Microbial health-based targets for drinking water: current state and Australian case study

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 196
Author(s):  
Christopher EL Owens ◽  
Paul M Byleveld ◽  
Nicholas J Osborne
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Current ◽  
Water Safety ◽  
Current State ◽  
Disability Adjusted Life ◽  
Life Years ◽  
Australian Case ◽  
Safety Of Drinking Water

Through the avoidance of a substantial health burden globally, access to safe drinking water is an important foundation of public health1. An emerging development in this regard is the use of public health metrics, such as disability-adjusted life years, to inform water safety planning2. This paper examines the hypothesis that confidence in the protection of public health, on the part of water suppliers, health regulators, and ultimately consumers is strengthened through the implementation of a health outcome target for the microbial safety of drinking water. A case study demonstrating the implementation of the target is presented.

Identifying Public Health Problems

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Burris ◽  
Micah L. Berman ◽  
Matthew Penn, and ◽  
Tara Ramanathan Holiday
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Health Priorities ◽  
Disability Adjusted Life Years ◽  
Quality Adjusted Life Years ◽  
Disability Adjusted Life ◽  
Life Years ◽  
Study Designs ◽  
Quality Adjusted Life

Chapter 5 discusses the use of epidemiology to identify the source of public health problems and inform policymaking. It uses a case study to illustrate how researchers, policymakers, and practitioners detect diseases, identify their sources, determine the extent of an outbreak, and prevent new infections. The chapter also defines key measures in epidemiology that can indicate public health priorities, including morbidity and mortality, years of potential life lost, and measures of lifetime impacts, including disability-adjusted life years and quality-adjusted life years. Finally, the chapter reviews epidemiological study designs, differentiating between experimental and observational studies, to show how to interpret data and identify limitations.

scholarly journals Burden of foodborne disease in the Netherlands: from science to policy

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
L Mughini Gras
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Cost Of Illness ◽  
Disease Burden ◽  
Food Groups ◽  
Source Attribution ◽  
Productivity Losses ◽  
Disability Adjusted Life ◽  
Life Years ◽  
Animal Contact

Abstract In the Netherlands, the Ministry of Health mandates the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) to provide annual updates of the number of illnesses, disease burden and cost-of-illness caused by an agreed-upon standard panel of 14 enteric pathogens. These pathogens are mainly transmitted by food, but also via direct contact with animals, environment-mediated and human-to-human transmission routes. The disease burden is expressed in DALYs (Disability Adjusted Life Years), a metric integrating morbidity and mortality into one unit. Furthermore, the cost-of-illness (COI) related to these 14 pathogens is estimated and expressed in euros. The COI estimates include healthcare costs, the costs for the patient and/or his family, such as travel expenses, as well as costs in other sectors, for example due to productivity losses. Moreover, using different approaches to source attribution, the estimated DALYs and associated COI estimates are attributed to five major transmission pathways (i.e. food, environment, direct animal contact, human-human transmission, and travel) and 11 food groups within the foodborne pathway itself. The most recent DALY and COI estimates referring to the year 2018 show that the 14 pathogens in question are cumulatively responsible for about 11,000 DALYs and €426 million costs for the Dutch population in 2018, with a share for foodborne transmission being estimated at 4,300 DALYs and €171 million costs, which is comparable to previous years. These estimates have been providing vital insights for policy making as to guide public health interventions and resource allocation for over two decades in the Netherlands. Herewith, the approach and outcomes of the burden of disease and COI estimates in the Netherlands will be presented, with a focus on how these estimates enable policy-makers and the scientific community to monitor trends, generate scientific hypotheses, and undertake public health actions.

scholarly journals Assessing Exposure and Health Consequences of Chemicals in Drinking Water: Current State of Knowledge and Research Needs

2014 ◽  
Vol 122 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina M. Villanueva ◽  
Manolis Kogevinas ◽  
Sylvaine Cordier ◽  
Michael R. Templeton ◽  
Roel Vermeulen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Current ◽  
Research Needs ◽  
Health Consequences ◽  
Current State

