African media coverage of tobacco industry corporate social responsibility initiatives

Guidelines for implementing the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) recommend prohibiting tobacco industry corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, but few African countries have done so. We examined African media coverage of tobacco industry CSR initiatives to understand whether and how such initiatives were presented to the public and policymakers. We searched two online media databases (Lexis Nexis and Access World News) for all news items published from 1998 to 2013, coding retrieved items through a collaborative, iterative process. We analysed the volume, type, provenance, slant and content of coverage, including the presence of tobacco control or tobacco interest themes. We found 288 news items; most were news stories published in print newspapers. The majority of news stories relied solely on tobacco industry representatives as news sources, and portrayed tobacco industry CSR positively. When public health voices and tobacco control themes were included, news items were less likely to have a positive slant. This suggests that there is a foundation on which to build media advocacy efforts. Drawing links between implementing the FCTC and prohibiting or curtailing tobacco industry CSR programmes may result in more public dialogue in the media about the negative impacts of tobacco company CSR initiatives.     

Alcohol industry involvement in science: A systematic review of the perspectives of the alcohol research community

Issues

Alcohol companies have recently invested large sums of money in answering research questions to which they have clear vested interests in the outcomes. There have been extensive concerns about corporate influence on public health sciences, following the experience with the tobacco industry.

Approach

This systematic review aims to investigate the perspectives of researchers on the activities of alcohol industry actors in relation to science, in order to guide future research. All data published in peer‐reviewed journals (including commentaries, opinion pieces, editorials and letters as well as research reports) were eligible for inclusion. This analysis focuses on the manifest rather than latent content of the articulated views, and accordingly adopts a thematic analysis using an inductive approach to the generation of themes.

Key Findings

There are serious concerns identified in three main areas, principally defined by where the impacts of industry scientific activities occur; on evidence informed policy making (instrumental uses of research by industry actors), on the content of the scientific evidence base itself (industry funding as a source of bias); and on the processes of undertaking research (transgressions of basic scientific norms). There are also opposing views which provide a useful critique. The evidence‐base on the validity of all concerns has been slow to develop.

Implications

The concerns are extensive, longstanding and unresolved and high quality investigations are needed.

Conclusion

This study informs the detailed content of the research needed to address the concerns identified here.

     

A retrospective public health analysis of the Republic of Ireland's Food Harvest 2020 strategy: absence,avoidance and business as usual

The concept of an Ecological Approach to health and including Health in All Policies warrants inter-sectoral and transdisciplinary collaboration to improve health determinants and reduce health inequities. Agriculture policies, which greatly influence food production and its environmental impacts as well as food availability and dietary consumption, are therefore of interest to public health. Increasing rates of non-communicable diseases linked to diets containing high levels of processed foods, increasing numbers of households unable to access nutritious food and the environmental consequences of the food system are amongst the major health challenges of today, both globally and in Ireland. In 2010, Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries published Food Harvest 2020 a roadmap for Irish agriculture for the subsequent decade prepared against a backdrop of rising diet-related ill-health and increasing environmental concerns. This article critically analyses the process of consultation and stakeholder involvement in the development of Food Harvest 2020 from a public health perspective. Publically available documents including submissions to the Food Harvest 2020 consultation process were the primary source of data. This study highlights a distinct absence of public health representation in the process, an avoidance of some key public health challenges and the dominance of a ‘business as usual’ approach.     

我国药品生产企业个例药品不良反应收集现状及其思考

分析我国药品生产企业个例药品不良反应监测能力不足、上报意识不强等现状,借鉴美国、欧盟药品生产企业收集个例药品不良反应方法和经验,探讨既符合我国法律法规要求,又适应国内药品生产企业实际情况,能够切实可行的提高生产企业个例药品不良反应收集水平的对策。     

煤矿开采行业工人下背痛与职业应激关联探讨

目的探讨煤矿开采行业工人下背痛与职业应激的关联性。方法2015年1月至2016年12月,选择山西省某大型煤矿开采企业某矿区的一线生产工人472名作为研究对象,采用问卷调查方法调查其基本信息、下背痛患病信息、职业应激水平,二分类Logistic回归法分析下背痛与职业应激的关系。结果研究对象472人中186人在过去一年内发生过下背痛,下背痛年患病率为39.41%。下背痛组的职业应激任务得分高于非下背痛组,差异有统计学意义(P<0.01)。二分类Logistic回归分析结果显示:年龄、婚姻情况、工龄、职业应激任务、劳动强度、工作中保持同一姿势、倒班可能是下背痛的危险因素(P<0.01),吸烟可能是下背痛的保护因素(P<0.01)。结论职业应激任务可能是煤矿开采工人发生下背痛的危险因素(P<0.01),合理分配工作任务、及时疏解煤矿开采工人的职业应激,可能是预防和控制下背痛的有效途径之一。     

