Search results for: public health ethics

Authors: Nur Inayah Ismaniar, Sukri Palutturi, Ansariadi, Atjo Wahyu

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Background: In various countries in the world, the problem of smoking is now considered something serious because of the effects of smoking which can not only lead to addiction but also have the potential to harm health. Public health authorities have concluded that one solution that can be done to protect the public from active smokers is to issue a policy that requires public facilities to be completely smoke-free. The hospital is one of the public facilities that has been designated as a smoke-free area. However, the implementation and maintenance of a successful program based on a smoke-free hospital are still considered an ongoing challenge worldwide due to the very low level of adherence. The low level of compliance with this smoke-free policy is also seen in other public facilities. The purpose of the literature review is to review the level of compliance with the application of the Non-Smoking Area policy, how this policy has succeeded in reducing smoking activity in hospitals, and what factors lead to such compliance in each country in the world. Methods: A literature review of articles was carried out on all types of research methods, both qualitative and quantitative. The sample is all subjects who are in the research location, which includes patients, staff and hospital visitors. Results: Various variations in the level of compliance were found in various kinds of literature. The literature with the highest level of compliance is 88.4%. Furthermore, several determinants that are known to affect the compliance of the Non-Smoking Area policies in hospitals include communication, information, knowledge, perceptions, interventions, attitudes and support. Obstacles to its enforcement are the absence of sanctions against violators of the Non-Smoking Area policy, the ineffectiveness of the function of policymakers in hospitals, and negative perceptions of smoking related to mental health. Conclusion: Violations of the Non-Smoking Area policy are often committed by the hospital staff themselves, which makes it difficult for this policy to be fully enforced at various points in the hospital.

Keywords: health policy, non-smoking area, hospital, implementation

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Authors: Sangita Bharati

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Violence against women is now well recognised as a public health problem and human rights violation of worldwide significance. It is an important risk factor for women's ill health, with far reaching consequences for both their physical and mental health. Gender based violence takes many forms and results in physical, sexual and psychological harm to the women throughout their lives. Gender based violence often manifests unequal power relation between men and women in society and the secondary status of the women because of which women have to suffer a range of health problems in silence. This paper will aim at describing a few problems related to women’s health which are directly linked to their experience as victims of gender based violence.

Keywords: violence, health, women, society

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Authors: A. Kulprasutidilok

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In order to address the social factors of elderly health care, researcher and community members have turned to more inclusive and participatory approaches to research and interventions. One such approach, community-based participatory research (CBPR) in public health, has received increased attention as the academic and public health communities struggle to address the persistent problems of disparities in the use of health care and health outcomes for several over the past decade. As Thailand becomes an ageing society, health services and proper care systems specifically for the elderly group need to be prepared and well established. The purpose of this assignment was to study the health problems and was to explore the process of community participation in elderly health care. Participants in this study were member of elderly group of Paisanee Ramintra 65 community in Bangkok, Thailand. The results indicated two important components of community participation process in elderly health care: 1) a process to develop community participation in elderly health care, and 2) outcomes resulting from such process. The development of community participation consisted of four processes. As for the outcomes of the community participation development process, they consisted of elderly in the community got jointly and formulated a group, which strengthened the project because of collaborative supervision among themselves. Moreover, inactive health care services have changed to being energetic and focus on health promotion rather than medical achievement and elderly association of community can perform health care activities for chronically illness through the achievement of this development; consequently, they increasingly gained access to physical, cognitive, and social activity.

Keywords: community-based participatory research, elderly, heath care, Thailand.

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Authors: Grichting Anna, Al Sada Sara, Caccayam Angelica, Khan Urshi

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The Qatar Museums Authority recently announced a series of public art initiatives in Doha with the purpose of 'bringing art out of the walls of the museum' to make it accessible to the public on a daily basis and to encourage discussion and debate. While the installation of sculptures in public spaces is not new in Doha, the practice of integrating art in public spaces and architectural projects is reaching a new dimension as internationally renowned artists – such as Damien Hirst and Richard Serra - are being commissioned to install their works in the public spaces and buildings of the city of Doha as well as in more remote desert locations. This research discusses the changing presence, role and context of public art in Doha, both from a historical and cultural overview, and the different forms and media as well as the typologies of urban and public spaces in which the art is installed. It examines the process of implementing site-specific artworks, looking at questions of scale, history, social meaning and formal aesthetics. The methodologies combine theoretical research on the understanding of public art and its role and placement in public space, as well as empirical research on contemporary public art projects in Doha, based on documentation and interviews and as well as site and context analysis of the urban or architectural spaces within which the art is situated. Surveys and interviews – using social media - in different segments of the contemporary Qatari society, including all nationalities and social groups, are used to measure and qualify the impacts and effects on the population.