Implementation of Alberta's drinking water safety plans

2013 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. C. Reid ◽  
K. Abramowski ◽  
A. Beier ◽  
A. Janzen ◽  
D. Lok ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Effective Action ◽  
Main Element ◽  
Quality And Safety ◽  
Biological Parameters ◽  
Water Safety ◽  
Drinking Water Safety ◽  
Regulatory Approach ◽  
Water Safety Plans ◽  
Safety Of Drinking Water

Traditionally, the regulatory approach to maintaining the quality and safety of drinking water has largely been a prescriptive one based on the ability of any given supply to meet standards set for a number of different chemical and biological parameters. There are a number of issues around the assumptions and the limitations of a sampling and analysis regime. The basis for such regimes is essentially reactive rather than proactive and, consequently, the cause of the concern may already have impacted consumers before any effective action can be taken. Environment and Sustainable Resource Development has developed a template for recording drinking water safety plans together with guidance notes to help complete them. The template has been developed in MS-Excel and has been designed in a straightforward step-wise manner with guidance on the completion of each sheet. It includes four main risk tables covering each main element of water supply which are pre-populated with commonly found ‘generic’ risks and these are carefully assessed before considering what action is required to deal with significant risks. Following completion of the risk tables, key risks are identified and the interventions required to bring them into control.

scholarly journals Balancing the risks and benefits of drinking water disinfection: disability adjusted life-years on the scale.

2000 ◽  
Vol 108 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
A H Havelaar ◽  
A E De Hollander ◽  
P F Teunis ◽  
E G Evers ◽  
H J Van Kranen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Disinfection ◽  
Disability Adjusted Life Years ◽  
Risks And Benefits ◽  
Disability Adjusted Life ◽  
Life Years ◽  
Drinking Water Disinfection

A fatal waterborne disease epidemic in Walkerton, Ontario: comparison with other waterborne outbreaks in the developed world

2003 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 7-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.E. Hrudey ◽  
P. Payment ◽  
P.M. Huck ◽  
R.W. Gillham ◽  
E.J. Hrudey
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Reference Source ◽  
Water Safety ◽  
Drinking Water Safety ◽  
Public Inquiry ◽  
Contaminated Drinking Water ◽  
The Government ◽  
Safety Of Drinking Water ◽  
Developed World

An estimated 2,300 people became seriously ill and seven died from exposure to microbially contaminated drinking water in the town of Walkerton, Ontario, Canada in May 2000. The severity of this drinking water disaster resulted in the Government of Ontario calling a public inquiry by Mr. Justice Dennis O’Connor to address the cause of the outbreak, the role (if any) of government policies in contributing to this outbreak and, ultimately, the implications of this experience on the safety of drinking water across the Province of Ontario. The circumstances surrounding the Walkerton tragedy are an important reference source for those concerned with providing safe drinking water. Although some circumstances are obviously specific to this epidemic, others are uncomfortably reminiscent of waterborne outbreaks that have occurred elsewhere. These recurring themes suggested the need for attention to broad issues of drinking water security and they present the challenge for how drinking water safety can be managed to prevent such tragedies in the future.

Investing in Health Wisely: The Role of Needs-based Technology Assessment

1995 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 673-684 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dean T. Jamison ◽  
Helen Saxenian ◽  
Yves Bergevin
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Technology Assessment ◽  
Universal Access ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Disability Adjusted Life ◽  
Life Years ◽  
National Public Health ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Improve Health

AbstractCountries worldwide spend huge sums on health—about $1,700 billion a year, or roughly 8% of global income. But the World Development Report 1993: Investing in Health shows that these monies could be spent much more wisely, in the process doing a great deal to help the world's 1 billion poor. Essential national public health and clinical packages are proposed based on assessment of the burden of disease (measured in disability adjusted life years) and the cost-effectiveness of interventions. Governments can play a central role in improving the health of their citizens: they can foster an environment that enables households to improve health and they can also improve their own spending on health, targeting it to support universal access to essential national public health and clinical packages based on the above methods. This is a good example of the concept of needs-based technology assessment, combining the disciplines of epidemiology, economics, and policy formulation. When applied, it should lead to improved effectiveness, efficiency, and equity.

scholarly journals Repurposing as a strategy for the discovery of new anti-leishmanials: the-state-of-the-art

