Dutch public health policy during the COVID-19 pandemic of the first half of 2020. Answers to questions on public health activities January–June 2020

The authorities’ first responses were the classification of COVID-19 as Group A-disease in the sense of the Law on Public Health, scaling up of regular crisis control structures, installation of an Outbreak Management Team OMT and a “National Operational Team-Corona”. COVID-surveillance is done by the RIVM (National Public Health Institute), and is based on data from Municipal Public Health Services (GGDs) supplemented with additional (inter)national sources. The OMT is the main advisory body regarding preventive measures and includes experts from relevant medical specialisms. Organisations of medical professionals gave separate advices. Sanctions to preventive measures can be fines and closure of accommodations. Initially, 80% of the population trusted the government’s messages and “intelligent lockdown” strategy. The Prime Minister’s addresses to the people were highly appreciated. However, at slow-down of the outbreak (May-June) society’s trust crumbled (“quarantine-fatigue”). The initial testing policy was very restricted and contrary to WHO’s adagium “Test, test, test!”. In June the Minister of Health announced that a capacity of 30.000 tests per day was achieved, to be scaled up to 70.000. The crises management’s primary concern was to increase the (ICU-)bed capacity and was achieved by transforming regular wards into COVID-care, setting-up external “Corona-wards” in hotels, and regional, interregional and crossborder spreading of COVID-patients. This focus on ICU-bed capacity was criticized, as half of the death cases and extreme equipment shortages occurred in other sectors (nursing homes, homecare, homes for the elderly, psychiatry, mental handicaps). Transformation of hospital wards also led to waiting lists for non-COVID care. End of June the government presented a step-by-step easing of the lockdown in which a fine-tuned epidemiological surveillance dashboard and the continuation of economical support for the economic sector are the backbones.

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PENERAPAN CLUSTERING PADA PENDUDUK YANG MEMPUNYAI KELUHAN KESEHATAN DENGAN DATAMINING K-MEANS

KOMIK (Konferensi Nasional Teknologi Informasi dan Komputer) ◽

10.30865/komik.v2i1.929 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Nurul Rofiqo ◽

Agus Perdana Windarto ◽

Dedy Hartama

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Data Mining ◽

Population Level ◽

Research Data ◽

Health Complaints ◽

Public Health Services ◽

National Statistics ◽

Central Java ◽

Indonesian Population ◽

The Government

This study aims to utilize Clushtering Algorithm in grouping the number of people who have health complaints with the K-means algorithm in Indonesia. The source of this research data was collected based on the documents of the provincial population which had health complaints produced by the National Statistics Agency. The data used in this study are data from 2013-2017 consisting of 34 provinces. The method used in this research is K-means Algorithm. Data will be processed by clushtering in 3 clushter, namely clusther high health complaints, clusther moderate and low health complaints. Centroid data for high population level clusters 37.48, Centroid data for moderate population level clusters 27.08, and Centroid data for low population level clusters 14.89. So that obtained an assessment based on the population index that has health complaints with 7 provinces of high health complaints, namely Central Java, Yogyakarta, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, South Kalimantan, Gorontalo, 18 provinces of moderate health complaints, and 9 other provinces including low health complaints. This can be an input to the government to give more attention to residents in each region who have high health complaints through improving public health services so that the Indonesian population becomes healthier without health complaints.Keywords: data mining, health complaints, clustering, K-means, Indonesian residents

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Membangun Komunikasi dalam Sinergi Pelayanan Kesehatan di Kabupaten Bandung

KOMUNIKA Jurnal Dakwah dan Komunikasi ◽

10.24090/komunika.v14i1.3033 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 17-28

Author(s):