Keywords: public space, public art, urban design, knowledge economy

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Authors: William Coburn, Dylan Hauchard, Amel Naouali

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Background: The nature of the HIV epidemic in Puerto Rico (PR) is less understood than in the continental U.S. There is evidence to suggest that there are differences in health care access based on geographical location, such that rural areas are less underserved and have less immediate access to HIV prevention resources. Methods: The current study consists of a cross-sectional online survey of self-reporting HIV-negative sexual minority men (SMM) residing in PR. Results: In this sample, there were no differences between urban and rural-based services for SMM. However, more than half of the sample reported that they have never disclosed their gender identity and sexual practices to a physician. Conclusion: HIV is a significant public health concern affecting Latinos/Hispanics in the U.S. Findings in this paper can have implications for HIV prevention services in PR specifically, as few studies have directly focused on the impact of HIV and health care services in PR outside of the continental U.S.

Keywords: HIV, Puerto Rico, infectious diseases , public health

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Authors: Julius A. Ademokoya, Grace C. Ilori

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Extreme public transport difficulty for persons with disabilities (PWDs) has always been one of the challenges which these individuals experience on a daily basis in Nigeria. Private and public transport vehicles are not disability- friendly. Operators of public transport are often very intolerant of PWDs' conditions. Indeed, many Nigerians believe it is luxury for PWDs to engage in public transport. They are rarely expected to be seen in public much less going to places via public transport means. Initiatives by a few Nigerian states to develop and implement public transport policies for PWDs, therefore, were a huge relief for them and some concerned Nigerians. A few years ago, three southwest Nigerian states (Lagos, Ondo, and Ekiti) came up with some legislative welfare provisions (including transport programmes) for PWDs. This study, therefore, sought to ascertain levels of awareness and implementation of public policies among the PWDs and those expected to implement the policies. The study adopted a mixed method research. Findings across the three states showed that: (1) awareness of public policies among PWDs is low and (2) a considerable scope of the policies is not yet implemented. Recommendations are, therefore, made on how to improve on awareness and implementation of transport policies for PWDs in three south-west Nigerian states.

Keywords: awareness, disability rights, implementation persons with disability, transport policies

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Authors: Xinchen Zhu

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The rapid fame of the renowned female film star Tang Wei has made her a typical subject (or object) entangled with sensitive issues involving the official ideology, sexuality, and patriarchal values of contemporary China. In 2008, Tang Wei’s official ban has triggered the wave of debates concerning state power and censorship, actor’s rights, sexual ethics, and feminism in the public sphere. Her ban implies that Chinese film censorship acts as a key factor in reconstructing Chinese film stardom. Following the ban, as sensational media texts are re-interpreting the official discourses, the texts also functioned as a crucial vehicle in reconstructing Tang's female image. Therefore, the case study of Tang's film stardom allows us to further explore how female stardom has been entangled with the issues involving official ideology, female sexual ethics, and patriarchal values in contemporary China. This paper argues that Chinese female film stars shoulder the responsibility of film acting which would conform to the official male-dominated values. However, with the development of the Internet, the state no longer remains an absolute control over the new venues. The netizens’ discussion about her ban reshaped Tang’s image as a victim and scapegoat under the unfair oppression of the official authority. Additionally, this paper argues that similar to State’s discourse, netizens’ discourse did not reject patriarchal values, and in turn emphasized Tang Wei’s female chastity.

Keywords: film censorship, Chinese female film stardom, party-state’s power, national discourses, Tang Wei

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Authors: Charles P. Mukumba, Kahilu K. Shakantu

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Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs] is a key to achieving transformational results that support Zambia’s development. Public procurement is an integral to the government’s mission to deliver goods and services, in a timely and economic manner beyond the value of money spent. This study explores the link between sustainable public procurement and the SDG targets in Zambia. And to validate the established links with the public sector procurement in Zambia. The study employed qualitative research using semi-structured interviews with 18 public procurement officials. The collected data was analysed using thematic analysis. The findings indicate that public procurement plays a fundamental role in achieving the sustainable development goals [SDGs] by helping to deliver core public services that support SDGs and also by systematising and co-delivering added value along the way. The study further established the importance of sustainable public procurement within the context of development. The interviews were limited to mainstream public sector procurement entities in Lusaka, Zambia. Sustainable public procurement actions have the potential to impact SDG goals. Promoting sustainable public procurement will enhance sustainable development and significantly improve supply chain that would benefit the economy, society and environment. Findings will inform policy-makers how to strategically design sustainable public procurement policy by attuning it to procuring entities objectives and priorities in order to contribute to the attainment of SDGs.

