scholarly journals Regulatory Chill: Learnings From New Zealand’s Plain Packaging Tobacco Law

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Kelsey
Keyword(s):  
International Health ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Public Health Policies ◽  
Plain Packaging ◽  
Management Regime ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Reinforcing Factors ◽  
The Difference ◽  
To Come ◽  
Trade And Investment

Australia’s precedent-setting Tobacco Plain Packaging Act 2011 (Cth) took two and a half years from its public announcement to come into force. The fact that New Zealand’s almost identical legislation was still not in force six years after it was first mooted suggests it was subject to regulatory chill through both specific threats and systemic influences within the policy making process. This article examines the hypothesis that three elements associated with New Zealand’s free trade and investment treaties combined to chill a National government that was already luke-warm on a plain packaging law: perceived risks from litigation; associated arguments pressed by politically influential industry lobbyists; and the bias in the regulatory management regime that favours minimal intervention and empowers the tobacco industry, consistent with contemporary trade agreements. It concludes that these mutually reinforcing factors delayed the passage of New Zealand’s legislation, but did not see it abandoned. This suggests that health policies supported by public opinion, international health obligations, and precedents from other countries can withstand regulatory chill. But the difference from Australia also highlights the need to pay more attention to ways of neutralising those factors if a Smokefree Aotearoa New Zealand, and similarly ground-breaking public health policies, are to be achieved.

scholarly journals Using Implementation Science to Inform and Evaluate Health Policy

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 50-50
Author(s):  
Julie Bobitt ◽  
Beth Prusaczyk
Keyword(s):  
Implementation Science ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Policy Diffusion ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Dissemination And Implementation ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Public Health Policies ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Public health policies can be a tool for the promotion and protection of older adult’s well-being but how can we ensure that policies will be effective and applied as intended? This presentation will discuss how implementation science can be used to both inform and evaluate health policies. Scientific evidence developed by applying dissemination and implementation frameworks can be used to inform policy makers as they develop legislation. When used to evaluate policy, D&I frameworks can be applied to examine policy diffusion, how a state, community, or individual organization chooses to carry out the policy, and the impact that policy has on the intended population. D&I frameworks are an effective way to measure the difference between policy intent and what actually happens when a policy is implemented. Examples of how D&I frameworks have been used to inform and evaluate policy will be shared.

scholarly journals The Rockefeller Foundation and the League of Nations: Public Health in Europe (1920-1945)

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 35-54
Author(s):  
Josep L. Barona
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Interwar Period ◽  
Rockefeller Foundation ◽  
International Health ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Public Health Policies ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
Stabilization Policies ◽  
Post War

The Rockefeller Foundation (RF) and the League of Nations (LON) played a fundamental role in stabilization policies during the interwar period. Public health became essential in this context due to the immediate consequences of the war, the post-war economic crisis and the Great Depression. RF and LON became the cornerstone of international action in several fields: epidemics, famine, malnutrition, infectious diseases, infant mortality, drug abuse, biological and dietary standard-setting, epidemiological records, public health policies and professionalization. In the shaping international health expertise, LON and RF collaboration was extremely important, in terms of determining goals and programmes, and in terms of financial support. This article analyses the areas and the extent of their collaboration in Europe.

scholarly journals Waves of mental health Demands during the COVID-19 pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo Jorge Sant´Ana Honorato ◽  
André Luiz Machado das Neves ◽  
Munique Therense ◽  
Gizelly de Carvalho Martins ◽  
Vivian Silva Lima Marangoni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Psychological Symptoms ◽  
Clinical Psychologists ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Public Health Policies ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Demands ◽  
To Come

Dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic is playing a significant role in public health policies around the world. Mental health is one. Either in supporting the maintenance of isolation or dealing with demands, which may come from the general population and health professionals. This work presents a compilation of data obtained by clinical psychologists during the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil. Through searches on social media with #Covid19 and #MentalHealth and the exchange of information on networks of professionals, it was possible to compile and group the main psychological symptoms presented during isolation. Information was clustered according to the period it appeared, in order to guide future situations. Moreover, to prepare a group of clinical psychologists to provide online assistance. Prevention must be the key to deal with the mental health catastrophe that there is to come.

scholarly journals Sustainable Urban Mobility Policies as a Path to Healthy Cities—The Case Study of LMA, Portugal

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2929 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Louro ◽  
Nuno Marques da Costa ◽  
Eduarda Marques da Costa
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Healthy Cities ◽  
Urban Mobility ◽  
Public Health Policies ◽  
To Come ◽  
Sustainable Urban Mobility

Sustainable development has become the basis of several worldwide policies over the last few decades, and its role will continue to shape policies for decades to come, especially those that are focused on urban mobility. At the same time, urban mobility is included in the framework of the Healthy Cities movement. In this context, using the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (LMA), Portugal, as the study area, this article intends to answer the following research question: are sustainable urban mobility policies contributing to healthy cities? Urban mobility planning and public health instruments were compared with the discourses and practices of those responsible for the implementation of urban mobility policies and Healthy Cities projects. The results reveal that a large number of responses proposed in the mobility planning instruments are, to some extent, related to the principles of healthy cities. Also, while municipal agents tend not to consider the inclusion of those principles, they instead incorporate the concepts of sustainable development. Nevertheless, we found that both approaches overlap the policy directions of healthy cities. On the other hand, public health policies and Healthy Cities projects presented a scarce number of references to its interventions in the urban mobility domain and mainly focused on the promotion of soft modes. It is concluded that, in the case of the observed municipalities of the LMA, the healthy cities framework is greatly benefited by the inclusion of sustainable development principles in all policies, especially those for urban mobility.