Ditha Prasanti ◽

Ikhsan Fuady ◽

Sri Seti Indriani

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Health Service ◽

Health Services ◽

Active Role ◽

Communication Process ◽

Public Health Services ◽

District Health ◽

The Government ◽

The One ◽

The Village

The "one data" policy driven by the government through the Ministry of Health is believed to be able to innovate and give a new face to health services. Of course, the improvement of health services starts from the smallest and lowest layers, namely Polindes. Starting from this policy and the finding of relatively low public health service problems, the authors see a health service in Polindes, which contributes positively to improving the quality of public health services. The health service is the author's view of the communication perspective through the study of Communication in the Synergy of Public Health Services Polindes (Village Maternity Post) in Tarumajaya Village, Kertasari District, Bandung Regency. The method used in this research is a case study. The results of the study revealed that public health services in Polindes are inseparable from the communication process that exists in the village. The verbal communication process includes positive synergy between the communicator and the communicant. In this case, the communicators are village midwives, village officials, namely the village head and his staff, the sub-district health center, and the active role of the village cadres involved. In contrast, the communicant that was targeted was the community in the village of Tarumajaya. This positive synergy results in a marked increase in public services, namely by providing new facilities in the village, RTK (Birth Waiting Home). Kebijakan “one data” yang dimotori oleh pemerintah melalui Kementerian kesehatan diyakini mampu membuat inovasi dan memberikan wajah baru terhadap layanan kesehatan. Tentunya, perbaikan layanan kesehatan tersebut dimulai dari lapisan terkecil dan terbawah yakni Polindes. Berawal dari kebijakan tersebut dan masih ditemukannya masalah pelayanan kesehatan publik yang relatif rendah, penulis melihat sebuah layanan kesehatan di Polindes, yang memberikan kontribusi positif dalam peningkatan kualitas layanan kesehatan masyarakat. Pelayanan kesahatan tersebut penulis lihat dari perpektif komunikasi melaui penelitian Komunikasi dalam Sinergi Pelayanan Kesehatan Publik Polindes (Pos Bersalin Desa) di Desa Tarumajaya, Kecamatan Kertasari, Kabupaten Bandung ini dilakukan. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah studi kasus. Hasil penelitian mengungkapkan bahwa pelayanan kesehatan publik di Polindes, tidak terlepas dari adanya proses komunikasi yang terjalin di desa tersebut. Proses komunikasi verbal tersebut meliputi sinergitas positif antara pihak komunikator dan komunikan. Dalam hal ini, komunikator tersebut adalah Bidan Desa, Aparat Desa yakni Kepala Desa beserta staffnya, Puskesmas tingkat kecamatan, serta peran aktif dari para kader desa yang terlibat. Sedangkan komunikan yang menjadi target adalah masyarakat di desa Tarumajaya. Sinergitas positif tersebut menghasilkan peningkatan pelayanan publik yang nyata, yaitu dengan adanya penyediaan fasilitas baru di desa, RTK (Rumah Tunggu Kelahiran).

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Politics Matters

Research Anthology on Public Health Services, Policies, and Education ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-8960-1.ch025 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 565-575

Author(s):

Raymond K. H. Chan

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Health Services ◽

Health Financing ◽

User Fees ◽

Alternative Methods ◽

Public Health Services ◽

Health Finance ◽

Rational Planning ◽

The Government ◽

Welfare Politics

Hong Kong's public health services gradually developed since the 1950s. They are mainly funded by taxes, supplemented by minimal user fees. In the late 1980s, the government recognized the limitations of this financing model and has subsequently proposed alternative methods of funding. Their proposals have been rejected by various stakeholders, who represent different, and even conflicting, values and interests; and eventually can only end up with a limited voluntary health insurance scheme. This chapter describes the development of health services and the debates that have surrounded health financing since the late 1980s. It shows that the health finance debate in Hong Kong is not a simple issue that can be tackled by rational planning; instead, it is a complex consequence of welfare politics in an increasingly mobilized society.

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Politics Matters

Advances in Religious and Cultural Studies - Recent Social, Environmental, and Cultural Issues in East Asian Societies ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-1807-6.ch011 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 188-198

Author(s):

Raymond K. H. Chan

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Health Services ◽

Health Financing ◽

User Fees ◽

Alternative Methods ◽

Public Health Services ◽

Health Finance ◽

Rational Planning ◽

The Government ◽

Welfare Politics

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Private Healthcare Expenditure in China: A Regional Comparative Analysis

Healthcare ◽

10.3390/healthcare9101374 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (10) ◽

pp. 1374

Author(s):

Shangguang Yang ◽

Danyang Wang ◽

Lu Xu ◽

Chunlan Wang ◽

Xi Yang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Healthcare Expenditure ◽

The Elderly ◽

Regional Inequality ◽

Local Health ◽

Geographical Differences ◽

Central Regions ◽

The Government ◽

Development Levels ◽

Healthcare Interventions

Private (out-of-pocket) healthcare expenditure (PHCE) is a complex phenomenon that is shaped by many different factors. In this paper, we analyzed the influencing factors of PHCE in China, with a specific focus on regional differences. We found that old-age dependency ratio, income, and education have significant impacts on PHCE in all regions, whereas public HCE, number of beds in medical institutions, and economic development levels have significant impacts only in some regions. The results indicate that the government should pay attention to regional inequality and implement targeted adjustments for improving the health service system. In particular, we recommend: (1) monitoring regional inequality in PHCE and other healthcare issues to unmask geographical differences in healthcare interventions; (2) adopting regional-specific policy measures—the government should divert some resources from eastern to western and central regions to increasing the support for public health undertakings and improve the quality of the local health services while providing matching medical resources by targeting the needs of the residents; (3) paying more attention to the healthcare demand of the elderly population; and (4) improving the education level of residents to improve public health and avoid high PHCE.