Keywords: sustainable public procurement, sustainable development goals, target, Zambia

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Authors: Asmaa Sokrat, Aykut Karaman

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Public and private spaces are major components of the morphology of the city. This research aims to study the interactions between public and private domains in terms of urban space in Casablanca. The research focuses on a general vision of a socio-spatial issue. It plans to identify the public, private, and transition (semi-public, semi-private) spaces as the constituent of the urban space. Moreover, the study investigates the link between public and private spaces with the social dimensions. Additionally, the research argues that the public space is a place of social interaction; as a reflection, this interaction is the intersection between urban space and social connectedness. Besides, social interaction can be the key to distinguishing between the public and private spheres. The methodological approach of the research is based on the literature review and field study. The article is targeting a case study on the old Medina of Casablanca, from daily use of the public and private spaces, the urban tissue, and the urban space types. In conclusion, the research exhibits that a public space could influence the privacy of the residents of a local urban area; thus, this privacy is inverted on the social interaction. This social interaction is the link between the urban space and social connectedness. Hence, this equation affects the typology of the private space.

Keywords: public sphere, private sphere, social connectedness, old Medina of Casablanca

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Authors: Maria Del Mar Maira Vidal, Alvaro Briales

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In this paper, we will conduct an analysis of the results of the I+D+i research project “New types of socio-existential vulnerability, support and care in Spain” (VULSOCU) (2016-20). This project had the objective to analyze the new types of vulnerability that are the result of the combination of several factors as the economic crisis, the unemployment, the transformations of the Welfare State, the individualization, etc. We have, therefore, analyzed the way that Spanish long-term unemployed over 45 years experience vulnerability and its consequences on their lives. We have focused on long-term unemployed over 45 that had previously developed stable career paths and have been looking for a job for two years or more. In order to carry out this analysis, we will try to break the dichotomy between the social and the individual, between the socio-historical and the subjectivity, to overcome some of the limits of the research on unemployment. The fieldwork consisted of more than ten focus groups and fifty in-depth interviews. The work and life ethics completely changed at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In the nineteenth century, companies had trouble maintaining their staff, but in the 21st century, unemployed workers feel that they are useless people. Workers value themselves if they have a job. This unveils that labor is a comprehensive social relationship in capitalist societies. In general, unemployed workers are not able to analyze their unemployment as a social problem. They analyze their unemployment as an individual problem. They blame themselves for their unemployment; instead of taking into account that there are millions of unemployed, they talk about themselves as if they were on their own. And the problems caused by unemployment are explained as psychological problems and are medicalized. Anyway, it is important to highlight that this is the result of an ideology and a social relationship that is part of our historical time.

Keywords: life ethics, work ethics, unemployment, unemployed over 45 years old

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Authors: Babanyara Y. Y., Ibrahim D. B., Garba T., Bogoro A. G., Abubakar, M. Y.

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Medical care is vital for our life, health, and well-being. However, the waste generated from medical activities can be hazardous, toxic, and even lethal because of their high potential for diseases transmission. The hazardous and toxic parts of waste from healthcare establishments comprising infectious, medical, and radioactive material as well as sharps constitute a grave risks to mankind and the environment, if these are not properly treated/disposed or are allowed to be mixed with other municipal waste. In Nigeria, practical information on this aspect is inadequate and research on the public health implications of poor management of medical wastes is few and limited in scope. Findings drawn from Literature particularly in the third world countries highlights financial problems, lack of awareness of risks involved in MWM, lack of appropriate legislation and lack of specialized MWM staff. The paper recommends how MWM practices can be improved in medical facilities.

Keywords: environmental pollution, infectious, management, medical waste, public health

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Authors: Pablo J. Valverde, Jaime E. Fernandez

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This paper shows under which conditions public corruption can emerge. The theoretical model includes variables such as the public employee wage (w), a control corruption parameter (c), and the group size of interactions (GS) between clusters of public officers and contractors. The system behavior is analyzed using phase diagrams based on combinations of such parameters (c, w, GS). Numerical simulations are implemented in order to contrast analytic results based on Nash equilibria of the theoretical model. Major findings include the functional relationship between wages and network topology, which attempts to reduce the emergence of corrupt behavior.

