Arizona's tobacco control initiative illustrates the need for continuing oversight by tobacco control advocates.
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BACKGROUND: In 1994, Arizona voters approved Proposition 200 which increased the tobacco tax and earmarked 23% of the new revenues for tobacco education programmes. OBJECTIVE: To describe the campaign to pass Proposition 200, the legislative debate that followed the passage of the initiative, and the development and implementation of the tobacco control programme. DESIGN: This is a case study. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with key players in the initiative campaign and in the tobacco education programme, and written records (campaign material, newspapers, memoranda, public records). RESULTS: Despite opposition from the tobacco industry, Arizonans approved an increase in the tobacco tax. At the legislature, health advocates in Arizona successfully fought the tobacco industry attempts to divert the health education funds and pass preemptive legislation. The executive branch limited the scope of the programme to adolescents and pregnant women. It also prevented the programme from attacking the tobacco industry or focusing on secondhand smoke. Health advocates did not put enough pressure at the executive branch to force it to develop a comprehensive tobacco education programme. CONCLUSIONS: It is not enough for health advocates to campaign for an increase in tobacco tax and to protect the funds at the legislature. Tobacco control advocates must closely monitor the development and implementation of tax-funded tobacco education programmes at the administrative level and be willing to press the executive to implement effective programmes. (+info)
Analysis of different communication channels for promoting hygiene behaviour.
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A hygiene intervention study reduced diarrhoeal disease transmission in rural northeast Thailand by promoting hand-washing and dish-washing behaviour. Most of the target audience did not recognize a connection between these behaviours and diarrhoeal disease, and therefore a social marketing approach was used to develop a campaign promoting behaviours through a variety of communication channels keeping messages simple and in terms understood by the community. Overall, there was a strong correlation between the number of communication channels remembered by respondents and their knowledge score, with passive channels of printed media such as stickers, posters and leaflets associated with significantly higher scores than other channels. However, the same did not hold true for improvement in actual behaviour and only 'school children' were associated with significantly less fingertip contamination. In-depth interviews with conformers and non-conformers suggested that although most knew the intervention messages well enough, the importance they attached to them differed markedly. Thus dissemination of message knowledge was not consistent with the process of dissemination of actual practice. Where a strong sense of community spirit existed, friends, relatives and neighbours were more likely to discuss intervention activities with each other. (+info)
Controlled management of public relations following a public health incident.
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This paper describes the management of public relations following an outbreak of multidrug resistant TB at a London hospital. Eight patients were involved, all of the secondary cases occurred in HIV seropositive patients, and three cases died. The paper describes how the the Incident Committee undertook to recall contacts of the cases for screening, inform the general practitioners of all of the contacts about their patients' exposure, warn other organizations and professionals interested or involved in the management of HIV in the London area as to the nature of the incident, and establish a helpline, before informing a wider audience through the EPINET, Communicable Disease Report and national press. (+info)
Parental consent to publicity.
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The problems presented by the use of named child patients and their medical histories in television, radio and newspapers is discussed. It is suggested that it is not acceptable to regard this as comparable to their participation in non-therapeutic research, and that no one, not even the parent has the authority to give consent to such use. (+info)
Exploring the scope for advocacy by paediatricians.
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AIMS: To ascertain the type and extent of problems requiring advocacy in paediatrics. To develop an approach for analysing problems according to their root causes and the level of society at which advocacy is needed. METHODS: Nine paediatricians kept detailed clinical diaries for two weeks to identify problems. Classifications were developed to categorise problems by cause and the level of society at which they needed to be addressed. The press was surveyed for one week for childhood issues attracting media attention. RESULTS: 60 problems requiring advocacy were identified. Root causes included failures within agencies, between agencies, and inadequate provision. In addition to advocacy required individually, "political" action was needed at the community level (16 issues), city level (16 issues), and nationally (15 issues). 103 articles were found in the press, these did not relate closely to issues identified by clinicians. CONCLUSIONS: Many opportunities for advocacy arise in the course of daily work. A systematic way of analysing them has been developed for use in planning action. To optimise the health and health care of children, there is a need to train and support paediatricians in advocacy work for local as well as national issues. Ten issues were identified that might be prioritised by paediatricians working on an agenda for action. (+info)
Print media coverage of research on passive smoking.
