scholarly journals Social egg freezing under public health perspective: Just a medical reality or a women’s right? An ethical case analysis

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Borovecki ◽  
Pamela Tozzo ◽  
Nicoletta Cerri ◽  
Luciana Caenazzo
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Reproductive Age ◽  
Public Healthcare ◽  
Proper Solution ◽  
Public Health Perspective ◽  
Age Related ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Egg Freezing ◽  
Social Egg Freezing

In recent years, a social trend toward delaying childbearing has been observed in women of reproductive age. A novel technomedical innovation was commercialized for non-medical reasons to healthy, ostensibly fertile women, who wished to postpone motherhood for various reasons such as educational or career demands, or because they had not yet found a partner. As a consequence, these women may be affected by age-related infertility when they decide to conceive, and fertility preservation techniques can be obtained through the so-called social egg freezing. This paper examines, from an ethical point of view, the impact of social egg freezing under some aspects that can involve policy making and resources allocation in public health. Due to the increasing demand for this procedure, some debated issues regard if it is reasonable to include social egg freezing in Public Healthcare System and consequently how to manage the storage of cryopreserved oocytes also from individual donors, how to support these egg banks and how to face, in the future, with the possibility that egg freezing will play a role in enabling childbearing for gays, lesbians, and unmarried persons. Social freezing may be advertised to harmonise gender differences, but we wonder if it is the proper solution to the problem or if it could also create further challenges. An ethical argumentation on these topics should address some questions that will be discussed.

scholarly journals In fear of a reversal back to the spirits-drinking era — the 2004 decrease of Finnish alcohol taxes in public discourse

2012 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matilda Hellman ◽  
Thomas Karlsson
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Alcohol Policy ◽  
Alcoholic Beverages ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Drinking Patterns ◽  
Policy Debate ◽  
Public Health Perspective ◽  
Total Consumption

Aims The study investigates how the dissimilar tax reductions for different alcoholic beverages (spirits, wine and beer) were debated during the large tax decrease on alcoholic beverages in Finland in 2004. Design and Data The material comprises parliamentary proceedings and discussions, as well as daily press items (=105) from 2003–2004. Content analyses, both quantitative and qualitative, were performed. Results The parliament's discussion on the unequal treatment of different beverage types concerned mostly the overall framing of a public health perspective, differencing between consumption of “spirits” and “non-spirits”. The mass media framed the question mostly from the industry's point of view. Neither a clear support of the total consumption model (excluding specification of beverage sort), nor a strong liberalisation model for alcohol policy were expressed in the materials. Varying stances were merely motivated within a paradigm of “changing drinking patterns”. Conclusions The differing treatment of different beverage types, especially the large reductions in spirits taxes, was crystallised as the fundamental public health concern surrounding the decision to lower alcohol taxes. In the end of the article the authors ask whether the lack of clear stances other than the drinking pattern framing could imply that the Finnish alcohol policy debate has become more heterogeneous, neutralised or resigned in its basic nature.

scholarly journals Dementia Research in the Caribbean Hispanic Islands: Present Findings and Future Trends

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daisy Acosta ◽  
Jorge J. Llibre-Guerra ◽  
Ivonne Z. Jiménez-Velázquez ◽  
Juan J. Llibre-Rodríguez
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Research Strategies ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Regional Strategies ◽  
Demographic Aging ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
The Impact

During the last decade, the Caribbean Hispanic islands experienced accelerated demographic aging, representing the fastest aging region within Latin America. Age-related non-communicable diseases, including dementia, are now reported at high prevalence. The Caribbean islands share similar genetic ancestry, culture, migration patterns, and risk profiles, providing a unique setting to understand dementia in the Caribbean-Hispanics. This perspective article aimed to describe the impact of dementia in the Caribbean, at a local and regional level and reflect on research strategies to address dementia. We report on 10/66 project findings, described research projects and regional plans for the region. According to our results, the prevalence of dementia in the Caribbean is the highest in Latin America, with 11.7% in Dominican Republic, 11.6% in Puerto Rico, and 10.8% in Cuba. Preliminary data from new waves of the 10/66 study shows increasing numbers of dementia cases. Furthermore, dementia is expected to be one of the most serious medical and social issues confronted by Caribbean health systems. However, there is a scarcity of knowledge, awareness, and health services to deal with this public health crisis. In light of the new evidence, local and regional strategies are underway to better understand dementia trends for the region and develop policies aimed to decrease the impact of dementia. Implementation of our national plans is critical to deal with an aging population with high dementia rates. Current recommendations include emphasizing public health prevention campaigns to address modifiable risk factors and expand support to caregiver and family interventions.

