{"title":"Health for all in the 21st century.","authors":"F S Antezana, C M Chollat-Traquet, D Yach","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":76824,"journal":{"name":"World health statistics quarterly. Rapport trimestriel de statistiques sanitaires mondiales","volume":"51 1","pages":"3-6"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1998-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"20593650","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Essential public health functions: results of the international Delphi study.","authors":"D W Bettcher, S Sapirie, E H Goon","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The essential public health functions (EPHFs) approach is an integral component in the elaboration of the Health for all (HFA) policy in the 21st century and a necessary element for building sustainable health systems. An international Delphi study on EPHFs was conducted in 1997. This international study included a respondent group of 145 public health experts from all regions of the world. The core monitor group included the members of the WHO EPHFs working group, and 8 senior public health figures from both developing and developed countries. The primary objectives of this study were: to define the concept of EPHFs; to establish consensus on what functions constitute EPHFs, and to determine which public health functions are likely to be most essential in the future and to confirm which public health functions require the elaboration of performance standards. Three rounds of the study were completed in December 1997, and this paper provides an overall summary of the findings.</p>","PeriodicalId":76824,"journal":{"name":"World health statistics quarterly. Rapport trimestriel de statistiques sanitaires mondiales","volume":"51 1","pages":"44-54"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1998-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"20593655","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Modernizing food control systems: the experience of Thailand.","authors":"P Pothisiri","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Food control is essential for the benefit of local consumers as well as international trade, which impacts on the overall social and economic concerns of the nation. Nevertheless, success in food control implementation will not be achieved by a single agency. Concerned agencies as well as food industries have to be fully aware of and be responsible for the production of good quality and safe foods. Efficient cooperation and coordination among the agencies concerned, therefore, is indispensable in the development of food safety. The Thai FDA has recently attempted to modernize its food control system by various approaches, including the establishment of a national food safety scheme and the introduction of modern technology as well as restructuring and changing the working system. It is anticipated that control along new directions may enhance better consumer protection in this country.</p>","PeriodicalId":76824,"journal":{"name":"World health statistics quarterly. Rapport trimestriel de statistiques sanitaires mondiales","volume":"50 1-2","pages":"150-4"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"20223295","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Disease eradication as a public health strategy: is measles next?","authors":"J M Olivé, R B Aylward, B Melgaard","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Following the failure of disease eradication efforts in the first half of this century, the success of smallpox eradication and the ongoing initiatives against poliomyelitis and dracunculiasis are re-establishing eradication as a viable disease control strategy. The perpetual benefits of eradication, together with the positive impact that such initiatives can have on health services in general, are changing the world's perception of these endeavours. Among the most obvious examples of this changing trend is the recent enthusiasm in both industrialized and developing countries for re-exploring the eradicability of measles. Increasingly, it appears that measles, the single leading cause of vaccine-preventable childhood morbidity and mortality worldwide, may be the next major organism targeted for global eradication.</p>","PeriodicalId":76824,"journal":{"name":"World health statistics quarterly. Rapport trimestriel de statistiques sanitaires mondiales","volume":"50 3-4","pages":"185-7"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"20403088","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
S E Robertson, M Anker, A J Roisin, N Macklai, K Engstrom, F M LaForce
{"title":"The lot quality technique: a global review of applications in the assessment of health services and disease surveillance.","authors":"S E Robertson, M Anker, A J Roisin, N Macklai, K Engstrom, F M LaForce","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Since the mid-1980s, there has been growing interest in adapting the lot quality (LQ) technique to monitor the quality of health care services, especially in developing countries. This global review has identified a total of 34 LQ surveys conducted from 1984 to 1996 in Africa, the Americas, Europe, South-East Asia, and the Western Pacific. Health care parameters assessed in the surveys varied and some surveys assessed more than 1 health parameter: 24 surveys assessed immunization coverage, 9 examined women's health issues such as family planning and antenatal care, 5 assessed use of oral rehydration therapy, 5 estimated disease incidence, and 3 others evaluated health worker performance. These studies indicate that LQ is a practical, relatively low-cost field method which is increasingly being applied in health programmes.</p>","PeriodicalId":76824,"journal":{"name":"World health statistics quarterly. Rapport trimestriel de statistiques sanitaires mondiales","volume":"50 3-4","pages":"199-209"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"20403091","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
T M Gomez, Y Motarjemi, S Miyagawa, F K Käferstein, K Stöhr
{"title":"Foodborne salmonellosis.","authors":"T M Gomez, Y Motarjemi, S Miyagawa, F K Käferstein, K Stöhr","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Foodborne diseases caused by non-typhoid Salmonella are a very important public health problem and an economic burden in many parts of the world. Salmonellosis data from the WHO Global Databank on Foodborne Disease, from the literature and from the WHO Surveillance Programme in Europe were reviewed for the years 1985-1995, showing an apparent increase in the incidence of salmonellosis in many parts of the world. In industrialized countries, this increase may be due to the emergence and increase of S. enteritidis and S. typhimurium DT104. In order to reduce the incidence of human foodborne salmonellosis, measures should be taken simultaneously during the production, processing, distribution, retail marketing and handling/preparation of food to prevent the introduction of Salmonella and its multiplication. These control measures need to be supported by effective foodborne disease surveillance programmes which make it possible to recognize and investigate outbreaks and emerging pathogens, and to assess the need for and evaluate interventions by monitoring longer term trends.