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OBJECTIVE: To assess the extent and content of newspaper and magazine coverage of research on passive smoking. DESIGN: Content analysis of newspaper and magazine articles. SUBJECTS: Articles reporting on passive smoking research published in newspapers (n = 180) or magazines (n = 92) between January 1981 and December 1994. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Numbers of articles, conclusions of articles, sources quoted, numbers and characteristics of research studies cited, presence of tobacco advertising. RESULTS: The number of newspaper and magazine articles reporting on passive smoking research increased from four in 1981 to 57 in 1992 and 32 in 1994. Sixty-two per cent (168/272) of articles concluded that the research on passive smoking is controversial. Tobacco industry representatives were quoted significantly more often in newspaper articles (52%, 94/180) than magazine articles (12%, 11/92) (p<0.0001). Of 121 different research studies cited in the lay press articles, only 15 were from tobacco-industry sponsored projects or publications. In magazines, acceptance of tobacco industry advertising was associated with the conclusion that research on passive smoking is controversial (p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Although research on the harmful effects of passive smoking accumulated between 1981 and 1994, lay press coverage of the research maintained that the science was controversial. Few research studies were cited to support the industry's claim that passive smoking is not harmful to health. However, tobacco industry representatives who were critical of the research methods used to study the health effects of passive smoking were frequently quoted. (+info)
The general public's knowledge and perceptions about rheumatic diseases.
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OBJECTIVE: In the Netherlands, the mass media pay little attention to rheumatic diseases. For this reason, it might be assumed that in general people know very little about rheumatic diseases and thus have an unrealistic image of them. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the general public's knowledge and perceptions regarding rheumatic diseases in the Netherlands. METHODS: A questionnaire was sent by mail to a random sample of 1800 Dutch homes; the response was 658. Questions mainly focused on knowledge, attitudes, behavioural intentions and use of the mass media with regard to rheumatic diseases. RESULTS: The respondents gave the right answer to a mean of 8.2 statements out of 17 true/false statements regarding factual knowledge of rheumatic diseases. Respondents particularly underestimated the prevalence of rheumatic diseases and were unaware of several rheumatic disorders. Most respondents had rarely used the mass media to gain information about rheumatic diseases, but they did show a moderate interest in acquiring information. Knowledge correlated positively with the respondents' level of education, acquaintance with rheumatic patients, and use of the mass media. Knowledge correlated negatively with the idea that rheumatic patients are themselves able to influence the course of their disease. In general, respondents judged rheumatic diseases to be rather serious but did not feel very frightened or vulnerable of becoming a rheumatic patient. Fear of rheumatic diseases correlated positively with interest in information about rheumatic diseases, intentions of visiting a doctor if experiencing rheumatic complaints and helping rheumatic patients in daily life. CONCLUSIONS: This study found that the public in general do not know very much about rheumatic diseases, but they do have a moderate desire for more information about them. Furthermore, they do not feel frightened of being confronted with a rheumatic disorder. More information about rheumatic diseases in the media might lead to better knowledge and perception of rheumatic diseases among the general public. (+info)
The making of a germ panic, then and now.
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Over the last 2 decades, a heightened interest in germs has been evident in many aspects of American popular culture, including news coverage, advertisements, and entertainment media. Although clearly a response to the AIDS epidemic and other recent disease outbreaks, current obsessions with germs have some striking parallels with a similar period of intense anxiety about disease germs that occurred between 1900 and 1940. A comparison of these 2 periods of germ "panic" suggests some of the long-term cultural trends that contributed to their making. Both germ panics reflected anxieties about societal incorporation, associated with expanding markets, transportation networks, and mass immigration. They were also shaped by new trends in public health education, journalism, advertising, and entertainment media. In comparison to the first germ panic, the current discourse about the "revenge of the superbugs" is considerably more pessimistic because of increasing worries about the environment, suspicions of governmental authority, and distrust of expert knowledge. Yet, as popular anxieties about infectious disease have increased, public health scientists have been attracting favorable coverage in their role as "medical detectives" on the trail of the "killer germ." (+info)