Starting anew after the COVID-19 Emergency

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 11-22
Author(s):  
Gaël Giraud
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Significant Part ◽  
Public Health Perspective ◽  
Public Resources ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Developed World

At the cost of unprecedented suffering to a significant part of our populations, we now realize in many developed world countries, from a health point of view, we do not have adequate infrastructure and public resources for this era and this crisis. How can we address these challenges in the 21st century from a public health perspective? This is what many countries have had to accept and implement in a few weeks in the face of a pandemic that, as we write, promises to rage across the planet in recurring waves of contamination and mutations of the virus. Let us see how and why.

scholarly journals Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Implications of Coronavirus Disease 2019: An Evolving Case Study in the Crescent City

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (13) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander C. Razavi ◽  
Tanika N. Kelly ◽  
Jiang He ◽  
Camilo Fernandez ◽  
Paul K. Whelton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Cardiovascular Health ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
Noncommunicable Diseases ◽  
Lifestyle Behaviors ◽  
Public Health Perspective ◽  
Access To Health ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Medicine and public health have traditionally separated the prevention and treatment of communicable and noncommunicable diseases. The coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID ‐19) pandemic has challenged this paradigm, particularly in the setting of cardiovascular disease ( CVD ). Overall, individuals with underlying CVD who acquire severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 experience up to a 10‐fold higher case‐fatality rate compared with the general population. Although the impact of the pandemic on cardiovascular health continues to evolve, few have defined this association from a frontline, public health perspective of populations disproportionately affected by CVD and COVID ‐19. Louisiana is ranked within the bottom 5 states for cardiovascular health, and it is home to several parishes that have experienced among the highest COVID ‐19 case‐fatality rates nationally. Herein, we review CVD prevention and implications of COVID ‐19 in New Orleans, LA, a city holding a sobering yet resilient history with previous public health disasters. In particular, we discuss potential pandemic‐driven changes in access to health care, preventive pharmacotherapy, and lifestyle behaviors, all of which may adversely affect CVD prevention and management, while amplifying racial disparities. Through this process, we highlight proposed recommendations for how CVD prevention efforts can be improved in the midst of the current COVID ‐19 pandemic and future public health crises.

scholarly journals Age-Related Differences in Experiences With Social Distancing at the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Computational and Content Analytic Investigation of Natural Language From a Social Media Survey (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan C Moore ◽  
Angela Y Lee ◽  
Jeffrey T Hancock ◽  
Meghan C Halley ◽  
Eleni Linos
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Prevention Measures ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Aged People ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Health Related ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Health Guidance

BACKGROUND As COVID-19 poses different levels of threat to people of different ages, health communication regarding prevention measures such as social distancing and isolation may be strengthened by understanding the unique experiences of various age groups. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to examine how people of different ages (1) experienced the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and (2) their respective rates and reasons for compliance or noncompliance with social distancing and isolation health guidance. METHODS We fielded a survey on social media early in the pandemic to examine the emotional impact of COVID-19 and individuals’ rates and reasons for noncompliance with public health guidance, using computational and content analytic methods of linguistic analysis. RESULTS A total of 17,287 participants were surveyed. The majority (n=13,183, 76.3%) were from the United States. Younger (18-31 years), middle-aged (32-44 years and 45-64 years), and older (≥65 years) individuals significantly varied in how they described the impact of COVID-19 on their lives, including their emotional experience, self-focused attention, and topical concerns. Younger individuals were more emotionally negative and self-focused, while middle-aged people were other-focused and concerned with family. The oldest and most at-risk group was most concerned with health-related terms but were lower in anxiety (use of fewer anxiety-related terms) and higher in the use of emotionally positive terms than the other less at-risk age groups. While all groups discussed topics such as acquiring essential supplies, they differentially experienced the impact of school closures and limited social interactions. We also found relatively high rates of noncompliance with COVID-19 prevention measures, such as social distancing and self-isolation, with younger people being more likely to be noncompliant than older people (<i>P</i>&lt;.001). Among the 43.1% (n=7456) of respondents who did not fully comply with health orders, people differed substantially in the reasons they gave for noncompliance. The most common reason for noncompliance was not being able to afford to miss work (n=4273, 57.3%). While work obligations proved challenging for participants across ages, younger people struggled more to find adequate space to self-isolate and manage their mental and physical health; middle-aged people had more concerns regarding childcare; and older people perceived themselves as being able to take sufficient precautions. CONCLUSIONS Analysis of natural language can provide insight into rapidly developing public health challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic, uncovering individual differences in emotional experiences and health-related behaviors. In this case, our analyses revealed significant differences between different age groups in feelings about and responses to public health orders aimed to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. To improve public compliance with health orders as the pandemic continues, health communication strategies could be made more effective by being tailored to these age-related differences.

scholarly journals Causal impact of social care, public health and healthcare expenditure on mortality in England: cross-sectional evidence for 2013/2014

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. e046417
Author(s):  
Stephen Martin ◽  
Francesco Longo ◽  
James Lomas ◽  
Karl Claxton
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Healthcare Expenditure ◽  
Least Squares Method ◽  
Total Mortality ◽  
Public Healthcare ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
Spending Growth ◽  
The Impact

