Legal Responses to Communal Rejection in Emergencies

2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 529-534
Author(s):  
James G. Hodge ◽  
Daniel G. Orenstein ◽  
Kim Weidenaar ◽  
Nick Meza ◽  
Laura Van Buren ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Hurricane Katrina ◽  
Gulf Coast ◽  
Influenza Pandemic ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
H1n1 Influenza ◽  
Hurricane Sandy ◽  
Infectious Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Public Health Emergencies ◽  
Legal Responses

Major disasters and public health emergencies constantly test the nation's resolve to rally and recover from tragedy. Public health crises stemming from prolonged threats like the 2009/2010 H1N1 influenza pandemic require sustained preparedness and response over many months. Even shorter-duration events, like tornados, earthquakes, or hurricanes, leave lasting impacts for which full recovery may take years. Telling examples include the displacement of thousands of persons across the Gulf Coast states following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and difficulties obtaining basic housing and services that persisted in the Northeast months after Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Whether the result of natural disasters, infectious disease outbreaks, bioterrorism, or other causes, these events can change the societal landscape in affected regions.Despite the challenges of recovery across populations stemming from national or regional emergencies, Americans have consistently supported those directly affected.

scholarly journals Public Health Emergencies and Constitutionalism Before COVID-19: Between the National and the International

2020 ◽  
pp. 217-238
Author(s):  
Pedro A. Villarreal
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
H1n1 Influenza ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
Infectious Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Public Health Emergencies ◽  
The World ◽  
Legal Frameworks ◽  
Technical Features ◽  
First Time

Abstract The current chapter deals with public health emergencies and their linkages to constitutional law and theory. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic poses myriad challenges to constitutional regimes around the world. However, it is by no means the first time that public health emergencies have led to questions of constitutionalism. Past instances of disease outbreaks had already highlighted how emergency legal frameworks unfold when facing the challenge of containing their spread. Against this backdrop, the chapter focuses on pre-COVID-19  instances of cross-border epidemics and pandemics, such as A(H1N1) Influenza, Ebola and Zika, and some of their implications for constitutionalism. These examples of infectious disease outbreaks are assessed by resorting to three models-archetypes of constitutional emergencies as a theoretical background. As they show a coupling between the international and national levels, a brief glimpse at applicable international law regimes is put forward. Ultimately, public health emergencies are not taken as a new genus within already existing classifications. Nevertheless, this contribution shows how they do warrant more detailed analysis, given how their technical features put theories related to constitutionalism under extreme conditions to the test. The contribution was initially drafted before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Thus, it is a mostly retrospective analysis. Nevertheless, insights taken from outbreaks preceding COVID-19 can help build a broader outlook of the puzzle related to how the intertwinement between constitutionalism and public health emergencies can be addressed through a broader perspective not limited to one disease.

scholarly journals Collaborating with Sovereign Tribal Nations to Legally Prepare for Public Health Emergencies

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (S2) ◽  
pp. 55-58
Author(s):  
Tina Batra Hershey
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Public Health Preparedness ◽  
Infectious Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Public Health Emergencies ◽  
Us Government ◽  
Tribal Governments ◽  
Tribal Nations ◽  
Coordination And Collaboration

Public health emergencies, including infectious disease outbreaks and natural disasters, are issues faced by every community. To address these threats, it is critical for all jurisdictions to understand how law can be used to enhance public health preparedness, as well as improve coordination and collaboration across jurisdictions. As sovereign entities, Tribal governments have the authority to create their own laws and take the necessary steps to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters and emergencies. Legal preparedness is a key component of public health preparedness. This article first explains legal preparedness and Tribal sovereignty and then describes the relationship between Tribal Nations, the US government, and states. Specific Tribal concerns with respect to emergency preparedness and the importance of coordination and collaboration across jurisdictions for emergency preparedness are discussed. Examples of collaborative efforts between Tribal and other governments to enhance legal preparedness are described.

scholarly journals Pandemic Influenza Vaccines: What did We Learn from the 2009 Pandemic and are We Better Prepared Now?

Vaccines ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Rockman ◽  
Karen Laurie ◽  
Ian Barr
Keyword(s):  
Influenza Virus ◽  
Influenza Pandemic ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
H1n1 Influenza ◽  
Virus Infections ◽  
Extensive Disease ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
International Agencies ◽  
Infectious Disease Outbreaks

In 2009, a novel A(H1N1) influenza virus emerged with rapid human-to-human spread and caused the first pandemic of the 21st century. Although this pandemic was considered mild compared to the previous pandemics of the 20th century, there was still extensive disease and death. This virus replaced the previous A(H1N1) and continues to circulate today as a seasonal virus. It is well established that vaccines are the most effective method to alleviate the mortality and morbidity associated with influenza virus infections, but the 2009 A(H1N1) influenza pandemic, like all significant infectious disease outbreaks, presented its own unique set of problems with vaccine supply and demand. This manuscript describes the issues that confronted governments, international agencies and industries in developing a well-matched vaccine in 2009, and identifies the key improvements and remaining challenges facing the world as the next influenza pandemic inevitably approaches.

scholarly journals Challenges to biobanking in LMICs during COVID-19: time to reconceptualise research ethics guidance for pandemics and public health emergencies?