Keywords: public corruption, game theory, complex systems, Nash equilibrium.

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Authors: Sunny Ewankhiwimen Aigbomian

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Time, is a scarce resource and in everything we do, time is required to accomplish any given task. The need for this presentation is predicated on the way majority of Nigerian especially in the public sector operators see “Time Management”. Time as resources cannot be regained if lost or managed badly. As a significant aspect of human life it should be handled with diligence and utmost seriousness if the public sector is to function as a coordinated entity. In our homes, private life and offices, we schedule different things to ensure that some things do not go the unexpected. When it comes to service delivery on the part of government, it ought to be more serious because government is all about effect and efficient service delivery and “Time” is a significant variable necessary to successful accomplishment. The need for Nigerian government to re-examine time management in her public sector with a view of repositioning the sector to be able to compete well with other public sectors in the world. The peculiarity of Time management in Public Sector in Nigerian context as examined and some useful recommendations of immerse assistance proffered.

Keywords: Nigeria, public sector, time management, task

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Authors: Ahmed Farouk Radwan, Sheren Mousa

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There are many laws and regulations governing the use of new and social media in the United Arab Emirates. During the past few years, the importance of using these platforms in the fields of media and government communication has increased, as well as at the level of individual use. In 2016, the National Media Council Law was issued to regulate traditional and new media field, and gave the council the power to oversee and undertake the media affairs in the state. NMC is mandated to: Develop the UAE’s media policy, Draft media legislation and ensure its execution and Prohibited media content ,Co-ordinate the media policy between the emirates in line with the UAE’s domestic and foreign policy, Ensure support for the federation and project national unity. All media organizations in the UAE must comply with the regulations and rules issued by council. Social media influencers have to be licensed by NMC if they accept paid ads to be published on their accounts. The study explores other laws concerning of new media and social media regulations and ethics including Combatting Cybercrimes law, Combating Discrimination and Hatred law, The Government Guidelines for social media users in the UAE, The Guidelines for the practices of electronic participation and social networking, Copyright Law, and Child Rights Law. The study clarifies the legal articles, items and standards in all these laws which related with the new media and social platforms and also determines the prohibited digital practices and the cultural norms governing it.

Keywords: media laws, media ethics, new media , UAE

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Authors: Amal Abdou, Yasser ElSayed, Nora Selim

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Public urban spaces are an essential component in any urban settlement. They are quite important in enhancing the quality of urban life while offering social, health, environmental and economic benefits to a city and its residents. Place-making assessment of public urban spaces has been one of the major guiding principles for urban planning and policymaking, of which the definition and evaluation have become the crucial research topic. It is increasingly being essential to mitigate the undesirable impacts of urbanization in cities while improving public urban space’s resilience to environmental, social, and economic changes. Globally, several place-making assessment tools (PATs) have been developed to make such informed decision-making. They act as a catalyst to increase market demand for sustainable products and services by providing a mechanism for recognizing excellence. Assessing how placemaking can positively contribute to urban environments is critical to inform both the continued development of the place and the way placemaking is done as a practice. Therefore, this study aims to review different themes for assessing urban placemaking in public urban spaces.

Keywords: urban placemaking, public urban spaces, placemaking assessment, literature review

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Authors: Pimporn Thongmuang

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The import value of antimicrobial drugs reached approximately fifteen million Baht in 2010, considered as the highest import value of all modern drugs, and this value is rising every year. Antimicrobials are considered the hazardous drugs by the Ministry of Public Health. This research was conducted in order to investigate the past knowledge of drug use and Antimicrobial drug use behavior. A total of 757 students were selected as the samples out of a population of 1,800 students. This selected students had the experience of Antimicrobial drugs use a year ago. A questionnaire was utilized in this research. The findings put on the view that knowledge gained by the students about proper use of antimicrobial drugs was not brought into practice. This suggests that the education procedure regarding drug use needs adjustment. And therefore the findings of this research are expected to be utilized as guidelines for educating people about the proper use of antimicrobial drugs. At a broader perspective, correct drug use behavior of the public may potentially reduce drug cost of the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand.