</p>","PeriodicalId":76824,"journal":{"name":"World health statistics quarterly. Rapport trimestriel de statistiques sanitaires mondiales","volume":"50 1-2","pages":"81-9"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"20221980","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Monitoring and assessment of dietary exposure to chemical contaminants.","authors":"R V Baht, G G Moy","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The results of the Global Environment Monitoring System/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment Programme (GEMS/Food) and other monitoring programmes for priority contaminants in the diet, including lead, cadmium, mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorine and organophosphorus pesticide residues and aflatoxin, are presented. These results are assessed with respect to established acceptable or tolerable intakes for these contaminants. While the assessments generally confirm the effectiveness of government efforts to prevent or reduce food contamination in industrialized countries, better exposure estimates for infants and children and other vulnerable groups should be calculated. In developing countries, little reliable information is available on the occurrence of food contamination. Without such information, the health of hundreds of millions of people may be threatened. For these countries, and especially those that employ older agricultural and industrial technologies, basic food contamination monitoring and assessment programmes should be established for at least those contaminants of priority concern. These programmes form an essential basis for developing effective intervention strategies and for efficient management of health and environment resources. In all countries, accidental and sporadic contamination is an ever present danger and continual vigilance is necessary to protect public health. All countries should identify institutions with the analytical capability to support epidemiological investigations of outbreaks of disease that may be associated with consumption of chemically contaminated food. All countries should participate in GEMS/Food to promote health-oriented, population-based monitoring at the national level.</p>","PeriodicalId":76824,"journal":{"name":"World health statistics quarterly. Rapport trimestriel de statistiques sanitaires mondiales","volume":"50 1-2","pages":"132-49"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"20223294","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Surveillance of foodborne diseases: what are the options?","authors":"M W Borgdorff, Y Motarjemi","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Epidemiological data are needed for a variety of reasons, namely, informing public health authorities about the nature and magnitude of foodborne illnesses and their epidemiology, for the early detection of foodborne disease outbreaks, and for the planning, implementation and evaluation of food safety programmes. Thus, epidemiological surveillance of foodborne diseases is fundamental to any food safety programme. Various methods of foodborne surveillance may be utilized: (i) records for registration of deaths and hospital discharges; (ii) disease notification, (iii) sentinel surveillance, (iv) laboratory surveillance, (v) outbreak investigation and (vi) epidemiological research. This article reviews each method, its advantages and disadvantages, and its relevance for meeting the various objectives and needs.</p>","PeriodicalId":76824,"journal":{"name":"World health statistics quarterly. Rapport trimestriel de statistiques sanitaires mondiales","volume":"50 1-2","pages":"12-23"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"20221973","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
R H Tangermann, B Aylward, M Birmingham, R Horner, J M Olivé, B M Nkowane, H F Hull, A Burton
{"title":"Current status of the global eradication of poliomyelitis.","authors":"R H Tangermann, B Aylward, M Birmingham, R Horner, J M Olivé, B M Nkowane, H F Hull, A Burton","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Substantial progress towards the global eradication of poliomyelitis by the year 2000 has been achieved since May 1988 when WHO Member States adopted this goal at the Forty-first World Health Assembly. Virtually all polio-endemic countries have begun to implement the WHO-recommended strategies to eradicate polio and it is expected that, by the end of 1997, all endemic countries in the world will have conducted full National Immunization Days (NID), providing supplemental oral polio vaccine (OPV) to nearly two-thirds of all children < 5 years. In contrast, although globally acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance was being conducted in 126 (86%) of 146 countries where polio is or recently was endemic, surveillance remains incomplete and untimely. A global network of polio laboratories, capable of detecting wild poliovirus when and where it occurs, has been developed. Furthermore, in countries where polio virus circulation has been limited to focal areas, and surveillance is adequate, mopping-up campaigns are being conducted to eliminate the final chains of transmission. The process for certification of polio eradication has been established in each WHO region as well as at the global level. The impact of the eradication initiative is evident, with an 88% decrease in the number of reported cases globally since 1988. In order to achieve the goal of eradication, the rapid development of complete and timely AFP surveillance and the continuation of effective NIDs constitute an urgent priority. This is of particular relevance in the remaining polio-endemic countries, especially in those that are affected by war or politically isolated and are important remaining reservoirs from where wild poliovirus continues to spread into bordering or even distant polio-free countries. External support will continue to be required by those countries and regions where the incidence of polio has reached low levels to ensure that final chains of poliovirus transmission are interrupted and to permit the eventual certification of eradication. The year 2000 objective for achieving poliomyelitis eradication remains a feasible target.</p>","PeriodicalId":76824,"journal":{"name":"World health statistics quarterly. Rapport trimestriel de statistiques sanitaires mondiales","volume":"50 3-4","pages":"188-94"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"20403089","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Progress towards the elimination of transmission of Chagas disease in Latin America.","authors":"A Moncayo","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>From a global perspective, Chagas disease represents the third largest tropical disease burden after malaria and schistosomiasis. The estimated average annual per-capita gross domestic product in Latin America is US$2,966. The economic loss for the continent due to early mortality and disability by this disease in economically most productive young adults currently amounts to US$8,156 million which is equivalent to 2.5% of the external debt of the whole continent in 1995. In 1991, the Ministers of Health of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, launched the Southern Cone Initiative for elimination of transmission of Chagas disease. The progress towards elimination of vectorial and transfusional transmission of Chagas disease in Uruguay, Chile, Argentina and Brazil has been documented by reports from the national control programmes of the above countries. Current data on disinfestation of houses, coverage of screening in blood banks and serology in children and young adults indicate that the interruption of the vectorial and transfusional transmission of Chagas disease will be achieved in these countries as follows: Uruguay and Chile in 1999, Brazil and Argentina in 2003. By eliminating the transmission of Chagas disease in the above countries, the incidence of the disease in the whole of Latin America will be reduced by more than 70%.</p>","PeriodicalId":76824,"journal":{"name":"World health statistics quarterly. Rapport trimestriel de statistiques sanitaires mondiales","volume":"50 3-4","pages":"195-8"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"20403090","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}