Parasitology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 145 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
REBECCA L. CHARLTON ◽  
BARTIRA ROSSI-BERGMANN ◽  
PAUL W. DENNY ◽  
PATRICK G. STEEL
Keyword(s):  
State Of The Art ◽  
Drug Repurposing ◽  
Tropical Disease ◽  
Neglected Tropical Disease ◽  
Current State ◽  
Disability Adjusted Life ◽  
Life Years ◽  
Vector Borne ◽  
Faster Development ◽  
New Treatments

SUMMARYLeishmaniasis is a vector-borne neglected tropical disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania for which there is a paucity of effective viable non-toxic drugs. There are 1·3 million new cases each year causing considerable socio-economic hardship, best measured in 2·4 million disability adjusted life years, with greatest impact on the poorest communities, which means that desperately needed new antileishmanial treatments have to be both affordable and accessible. Established medicines with cheaper and faster development times may hold the cure for this neglected tropical disease. This concept of using old drugs for new diseases may not be novel but, with the ambitious target of controlling or eradicating tropical diseases by 2020, this strategy is still an important one. In this review, we will explore the current state-of-the-art of drug repurposing strategies in the search for new treatments for leishmaniasis.

scholarly journals Arsenic in Water Resources of the Southern Pampa Plains, Argentina

2009 ◽  
Vol 2009 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan D. Paoloni ◽  
Mario E. Sequeira ◽  
Martín E. Espósito ◽  
Carmen E. Fiorentino ◽  
María del C. Blanco
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Who Guidelines ◽  
Complementary Information ◽  
Guideline Value ◽  
Dissolved Ions ◽  
Contaminated Drinking Water ◽  
Quality Water ◽  
Safety Of Drinking Water ◽  
Complex Distribution

Confronted with the need for accessible sources of good quality water and in view of the fact that the threat to public health posed by arsenic occurs mainly through the ingestion of contaminated drinking water, the presence and distribution of arsenic was evaluated in the southern Pampa Plains of Bahía Blanca district in Argentina. The findings show variable concentrations of arsenic in a complex distribution pattern. Complementary information is provided on the behavior of the groundwater resource and its salinity in terms of dissolved ions. Groundwater is the most severely affected, 97% of the samples exceeding the guideline value for arsenic in drinking water as recommended by the WHO (Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality, 2004). and showing maximum concentrations of up to 0.30 mg/L. Informing those responsible for preventive medicine and alerting the community at large will facilitate measures to mitigate exposure and ensure the safety of drinking water.

scholarly journals Emphasizing the Role of Neurosurgery Within Global Health and National Health Systems: A Call to Action

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Wilguens Lartigue ◽  
Olaoluwa Ezekiel Dada ◽  
Makinah Haq ◽  
Sarah Rapaport ◽  
Lorraine Arabang Sebopelo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Global Burden ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Disability Adjusted Life ◽  
Life Years ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Global Burden Of Diseases

Background: Worldwide, neurological disorders are the leading cause of disability-adjusted life years lost and the second leading cause of death. Despite global health capacity-building efforts, each year, 22.6 million individuals worldwide require neurosurgeon's care due to diseases such as traumatic brain injury and hydrocephalus, and 13.8 million of these individuals require surgery. It is clear that neurosurgical care is indispensable in both national and international public health discussions. This study highlights the role neurosurgeons can play in supporting the global health agenda, national surgical plans, and health strengthening systems (HSS) interventions.Methods: Guided by a literature review, the authors discuss key topics such as the global burden of neurosurgical diseases, the current state of neurosurgical care around the world and the inherent benefits of strong neurosurgical capability for health systems.Results: Neurosurgical diseases make up an important part of the global burden of diseases. Many neurosurgeons possess the sustained passion, resilience, and leadership needed to advocate for improved neurosurgical care worldwide. Neurosurgical care has been linked to 14 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), thus highlighting the tremendous impact neurosurgeons can have upon HSS initiatives.Conclusion: We recommend policymakers and global health actors to: (i) increase the involvement of neurosurgeons within the global health dialogue; (ii) involve neurosurgeons in the national surgical system strengthening process; (iii) integrate neurosurgical care within the global surgery movement; and (iv) promote the training and education of neurosurgeons, especially those residing in Low-and middle-income countries, in the field of global public health.

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