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AbstractThe significant factors influencing the perception of the public towards the “risk” concept are cultural values, social and traditional beliefs that form public views towards risk situations. Taking the cue from previous research on risk communication management in Asia, the present study discusses how administrative regional governments such as Surabaya City and the East Java Provincial authorities in Indonesia have conceptualized risk management. It pertains to how risk, particularly the COVID-19 vaccine, is assessed, regulated, and controlled in these places. Since communication and guidelines regarding the vaccine play an important role in any stage of risk management processes. This study thus aims to examine and analyze how risk communication management protocols and model have been understood through evidence-based and theory-informed research as an assessment form of the existing model and regulations. It also attempts to contribute to the risk-informed policymaking by the regional government and provides recommendations for the development of risk communication management and the preparation to manage the COVID-19 vaccine risk issues for the public, which has not been studied yet by scholars in this province and in Indonesia in general.

The significant factors influencing the perception of the public towards the "risk" concept are cultural values, social and traditional beliefs that form public views towards risk situations. Taking the cue from previous research on risk communication management in Asia, the present study discusses how administrative regional governments such as Surabaya City and the East Java Provincial authorities in Indonesia have conceptualized risk management. It pertains to how risk, particularly the COVID-19 vaccine, is assessed, regulated, and controlled in these places. Since communication and guidelines regarding the vaccine play an important role in any stage of risk management processes. This study thus aims to examine and analyze how risk communication management protocols and model have been understood through evidence-based and theory-informed research as an assessment form of the existing model and regulations. It also attempts to contribute to the risk-informed policymaking by the regional government and provides recommendations for the development of risk communication management and the preparation to manage the COVID-19 vaccine risk issues for the public, which has not been studied yet by scholars in this province and in Indonesia in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To describe trends in and characteristics of sedative drug use from 2000 through 2019 in relation to the introduction of central regulations and new drugs. Methods: In this descriptive study, we used individual prescription data on the entire Danish population from the Danish National Prescription Registry to calculate yearly incidence and prevalence of use of benzodiazepines, benzodiazepine-related drugs (Z-drugs), melatonin, olanzapine, low-dose quetiapine, mianserin/mirtazapine, pregabalin, and promethazine from 2000 through 2019. From the Danish National Patient Registry, we obtained data on drug users' psychiatric and somatic comorbidity. Results: The use of benzodiazepines and Z-drugs declined gradually from 2000 through 2019, whereas the newer alternatives, melatonin, low-dose quetiapine, pregabalin and promethazine, increased in use, while the use of olanzapine and mianserin/mirtazapine was relatively stable. This development was seen in both men and women and across all age groups except for hypnotic benzodiazepines which showed a steep increase in the oldest age group from 2010. For all sedative drugs depression, anxiety, alcohol and misuse disorder, pain and cancer were the most prevalent comorbidities. During our study period, the number of individuals without any of the selected diagnoses increased. Conclusion: In Denmark different central regulations have influenced prescription practice toward more restrictive use of Z-drugs and benzodiazepines, except for hypnotic benzodiazepine prescriptions increased after the introduction of special palliative care. An increase in use of newer sedative drugs, however, indicates that the regulations do not remove the need for sedative drugs in the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After Canadian lawmakers proposed legislation in 2008 to better enforce existing regulations of the supplement industry, Canadians mounted significant public protest, including an online petition that garnered more than 24,000 signatures and 8585 comments over several months. In this article, we offer a rhetorical analysis of a randomized sample of those comments to track the range of topics and arguments advanced by signatories against the legislation. We identify five primary topics that recur throughout the dataset, freedom, choice, health, greed, and nature, which in turn furnish sixteen core arguments that together illuminate the signatories' primary concerns about potentially losing access to supplements. Ultimately, the topics and arguments reveal deep and persistent public anxieties not only about individuals’ health but also about their agency and autonomy. This study both provides insight into why people reject government oversight of health in favor of alternative, natural health interventions and illustrates the utility of qualitative analysis of public commentary about health and health policy in texts such as petitions, public comment periods, and social media responses, all of which are rich sites of discourse that merit further study from both scholars, policy-makers, and health researchers and practitioners.