ObjectivesThe first objective is to estimate the joint impact of social care, public health and healthcare expenditure on mortality in England. The second objective is to use these results to estimate the impact of spending constraints in 2010/2011–2014/2015 on total mortality.MethodsThe impact of social care, healthcare and public health expenditure on mortality is analysed by applying the two-stage least squares method to local authority data for 2013/2014. Next, we compare the growth in healthcare and social care expenditure pre-2010 and post-2010. We use the difference between these growth rates and the responsiveness of mortality to changes in expenditure taken from the 2013/2014 cross-sectional analysis to estimate the additional mortality generated by post-2010 spending constraints.ResultsOur most conservative results suggest that (1) a 1% increase in healthcare expenditure reduces mortality by 0.532%; (2) a 1% increase in social care expenditure reduces mortality by 0.336%; and (3) a 1% increase in local public health spending reduces mortality by 0.019%. Using the first two of these elasticities and data on the change in spending growth between 2001/2002–2009/2010 and 2010/2011–2014/2015, we find that there were 57 550 (CI 3075 to 111 955) more deaths in the latter period than would have been observed had spending growth during this period matched that in 2001/2002–2009/2010.ConclusionsAll three forms of public healthcare-related expenditure save lives and there is evidence that additional social care expenditure is more than twice as productive as additional healthcare expenditure. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that the slowdown in the rate of improvement in life expectancy in England and Wales since 2010 is attributable to spending constraints in the healthcare and social care sectors.

Police Violence and Public Health

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan E. DeVylder ◽  
Deidre M. Anglin ◽  
Lisa Bowleg ◽  
Lisa Fedina ◽  
Bruce G. Link
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Premature Mortality ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Structural Racism ◽  
Public Health Perspective ◽  
Police Violence ◽  
True Solution ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Impact

Despite their enormous potential impact on population health and health inequities, police violence and use of excessive force have only recently been addressed from a public health perspective. Moving to change this state of affairs, this article considers police violence in the USA within a social determinants and health disparities framework, highlighting recent literature linking this exposure to mental health symptoms, physical health conditions, and premature mortality. The review demonstrates that police violence is common in the USA; is disproportionately directed toward Black, Latinx, and other marginalized communities; and exerts a significant and adverse effect on a broad range of health outcomes. The state-sponsored nature of police violence, its embedding within a historical and contemporary context of structural racism, and the unique circumstances of the exposure itself make it an especially salient and impactful form of violence exposure, both overlapping with and distinct from other forms of violence. We conclude by noting potential solutions that clinicaly psychology and allied fields may offer to alleviate the impact of police violence, while simultaneously recognizing that a true solution to this issue requires a drastic reformation or replacement of the criminal justice system, as well as addressing the broader context of structural and systemic racism in the USA. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, Volume 18 is May 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

The agricultural use of municipal sewage

1984 ◽  
Vol 62 (8) ◽  
pp. 1049-1055 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald L. Hamilton ◽  
Ronald P. Brockman ◽  
J. E. Knipfel
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Waste Utilization ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Municipal Sewage ◽  
Health Concerns ◽  
The Public ◽  
Ecological Influence ◽  
Agricultural Use ◽  
The Impact

The reuse of municipal sewage for agricultural purposes is becoming more prevalent. The literature concerning the impact of this practice is reviewed. It is readily apparent that agricultural reuse of municipal sewage is prefereable to other common methods of disposal both from the point of view of ecological influence and economical waste utilization. There is a need to establish guidelines for the agricultural use of municipal sewage which will serve the variable conditions found in Canada and meet the public health concerns associated with an extensive agricultural use.

scholarly journals On Ice: The impact of vitrification on the use of eggs in fertility treatment

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 713-717
Author(s):  
Kylie Baldwin ◽  
Douglas Gray ◽  
Nicky Hudson
Keyword(s):  
Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Clinical Pregnancy ◽  
Fertility Treatment ◽  
Egg Donation ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Clinical Pregnancy Rates ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Egg Freezing ◽  
Social Egg Freezing

The possibility to freeze sperm and embryos has long been available to men and women facing infertility as a result of an illness or medical treatment. However, the ability to successfully cryopreserve human eggs is comparatively recent. The introduction and increasing use of egg vitrification from the mid-2000s onwards, alongside the use of intracytoplasmic sperm injection, has seen improved ongoing clinical pregnancy rates compared with slow freezing methods. Despite concerns, the technology has been widely embraced by the scientific community and in recent years has been applied in a greater variety of contexts. In this short perspective paper, we consider two specific applications for the vitrification of human eggs in routine assisted reproduction practice: social egg freezing and the use of frozen eggs in egg donation. We suggest that vitrification is transforming the reproductive landscape in novel and complex ways and that we must be alert to the challenges, complexities and ethics of such developments, especially for those who may be excluded or marginalised by these techniques.

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