Occupational health and safety from communist to capitalist structures.
(1/19)
This article focuses on individual effects of the transformation from communist to capitalist structures in the system of occupational health and safety (OHS). Despite basic similarities among the communist nations the systems of OHS differed immensely. The political changes during transformation additionally contributed to varying opportunities for the development of OHS systems. Changes affecting the living and working conditions are significant and are demonstrated by the development of new work structures and work biographies. This is reflected in changed attitudes to demands and contents of work. No differences, however, were found between the employed and unemployed when asked about these issues. Conclusions for OHS in postcommunist states are drawn. (+info)
Bulgarian population in transitional period.
(2/19)
In the transition period from a communist to market-oriented economy, Bulgaria faces several public health challenges. One of them is the decline in population (estimated fall from current 8.25 million to around 6 million in 2045), mainly due to emigration and pronounced fall in fertility. Infant mortality is still relatively high (over 15/1,000 live births), and the incidence of tuberculosis is on the rise. Total mortality shows a steady upward trend from 12.1/1,000 in 1990 to 14.3/1,000 in 1998. Trends in ischemic heart disease are comparable to those in other Central and Eastern European countries, but stroke mortality is notably higher. This calls for detailed epidemiological studies of risk factors, such as salt consumption, as well as preventive programs for detection and control of high blood pressure. The problems of smoking and alcohol abuse should be addressed by a coordinated public health and legal measures. (+info)
Policy without politics: the limits of social engineering.
(3/19)
The extent of coverage provided by a country's health services is directly related to the level of development of that country's democratic process (and its power relations). The United States is the only developed country whose government does not guarantee access to health care for its citizens. It is also the developed country with the least representative and most insufficient democratic institutions, owing to the constitutional framework of the political system, the privatization of the electoral process, and the enormous power of corporate interests in both the media and the political process. As international experience shows, without a strong labor-based movement willing to be radical in its protests, a universal health care program will never be accepted by the US establishment. (+info)
Interrelationships between the precautionary principle, prediction strategies, and sustainable use of the planet.
(4/19)
In this article, I examine the relationships between new concepts of human activity in the environment and several prevention strategies used to plot a course toward sustainable use. Natural capitalism and industrial ecology are relatively new concepts that provide a framework for environmental management. Although the precautionary principle puts into policy a determination to prevent environmental damage before it occurs, natural capitalism and industrial ecology go beyond the prevention of environmental damage to the optimization of environmental interactions. The risk assessment tools necessary for preventive management continue to be essential. However, additional tools are needed to go beyond prevention to optimization. A holistic, scientific approach to the human place within the environment is needed, including both interdisciplinary and large-scale research. (+info)
China's public health-care system: facing the challenges.
(5/19)
The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) crisis in China revealed not only the failures of the Chinese health-care system but also some fundamental structural deficiencies. A decentralized and fragmented health system, such as the one found in China, is not well-suited to making a rapid and coordinated response to public health emergencies. The commercial orientation of the health sector on the supply-side and lack of health insurance coverage on the demand-side further exacerbate the problems of the under-provision of public services, such as health surveillance and preventive care. For the past 25 years, the Chinese Government has kept economic development at the top of the policy agenda at the expense of public health, especially in terms of access to health care for the 800 million people living in rural areas. A significant increase in government investment in the public health infrastructure, though long overdue, is not sufficient to solve the problems of the health-care system. China needs to reorganize its public health system by strengthening both the vertical and horizontal connections between its various public health organizations. China's recent policy of establishing a matching-fund financed rural health insurance system presents an exciting opportunity to improve people's access to health care. (+info)
A message to friends of social insurance: wake up!
(6/19)
Theodore Marmor and Jerry Mashaw effectively present the case for social insurance as a necessary component of capitalism. They understate the severity of the fiscal pressures to which Social Security and Medicare will be subject. Projected cost increases are too large to be met entirely by tax increases that the American public is likely to tolerate. Those who are devoted to social insurance need to design the changes, instead of leaving the job to opponents of principles of social insurance, who will take the financial problems as an excuse to scuttle Social Security and Medicare. (+info)
Asbestos-related disease in South Africa: the social production of an invisible epidemic.
(7/19)
South Africa was the third largest exporter of asbestos in the world for more than a century. As a consequence of particularly exploitative social conditions, former workers and residents of mining regions suffered--and continue to suffer--from a serious yet still largely undocumented burden of asbestos-related disease. This epidemic has been invisible both internationally and inside South Africa. We examined the work environment, labor policies, and occupational-health framework of the asbestos industry in South Africa during the 20th century. In a changing local context where the majority of workers were increasingly disenfranchised, unorganized, excluded from skilled work, and predominantly rural, mining operations of the asbestos industry not only exposed workers to high levels of asbestos but also contaminated the environment extensively. (+info)
Factors influencing consumer dietary health preventative behaviours.
(8/19)
BACKGROUND: The deterioration of the health status of the Romanian population during the economic transition from a centrally planned to a free market economy has been linked to lifestyles factors (e.g. diet) regarded as a main determinants of the disparity in life expectancy between Eastern and Western Europe. Reforms in the health care system in this transition economy aim to focus on preventive action. The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that impact on the individual decision to engage in Dietary Health Preventive Behaviour (DHPB) and investigate their influence in the context of an adapted health cognition model. METHODS: A population-based study recruited 485 adult respondents using random route sampling and face-to-face administered questionnaires. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Respondents' health motivation, beliefs that diet can prevent disease, knowledge about nutrition, level of education attainment and age have a positive influence on DHPB. Perceived barriers to healthy eating have a negative impact on alcohol moderation. The information acquisition behaviour (frequency of reading food labels) is negatively predicted by age and positively predicted by health motivation, education, self-reported knowledge about nutrition and household financial status. A significant segment of respondents believe they are not susceptible to the elicited diseases. Health promotion strategies should aim to change the judgments of health risk. CONCLUSION: The adaptation of the Health Belief Model and the Theory of Health Preventive Behaviour represents a valid framework of predicting DHPB. The negative sign of perceived threat of disease on DHPB may suggest that, under an income constraint, consumers tend to trade off long-term health benefits for short-term benefits. This cautions against the use of negative messages in public health campaigns. Raising the awareness of diet-disease relationships, knowledge about nutrition (particularly sources and risks associated with dietary fat and cholesterol) may induce people to adopt preventive dietary habits. (+info)