Alcohol policies in industrial nations: Recent trends and alternative approaches

Alcohol consumption and many alcohol-related problems have increased in most industrialized countries in the postwar period. The main societal responses have been increases in the treatment response to alcohol problems and in public and school education efforts. In the present era of fiscal crisis, there is also a trend toward punitive controls of the individual drinker. Potential policy alternatives should be broadened to include environmental protections for and from drunkenness, and a reconsideration of alcohol control strategies. Recent studies have shown that in some circumstances such laws have strong effects.Revised from a paper presented at a Plenary Session on Alcohol and Public Policy at the 28th International Institute on the Prevention and Treatment of Alcoholism, Munich, West Germany, July 9, 1982. Preparation of this article was supported by NIAAA National Alcohol Research Center grant (AA-05595) to the Alcohol Research Group, Institute of Epidemiology and Behavioral Medicine, Medical Research Institute of San Francisco, 1816 Scenic Ave., Berkeley, CA 94709.     

Contextualizing medication abortion in seven African nations: A literature review

We conducted a comprehensive literature review on abortion in seven African countries to synthesize and analyze the landscape of abortion-related scientific knowledge, with the aim of informing abortion-access related research and programs in the region. We find that that abortion is common, despite legal restrictions, and often occurs outside of the formal health care system. Use of medication abortion was reported to be low, potentially due to legal restrictions and insufficient provider training across the continent. Creative interventions that could improve people’s knowledge of and access to safe medication abortion were identified and described.     

The elderly in five nations: the importance of universal coverage

This paper reports 1999 survey results on the population age sixty-five and older in five nations--Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The majority of respondents were generally satisfied with the quality, affordability, and availability of health services in their nations. In many measures of access to and cost of care, the United States looks much like the other nations surveyed. However, as the elderly view their health systems, the direction they have taken in recent years with respect to caring for the elderly, and the future affordability of care in old age, U.S. respondents tended to be more pessimistic than were those in other nations.     

A community based approach in developing health policies: implications for Asia-Pacific nations

Only a few state in the US have followed up on the Nation's 1990 health objectives and almost all used professional experts and planners to do so. Hawaii has taken the extra step and involved the community in studying and preparing its health objectives. Hawaii used the US Public Health Service's framework which included preventive health services, health protection, and health promotion. Some of the priority areas under preventive health services included family planning, pregnancy and infant health, and sexually transmitted diseases. In 1985, the State organized 15 groups each studying a different health priority area with 8-20 members each from the community and various organizations. Members consisted of public health professionals (31%), health professionals from private voluntary organizations (15%), practicing physicians (13%), voluntary health associations members (11%), university faculty (8%) and the remaining members represented the military, health care institutions, business, labor, State Department of Education, and special interest groups. The study groups met monthly and arrived at 92 high, 82 medium, and 27 low priority areas. At each of 3 public forums, 5 different study groups presented their findings. Prior to the Governor's Conference on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, each participant received a preconference report consisting of detailed summaries of each study group's findings. After the conference, the study groups met again to incorporate conference feedback into their final working papers. In December 1988, the Department of Health hosted a conference to evaluate progress and developments relating to achieving the state's health objectives. Broad based community involvement and intersectorial cooperation and political commitment in health planning are essential to meeting health objectives, policies, and actions.     

门诊老年高血压干预治疗的体会

目的探讨对门诊老年高血压患者进行治疗指导干预治疗的效果。方法对笔者所在医院门诊就诊的老年高血压患者进行治疗指导,促使患者控制血压。结果对门诊老年高血压患者进行治疗指导,可以降低心脑血管疾病的病死率。结论对门诊老年高血压患者进行治疗指导,可以在预防和促进康复方面达到事半功倍的效果。     

Changing health needs of the elderly demand new policies

As the U.S. population ages, the use of costly medical technology, especially in the last days of life, has been cited as a major factor contributing to our spiraling health care costs. Yet a growing body of evidence indicates that fewer elderly are disabled and that many survive--even thrive--after treatment of a serious illness or condition. The current debate over Medicare funding cutbacks needs to reflect the reality that high-technology care for the elderly is not inappropriate or wasteful in and of itself. In addition, policymakers should take into account the decreasing numbers of elderly people with disabilities by redirecting long term care resources toward quality community-based care, which can contribute to more timely, effective, and affordable treatment of major diseases.     

