Covid-19 and public health

2021 ◽  
Vol 122 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-111
Author(s):  
Allyson M. Pollock ◽  
Louisa Harding-Edgar
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Disease Control ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Communicable Disease ◽  
Care Service ◽  
World Health ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Public Health Services ◽  
The Government

The UK has the highest death rate from Covid-19 in the world, and it is vulnerable groups who have suffered the most. This article describes the multiple failures of government that led to this tragedy. The depletion of and disinvestment in public health services, communicable disease control and community health services over decades meant those reliant on these services were failed. The fundamental tenets of public health were set aside, and public health expertise ignored, in favour of establishing a parallel, privatised system for epidemic control which failed expensively and spectacularly. Long-established principles of infectious disease control and rules and standards for scientific evaluation were not followed, and our ‘world-class scientists’ fatally departed from World Health Organisation advice. Covid has been used as a cover for more privatisation and less scrutiny and accountability. It has exposed the gap between rich and poor and erosion in our public services. However, rather than ameliorating inequalities, the government has presided over enormous inter- and intra-generational transfers of harms and risks from rich to poor and to those in institutional settings, and from older prosperous people to children. Above all, Covid has been a cover for enormous transfers of wealth from the public purse and public services to private interests — notably in health services. There is a political solution to the undermining of public health, commercial conflicts and lack of public accountability: the government must bring forward legislation to reinstate a publicly funded, publicly operated and fully integrated National Health and Care Service, and set out clear plans for reinvestment and restoring and rebuilding health and care services.

scholarly journals Evaluation of the first pharmacy-led weight management programme in Greece

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. i45-i46
Author(s):  
A Peletidi ◽  
R Kayyali
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Annual Report ◽  
World Health ◽  
Public Health Services ◽  
Cvd Risk ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

Abstract Introduction Obesity is one of the main cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors.(1) In primary care, pharmacists are in a unique position to offer weight management (WM) interventions. Greece is the European country with the highest number of pharmacies (84.06 pharmacies per 100,000 citizens).(2) The UK was chosen as a reference country, because of the structured public health services offered, the local knowledge and because it was considered to be the closest country to Greece geographically, unlike Australia and Canada, where there is also evidence confirming the potential role of pharmacists in WM. Aim To design and evaluate a 10-week WM programme offered by trained pharmacists in Patras. Methods This WM programme was a step ahead of other interventions worldwide as apart from the usual measuring parameters (weight, body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure (BP)) it also offered an AUDIT-C and Mediterranean diet score tests. Results In total,117 individuals participated. Of those, 97.4% (n=114), achieved the programme’s aim, losing at least 5% of their initial weight. The mean % of total weight loss (10th week) was 8.97% (SD2.65), and the t-test showed statistically significant results (P<0.001; 95% CI [8.48, 9.45]). The programme also helped participants to reduce their waist-to-height ratio, an early indicator of the CVD risk in both male (P=0.004) and female (P<0.001) participants. Additionally, it improved participants’ BP, AUDIT-C score and physical activity levels significantly (P<0.001). Conclusion The research is the first systematic effort in Greece to initiate and explore the potential role of pharmacists in public health. The successful results of this WM programme constitute a first step towards the structured incorporation of pharmacists in public’s health promotion. It proposed a model for effectively delivering public health services in Greece. This study adds to the evidence in relation to pharmacists’ CVD role in public health with outcomes that superseded other pharmacy-led WM programmes. It also provides the first evidence that Greek pharmacists have the potential to play an important role within primary healthcare and that after training they are able to provide public health services for both the public’s benefit and their clinical role enhancement. This primary evidence should support the Panhellenic Pharmaceutical Association, to “fight” for their rights for an active role in primary care. In terms of limitations, it must be noted that the participants’ collected data were recorded by pharmacists, and the analysis therefore depended on the accuracy of the recorded data, in particular on the measurements or calculations obtained. Although the sample size was achieved, it can be argued that it is small for the generalisation of findings across Greece. Therefore, the WM programme should be offered in other Greek cities to identify if similar results can be replicated, so as to consolidate the contribution of pharmacists in promoting public health. Additionally, the study was limited as it did not include a control group. Despite the limitations, our findings provide a model for a pharmacy-led public health programme revolving around WM that can be used as a model for services in the future. References 1. Mendis S, Puska P, Norrving B, World Health Organization., World Heart Federation., World Stroke Organization. Global atlas on cardiovascular disease prevention and control [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization in collaboration with the World Heart Federation and the World Stroke Organization; 2011 [cited 2018 Jun 26]. 155 p. Available from: http://www.who.int/cardiovascular_diseases/publications/atlas_cvd/en/ 2. Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union. Pharmacy with you throughout life:PGEU Annual Report [Internet]. 2015. Available from: https://www.pgeu.eu/en/library/530:annual-report-2015.html

scholarly journals Membangun Komunikasi dalam Sinergi Pelayanan Kesehatan di Kabupaten Bandung

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).

Politics Matters

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.

Politics Matters

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

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.