2021 ◽  
pp. medethics-2020-106858
Author(s):  
Shenuka Singh ◽  
Rosemary Jean Cadigan ◽  
Keymanthri Moodley
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Infectious Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Public Health Emergencies ◽  
Biobank Research ◽  
Low Middle Income Countries

Biobanking can promote valuable health research that may lead to significant societal benefits. However, collecting, storing and sharing human samples and data for research purposes present numerous ethical challenges. These challenges are exacerbated when the biobanking efforts aim to facilitate research on public health emergencies and include the sharing of samples and data between low/middle-income countries (LMICs) and high-income countries (HICs). In this article, we explore ethical challenges for COVID-19 biobanking, offering examples from two past infectious disease outbreaks in LMICs where biobanking activities contributed to the perpetuation of global inequities. We focus on how the ethical imperative to promote the common good during public health emergencies can conflict with protecting the interests of biobank participants. We discuss how conducting biobank research under a waiver of informed consent during public health emergencies is ethically permissible, provided guidance is in place to prevent biopiracy and exploitation of vulnerable communities. We also highlight the need for biobank collaborations between LMICs and HICs to promote capacity building and benefit sharing. Finally, we offer guidance to promote the ethical oversight of biobanks and biobank research during the COVID-19 pandemic or other future public health emergencies.

scholarly journals Spreading (dis)trust in Fiji? Exploring COVID-19 misinformation on Facebook forums

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1and2) ◽  
pp. 63-84
Author(s):  
Romitesh Kant ◽  
Rufino Varea
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
News Media ◽  
Communication Systems ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Infectious Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Public Health Emergencies ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
The Impact

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant challenges for the health system across the globe and fueled the surge of numerous rumours, hoaxes, and misinformation regarding outcomes, prevention and cure of the virus.  The COVID-19 pandemic has also had severe political, economic and societal effects and affected media and communication systems in unprecedented ways. While traditional journalism has tried to adapt to the rapidly evolving situation, alternative news media on the internet have given the events an ideological spin. These voices have been criticised for furthering societal confusion and spreading potentially dangerous ‘fake news’ or conspiracy theories via social media and other online channels. The impact of the disease and the lack of information associated with it have allowed medical misinformation to rapidly surface and propagate on various social media platforms. Previous studies have highlighted a similar trend during recent public health emergencies, mainly the Ebola and Zika outbreaks. Such a phenomenon is alarming on both individual and public health levels to the extent that governments are realising the gravity and attempting to limit its effects. This article offers a unique perspective because it provides data-driven qualitative insights into Fijian Facebook posts related to infectious disease outbreaks. This study aims to understand public views and opinions on Fijian social media during the height of the pandemic in 2020 and to outline potential implications for health information.

scholarly journals No time to wait: Commandeering healthcare facilities in the age of COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 41-43
Author(s):  
Taleed El-Sabawi, JD, PhD ◽  
Leo Beletsky, JD, MPH ◽  
Cynthia Hernandez, JD ◽  
Jennifer J. Carroll, PhD, MPH
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Market Price ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Eminent Domain ◽  
Legal Basis ◽  
Healthcare Facilities ◽  
Infectious Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Public Health Emergencies ◽  
Local Municipalities ◽  
Fair Market

In this editorial, we address the urgent need to rapidly expand hospital and ICU capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic and future infectious disease outbreaks. As a remedy to this problem currently plaguing many US municipalities, we discuss states' Emergency Takings Power, an alternative to eminent domain proceedings that allows the immediate commandeering of vacant hospitals without exorbitant costs or the need to litigate fair market price up front. We briefly describe the legal basis for emergency takings power and how states can empower local municipalities to act on that power during public health emergencies.