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Improving the Governance Mechanism for Responding to Public Health Emergencies under COVID-19

Preventive Medicine Research ◽

10.18282/pmr.v9i1.1276 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 1

Author(s):

Xinle Li ◽

Changxin Bi

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Harmonious Society ◽

Social Stability ◽

Governance Mechanism ◽

Public Health Services ◽

Effective Governance ◽

Public Health Emergencies ◽

The World ◽

The Government ◽

Stable Development

<p>The outbreak of COVID-19 in December 2019 has been spreading in China and even around the world, and public health emergencies will have certain impact on the country’s stable development. The government provides a variety of public services for building a harmonious society, including public health services. The government is at the forefront of COVID-19 epidemic management. Effective governance mechanisms will reduce the spread of the epidemic, maintain the image of the government and keep social stability. Therefore, it is of great strategic significance to improve the government’s governance mechanism for responding to public health emergencies. Based on the epidemic background of COVID-19, this article expounds the current situation of the government’s governance mechanism for responding to public health emergencies in China, explains the significance of the construction of the mechanism. Suggestions are put forward on improving the construction of the government’s governance mechanism for responding to public health emergencies, so as to better respond to public health emergencies in the future.</p>

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Knowledge into the Practice against COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study from Ghana

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph182412902 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (24) ◽

pp. 12902

Author(s):

Prince Yeboah ◽

Dennis Bomansang Daliri ◽

Ahmad Yaman Abdin ◽

Emmanuel Appiah-Brempong ◽

Werner Pitsch ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Western Europe ◽

Preventive Measures ◽

Critical Issue ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Sectional Study ◽

African Countries ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Personal Attitude ◽

The Government

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected populations globally, including Ghana. Knowledge of the COVID-19 disease, and the application of preventive public health interventions are pivotal to its control. Besides a lockdown, measures taken against the spread of the virus include the wearing of face masks, social distancing, regular hand washing with soap and, more recently, vaccination against the virus. In order to establish a possible link between the knowledge of the disease and compliance with preventive measures, including vaccination, a cross-sectional study employing an interview-structured questionnaire was conducted in six regions of Ghana (n = 1560). An adequate level of knowledge of COVID-19 (69.9%) was reported. The linear multiple regression analysis further explicated the differences in the knowledge of COVID-19 among the respondents by their knowledge of cholera and influenza (adjusted R-Square = 0.643). Despite this profound knowledge of the illness, two thirds of the respondents were unwilling to follow basic preventive measures and only 35.3% were willing to be vaccinated. Amazingly, neither knowledge of COVID-19 nor the socio-demographic characteristics had any meaningful influence on the practice of preventive measures. Personal attitude leading to efficient public compliance with preventive measures, therefore, is a critical issue demanding special attention and effective interventions by the government and locals with authority to curb the spread of the pandemic which surpasses the traditional channels of public health communication. This includes a roll-out of persuasion, possibly including public figures and influencers, and in any case, a balanced and open discussion addressing the acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine in order to avoid new variants and comparable problems currently facing many countries of Western Europe. Indeed, a profound hesitancy against vaccination may turn African countries such as Ghana for many years into hotspots of new viral variants.

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Enhancing partnerships and collaboration in times of change

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckaa165.212 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽

Author(s):

E Clark ◽

S Neil-Sztramko ◽

M Dobbins

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Resource Sharing ◽

Health Sector ◽

Supporting Evidence ◽

Public Health Services ◽

The Public ◽

Public Health Sector ◽

Big Picture ◽

The Government ◽

Public Health Practitioners

Abstract Issue In 2019, the government of the Canadian province of Ontario announced major changes to the structure, governance and funding of public health services. Throughout these changes, publicly funded local and regional public health organizations are still expected to provide effective, evidence-informed programming to their communities. The National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools (NCCMT) has facilitated collaborations to support Ontario public health through this transition. Description of the problem In order to support evidence-informed public health in Ontario during this transition, the NCCMT reached out to current and potential partners, within and beyond the public health sector for a multidisciplinary approach. We conducted a needs assessment for an evidence review repository, which would allow public health practitioners to share and build upon each other's work. Finally, demonstrating the value of public health to policymakers can be inherently challenging as the return on investment in public health is often very long term. We partnered with health units in varying capacities to find and synthesize evidence to advocate for continued investment in public health. Results This initiative has provided important lessons in developing and maintaining strong partnerships. Looking beyond the public health sector can establish mutually beneficial partners and allies in other disciplines. A key finding was the need to establish infrastructure to support collaboration and resource sharing. Finally, we learned that big picture questions like demonstrating the value of public health require many different perspectives, inputs and areas of expertise. Lessons Through this initiative, we have developed a multidisciplinary, collaborative approach to supporting evidence-informed public health through times of major restructuring. This approach can be applied to future changes to public health on smaller or larger scales, or within other geographic regions. Key messages Multidisciplinary approaches can support collaboration, unity and advocacy in times of change. Establishing infrastructure to support collaboration and sharing of resources is valuable.