Keywords: drug use knowledge, antimicrobial drugs, drug use behavior, drug

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Authors: Marine Kobalava, Eter Narimanishvili, Nino Grigolaia

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The paper analyzes the contemporary problems of public relations in Georgia. The approaches to public attitudes towards the relationship with the population of the country are studied on a global scale, the importance of forming the concept of public relations in Georgia in terms of globalization is justified. The basic components of public relations are characterized by the RACE system, namely analyzing research, action, communication, evaluation. The main challenges of public relations are identified in the research process; taking into consideration the scope of globalization, the influence of social, economic, and political changes in Georgia on PR development are identified. The article discusses the public relations as the strategic management function that facilitates communication with the society, recognition of public interests, and their prediction. In addition, the feminization of the sector is considered to be the most important achievement of public relations in the modern world. The conclusion is that the feminization indicator of the field is an unconditional increase in the employment rates of women. In the paper, the problems of globalization and public relations in the industrial countries are studied, the directions of improvement of public relations with the background of peculiarities of different countries and globalization process are proposed. Public relations under globalization are assessed in accordance with the theory of benefits and requirements, and the requirements are classified according to informational, self-identification, integration, social interaction, and other types of signs. In the article, conclusions on the current challenges of public relations in Georgia are made, and the recommendations for their solution, taking into consideration globalization processes in the world, are proposed.

Keywords: public relations, globalization, RACE system, public relationship concept, feminization

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Authors: Talha Sareshwala

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The purpose of this research paper is to help entrepreneurs build an environment of trust, transparency and accountability necessary for fostering long term investment, financial stability and business integrity and to guide future Entrepreneurs into a promising future. The study presents a broader review on Corporate Governance, starting from its definition and antecedents. This is the most important aspect of ethical business. In fact, the 3 main pillars of corporate governance are: Transparency; Accountability; Security. The combination of these 3 pillars in running a company successfully and forming solid professional relationships among its stakeholders, which includes key managerial employees and, most important, the shareholders This paper is sharing an experience how an entrepreneur can act as a catalyst while ensuring them that ethics and transparency do pay in business when followed in true spirit and action.

Keywords: business, entrepreneur, ethics, governance, transparency.

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Authors: Paula M. Lantz

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In the United States, significant socioeconomic and racial inequalities exist in many population-based indicators of health and social welfare. Although a number of effective prevention programs and interventions are available, local and state governments often do not pursue prevention in the face of budgetary constraints and more acute problems. There is growing interest in and excitement about Pay for Success” (PFS) strategies, also referred to as social impact bonds, as an approach to financing and implementing promising prevention programs and services that help the public sector either save money or achieve greater value for an investment. The PFS finance model implements evidence-based interventions using capital from investors who only receive a return on their investment from the government if agreed-upon, measurable outcomes are achieved. This paper discusses the current landscape regarding social impact bonds in the U.S., and their potential and challenges in addressing serious health and social problems. The paper presents an analysis of a number of social science issues that are fundamental to the potential for social impact bonds to successfully address social inequalities in health and social welfare. This includes: a) the economics of the intervention and a potential public payout; b) organizational and management issues in intervention implementation; c) evaluation research design and methods; d) legal/regulatory issues in public payouts to investors; e) ethical issues in the design of social impact bond deals and their evaluation; and f) political issues. Despite significant challenges in the U.S. context, there is great potential for social impact bonds as a type of social impact investing to encourage private investments in evidence-based interventions that address important public health and social problems in underserved populations and provide a return on investment.

Keywords: pay for success, public/private partnerships, social impact bonds, social impact investing

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Authors: N. Maksimentseva

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The issue of public administration in subsoil use, renewal and protection is of high importance for Ukraine since it is strongly linked to energy security of the state as well as it shall facilitate the people of Ukraine to efficiently implement its propitiatory rights towards natural resources and redistribution of national wealth. As it is stipulated in the Article 11 of the Subsoil Code of Ukraine (the Code) the authorities that administer the industry are limited to central executive bodies and local governments. In particular, it is stipulated in the Code that the Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers carries out public administration in geological exploration, production and protection of subsoil. Other state bodies of public administration include central public authority responsible for state environmental protection policies; central public authority in charge of implementation of state geological exploration and efficient subsoil use policies; central authority in charge of state health and safety control policies. There are also public authorities in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea; local executive bodies and other state authorities and local self-government authorities in compliance with laws of Ukraine. This article is devoted to the analysis of the legal relations in the area of public administration of subsoil use, renewal and protection in Ukraine. The main approaches to study the essence of legal relations in the named area as well as its tasks, functions and methods are analyzed. It is concluded in this article that legal relationship in the field of public administration of subsoil use, renewal and protection is characterized by specifics of its task (development of natural resources).

