Why France is making eight new vaccines mandatory

France is one of the countries with the highest prevalence of vaccine hesitancy in the world. In an attempt to raise vaccination coverages, the French government made on January 1, 2018 eight more vaccines mandatory in addition to the three required until then. The process that led to this policy choice is of particular interest. We describe how vaccines became contentious in France and how French authorities came to view mandatory vaccination as the solution to the rise in vaccine hesitancy. In a bold move, French public health authorities turned to a new type of institutional device grounded in the ideal of democracy and public participation to political decision-making: “a citizen consultation”. This consultation anchored the idea that legal coercion could be the solution to France’s crisis with vaccines. Time will tell whether the French extension of mandatory vaccination will reduce tensions around vaccines.     

The tobacco industry’s challenges to standardised packaging: A comparative analysis of issue framing in public relations campaigns in four countries

Tobacco industry public relations campaigns have played a key role in challenges to standardised cigarette packaging. This paper presents a comparative analysis of industry campaigns in Australia and the United Kingdom, which have implemented standardised packaging legislation; Canada, where policy has been adopted but not yet implemented; and the Netherlands, which has considered, but not enacted regulation. Campaigns were identified via Google searches, tobacco industry websites, media coverage, government submissions and previous research; analysis focused on issue framing and supporting evidence. Public relations campaigns in all case study countries drew on similar frames - the illicit trade in tobacco products, the encroaching ‘nanny state’, lack of evidence for the effectiveness of standardised packaging, a slippery slope of regulation, and inherent threats to intellectual property rights. These claims were supported by industry research, front groups and commissioned reports by accountancy firms, but were not with verifiable research. Independent evidence that contradicted industry positions was overlooked. Similarities in structure and content of public relations campaigns in countries that have enacted or considered regulation points to a strategic co-ordinated approach by cigarette manufacturers. Countries considering standardised packaging policy can expect powerful opposition from the tobacco industry. Tobacco control communities and policy makers can learn from previous experience, and share best practise in countering industry arguments.     

Claims in vapour device (e-cigarette) regulation: A Narrative Policy Framework analysis

BackgroundThe electronic cigarette or e-cigarette (vapour device) is a consumer product undergoing rapid growth, and governments have been adopting regulations on the sale of the devices and their nicotine liquids. Competing claims about vapour devices have ignited a contentious debate in the public health community. What claims have been taken up in the state arena, and how have they possibly influenced regulatory outcomes?MethodsThis study utilized Narrative Policy Framework to analyze the claims made about vapour devices in legislation recommendation reports from Queensland Australia, Canada, and the European Union, and the 2016 deeming rule legislation from the United States, and examined the claims and the regulatory outcomes in these jurisdictions.ResultsThe vast majority of claims in the policy documents represented vapour devices as a threat: an unsafe product harming the health of vapour device users, a gateway product promoting youth tobacco uptake, and a quasi-tobacco product impeding tobacco control. The opportunity for vapour devices to promote cessation or reduce exposure to toxins was very rarely presented, and these positive claims were not discussed at all in two of the four documents studied.ConclusionThe dominant claims of vapour devices as a public health threat have supported regulations that have limited their potential as a harm reduction strategy. Future policy debates should evaluate the opportunities for vapour devices to decrease the health and social burdens of the tobacco epidemic.     

Understanding policy persistence—The case of police drug detection dog policy in NSW,Australia

BackgroundSignificant research attention has been given to understanding the processes of drug policy reform. However, there has been surprisingly little analysis of the persistence of policy in the face of opposition and evidence of ineffectiveness. In this article we analysed just such a case – police drug detection dog policy in NSW, Australia. We sought to identify factors which may account for the continuation of this policy, in spite of counter-evidence and concerted advocacy.MethodsThe analysis was conducted using the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF). We collated documents relating to NSW drug detection dog policy from 1995 to 2016, including parliamentary records (NSW Parliament Hansard), government and institutional reports, legislation, police procedures, books, media, and academic publications. Texts were then read, coded and classified against the core dimensions of the ACF, including subsystem actors and coalitions, their belief systems and resources and venues employed for policy debate.ResultsThree coalitions were identified as competing in the policy subsystem: security/law and order, civil liberties and harm reduction. Factors that aided policy stability were the continued dominance of the security/law and order coalition since they introduced the drug dog policy; a power imbalance enabling the ruling coalition to limit when and where the policy was discussed; and a highly adversarial policy subsystem. In this context even technical knowledge that dogs infringed civil liberties and increased risks of overdose were readily downplayed, leading to only incremental changes in implementation rather than policy cessation or wholesale revision.ConclusionThe analysis provides new insights into why the accumulation of new evidence and advocacy efforts can be insufficient to drive significant policy change. It poses a challenge for the evidence-based paradigm suggesting that in highly adversarial policy subsystems new evidence is unlikely to generate policy change without broader subsystem change, such as reducing the adversarial nature and/or providing new avenues for cross-coalition learning.     

