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.

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.

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 European Patients' Rights to Be Protected Against Counterfeit Medicines

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Cristina Luiza Erimia ◽  
Rodica Sîrbu ◽  
Radu George Cazacincu ◽  
Emin Cadar ◽  
Aneta Tomescu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
General Meeting ◽  
Internal Market ◽  
World Health ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
Medicinal Products ◽  
Medical Products ◽  
Falsified Medicines ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Impact

Because the falsification of medicines is a global problem, requires increased and effective international coordination and cooperation to ensure the effectiveness of the strategies to combat counterfeiting, especially in relation to the sale of such products on the Internet. In the context of people’s health and life rank foremost among the values and interests protected by the TFEU, this article examines the evolution of the legislative process regulating the internal market for medicinal products in order to ensure a high level of protection of public health against falsified medicines and to present the legislative initiatives that have been taken at EU level taking account of new risk profiles, measures meant to ensure, at the same time, the functioning of the internal market of medicinal products. However, this article aims to address consumers’ right to have access to safe, effective, quality and innovative medicinal products as a right of the European patient. Ensuring the free movement of medicinal products on the EU market must not violate or restrict this fundamental right of thepatient.The threat that falsified medicines pose to public health is also recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO), which has established the International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce ("IMPACT").IMPACT has developed the Principles and Elements for National Legislation against Counterfeit Medical Products, which were endorsed by the IMPACT General Meeting in Lisbon on 12 December 2007.

scholarly journals European Patients' Rights to Be Protected Against Counterfeit Medicines

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Luiza Erimia ◽  
Rodica Sîrbu ◽  
Radu George Cazacincu ◽  
Emin Cadar ◽  
Aneta Tomescu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
General Meeting ◽  
Internal Market ◽  
World Health ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
Medicinal Products ◽  
Medical Products ◽  
Falsified Medicines ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Impact

Because the falsification of medicines is a global problem, requires increased and effective international coordination and cooperation to ensure the effectiveness of the strategies to combat counterfeiting, especially in relation to the sale of such products on the Internet. In the context of people’s health and life rank foremost among the values and interests protected by the TFEU, this article examines the evolution of the legislative process regulating the internal market for medicinal products in order to ensure a high level of protection of public health against falsified medicines and to present the legislative initiatives that have been taken at EU level taking account of new risk profiles, measures meant to ensure, at the same time, the functioning of the internal market of medicinal products. However, this article aims to address consumers’ right to have access to safe, effective, quality and innovative medicinal products as a right of the European patient. Ensuring the free movement of medicinal products on the EU market must not violate or restrict this fundamental right of thepatient.The threat that falsified medicines pose to public health is also recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO), which has established the International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce ("IMPACT").IMPACT has developed the Principles and Elements for National Legislation against Counterfeit Medical Products, which were endorsed by the IMPACT General Meeting in Lisbon on 12 December 2007.

The Politics of Global Tobacco Control

2019 ◽  
pp. 659-683
Author(s):  
Kelley Lee
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Tobacco Control ◽  
Tobacco Industry ◽  
Control Policy ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Issue ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Illicit Trade ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Transnational Tobacco Companies

This chapter examines the politics that has shifted tobacco control policy over the past three decades, from a long-neglected public health issue to a flagship global health issue supported by collective action by state and non-state actors. These efforts were spurred by the expansion of leading transnational tobacco companies (TTCs) into emerging markets, beginning in the 1960s, amid growing regulation and declining sales in traditional markets. By the 1990s tobacco use was steadily rising in the wake of the global expansion of the tobacco industry. The negotiation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) became the focus of intense political contestation between a powerful industry seeking to protect its commercial interests and an alarmed public health community. Since adoption of the FCTC in 2004, this political battle has shifted to its effective implementation in signatory states. This has included the eventual negotiation of the FCTC Protocol to Eliminate the Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products and continued efforts by the tobacco industry to sustain sales through a variety of political strategies.

