A new programme for public health training in Hungary

The emergence of democracy has led the countries of centraland eastern Europe to undertake a fundamental reappraisal oftheir public health services and training requirements. Thispaper describes the thinking behind the changes under way inHungary. These involve a radical departure from the way publichealth medicine was taught. It was traditionally divided betweendepartments of hygiene and social medicine. The hygiene departmentshad a very narrow focus, mainly on aspects of communicable diseaseepidemiology, food hygiene, occupational hygiene, environmentalhygiene and toxicology. Social medicine was principally concernedwith health service management, although more recently it hasincluded some non-communicable disease epidemiology. A new postgraduatetraining programme in public health medicine will be developedin which non-communicable disease epidemiology will be strengthenedand subjects such as health economics and health promotion willbe incorporated. Training will take place in a multi-disciplinarysetting and additional programmes for other professional groupswill be developed and Integrated.     

Gender and medicines: an international public health perspective

Despite outstanding progress in the area of medicines, their access and use have not been equitable throughout the world. Fifteen percent of the world's population consumes 91% of the world's production of pharmaceuticals. Only one third of the world population has access to essential medicines. Additionally, studies carried out in developing countries reveal that gender-related barriers in access to health services and medicines are greater for women than men because of social and cultural factors. In high-income settings, women are reported to use more medicines than men. Moreover, the current devastating human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic impacts women disproportionately. Women are more vulnerable to HIV infection than men biologically but also because of gender inequalities. More social and statistical data, in both developing and developed countries, are needed to fully understand the impact of gender on access to and use of medicines. Improving access to essential medicines will be possible only if countries introduce a gender perspective in their medicine policies.     

国际公共卫生新进展

本文从公共卫生挑战、传染病防控、疾病监测、慢性病防治、全球健康、健康素养、精准医学等领域,对近年来国际上公共卫生领域的新进展进行介绍,以期为我国公共卫生工作提供借鉴与经验。     

Strengthening public health practice content in public health training.

U.S. schools of public health have recognized the imperative to strengthen the public health practice content of training for future public health practitioners. Five strategies to develop administrative and curriculum programs within schools of public health to address this need are described: (1) institution of centers for public health program evaluation; (2) creation of automated field placement and apprenticeship programs; (3) formalization of linkages with professional management training programs to create a track for future senior managers of community health agencies; (4) establishment of cross-departmental applied public health faculty tracks; and (5) offering applied public health evaluation scholarships for students. These initiatives may provide incentives for the institution of a public health practice focus within schools of public health.     

Development by training: international training programs for occupational health and safety professionals

Six international courses, Occupational Safety and Health in Practice, were arranged for trainees from developing countries and Eastern Europe. Each included seven week of scheduled activities and the planning, realization, and reporting of an individual action project. In total there were 158 trainees, of whom 86% fulfilled the requirements fo successful completion. In this article the program assump tions are stated. The trainees, course objectives, course format, and financing of the courses are described. Th courses are evaluated considering the fulfillment of the course requirements, the realization and quality of the proj ects, and the meeting of course objectives.     

Zika virus as an emerging arbovirus of international public health concern

Zika virus (ZIKV) was identified in 1947 in a rhesus monkey during an investigation of the yellow fever virus in the Zika Forest of Uganda; it was also isolated later from humans in Nigeria. The main distribution areas of ZIKV were the African mainland and South-East Asia in the 1980s, Micronesia in 2007, and more recently the Americas in 2014. ZIKV belongs to the Flaviviridae family and Flavivirus genus. ZIKV infection, which is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, is an emerging arbovirus disease. The clinical symptoms of ZIKV infection are fever, headache, rashes, arthralgia, and conjunctivitis, which clinically resemble dengue fever syndrome. Sometimes, ZIKV infection has been associated with Guillain-Barré syndrome and microcephaly. At the end of 2015, following an increase in cases of ZIKV infection associated with Guillain-Barré syndrome and microcephaly in newborns in Brazil, the World Health Organization declared a global emergency. Therefore, considering the global distribution and pathogenic nature of this virus, the current study aimed at reviewing the virologic features, transmission patterns, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of ZIKV infection.     

Public health training in Europe. Development of European masters degrees in public health.

BACKGROUND: Changing political and economic relations in Europe mean that there are new challenges for public health and public health training. There have been several attempts to develop training at the master's level in public health which is focused on meeting the new needs. These have failed due to being too inflexible to allow participation by schools of public health. METHODS: A project funded by the European Union involving public health trainers has developed a new approach which allows participating schools to retain their national differences and work within local rules and traditions, but which aims to introduce the European dimension into public health training. This paper reports the conclusions of this project. CONCLUSIONS: A network of schools wishing to develop European Master's degrees is being established and other schools offering good quality programmes will be able to join.     

Building an international public health academic partnership: the Alberta-Lithuania experience

The schools of public health at the University of Alberta and the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences have developed a partnership committed to a variety of collaborations (e.g., faculty/student exchanges and joint projects). Our initial efforts have resulted in the initiation of joint projects, important connections between numerous institutions/academics, and planning for future efforts within and beyond the partnership. The positive potential for such partnerships is significant, and a number of strategies for successful implementation are suggested.     

Environmental health training within public health medicine

Environmental health was reported in the UK Acheson Report to have 'become something of a backwater for public health doctors'. In this review, the background educational issues are explored, present postgraduate training opportunities are identified, and intersectoral approaches in Europe that support the WHO Health for All strategy, are outlined. It is anticipated that closer links between epidemiology, clinical practice and environmental protection in the 'new' public health will help to improve medical interest and input to environmental health.     

New data for the public health importance of hantaviruses in Hungary

INTRODUCTION: The authors present recent results in the Hungarian hantavirus ecology and epidemiology. Most of the research was done between 1992-2000. AIM: To determine the presence and geographic distribution of hantaviruses and to get more detailed information of human and small-mammal infection with these viruses in Hungary. METHODS: For diagnostic purposes (patients' sera), serosurvey of healthy persons and serological investigations of small mammals, the following tests were used: indirect fluorescent antibody, high density particle agglutination and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Virus isolation, antigen-, and nucleic acid detection were conducted for ecological investigations. RESULTS: 235 of 831 patients proved to be seropositive. 2257 sera of age matched Hungarian citizens above 20 years were tested in 2000. The average seropositivity proved to be about 10% using two different methods. Sera of 1512 individuals of nearly 20 different mammalian species were tested. Serological results revealed the prevalence of antibodies to human pathogen hantaviruses among rodents of about 7.25 percent. Molecular analysis of viral nucleic acid isolates from organs of four rodents proved directly the presence of viruses belonging to Puumala and Dobrava/Belgrade species in Hungary. Sequences corresponding to the Dobrava/Belgrade type viruses were found in two different rodent species. This suggests the existence of two hosts with different living preferences. CONCLUSIONS: At least two different human pathogen hantaviruses are circulating in Hungary. It has to be considered, that viruses belonging to the Dobrava/Belgrade species could emerge not only in the forested areas, but in the agricultural areas as well. Commercially available kits are not perfectly suitable for the detection of antibodies rised to domestic hantaviruses. It is necessary to built an appropriate laboratory for the hantavirus research in Hungary.