental Organization ◽  
Health Organization

The evolution of United Nations treaties in the domain of public health over the last two decades is one of the most significant developments in public international law. Although public health is one of the earliest fields of international legal cooperation and one of the first domains in which an intergovernmental organization was created, the scope of international legal cooperation in public health was, until recently, highly limited. This chapter provides an overview of the contribution of United Nations treaties in the evolving field of international health law. It examines the historical origins and the factors contributing to its contemporary evolution. In addition, the chapter briefly reviews the contribution of UN organizations, especially the World Health Organization, to the codification efforts in this realm.

SARS-CoV-2: The Path of Prevention and Control

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amal A. Mohamed ◽  
Nouran Mohamed ◽  
Seham Mohamoud ◽  
Fawkia E. Zahran ◽  
Rania Abdelmonem Khattab ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prevention And Control ◽  
Vaccine Development ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
World Health ◽  
Effective Vaccine ◽  
Healthy Population ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
And Control

: The 2019 coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) continues to expand worldwide. Although the number of cases and the death rate among children and adolescents are reported to be low compared to adults, limited data have been reported. We urgently need to find treatment and vaccine to stop the epidemic. Vaccine development is in progress, but any approved and effective vaccine for COVID-19 is at least 12 to 18 months. The World Health Organization (WHO), the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have issued instructions and strategies for containing COVID-19 outbreak to the general public, physicians, travelers and injured patients to follow so that the transmission to a healthy population can be prevented. In this review, we summarize demographic data, clinical characteristics, complications and outcomes and finally prevention and control of this serious pandemic.

scholarly journals Lifestyle-based health awareness using digital gadgets and online interactive platforms

2021 ◽  
pp. 295-310
Author(s):  
Iqra Khan ◽  
Salman Akhtar ◽  
Mohammad Kalim Ahmad Khan
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
International Health ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
International Travel ◽  
World Health ◽  
Smart Devices ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
Health Security ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Health Organization

With the transforming world, awareness of lifestyle-based variation is necessary. The availability of the locally available network and smart devices like wearable health devices (WHDs) based on artificial intelligence (AI) technology prompted us to learn about the disease, its causes, spreads, and precautions. Socioeconomic, environmental and behavioural factors, international travel and migration foster and increase the spread of communicable diseases. Vaccine-preventable, foodborne, zoonotic, healthcare-related and communicable diseases pose significant threats to human health and may sometimes threaten international health security. On the other hand, non-communicable diseases, also known as chronic diseases, are more prolonged. It could be the cause of different factors like genetic, environmental, behavioural or physiological disturbances. Smart wearables help to keep these diseases in check through different sensors installed in them. They can check for the difference in body function, but they can also help the needy consult the physician or practitioner. The data collected from these devices can also check the current health status when compiled with data collected practically. Organizations viz., World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) work collaboratively, leading global efforts to expand health coverage. WHO keeps the nation safe through connecting its people on the health and awareness interactive platforms, and FDA promotes public health through supervision and control, defending its role in human health and services.

scholarly journals 50 States or 50 Countries: What Did We Miss and What Do We Do Now?

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 353-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick M. Burkle ◽  
Asha V. Devereaux
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Management ◽  
International Health ◽  
The United States ◽  
Population Based ◽  
World Health ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Music Department ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
And Control

AbstractThere have been multiple inconsistencies in the manner the COVID-19 pandemic has been investigated and managed by countries. Population-based management (PBM) has been inconsistent, yet serves as a necessary first step in managing public health crises. Unfortunately, these have dominated the landscape within the United States and continue as of this writing. Political and economic influences have greatly influenced major public health management and control decisions. Responsibility for global public health crises and modeling for management are the responsibility of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Health Regulations Treaty (IHR). This review calls upon both to reassess their roles and responsibilities that must be markedly improved and better replicated world-wide in order to optimize the global public health protections and its PBM.“Ask a big enough question, and you need more than one discipline to answer it.”Liz Lerman, MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, Choreographer, Modern Dance legend, and 2011 Artist-in Residence, Harvard Music Department

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