Global lessons from Ebola crisis may be ignored

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Health Services ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Priorities ◽  
Local Health ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The World ◽  
National Governments

Subject Lessons from the Ebola crisis. Significance The Ebola epidemic in West Africa caught national governments and international organisations off-guard. As the epidemic begins to abate in the affected countries, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has begun an internal process to learn lessons for future global health emergencies. However, many of the required responses were well-known before the Ebola outbreak but ignored. Shifting entrenched political attitudes will be a challenge. Impacts Popular distrust of local health services continues to mar comprehensive detection of Ebola infections in affected countries. Re-building local health services will be distorted if the Ebola crisis dominates planning over long-term health priorities. However, donors tend to prefer orientation towards disease-specific programmes and interventions over strengthening health systems.

scholarly journals Global health in the making: health demonstration areas in Europe, 1950s and 1960s

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 165-185
Author(s):  
Esteban Rodríguez-Ocaña
Keyword(s):  
Health Services ◽  
Global Health ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
World Health ◽  
Primary Health ◽  
The World ◽  
Historical Importance ◽  
Standardization Of Procedures

Abstract Global health is a multifaceted concept that entails the standardization of procedures in healthcare domains in accordance with a doctrine agreed upon by experts. This essay focus on the creation of health demonstration areas by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to establish core nodes for integrated state-of-the-art health services. It explores the origins, theoretical basis and aims of this technique and reviews several European experiences during the first 20 years of the WHO. Particular attention is paid to the historical importance of technical cooperative activities carried out by the WHO in regard to the implementation of health services, a long-term strategic move that contributed to the thematic upsurge of primary health care in the late 1970s.

Telehealth use will suffer global divergence for years

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
Personal Health Information ◽  
World Health ◽  
Personal Health ◽  
Virtual Technology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Industry Collaboration ◽  
The World ◽  
Regulatory Bodies

Subject Telehealth outlook. Significance The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines telehealth as involving the use of telecommunications and virtual technology to deliver healthcare outside of traditional facilities. Telehealth is becoming a critical tool for addressing health inequalities but how it is accessed varies widely between developed and developing countries. Impacts Rural parts of developing countries will lag the most on telehealth due to infrastructure gaps. Greater cross-industry collaboration is needed on privacy safeguards for personal health information. Developing-country health systems will face pressure to develop accreditation and regulatory bodies specifically for telehealth.

Taiwan’s profile rises amid China-US tensions

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Aid ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
World Health Assembly ◽  
State Security ◽  
The World ◽  
First Time

Subject The outlook for China-Taiwan relations. Significance Taiwan’s China-sceptic government is benefiting from its spectacular success against COVID-19, Western support for its participation in the World Health Assembly against Beijing’s wishes and China's recent decision to let state security agents operate openly in Hong Kong for the first time -- a move that undermines the city’s promised autonomy. Impacts Taiwan’s international aid for battling COVID-19 will build support from key partners, especially the United States and European countries. China will block Taiwan’s participation in international organisations at any level during Tsai’s second term. As Taiwan focuses on unofficial relationships with major democracies, China will continue to whittle away at Taiwan’s official allies.

scholarly journals How to evaluate the capacity of hospital systems in a very long term international comparative perspective? Hospital beds per inhabitant in Catalonia 1900s-2010s

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 182-226
Author(s):  
Paloma Fernández Pérez
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
World Health ◽  
Western World ◽  
Hospital Beds ◽  
The World ◽  
Hospital Systems ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
International Comparative

This article proposes that the number of hospital beds available in a territory can be used as a comparative tool to gain a perspective on the very long term evolution of the historical capacity of hospital systems worldwide. The article presents: 1) the issues stemming from a lack of sources and comparative data available internationally before 1960; 2) data for the early 20th century for Barcelona and other cities of the world,; 3) data on hospital beds for various countries since the 1960s, with attention to data for Catalonia,; 4) data for the number of hospital beds per 1000 inhabitants for the past few decades in Catalonia, and a comparison with other autonomous communities and countries. The sources are the League of Nations, Yearbooks for Barcelona, the National Statistics Institute of Spain (Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE), IDESCAT, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the OECD. The article provides research data that confirm that the beginning of the modern increase in the number of hospital beds per capita in Catalonia started as the rest of the Western world in the first third of the 20th century. Such growth was maintained throughout the 20th century up until the 1980s. After the 1980s, in Barcelona as in the rest of the world, there was a process of reducing hospital beds per capita. This has therefore created the possibility of hospital services being overwhelmed very quickly in the instance of a widespread health emergency.