Disease Control and Public Health in Colonial Africa

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuël Coghe
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
World War I ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Disease Control ◽  
Disease Incidence ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Campaigns

Disease control and public health have been key aspects of social and political life in sub-Saharan Africa since time immemorial. With variations across space and time, many societies viewed disease as the result of imbalances in persons and societies and combined the use of materia medica from the natural world, spiritual divination, and community healing to redress these imbalances. While early encounters between African and European healing systems were still marked by mutual exchanges and adaptations, the emergence of European germ theory-based biomedicine and the establishment of racialized colonial states in the 19th century increasingly challenged the value of African therapeutic practices for disease control on the continent. Initially, colonial states focused on preserving the health of European soldiers, administrators, and settlers, who were deemed particularly vulnerable to tropical climate and its diseases. Around 1900, however, they started paying more attention to diseases among Africans, whose health and population growth were now deemed crucial for economic development and the legitimacy of colonial rule. Fueled by new insights and techniques provided by tropical medicine, antisleeping sickness campaigns would be among the first major interventions. After World War I, colonial health services expanded their campaigns against epidemic diseases, but also engaged with broader public health approaches that addressed reproductive problems and the social determinants of both disease and health. Colonial states were not the only providers of biomedical healthcare in colonial Africa. Missionary societies and private companies had their own health services, with particular logics, methods, and focuses. And after 1945, international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) increasingly invested in health campaigns in Africa as well. Moreover, Africans actively participated in colonial disease control, most notably as nurses, midwives, and doctors. Nevertheless, Western biomedicine never gained hegemony in colonial Africa. Many Africans tried to avoid or minimize participation in certain campaigns or continued to utilize the services of local healers and diviners, often in combination with particular biomedical approaches. To what extent colonial disease control impacted on disease incidence and demography is still controversially debated.

NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1971 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 637-641
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Disease Control ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Health Departments ◽  
State Health ◽  
Public Health Services ◽  
And Control ◽  
The U.S

Course on Tuberculosis: A course on Tuberculosis Today will be offered six times during 1971 by the U.S. Public Health Services Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia. The course is intended for health workers who are responsible for the management and control of tuberculosis, and for those responsible for providing teaching or training in the fields of tuberculosis or infectious disease. No fees are charged for these courses. Application forms can be obtained from State Health Departments, HEW Regional Offices, or the Tuberculosis Branch, Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia.

scholarly journals INOVASI LAYANAN KESEHATAN BERBASIS E-GOVERNMENT (Studi pada Puskesmas Kecamatan Kepanjen Kabupaten Malang)

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Lely Indah Mindarti ◽  
Aryn Pratista Azaria Juniar
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Status ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Business Sector ◽  
The Public ◽  
Optimal Service ◽  
Optimal Health ◽  
The Government

Health is considered an investment for the development of Indonesian people resources. Health is one of the important aspects of a country. Health becomes one of the welfare benchmarks in a country. Health is an obligation of every person to participate in realizing, maintaining and improving public health status as high as possible. The public is entitled to obtain optimal health services in accordance with the needs of the Government and health facilities is an obligation to be able to control and improve the health services available to the community. But now the public service in the field of health has not been said to be good. Until now the government is still improving to provide public services in the field of optimal health. There needs to be a link between government, business sector and society in creating an optimal service based on e-goverment. Because of these demands Puskesmas Kecamatan Kepanjen, Malang Regency to create and implement innovation programs related to health services applied ICT namely Sutera Emas Program  

scholarly journals Challenges encountered with the use of mobile phones to deliver public health services in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana- A qualitative study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Ebo Hammond ◽  
Patience Aseweh Abor ◽  
Aaron Asibi Abuosi ◽  
Francis Anderson Adzei
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
World Health ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Public Health Services ◽  
Greater Accra Region

Abstract Background The adoption and application of medical technologies is one of the six health system building blocks of the World Health Organization that ensures access and quality of health services for which the mobile phone is identified as a potential tool due to its general adoption and use by people, including healthcare providers. In spite of this there are some challenges that restrict the opportunities that the mobile phone technology could offer for delivery of public health services. This study explored the challenges encountered in the use of the mobile phone to deliver public health services in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Methods Qualitative research approach was employed in the study and data analysis done conducted with the use of NVIVO version 11 software package to facilitate thematic analysis of data. Results The key findings of the challenges encountered by healthcare providers in the provision of public health services comprised Management and leadership, Finance, Access, Infrastructure, Technical and Human resources. Conclusions The implication of this study is that despite the high adoption of the mobile phone by healthcare providers, there were also key challenges constraining the uptake of mHealth for public health services. A new analytical framework was developed to aid analysis of mHealth Challenges.

scholarly journals Communicable disease surveillance, prevention and control in Cyprus

2004 ◽  
Vol 8 (19) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Poyiadji-Kalakouta
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Disease Surveillance ◽  
Prevention And Control ◽  
Communicable Disease ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
Public Health Services ◽  
Ministry Of Health ◽  
And Control

The Medical and Public Health Services of the Ministry of Health of Cyprus have recently developed a new Network for the Surveillance and Control of Communicable Diseases

Policies and Politics

2018 ◽  
pp. 175-184
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

Since the late 1950s, Hong Kong's public health services have increased. 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. 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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