Keywords: legal relations, public administration, subsoil code of Ukraine, subsoil use, renewal and protection

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Authors: Sandrine Andriantsimietry, Hantanirina Ravaosendrasoa

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Madagascar, in 2018, set up the first best available technology, autoclave, to treat the health care waste in public hospitals according the best environmental practices in health care waste management. Incineration of health care waste, frequently through open burning is the most common practice of treatment and elimination of health care waste across the country. Autoclave is a best available technology for non-incineration of health care waste that permits recycling of treated waste and prevents harm in environment through the reduction of unintended persistent organic pollutants from the health sector. A Global Environment Fund project supported the introduction of the non-incineration treatment of health care waste to help countries in Africa to move towards Stockholm Convention objectives in the health sector. Two teaching hospitals in Antananarivo and one district hospital in Manjakandriana were equipped respectively with 1300L, 250L and 80L autoclaves. The capacity of these model hospitals was strengthened by the donation of equipment and materials and the training of the health workers in best environmental practices in health care waste management. Proper segregation of waste in the wards to collect the infectious waste that was treated in the autoclave was the main step guaranteeing a cost-efficient non-incineration of health care waste. Therefore, the start-up of the switch of incineration into non-incineration treatment was carried out progressively in each ward with close supervision of hygienist. Emissions avoided of unintended persistent organic pollutants during these four months of autoclaves use is 9.4 g Toxic Equivalent per year. Public hospitals in low income countries can be model in best environmental practices in health care waste management but efforts must be made internally for sustainment.

Keywords: autoclave, health care waste management, model hospitals, non-incineration

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Authors: Jillian Gardner, Hilde D. Miniggio

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The increasing prevalence of obesity has driven the pursuit of alternative weight loss strategies, such as jaw wiring (or ‘slimming wires’), a technique known in the medical community as maxillomandibular fixation, which has evolved beyond its original intention of treating temporomandibular joint disorders. Individuals have increasingly sought and utilized the procedure for weight loss purposes. Although legal in South Africa, this trend presents dentists with ethical dilemmas, as they face requests for interventions that prioritize aesthetic preferences over medical necessity. Drawing on scholarly literature and the four principles framework of Beauchamp and Childress, this ethical analysis offers guidance for dentists facing the ethical dilemma of patient requests for jaw wiring as a weight management intervention. The ethical analysis concludes that dentists who refuse autonomous requests to perform jaw wiring for purely weight loss purposes are ethically justified within the principlist framework in overriding these requests when the principles of non-maleficence and beneficence are at stake. The well-being and health of the patient, as well as societal and professional obligations, justify the refusal to perform jaw wiring purely for weight loss.

Keywords: ethics, jaw wiring, maxillomandibular fixation, principlism, weight loss

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Authors: Maria Karidakis, Barbara Kelly

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The challenges precipitated by the advent of COVID-19 have brought to the fore the task governments and key stakeholders are faced with; ensuring public health communication is readily accessible to vulnerable populations. COVID-19 has presented challenges for the provision and reception of timely, accessible, and accurate health information pertaining to vaccine health messaging to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore strategies used by Aboriginal-led organisations to improve communication about COVID-19 and vaccination for their communities and to explore how these mediation and outreach strategies were received by community members. We interviewed 6 Aboriginal-led organisations and 15 community members from several states across Australian, and these interviews were analysed thematically. The findings suggest that effective public health communication is enhanced when aFirst nations-led response defines the governance that happens in First Nations communities. Pro-active and self-determining Aboriginal leadership and decision-making helps drive the response to counter a growing trend towards vaccine hesitancy. Other strategies include establishing partnerships with government departments and relevant non-governmental organisations to ensure services are implemented and culturally appropriate. The outcomes of this research will afford policymakers, stakeholders in healthcare, and cultural mediators the capacity to identify strengths and potential problems associated with pandemic health information and to subsequently implement creative and culturally specific solutions that go beyond the provision of written documentation via translation or interpreting. It will also enable governing bodies to adjust multilingual polices and to adopt mediation strategies that will improve information delivery and intercultural services on a national and international level.