门诊西药房退药原因分析与应对策略

目的 通过对本院门诊西药房退药情况进行调查分析,提出应对策略,减少和规范退药。方法 对门诊退药处方进行统计分析,探讨应对策略。结果 退药原因排在前三位的分别是处方错误、患者拒用、不良反应,共110人次,占全部退药的61.7%。结论 退药现象不可避免,应针对原因,完善制度,减少和规范退药。     

Reframing child rights to effect policy change

BackgroundMuch of the discourse surrounding children's advocacy in the United States relies on a rights-based approach. We argue that this approach has limitations that impede progress in advancing children's well-being.PurposeThe purpose of this article is to explain alternatives to a rights-based approach in advocating for children, such as developmental, economic, capabilities, and mutualism frameworks.MethodsOur analysis is based on the independent work of two separate university-based groups studying children's rights; the authors were each members of one of the groups and subsequently integrated their findings for this article.DiscussionUS policies for children, especially in the domains of health and education, depict an unevenness that results in many children failing to receive certain critical services and benefits. Relying on a rights-based approach to correct these disparities and inequities is contentious and has yet to sufficiently change state and federal policies or improve children's health outcomes. Other approaches are needed to advance children's well-being.ConclusionNurses individually and collectively need to be mindful of the pitfalls of a rights-based approach and use other frameworks in advocating for children and youth.     

Burden of Noncommunicable Diseases and National Strategies to Control Them in Korea

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are the most important causes of premature mortality and disability-adjusted life years in Korea. NCDs are also the main contributor to socioeconomic inequalities in mortality and life expectancy. Reduction of NCDs and NCD inequalities would result in significant improvement in healthy life expectancy and health equity in Korea. Major NCD risk factors such as dietary risks (including salt intake), alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, and high blood pressure were found to be the leading modifiable risk factors of disability-adjusted life years in Korea, based on the 2010 Global Burden of Disease Study. Several Korean studies have shown that these risk factors play an important role in creating socioeconomic inequalities in NCD mortality and total mortality. Current international discussions on NCD policies in the United Nations and the World Health Organization would provide better opportunities for developing aggressive population-wide policy measures in Korea. Considering the paucity of population-wide policies to control major NCD risk factors in Korea, rigorous population approaches such as taxation and regulation of unhealthy commodities as well as public education and mass campaigns should be further developed in Korea.     

中国5岁以下儿童营养不良的社会决定因素研究

目的： 了解中国5岁以下儿童营养不良与社会决定因素的关联程度，为制定进一步改善儿童营养不良的社会政策提供依据。方法： 从中国居民健康和营养调查（China Health and Nutrition Survey, CHNS）1991-2011年的纵向数据中提取2 434名5岁以下儿童，使用世界卫生组织igrowup软件计算儿童营养不良率，使用多因素非条件Logistic回归分析营养不良与社会决定因素的关联。结果： 20年间儿童整体低体重率和生长迟缓率分别下降了64.8%和67.8%，儿童低体重和生长迟缓得到显著改善。消瘦率一直维持在较低水平，女童营养不良率的降低幅度大于男童。非社会经济因素中，母亲身高低、儿童蛋白质摄入不足是营养不良的危险因素。社会决定因素中，居住在西部和中部、居住地城市化水平低、家庭收入低、母亲教育水平低是儿童营养不良的危险因素。结论： 为进一步改善儿童营养不良和缓解儿童健康不公平，需要重视儿童营养不良背后的社会决定因素，完善并实施改善儿童营养相关的社会政策，包括关注孕产妇和儿童的膳食营养、提高家庭生活水平和母亲教育水平、平衡地区间发展差距和资源分配等。