Federal Legal Preparedness Tools for Facilitating Medical Countermeasure Use during Public Health Emergencies

2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. 22-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brooke Courtney ◽  
Susan Sherman ◽  
Matthew Penn
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Federal State ◽  
The Public ◽  
Infectious Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Public Health Emergencies ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Temporary Assistance ◽  
Medical Countermeasures

Law can greatly facilitate responses to public health emergencies, including naturally-occurring infectious disease outbreaks and intentional or accidental exposures to chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear (CBRN) agents. At the federal level, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), as the lead for federal public health and medical responses to public health emergencies and incidents, has a range of authorities to support federal, state, tribal, local, and territorial responses. For example, under the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, the Secretary may provide temporary assistance to States to meet health emergency needs or deploy medicine and supplies from the Strategic National Stockpile. The Secretary also may determine that a disease or disorder presents a public health emergency, which may be the first step in triggering other critical legal authorities for response.Since the 2001 anthrax attacks, one focus of public health preparedness has been on developing, distributing, and rapidly dispensing medical countermeasures (MCMs) for CBRN emergencies and pandemics.

scholarly journals Genome sequencing and its use in public health responses to COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 44
Author(s):  
John-Sebastian Eden
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Genome Sequencing ◽  
Influenza Pandemic ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
Infectious Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Aids Epidemic ◽  
1918 Influenza

Human history has been shaped by the heavy burden of infectious disease pandemics. Yet, despite the bitter lessons learned from history, even those in living memory such as the 1918 influenza pandemic and HIV/AIDS epidemic, COVID-19 stands unique in the sudden, immense health and economic impacts to the global human population. While the costs have been great, and the long-term consequences are still being revealed, the urgent need for action has also brought forward rapid developments and innovations to combat COVID-19 and better prepare us for future infectious disease outbreaks. One such area has been the widespread adoption of whole genome sequencing to inform public health responses. Genome sequencing during the COVID-19 pandemic has become key to tracking the spread of SARS-CoV-2 at all scales, to such a degree that terms such as genomics, mutations, variants and clusters are now common vernacular to politicians, health officials and the general public. This article provides a commentary on the genesis and evolution of SARS-CoV-2 genome sequencing, and its critical on-going role in the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

scholarly journals Assessing global preparedness for the next pandemic: development and application of an Epidemic Preparedness Index

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. e001157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Oppenheim ◽  
Mark Gallivan ◽  
Nita K Madhav ◽  
Naor Brown ◽  
Volodymyr Serhiyenko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Influenza Pandemic ◽  
National Level ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
H1n1 Influenza ◽  
Outbreak Detection ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Public Health Systems

IntroductionRobust metrics for national-level preparedness are critical for assessing global resilience to epidemic and pandemic outbreaks. However, existing preparedness assessments focus primarily on public health systems or specific legislative frameworks, and do not measure other essential capacities that enable and support public health preparedness and response.MethodsWe developed an Epidemic Preparedness Index (EPI) to assess national-level preparedness. The EPI is global, covering 188 countries. It consists of five subindices measuring each country’s economic resources, public health communications, infrastructure, public health systems and institutional capacity. To evaluate the construct validity of the EPI, we tested its correlation with proxy measures for preparedness and response capacity, including the timeliness of outbreak detection and reporting, as well as vaccination rates during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic.ResultsThe most prepared countries were concentrated in Europe and North America, while the least prepared countries clustered in Central and West Africa and Southeast Asia. Better prepared countries were found to report infectious disease outbreaks more quickly and to have vaccinated a larger proportion of their population during the 2009 pandemic.ConclusionThe EPI measures a country’s capacity to detect and respond to infectious disease events. Existing tools, such as the Joint External Evaluation (JEE), have been designed to measure preparedness within a country over time. The EPI complements the JEE by providing a holistic view of preparedness and is constructed to support comparative risk assessment between countries. The index can be updated rapidly to generate global estimates of pandemic preparedness that can inform strategy and resource allocation.

scholarly journals Public health emergencies of international concern: a historic overview

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Annelies Wilder-Smith ◽  
Sarah Osman
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
Influenza Pandemic ◽  
International Health ◽  
H1n1 Influenza ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Emerging Diseases ◽  
Trade Restrictions ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Health Emergencies

Abstract Rationale The International Health Regulations (IHR) have been the governing framework for global health security since 2007. Declaring public health emergencies of international concern (PHEIC) is a cornerstone of the IHR. Here we review how PHEIC are formally declared, the diseases for which such declarations have been made from 2007 to 2020 and justifications for such declarations. Key findings Six events were declared PHEIC between 2007 and 2020: the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, Ebola (West African outbreak 2013–2015, outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo 2018–2020), poliomyelitis (2014 to present), Zika (2016) and COVID-19 (2020 to present). Poliomyelitis is the longest PHEIC. Zika was the first PHEIC for an arboviral disease. For several other emerging diseases a PHEIC was not declared despite the fact that the public health impact of the event was considered serious and associated with potential for international spread. Recommendations The binary nature of a PHEIC declaration is often not helpful for events where a tiered or graded approach is needed. The strength of PHEIC declarations is the ability to rapidly mobilize international coordination, streamline funding and accelerate the advancement of the development of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics under emergency use authorization. The ultimate purpose of such declaration is to catalyse timely evidence-based action, to limit the public health and societal impacts of emerging and re-emerging disease risks while preventing unwarranted travel and trade restrictions.

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