Keywords: intercultural communication, qualitative, public health communication, COVID-19, pandemic, mediated communication, first nations people

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Authors: Kgabo H. Badimo, Sheryl Buckley

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Knowledge is increasingly recognised in this, the knowledge era, as a strategic resource, by public sector organisations, in view of the public sector reform initiatives. People and knowledge play a vital role in attaining improved organisational performance and high service quality. Many government departments in the public sector have started to realise the importance of knowledge management in streamlining their operations and processes. This study focused on knowledge management in the public healthcare service organisations, where the concept of service provider competitiveness pales to insignificance, considering the huge challenges emanating from the healthcare and public sector reforms. Many government departments are faced with challenges of improving organisational performance and service delivery, improving accountability, making informed decisions, capturing the knowledge of the aging workforce, and enhancing partnerships with stakeholders. The purpose of this paper is to examine the knowledge management practices of the Gauteng Department of Health in South Africa, in order to understand how knowledge management practices influence improvement in organisational performance and healthcare service delivery. This issue is explored through a review of literature on dominant views on knowledge management and healthcare service delivery, as well as results of interviews with, and questionnaire responses from, the general staff of the Gauteng Department of Health. Web-based questionnaires, face-to-face interviews and organisational documents were used to collect data. The data were analysed using both the quantitative and qualitative methods. The central question investigated was: To what extent can the conditions required for successful knowledge management be observed, in order to improve organisational performance and healthcare service delivery in the Gauteng Department of Health. The findings showed that the elements of knowledge management capabilities investigated in this study, namely knowledge creation, knowledge sharing and knowledge application, have a positive, significant relationship with all measures of organisational performance and healthcare service delivery. These findings thus indicate that by employing knowledge management principles, the Gauteng Department of Health could improve its ability to achieve its operational goals and objectives, and solve organisational and healthcare challenges, thereby improving organisational.

Keywords: knowledge management, Healthcare Service Delivery, public healthcare, public sector

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Authors: Veronika Antoniou, Rene Carraz, Yiorgos Hadjichristou

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The Green Urban Lab took the form of public installations that were placed at various locations in four cities in Cyprus. These installations - through which a series of events, activities, workshops and research took place - were the main tools in regenerating a series of urban public spaces in Cyprus. The purpose of this project was to identify issues and opportunities related to public space and to offer guidelines on how design and participatory democracy improvements could strengthen civil society, while raising the quality of the urban public scene. Giant inflatable structures were injected in important urban fragments in order to accommodate series of events. The design and playful installation generated a wide community engagement. The fluid presence of the installations acted as a catalyst for social interaction. They were accessed and viewed effortlessly and surprisingly, creating opportunities to rediscover public spaces.

Keywords: bottom-up initiatives, creativity, public space, social innovation, urban environments

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Authors: Biback Das

Abstract:

New Public Management, a phenomenal tool, which is used to enforcing in public administration in different country’s to enhance the capacities. Since the 1980s, New Public Management (NPM) is primarily focusing to modernize the public sector. From the initial period, many developed countries such as UK, New Zealand, Australia, and the USA are applied in their administration to modernize. Almost 1990s, it has been applied in many developing countries. This study can describe the real situations of NPM based administration. Bangladesh Government has taken many projects to reform the public sector under NPM. Even many Development Agencies like UN, UNDP, World Bank, Asian Development Bank and so on, along with many developed countries also invested and prescribed to take NPM based reform that can to restructure the public sector so that it can maximize the efforts to provide the better service. This study examines using many factors that effects work on Public Administration in Bangladesh and also assessing its endeavor to adopt in it. Although Government has taken such initiatives to implement NPM originated reform, it’s not effectively been implemented to bring positive change about as per NPM objectives. This study mainly examines some initiatives in Bangladesh that have the influence of NPM as well as some drawbacks that can’t help the satisfaction of these initiatives. This article help to identify the efforts of many development agencies providing a fund to enhance the NPM based projects with their specific conditions that are prescribed by them helping to get fund. Therefore, to establish effective public management or to follow NPM model, Bangladesh need having an institutional framework, sound rule of law, proper structure, effective civil service system, appropriate checks, and balances to restructure the public sector help along with donor agencies ad implement in it. Bangladesh Government has applied its recent days to enhance the capabilities in its Public Administration. Moreover, this study mainly identifies how the designing strategies, program formulating, its implementation in various sector such as education, health sector etc. and how to reduce the backdrop the during problem by smooth functioning. This paper is also assessing the influence of many projects like PPP (Public-Private and Partnership) to work along with private organizations for smooth service delivery. Accordingly, this paper briefly reviews how it applies in a global context following the taken many initiatives and the consequences of Bangladesh context.