The residential healthcare for the elderly in Italy: some considerations for post-COVID-19 policies

The European Journal of Health Economics - In Italy, the COVID-19 pandemic and the death of many elderly people have put in evidence the uneven territorial distribution of nursing homes, which have...     

Cochrane re-arranged: Support for policies to vaccinate elderly people against influenza

The 2010 Cochrane review on efficacy, effectiveness and safety of influenza vaccination in the elderly by Jefferson et al. covering dozens of clinical studies over a period of four decades, confirmed vaccine safety, but found no convincing evidence for vaccine effectiveness (VE) against disease thus challenging the ongoing efforts to vaccinate the elderly.     

Occupational health in developing nations: the case of China

The need for a comprehensive view of occupational health problems in developing nations was suggested by a recent occupational health delegation to China. Such problems in most developing nations are superimposed on a background of scarce economic resources, rapid industrialization, and socioeconomic dislocation as well as a poor nutritional and general health status of the population. Occupational health problems are exacerbated in these countries by the presence of a high proportion of very small firms, inadequate attention to industrial hygiene and ergonomic principles for worker health and safety, and a lack of toxicologic and epidemiologic data. The peculiar case of China is noted, wherein only some of the characteristics of a developing nation are exhibited. The Chinese model for occupational health as observed in a spectrum of industries including textiles, paint, and steel is described. Recent political and economic developments are discussed along with their implications for Chinese health policy in general and for occupational health practice in particular.     

Cohort patterns in mortality trends among the elderly in seven European countries, 1950-99

BACKGROUND: Secular trends in old-age mortality are of crucial importance to population ageing. For the understanding and prediction of these trends, it is important to determine whether birth cohort effects, i.e. long-lasting effects of exposures earlier in life, are important in determining mortality trends up to old age. This study aimed to identify and describe cohort patterns in trends in mortality among the elderly (>60 years of age) in seven European countries. METHODS: A standard age-period-cohort analysis was applied to all-cause and cause-specific mortality data by 5-year age groups and sex, for Denmark, England and Wales, Finland, France, The Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden, in the period 1950-99. RESULTS: Cohort patterns were identified in all countries, for both the sexes and virtually all causes of death. They strongly influenced the trends in all-cause mortality among Danish, Dutch, and Norwegian men, and the trends in mortality from infectious diseases, lung cancer (men only), prostate cancer, breast cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). All-cause mortality decline stagnated among Danish, Dutch, and Norwegian male birth cohorts born between 1890 and 1915, among French men born after 1920, and among women from all countries born after 1920. Where all-cause mortality decline stagnated, cohort patterns in mortality from lung cancer, COPD, and to a lesser extent ischaemic heart diseases, were unfavourable as well. For infectious diseases, stomach cancer, and cerebrovascular diseases, mortality increased among cohorts born before 1890, and decreased strongly thereafter. CONCLUSIONS: Cohort effects related to factors such as living conditions in childhood and smoking in adulthood were important in determining the recent trends in mortality among the elderly in seven European countries.     

中国不同地区中老年人门诊服务利用及影响因素研究

目的 分析中国不同地区中老年居民门诊服务利用现状及其影响因素。方法 基于2018年CHARLS第四次调查,将中国28个省份划分为东中西部三个地区,依据安德森模型对19 136例中老年居民门诊服务利用的影响因素采用二分类多水平Logistic回归模型进行探讨。结果 我国中老年居民慢性病患病率为44.7%,其中,西部地区慢性病患病率最高(47.3%),四周就诊率最高(18.2%); 不同地区中老年居民门诊服务利用的影响因素有所不同,东部地区,女性(男性OR=0.782,95%CI:0.675～0.905)、文化水平较高(OR=1.853,95%CI:1.197～2.869)、丧偶者(OR=1.317,95%CI:1.081～1.605)四周就诊的可能性增加; 在中部地区,参加城镇职工医保(OR=2.094,95%CI:1.123～3.903)或新农合(OR=1.952,95%CI:1.069～3.563)、轻度失能(OR=1.440,95%CI:1.099～1.885)的居民四周就诊的可能性增加; 在西部地区,女性四周就诊的可能性高于男性(OR=0.718,95%CI:0.628～0.821); 三个地区均显示自评健康状况越差、慢性病患者四周就诊的可能性更高(P＜0.05)。结论 我国不同地区中老年居民门诊服务利用的影响因素有所不同,自评健康状况和慢性病是三个地区四周就诊率相同的影响因素因此,在配置门诊医疗资源时,应针对不同地区的中老年人群特点进行合理倾斜。