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 Breastfeeding, first-food systems and corporate power: a case study on the market and political practices of the transnational baby food industry and public health resistance in the Philippines

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Phillip Baker ◽  
Paul Zambrano ◽  
Roger Mathisen ◽  
Maria Rosario Singh-Vergeire ◽  
Ana Epefania Escober ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Industry ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Baby Food ◽  
World Health ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Milk Formula ◽  
Political Commitment ◽  
Political Strategies ◽  
Breastfeeding Policy

Abstract Background The aggressive marketing of breastmilk substitutes (BMS) reduces breastfeeding, and harms child and maternal health globally. Yet forty years after the World Health Assembly adopted the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (The Code), many countries are still to fully implement its provisions into national law. Furthermore, despite The Code, commercial milk formula (CMF) markets have markedly expanded. In this paper, we adopt the Philippines as a case study to understand the battle for national Code implementation. In particular, we investigate the market and political strategies used by the baby food industry to shape the country’s ‘first-food system’, and in doing so, promote and sustain CMF consumption. We further investigate how breastfeeding coalitions and advocates have resisted these strategies, and generated political commitment for a world-leading breastfeeding policy framework and protection law (the ‘Milk Code’). We used a case study design and process tracing method, drawing from documentary and interview data. Results The decline in breastfeeding in the Philippines in the mid-twentieth Century associated with intensive BMS marketing via health systems and consumer advertising. As regulations tightened, the industry more aggressively promoted CMFs for older infants and young children, thereby ‘marketing around’ the Milk Code. It established front groups to implement political strategies intended to weaken the country’s breastfeeding policy framework while also fostering a favourable image. This included lobbying government officials and international organizations, emphasising its economic importance and threats to foreign investment and trade, direct litigation against the government, messaging that framed marketing in terms of women’s choice and empowerment, and forging partnerships. A resurgence in breastfeeding from the mid-1980s onwards reflected strengthening political commitment for a national breastfeeding policy framework and Milk Code, resulting in-turn, from collective actions by breastfeeding coalitions, advocates and mothers. Conclusion The Philippines illustrates the continuing battle for worldwide Code implementation, and in particular, how the baby food industry uses and adapts its market and political practices to promote and sustain CMF markets. Our results demonstrate that this industry’s political practices require much greater scrutiny. Furthermore, that mobilizing breastfeeding coalitions, advocacy groups and mothers is crucial to continually strengthen and protect national breastfeeding policy frameworks and Code implementation.

scholarly journals European Patients' Rights to Be Protected Against Counterfeit Medicines

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 34
Author(s):  
Cristina Luiza Erimia ◽  
Rodica Sîrbu ◽  
Radu George Cazacincu ◽  
Emin Cadar ◽  
Aneta Tomescu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
General Meeting ◽  
Internal Market ◽  
World Health ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
Medicinal Products ◽  
Medical Products ◽  
Falsified Medicines ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Impact

Because the falsification of medicines is a global problem, requires increased and effective international coordination and cooperation to ensure the effectiveness of the strategies to combat counterfeiting, especially in relation to the sale of such products on the Internet. In the context of people’s health and life rank foremost among the values and interests protected by the TFEU, this article examines the evolution of the legislative process regulating the internal market for medicinal products in order to ensure a high level of protection of public health against falsified medicines and to present the legislative initiatives that have been taken at EU level taking account of new risk profiles, measures meant to ensure, at the same time, the functioning of the internal market of medicinal products. However, this article aims to address consumers’ right to have access to safe, effective, quality and innovative medicinal products as a right of the European patient. Ensuring the free movement of medicinal products on the EU market must not violate or restrict this fundamental right of thepatient.The threat that falsified medicines pose to public health is also recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO), which has established the International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce ("IMPACT").IMPACT has developed the Principles and Elements for National Legislation against Counterfeit Medical Products, which were endorsed by the IMPACT General Meeting in Lisbon on 12 December 2007.

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.

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