scholarly journals Influence of Masks Protecting against SARS-CoV-2 on Thermal Comfort

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 3315
Author(s):  
Ewa Zender-Świercz ◽  
Marek Telejko ◽  
Beata Galiszewska
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Other ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Thermal Manikin ◽  
Public Health Policies ◽  
Protective Shield ◽  
Full Face ◽  
The Impact

Due to the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, most countries have tightened their public health policies. One way to limit the spread of the virus is to make mouth and nose cover compulsory in public spaces. The article presents the impact of wearing masks on the perception of thermal comfort. The following masks were analysed: FFP2, cotton, medical, PM2.5, half-face protective shield plastic and full-face protective shield plastic. The research was carried out for two scenarios of an ambient temperature: −20 and 30 °C. A thermal manikin was used for the tests. In the case of when a temperature equals 20 °C, the dry masks increase comfort, both general and local, while wet masks reduce comfort. On the other hand, at 30 °C, only wet masks do not increase discomfort. In addition, moist masks require less heat flux to achieve a certain skin temperature. However, it should be remembered that it is not advisable to wet the masks from the health point of view.

scholarly journals Population simulations of COVID-19 outbreaks provide tools for risk assessment and continuity planning

JAMIA Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Peng ◽  
Rowland W Pettit ◽  
Christopher I Amos
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Emergency Response ◽  
Robustness Analysis ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Command Line ◽  
Public Health Policies ◽  
Continuity Planning ◽  
Quantitative Estimates ◽  
Community Infection

Abstract Objectives We developed COVID-19 Outbreak Simulator (https://ictr.github.io/covid19-outbreak-simulator/) to quantitatively estimate the effectiveness of preventative and interventive measures to prevent and battle COVID-19 outbreaks for specific populations. Materials and methods Our simulator simulates the entire course of infection and transmission of the virus among individuals in heterogeneous populations, subject to operations and influences, such as quarantine, testing, social distancing, and community infection. It provides command-line and Jupyter notebook interfaces and a plugin system for user-defined operations. Results The simulator provides quantitative estimates for COVID-19 outbreaks in a variety of scenarios and assists the development of public health policies, risk-reduction operations, and emergency response plans. Discussion Our simulator is powerful, flexible, and customizable, although successful applications require realistic estimation and robustness analysis of population-specific parameters. Conclusion Risk assessment and continuity planning for COVID-19 outbreaks are crucial for the continued operation of many organizations. Our simulator will be continuously expanded to meet this need.

scholarly journals Characterization of death from colorectal cancer in Mato Grosso State/Legal Amazon/Brazil, 2000-2016

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
R S Caló ◽  
B S N Souza ◽  
N D Galvão ◽  
R A G Souza ◽  
J C S Oliveira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Colorectal Cancer ◽  
International Classification Of Diseases ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Rectosigmoid Junction ◽  
Mato Grosso ◽  
Public Health Policies ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Classification Of Diseases ◽  
Using Data

Abstract Background Colorectal cancer has been one of the cancers that most contributed to mortality, in both sexes in the world. In Brazil, cancer is among the top five causes of death and colorectal cancer is ranked on the fifth position. Of the Federative Units belonging to the Legal Amazon, Mato Grosso stands out for the higher adjusted incidence of colorectal cancer for both sexes. Thus, the objective is to characterize deaths from colorectal cancer, according to sociodemographic variables in Mato Grosso from 2000 to 2016. Methods A descriptive study was carried out, using data from the Mortality Information System, made available by the Department of Health of the Mato Grosso State. Deaths of all ages were selected, whose basic cause was identified by the codes from the International Classification of Diseases: (C.18) colon cancer, (C.19) rectosigmoid junction cancer, (C.20) rectal cancer or (C.21) anus cancer. Results Between 2000 and 2016, 31,607 deaths from cancer were registered. Of these, 1,750 (5.6%) were due to colorectal cancer. An increased number of deaths was observed at the end of the period, with a variation from 46 deaths in 2000 from 173 in 2016. Highest frequency was verified in men (51.3%), people aged 60 years or older (59.7%), black (54.6%), married (52.3%) and those with primary education (55.2%). According to Brazilian occupation classification options or those answers filled out on the death certificate, highest frequency were for “Retired” (26.2%), “Housewife” (23.1%), Agricultural/Forestry and Fisheries” (11.3%) and “Production of Industrial Goods and Services” (10.3%). Conclusions This study evidenced the increased number of deaths due to colorectal cancer in Mato Grosso State, and identified priority groups for interventions through public health policies which should include screening and early diagnosis to cope with the disease. Key messages Evidenced the increased number of deaths due to colorectal cancer in Mato Grosso State. Identified priority groups for interventions through public health policies.

Epidemiological surveillance and performance assessment: the two roles of health indicators during the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-203
Author(s):  
Nathan Genicot
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Performance Assessment ◽  
Health Indicators ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Epidemiological Surveillance ◽  
Public Health Policies ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The One ◽  
Massive Development

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to the massive development and use of health indicators. Drawing on the history of international public health and of the management of infectious disease, this paper attempts to show that the normative power acquired by metrics during the pandemic can be understood in light of two rationales: epidemiological surveillance and performance assessment. On the one hand, indicators are established to evaluate and rank countries’ responses to the outbreak; on the other, the evolution of indicators has a direct influence on the content of public health policies. Although quantitative data are an absolute necessity for coping with such disasters, it is critical to bear in mind the inherent partiality and precarity of the information provided by health indicators. Given the growing importance of normative quantitative devices during the pandemic, and assuming that their influence is unlikely to decrease in the future, they call for close scrutiny.

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