2010-2013年株洲市机械行业噪声危害风险分析

目的 分析株洲市机械行业噪声危害状况,为进一步制订防控噪声危害的措施提供科学依据。 方法 对株洲市2010-2013年机械加工企业的职业病危害检测资料和健康检查资料进行回顾性分析,对噪声接触率、噪声强度、听力异常检出率等指标进行了分析。 结果 2010-2013年该市受检企业平均噪声强度为(83.63±9.68)dB,呈逐年下降的趋势(F_趋势=195.36,P<0.001),总的点超标率为33.81%,呈逐年下降的趋势(χ²_趋势=108.79,P<0.001);作业人员总的噪声接触率为49.35%,听力异常检出率15.87%,其中2013年最高达23.44%;2010-2013年共检出1 557名听力异常者,其中高频听力损伤者968名,占61.92%,语频听力损伤占38.08%;听力损伤工种分布为:铆工占52.92%,电焊工22.50%,机加工9.92%。 结论 噪声是株洲市机械行业主要职业病危害因素之一,具有噪声强度大、超标率较高、工人接触时间长、接触率高等特点;噪声引起的听力损伤检出率较高,以高频听力损失为主;铆工、电焊工和机加工是控制噪声危害的关键控制点。     

岭南中药业史略探

岭南地处中国南部沿海,是著名的南药主要集散地和口岸、中成药生产基地,中药业史历史发展悠久。该文通过整理不同时代岭南中药业（药材、饮片、中成药、中药铺）相关历史文献记载,发现岭南药业起源于秦代,秦汉至南北朝时代开始缓慢发展,唐宋到元代出现了民营药店,明代出现医药商品生产,清代中药业达到鼎盛时期,民国时期出现了中药业现代经济形态。梳理岭南中药业发展史,理清其发展脉络,对于岭南中药业的传承、发展和创新具有重要的现实意义。     

Identifying and prioritizing industry-level competitiveness factors: evidence from pharmaceutical market

Background

Pharmaceutical industry is knowledge-intensive and highly globalized, in both developed and developing countries. On the other hand, if companies want to survive, they should be able to compete well in both domestic and international markets. The main purpose of this paper is therefore to develop and prioritize key factors affecting companies’ competitiveness in pharmaceutical industry. Based on an extensive literature review, a valid and reliable questionnaire was designed, which was later filled up by participants from the industry. To prioritize the key factors, we used the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS).

Results

The results revealed that human capital and macro-level policies were two key factors placed at the highest rank in respect of their effects on the competitiveness considering the industry-level in pharmaceutical area.

Conclusion

This study provides fundamental evidence for policymakers and managers in pharma context to enable them formulating better polices to be proactively competitive and responsive to the markets’ needs.     

Evaluation of follicular oxidant-antioxidant balance and oxidative damage during reproductive acyclicity in water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis

ObjectiveTo investigate changes in follicular fluid concentrations of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and degree of oxidative damage to follicular cells, using protein carbonyl (PC) as marker of oxidative stress, were investigated during reproductive acyclicity in buffalo.MethodsFollicular fluid was aspirated from follicles grouped into three classes depending upon their diameter [small (5.0–7.0 mm), medium (7.1–10.0 mm), and large (>10.0 mm)]. Progesterone and estradiol were estimated to determine functional status (P:E ratio) of the follicles.ResultsAcyclic buffaloes had greater concentrations of ROS (P<0.001) and PC (P=0.0412) and lower concentrations of TAC (P=0.0280) than cyclic buffaloes. An interesting novel finding was the complete absence of low P:E functionally active follicles in acyclic buffaloes. Results indicated a pronounced follicular fluid oxidant-antioxidant imbalance and oxidative damage to follicular cells during acyclicity in buffalo.ConclusionIn conclusion, this study provided evidence about role of oxidative stress in pathogenesis of reproductive acyclicity.     

2013年江苏省医药产业发展报告

目前,江苏省医药产业发展位居全国前列,但仍存在诸多不足,极大地影响了其可持续发展。通过资料查询．将江苏省与山东、河南、广东、浙江等医药产业重点省份进行比较,多方位分析江苏省医药产业发展现状,揭示眼下全省医药产业发展中的主要问题所在,为全省医药产业健康发展建言献策。