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Outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan and the current scenario

The Applied Biology & Chemistry Journal ◽

10.52679/tabcj.2020.0008 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 67-71

Author(s):

Arslan Habib ◽

Khalid Mahmood Anjum ◽

Ajmal Shehzad ◽

Muhammad Imran ◽

Zeeshan Ashraf ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Preventive Measures ◽

Public Health Emergency ◽

World Health ◽

Wuhan City ◽

Government Response ◽

Current Scenario ◽

International Issue ◽

The Government ◽

Health Organization

The current pandemic of COVID-19 was first observed in the Wuhan city of China in December 2019, which later appeared worldwide. World Health Organization (WHO) declares coronavirus pandemic as an international issue of a public health emergency worldwide. On 11 February 2020, WHO named this virus as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Different effective preventive measures were implemented to control the transmission of COVID-19. After the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in Pakistan, the government designed other effective protocols to fight against this zoonotic disease. This review highlighted the COVID-19 outbreak prevalence in Pakistan with their current scenario and the government response to combat the disease.

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Nutritional Status and COVID-19 among Older Persons in Kerala, India

INQUIRY The Journal of Health Care Organization Provision and Financing ◽

10.1177/00469580211059738 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 58 ◽

pp. 004695802110597

Author(s):

Irudaya Rajan Sebastian ◽

Sriram Venkitaraman ◽

Sunitha Syamala ◽

Aneeta Shajan ◽

Nelgyn Tennyson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Older Adults ◽

Nutritional Status ◽

Older Persons ◽

Preventive Measures ◽

The State ◽

Pivotal Role ◽

Resistance To Infection ◽

The Government ◽

Age Category

Background and Aims: The COVID-19 pandemic has posed an unprecedented public health crisis globally irrespective of age. There is no doubt that the older population (above the age of 60) is the most vulnerable age category due to multiple co-morbidities, which often is not in their favour. Age category, types of co-morbidities and nutritional levels indeed play a pivotal role in determining mortality rates. This paper focuses on Kerala, a southern Indian state and how it maintained low mortality levels due to COVID-19 during the first wave despite being the state with the highest proportion of the older population. The present study argues although the state possessed a robust health system and had an active engagement of the public health sector with its citizens through local governments, it was the state’s meticulous planning, innovative schemes centred around older persons such as reverse quarantine, the prevailing excellent nutritional status among its population and initiatives to ensure good nutrition through food security schemes like ‘essential grocery kits’ and ‘community kitchens’ that helped to develop the body’s resistance to infection and thus played a significant role in flattening the curve for Kerala’s older adult COVID-19 deaths effectively, thereby achieving a high recovery rate and low rates of fatality during the first wave of COVID-19 in Kerala. Methods: Pre–COVID-19 health conditions of older adults in Kerala were analysed through Kerala Ageing Survey (KAS) panel data and Longitudinal Ageing Survey in India (LASI) data. Percentage analysis, Logistic regression method and Cox hazard regression methods were used to analyse the effect of nutritional levels on health and mortality among older adults in Kerala. Publically available COVID-19 data from the Government of Kerala and the Government of India were used to analyse the COVID-19 death rates. In addition, changes in dietary patterns and other preventive measures taken to fight against COVID-19 were investigated through qualitative response. Result: The study found that nutritional status influences mortality and co-morbidities among older adults in Kerala in the pre-COVID situation. Furthermore, the study found that though nutritional indicators, that is, overweight or obese, significantly increases the risk of comorbid conditions among older adults, good nourishment reduces the risk of all-cause mortality. The study also found that Kerala’s COVID-19 fatality was much lower when compared to India and developed nations like the US, UK and Italy. Even if Kerala is one of the highly COVID-19 affected states, the effective nutritional intervention by the Government of Kerala through its various schemes to build up the general immunity of the state’s citizens, especially high-risk groups; thereby achieving low COVID fatality in the state.Conclusion: Based on Kerala’s experience, nutritional factors influence the population in building up the body’s resistance to infection against COVID-19. Even though the fatality rate is very low, obesity coupled with non-communicable diseases affects preventive measures of the state. There is an immediate and persuasive need to find new and more efficient clinical studies apart from socio-epidemiological studies, which could play a pivotal role in determining COVID-19 health outcomes.

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