Essential drugs in the new international economic environment.
(9/1460)
Recent global developments in the regulation of trade and intellectual property rights threaten to hinder the access of populations in developing countries to essential drugs. The authors argue for state intervention in the health and pharmaceutical markets in order to guarantee equitable access to these products. (+info)
Illegal sales of cigarettes to minors--Ciudad Juarez, Mexico; El Paso, Texas; and Las Cruces, New Mexico, 1999.
(10/1460)
In 1996, the United States-Mexico Binational Commission (US-MBC) Health Working Group identified prevention of tobacco use, particularly among adolescents, as a priority and subsequently recommended joint efforts toward reducing illegal sales of cigarettes to minors. A 1997 survey of 561 commercial cigarette outlets in Mexico City found that 79% of retailers sold cigarettes to minors. To assess the illegal sale of cigarettes to minors in other regions of Mexico and on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, during January-February 1999 the General Directorate of Epidemiology in Mexico, the Chihuahua State Department of Health Services (CDH), the Ciudad Juarez Department of Health (CJDH), the Texas Department of Health (TDH), and the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDH) surveyed cigarette outlets in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico; El Paso, Texas; and Las Cruces, New Mexico. This report summarizes the results of these surveys, which indicate that almost all retailers in the surveyed outlets in Ciudad Juarez sold cigarettes to minors and that sales rates to minors were substantially lower in El Paso and Las Cruces. (+info)
An audit of retail beef loin steak tenderness conducted in eight U.S. cities.
(11/1460)
An audit of supermarkets in eight U.S. cities was conducted to characterize retail beef loin steaks with respect to grade, postfabrication aging, and tenderness and to provide an interim measure of progress in industry efforts to improve retail beef tenderness. Top sirloin steaks (n = 819) and strip loin steaks (n = 827 paired steaks) were purchased at retail markets in Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, and Seattle and shipped to Colorado State University for measurement of shear force (both cut types) and evaluation by a trained sensory panel (strip loins only). Approximately 80% of the steaks originated from beef plants in Kansas, Texas, Nebraska, and Colorado. Postfabrication aging periods ranged from 2 to 87 d (mean = 20.8 d) for top sirloin steaks and from 2 to 91 d (mean = 19.2 d) for strip loin steaks, although most top sirloin (85%) and strip loin (91%) steaks were available for purchase 7 to 35 d after fabrication. The mix of quality grades was similar for both cuts: 60% Select, 31% "commodity" Choice, 6 to 7% "Certified" Choice, and 2 to 3% Prime. Shear force averaged 3.46 kg (SD = .74) for top sirloins and 3.05 kg (SD = .95) for strip loins; 75% of both steak types had shear force values between 2 and 4 kg. Postfabrication periods shorter than 7 d were associated with reduced (P < .05) tenderness, especially for top sirloin steaks. Higher quality grades were associated with greater (P < .05) tenderness (Prime > Choice > Select) for both cuts. Based on panel tenderness ratings, the approximate odds of obtaining a "slightly tough" or tougher strip loin steak at a retail supermarket were: 0 for Prime, 1 in 10 for "Certified" Choice, 1 in 5 for "commodity" Choice, and 1 in 4 for Select. Audit results suggest that tenderness characteristics of loin steaks have not changed materially since the National Beef Tenderness Survey was conducted in 1991 and that two primary focal points of the beef industry's efforts to improve tenderness should be 1) to prevent short-aged (< 7 d postfabrication) product from reaching consumers and 2) to identify methods for enhancing tenderness of Select and "commodity" Choice beef. (+info)
Risk factors for psychological stress among international business travellers.
(12/1460)
OBJECTIVES: This study investigated sources of self reported psychological stress among international business travellers at the World Bank, following up on a previous study showing that travellers submitted more insurance claims for psychological disorders. Hypotheses were that work, personal, family, and health concerns, as well as time zone travel, contribute to travel stress. METHODS: A travel survey was developed from focus groups and consisted of questions about these potential sources of travel stress. Surveys were sent to a random sample of staff, stratified by number of travel missions, age range, and sex. Canonical correlation analyses estimated the association between key survey items on sources of stress and two measures of travel stress. RESULTS: 498 staff completed the survey. More than a third reported high to very high travel stress. Correlations between predictors and travel stress showed that social and emotional concerns (such as impact of travel on family and sense of isolation) contributed the most to such stress, followed by health concerns, and workload upon return from travel. Surprisingly, time zone travel did not contribute to the self reported stress of these travellers. There were few modifiers of stress, although respondents suggested that a day of rest after travel and reduced workloads would help. CONCLUSIONS: The current study confirms clinical impressions about several correlates of travel stress. Similar research with travellers in other organisations could help to determine whether the findings from this study are valid and what measures can be taken to reduce the psychological health risks to travellers. (+info)
As others see us.
(13/1460)
If it is to be fully effective, functional activity in business needs to see itself as an integral part of management and not as some specialist, separate adjunct. The so-called professions often find this difficult to contemplate, let alone achieve. In Unilever's UK operations, occupational health activity and staff are effectively integrated into general management and, as a direct consequence, the business benefits and the participants reach higher levels of job satisfaction. (+info)
Retail trade incentives: how tobacco industry practices compare with those of other industries.
(14/1460)
OBJECTIVES: This study compared the incentive payments for premium shelf space and discounts on volume purchases paid to retailers by 5 types of companies. METHODS: Merchants were interviewed at 108 randomly selected small retail outlets that sell tobacco in Santa Clara County, California. RESULTS: Significantly more retailers reported receiving slotting/display allowances for tobacco (62.4%) than for any other product type. An average store participating in a retailer incentive program received approximately $3157 annually from all sampled product types, of which approximately $2462 (78%) came from tobacco companies. CONCLUSIONS: Future research should assess the impact of tobacco industry incentive programs on the in-store marketing and sales practices of retailers. (+info)
Caught in the middle: should the World Trade Organization settle environmental disputes?
(15/1460)
Since its inception in 1995, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has arbitrated trade disputes between its members in part by deciding whether unilateral actions by its 134 member nations such as trade bans or restrictions violate international free trade rules and authorizing penalties against members that are found to be noncompliant with such rules. The WTO is criticized by those who believe its emphasis on free trade undermines national environmental and public health protection efforts. Recent disputes over the importation of hormone-treated beef and genetically modified crops have focused attention on how the WTO arbitrates disputes having environmental and public health implications and sparked criticisms as to whether the organization is qualified to do so. (+info)
Building a hospital information system: design considerations based on results from a Europe-wide vendor selection process.
(16/1460)
A number of research and development projects in the U.S. and in Europe have shown that novel technologies can open significant perspectives for hospital information systems (HIS). The selection of software products for a HIS, however, is still nontrivial. Generalist vendors promise a broad scope of functionality and integration, while specialist vendors promise elaborated and highly adapted functionality. In 1997, the university hospital Marburg, a 1,250 bed teaching hospital, decided to introduce a new large-scale HIS. The objectives of the project included support of clinical workflows, cost effectiveness and a maximum standard of medical care. In 1997/98 a formal Europe-wide vendor contest was performed. 15 vendors, including several from the U.S., participated. Systems were checked against the hospital's objectives, functionality, and technological criteria. One of the results of both technology and market assessment was the identification of fundamental technological and design aspects strongly influencing functionality and flexibility. (+info)