Characteristics of proposed and enacted state tobacco control legislation in the United States, 2010 –2015
This study documents all tobacco control proposals (bills) introduced in the United States into all 50 state legislatures from the start of 2010 through 2015 and assesses associations between tobacco-related strategies and tobacco product types with enactment of the bills into law. In total, members of state legislatures introduced 2801 tobacco control bills, and state legislatures enacted 17.4%. Bills most introduced addressed clean air (n = 696) and tax or price bills (n = 582), yet both had lower likelihood of enactment (each OR, 0.51; 95% CI 0.38–0.69) compared to bills on any other tobacco control strategy. ...
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - July 13, 2020 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
Proposal for smoke-free public housing: a systematic review of attitudes and preferences from residents of multi-unit housing
AbstractA policy proposal to ban public housing smoking indoors has received support, but it is unclear how certain affected groups, specifically smokers in housing units, perceive such a policy. To review the literature on attitudes and perceptions of housing unit tenants towards an indoor smoke-free housing policy, using various databases, we searched articles for attitudes towards smoking ban enforcement in housing units. We identified fourteen articles. Non-smokers heavily favored indoor policies and current smokers heavily opposed them. Current smokers represented a substantial minority in the reviewed articles, resul...
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - July 2, 2020 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
The Federation ’s Pages
(Source: Journal of Public Health Policy)
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - July 2, 2020 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
The traps of calling the public health response to COVID-19 “an unexpected war against an invisible enemy ”
(Source: Journal of Public Health Policy)
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - July 1, 2020 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
The two trillion dollar barn: science, prevention, and the lessons of disaster
AbstractThe unprecedented scale of the CovID-19 disaster will define public health failure for generations to come. Its causes include inadequate funding, hostility towards science in general and public health science in particular, a government culture steeped in deception and misinformation, and a disdain for collaboration for the greater good among the community of nations. The consequences have been devastating, but it is essential that the public health community uses its moment in the spotlight to promote the agenda of science-based policy, honesty and transparency in communication, and international cooperation to a...
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - June 16, 2020 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
The importance of effective risk communication and transparency: lessons from the dengue vaccine controversy in the Philippines
AbstractIn 2016 the Philippine Department of Health (DOH) introduced a novel dengue vaccine in a mass immunization program to reduce the substantial economic and social burden of the disease on households and the government. The vaccine manufacturer ’s announcement regarding new findings on the small but increased risk of severe dengue for vaccinated seronegative patients caused turmoil as various people claimed that the vaccine caused deaths and that health authorities are corrupt. While health department staff split—some having to preserv e its reputation and others to monitor over 800,000 children administered the v...
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - June 8, 2020 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
The COVID-19 infection: lessons from the Italian experience
AbstractThe first case of the new coronavirus, COVID-19, was reported in China on 17 November 2019. By the end of March 2020, the rapid global spread of infection affected over 1 million people. Italy is one of the countries most impacted, with over 100,000 positive cases identified. The first detected cases were reported on 21 February 2020 in two Italian towns: Vo ’ Euganeo in the Province of Padua, Veneto region, and Codogno, in the Province of Lodi, Lombardy. In the next weeks the epidemic spread quickly across the country but mainly in the north of Italy. The two regions: Veneto and Lombardy, implemented different s...
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - May 28, 2020 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
California advocates ’ perspectives on challenges and risks of advancing the tobacco endgame
AbstractIn the USA, California ’s highly-regarded Tobacco Control Program (CTCP) has defined its goal as “ending the tobacco epidemic for all population groups” by 2035. To understand local advocates’ perceptions of endgame-oriented policies, we interviewed 28 advocates from California communities that had recently adopte d tobacco control policies. There was no consensus among participants on which specific policies would constitute the tobacco endgame in California. There was an agreement, however, that policymakers should promote policies that would impact communities with the highest tobacco use prevalence and ...
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - May 26, 2020 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
Thanks to reviewers and to the two editors emeriti
(Source: Journal of Public Health Policy)
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - May 3, 2020 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
Tobacco harm reduction: are smokers becoming more hardcore?
AbstractWe undertook a systematic review to identify and summarise studies on hardcore smoking and hardening to: determine the degree of variability in definitions of hardcore smoking and hardening; assess the evidence for claims that smokers are becoming increasingly hardened within the context of harm reduction as a policy initiative; and identify the determining characteristics of a hardcore smoker. We searched five electronic databases from 1970 to mid-April 2018 using the search term “smok* AND hard* AND (tobacco OR cigar* OR nicotin*)”. We included studies if they included a definition of hardcore smokers and/or ...
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - May 3, 2020 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
Effects of United States WIC infant formula contracts on brand sales of infant formula and toddler milks
AbstractThe United States (US) Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides free infant formula to low-income families with infants. State WIC agencies periodically solicit bids from manufacturers for the exclusive contract to provide infant formula in exchange for considerable rebates. Using Nielsen 2006 –2015 retail scanner data, we estimated a difference-in-difference model to examine how winning a WIC infant formula contract affects sales of the new (winning) and former brands, including effects on sales of products not eligible for WIC (spillover). One year following a contr...
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - April 29, 2020 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
Occupational safety and health in China: junior college students ’ knowledge from a large cross-sectional survey in Jiangsu Province
AbstractOccupational health and safety (OHS) is important for safeguarding workers during industrialization and pursuing economic benefits. We asked 123,943 junior college students from years 1 –5 to complete an online questionnaire about their knowledge of occupational safety and health. A total of 101,577 students responded, with a response rate of 81.96%. The average score and pass rate for all valid respondents were 44.99 ± 12.53 and 75.2%, respectively. There were statistically significant differences in average scores and pass rates among students of different genders, levels, number of family members, and sch...
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - April 14, 2020 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
The animal sacrifice –public health nexus in Nepal
AbstractParticipants in religious festivals have practiced animal sacrifice as a core part of Hinduism for hundreds of years —at a small scale by individuals and at large scale at major festivals. Butchers frequently perform sacrificial slaughter openly, in sight and sound of other animals with little or no guidance from or adherence to hygienic standards, which are poor or non-existent. One Health principles could guid e development of interventions to protect human and animal health and welfare from these practices, but this concept is poorly understood in Nepal. Animal welfare organizations and international outcry ha...
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - April 14, 2020 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
Call for a global ban policy on and scientific management of asbestos to eliminate asbestos-related diseases
AbstractAsbestos is a primary cause of cancer worldwide. Global estimates indicate workplace exposure of 125 million people and about 255,000 deaths each year. Of the approximately 300 million metric tonnes of asbestos ever produced worldwide, most will become waste and disposed of in landfills. The recycling and transforming asbestos fibre into a non-harmful product offer a sustainable solution, but a global commitment remains elusive. Urgent action is needed. Sixty-seven countries have banned the use of asbestos-containing material, however, repeated calls to stop the use of asbestos globally have gone unheeded. We call ...
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - March 4, 2020 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
Spatial analysis of food security in Iran: associated factors and governmental support policies
This study analyzes caloric intake in Iran as a proxy for food security to determine factors associated with caloric intake that could be impacted by policies. We modeled regional heterogeneity by analyzing a complete countrywide dataset disaggregated for rural intra-provincial areas using unique data from the Iranian Statistical Centre for 2007 –2016. We applied logistic regression modeling and likelihood ratio tests to assess the association between socio-economic determinants and caloric intake among rural areas of all provinces. National policies (nation-wide food subsidies and a cash equivalent for food for each ad...
Source: Journal of Public Health Policy - March 1, 2020 Category: Health Management Source Type: research