scholarly journals Network analysis regarding international organisations and donors of humanitarian aid

2022 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young-Chool Choi
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Humanitarian Aid ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
World Health ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
United Nations Development Program ◽  
Underdeveloped Countries ◽  
The World ◽  
The United Nations

This study aims to evaluate the status of the partnerships with important international organisations that Korea employs in operating its foreign aid projects from a humanitarian point of view. On the basis of this information, Korea intends to seek ways of effectively supporting underdeveloped countries through future co-operation with these organisations. The main international organisations analysed are the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the (United Nations) Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). These international organisations support underdeveloped countries through co-operative relationships not only with Korea but also with important donor countries of the OECD. This study focuses on establishing the factors that Korea needs to consider when providing humanitarian aid in the future to underdeveloped countries via such international organisations.

scholarly journals Problems of quality of life of the population of coal-mining regions

2021 ◽  
Vol 278 ◽  
pp. 02003
Author(s):  
Elena Kazantseva ◽  
Galina Chistyakova ◽  
Yury Kleshchevskiy
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Coal Mining ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
The World ◽  
Active Research ◽  
Mining Regions

Active research on the quality of life of the population began in the second half of the XX century in the United States. Such international organisations as the United Nations (UN), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and others have been studying the problems of quality of life. The paper deals with the problems of the quality of life of the population of coal-mining regions. The main challenges include income inequality, low life expectancy, low employment, staff outflow, environmental problems, etc. The analysis of ways to solve the problems of improving the quality of life of the population of coal-mining regions is carried out.

North America's cannabis sector has enormous scope

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
World Health Organisation ◽  
World Health ◽  
Content Type ◽  
North American Market ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
Working Age ◽  
Recreational Marijuana ◽  
Drugs And Crime ◽  
Recreational Use

Subject The US cannabis market. Significance The World Health Organisation reports that cannabis is the most widely used psychoactive controlled substance across the world. Indeed, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that in 2014, 182.5 million working-age people used recreational marijuana. North America is the world's largest market for marijuana, cannabis's smoked herbal form, and legalisation for both medicinal and recreational use is building momentum, rapidly creating a massive new industry. Impacts The share of the global population using cannabis is around 3.8%, translating into a North American market of at least 18 million users. Canada is legalising cannabis next year while 29 US states and the District of Columbia have legalised medical or recreational use. Full US legalisation remains uncertain as the federal prohibition remains in place.

scholarly journals AIR TRANSPORT AND PASSENGER RIGHTS PROTECTION DURING AND AFTER THE CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PANDEMIC

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Vasilj ◽  
Biljana Činčurak Erceg ◽  
Aleksandra Perković
Keyword(s):  
World Health Organisation ◽  
Air Transport ◽  
World Health ◽  
Civil Aviation ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
International Civil Aviation Organisation ◽  
The World ◽  
Safe Transport ◽  
New Procedures

A pandemic caused by the COVID-19 has caused disorders and enormous damage in all modes of transport. Carriers as well as transport users have faced great challenges of maintaining traffic. Measures and requirements imposed on them were often obscure, imprecise, and the journey itself was uncertain. Passengers were in fear of whether they would be able to reach their destination, but also whether they will succeed in preserving their health. Carriers, on the other hand, have also sought to adapt and provide passengers with safe transport. Nevertheless, the pandemic caused financial collapse of many carriers, landed the world fleet and closed many airports. Various legal instruments related to the protection of public health are applied in air transport, and they have been adopted within the framework of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which will be presented in the paper. Various epidemiological measures related to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic have been prescribed in air transport, applicable during the journey, which have certain specifics in relation to other modes of transport. The paper will present epidemiological measures as well as the procedure applied when there is a passenger on the flight who shows symptoms of an infectious disease, and new procedures related to transport of goods. It will also address the obligation to complete certain forms and provide various information as well as the obligation to compensate costs for cancelled flights. There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has a significant economic impact on air transport, and efforts will be made to present measures and provide forecasts for the recovery of air traffic in the period that follows. The paper will also address the question as to whether existing legislation and measures are appropriate, whether relevant international organisations have taken prompt measures to protect and ensure air transport during the pandemic, and whether sufficient measures have been taken to protect the health of passengers on the flight.