Keywords: new public management, capacity building, conditionalities, service delivery, public-private-partnership

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Authors: Victor Emery David Jr., Jiang Wenchao, Daniel Mmereki, Yasinta John

Abstract:

The fundamentals of public health are access to safe and clean drinking water. The presence of arsenic and other contaminants in drinking water leads to the potential risk to public health and the environment particularly in most developing countries where there’s inadequate access to safe and clean water and adequate sanitation. Liberia has taken steps to improve its drinking water status so as to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target of ensuring clean water and effective sanitation but there is still a lot to be done. The Sustainable Development Goals are a United Nation initiative also known as transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development. It contains seventeen goals with 169 targets to be met by respective countries. Liberia is situated within in the gold belt region where there exist the presence of arsenic and other contaminants in the underground water due to mining and other related activities. While there are limited or no epidemiological studies conducted in Liberia to confirm illness or death as a result of arsenic contamination in Liberia, it remains a public health concern. This paper assesses the drinking water quality, the presence of arsenic in groundwater/drinking water in Liberia, and proposes strategies for mitigating contaminants in drinking water and suggests options for improvement with regards to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of ensuring clean water and effective sanitation in Liberia by 2030.

Keywords: arsenic, action plan, contaminants, environment, groundwater, sustainable development goals (SDGs), Monrovia, Liberia, public health, drinking water

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Authors: Fedorova Elena

Abstract:

In this article, we draw a distinction between two important functions of public policy in private international law. The first function is widely recognized and relates to the prevention of application of foreign laws and enforcement of foreign court judgments whenever their effects are incompatible with the domestic legal system of the forum. This effectively protects sovereign rights of the forum state as it allows to resist against the undesirable effects of foreign law-making and law-enforcement policies. The second function is less obvious, but not less important. As the internal private legal relationships, international private relationships are usually governed by rules of public policy, to which the parties can not derogate by mutual agreement. Thefore, for international private law relations public policy has a different function than previously mentioned: in this case, the public policy acts as a defense against unacceptable effects of the party autonomy. Thus, this second function of public policy consists in the limitation of the party autonomy wich effects would be unacceptable for the local legal system. In the frame of this second function the author will analyse two types of public policy which can limit the party autonomy: « substantial » public policy (which regulates the substance of international legal relationship) and « conflictual » public policy (which regulates the party autonomy to choose the law applicable for the substance of relationship). The author provides an analysis of these functions of the public policy in the field of international contract law because of the important role of the principle of party autonomy for international contract relations.

Keywords: public policy, general theory of private international law, substantial public policy, conflictual public policy

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Authors: M. Norazamina, A. Azizah, Y. Najihah Marha, A. Suraya

Abstract:

Malaysian Public Sector departments or agencies are responsible to provide efficient public services with zero corruption. However, corruption continues to occur due to the absence of ethical leadership and well-execution of ethical guidelines. Thus, the objective of this paper is to explore the attributes of ethical leadership and ethical guidelines. This study employs a qualitative research by analyzing data from interviews with key informers of public sector using conceptual content analysis (NVivo11). The study reveals eight attributes of ethical leadership which are role model, attachment, ethical support, knowledgeable, discipline, leaders’ spirituality encouragement, virtue values and shared values. Meanwhile, five attributes (guidelines, communication, check and balance, concern on stakeholders and compliance) of ethical guidelines are identified. These identified attributes should become the ethical identity and ethical direction of Malaysian Public Sector. This could enhance the public trust as well as the international community trust towards the public sector.

Keywords: check and balance, ethical guidelines, ethical leadership, public sector, spirituality encouragement

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Authors: Olurankinse Felix, Fatukasi Bayo

Abstract:

Over the years, the medium through which government financial statements are prepared has been on cash basis of accounting. This basis was characterised with some shortcomings ranging from non- disclosure of quality and detail information relating to government financial transactions, ill informed assessment of government resource allocation, weak internal control system that inhibits accountability and transparency and non- standardisation of reporting ethics for the purpose of comparability. The emergence of international public sector accounting standards (IPSAS) is therefore seen as leverage as it aims at improving the quality of general purpose financial reporting by public sector entities thereby increasing transparency and accountability. IPSAS is a new concept that all institutions must fully adopts. The crux of this paper is to find out to what extent is the awareness and adoption of IPSAS to both students and lecturers interms of teaching, learning and inclusion in the curriculum of accounting education. The methodology involved the use of well designed questionnaires to obtain information from some selected institutions and the analysis was done with the use of maximum likelihood ordered probit regression. The result of the analysis shows that despite a high level of sensitisation/awareness of IPSAS, the degree of adoption is still low due to low level of desirability by students and lecturers. The paper recommend the need for the government to enact an enabling law to back up the adoption and more importantly to institute appropriate sanctions to ensure full compliance.

Keywords: assessment, awareness, adoption, IPSAS, cash basis

Procedia PDF Downloads 447