Similarities and differences in managing the Covid-19 crisis and climate change risk

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (10) ◽  
pp. 2597-2614
Author(s):  
Maria Laura Ruiu ◽  
Massimo Ragnedda ◽  
Gabriele Ruiu
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Risk Communication ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
World Health ◽  
Communication Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
The World ◽  
Similarities And Differences

Purpose This paper investigates both similarities and differences between two global threats represented by climate change (CC) and Covid-19 (CV). This will help understand the reasons behind the recognition of the CV as a pandemic that requires global efforts, whereas efforts to tackle climate change still lack such urgency. This paper aims to answer to the following questions: What are the elements that make CV restrictions acceptable by both the public and policymakers? and What are the elements that make CC restrictions not acceptable? Design/methodology/approach This paper analyses the situation reports released by the World Health Organisation between the 11th of March (declaration of pandemic) and the 22nd of April, and their associated documents such as the Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (WHO), the Risk Communication and Community Engagement Action Plan (WHO) and its updated version (WHO) and the Handbook for public health capacity-building (WHO). The analysis ends one week after President Trump’s announcement to suspend US funding to WHO (Fedor and Manson, 2020) and his support to public demonstrations against restrictions. Findings The application of the second stage of the “Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication” model identifies five lessons that can be learned from this comparison. These relate to the necessity to simultaneously warn (about the severity of a threat) and reassure (by suggesting specific courses of action) the public; the need for multilevel collaboration that integrates collective and individual actions; the capacity to present cohesive messages to the public; the risk of politicisation and commodification of the issue that might undermine global efforts to tackle the threat; and the capacity to trigger individual responses through the promotion of self-efficacy. Originality/value This paper identifies both similarities and differences between CC and CV managements to understand why the two threats are perceived and tackled in different ways. The analysis of official documents released by both the World Health Organisation and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate CV outbreak as a crisis, whereas climate change is still anchored to the status of a future-oriented risk.

Overcoming barriers to disseminate effective smoking cessation treatments globally

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-247
Author(s):  
Sudhanshu Patwardhan ◽  
Jed E. Rose
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Smoking Cessation ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
World Health ◽  
National Guidelines ◽  
Nicotine Replacement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
National Implementation ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Programmes

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review the barriers in the dissemination of effective smoking cessation treatments and services globally. Offering tobacco users help to stop using tobacco is a key demand reduction measure outlined under Article 14 of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Implementing Article 14 can reap great dividends for the billion plus tobacco users around the world and their families, friends and societies. Design/methodology/approach A review of the status of the global implementation of Article 14 using available literature on smoking cessation products, services and national guidelines. Discussing innovative approaches being currently explored in South Asia that can lead to faster adoption and implementation of Article 14 globally. Findings Major gaps remain in cessation products’ availability and resource allocation for cessation services globally. Current licensed products are falling short on delivering and sustaining smoking cessation. Innovation in cessation products and services needs to build on learnings in nicotine pharmacokinetics, behavioural insights from consumer research and tap into 21st century tools such as mobile based apps. National implementation of FCTC’s Article 14 needs to follow guidelines that encourage integration into existing health programmes and health-care practitioners’ (HCPs) upskilling. Originality/value Smoking cessation is a desirable health outcome and nicotine replacement products are a means of achieving cessation through tobacco harm reduction. E-cigarettes are sophisticated nicotine replacement products. Innovation is urgently needed to fill the gaps in smoking cessation products and services, and for converting global policy into local practice. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), HCPs’ knowledge, attitudes and practice regarding tobacco use and cessation may hold the key to rapidly scaling up cessation support and delivery to achieve FCTC objectives sooner. Additionally, HCPs can play an important role in offering smoking cessation support in existing national health programmes for TB, cancer screening and maternal and child health. Also, widely prevalent smartphone devices may deliver smoking cessation through telemedicine in LMICs sooner, leapfrogging the hurdles of the existing health-care infrastructure.

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