AbstractVaccine acceptance is a critical issue to study because it provides a means of measuring a nation’s success in handling the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in nations where vaccine hesitancy has historically been common. This article seeks to explore the non-medical reasons for public acceptance of vaccines. More specifically, it asks: why has Indonesia, a Muslim-majority nation with elevated levels of resistance to the government’s COVID-19 mitigation policies, ultimately implemented vaccine mandates? This article relies on qualitative research, using a case study as well as in-depth interviews with one hundred randomly selected respondents. It shows that public acceptance was driven not by health considerations, but by coercive regulations. Three factors drove public acceptance: proof of vaccination was legally required to access public facilities; proof of vaccination was legally required to access public transportation systems; and proof of vaccination was legally required to access government assistance. Facing such regulations, the public had no choice but to comply with vaccine mandates, as only then could they access public facilities, travel, and access government assistance. This study concludes that coercive vaccination policies, though repressive, have been effective means of ensuring public compliance and reducing the spread of COVID-19. This study provides the government with considerations for formulating more effective policies for pandemic mitigation.

Vaccine acceptance is a critical issue to study because it provides a means of measuring a nation's success in handling the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in nations where vaccine hesitancy has historically been common. This article seeks to explore the non-medical reasons for public acceptance of vaccines. More specifically, it asks: why has Indonesia, a Muslim-majority nation with elevated levels of resistance to the government's COVID-19 mitigation policies, ultimately implemented vaccine mandates? This article relies on qualitative research, using a case study as well as in-depth interviews with one hundred randomly selected respondents. It shows that public acceptance was driven not by health considerations, but by coercive regulations. Three factors drove public acceptance: proof of vaccination was legally required to access public facilities; proof of vaccination was legally required to access public transportation systems; and proof of vaccination was legally required to access government assistance. Facing such regulations, the public had no choice but to comply with vaccine mandates, as only then could they access public facilities, travel, and access government assistance. This study concludes that coercive vaccination policies, though repressive, have been effective means of ensuring public compliance and reducing the spread of COVID-19. This study provides the government with considerations for formulating more effective policies for pandemic mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Similar to most countries, Saudi Arabia faced several challenges during the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, some of which were related to the religious position of the country. The main challenges included deficits in knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward COVID-19, the negative psychological impacts of the pandemic on the general population and healthcare workers, vaccine hesitancy, the management of religious mass gatherings (e.g., Hajj and Umrah), and the imposition of travel regulations. In this article, we discuss these challenges based on evidence from studies involving Saudi Arabian populations. We outline the measures through which the Saudi authorities managed to minimize the negative impacts of these challenges in the context of international health regulations and recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Legionellosis is a respiratory disease related to environmental health. There have been manifold studies of pipe materials, risk installations and legionellosis without considering the type of transferred water. The objective of this study was to determine the potential development of the causative agent Legionella pneumophila regarding air–water cooling units, legislative compliance, pipe material and type of water. Forty-four hotel units in Andalusia (Spain) were analysed with respect to compliance with Spanish health legislation for the prevention of legionellosis. The chi-square test was used to explain the relationship between material–water and legislative compliance, and a biplot of the first two factors was generated. Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) was performed on the type of equipment, legislative compliance, pipe material and type of water, and graphs of cases were constructed by adding confidence ellipses by categories of the variables. Pipe material–type of water (p value = 0.29; p < 0.05) and legislative compliance were not associated (p value = 0.15; p < 0.05). Iron, stainless steel, and recycled and well water contributed the most to the biplot. MCA showed a global pattern in which lead, iron and polyethylene were well represented. Confidence ellipses around categories indicated significant differences among categories. Compliance with Spanish health legislation regarding the prevention and control of legionellosis linked to pipe material and type of water was not observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medical healthcare system of India is in a terrible state with good amount of population either having little or no access at all to medical healthcare system. It is a fact that the healthcare system of India is very costly and the same is preventing Indian citizens to receive effective and required treatment. Private healthcare system of India is also very complex and excessive priced. Medical inflation is growing very fast in India with a rate of around 10-20% year-over-year and putting huge impact on the pockets of patients, their family members and off course to insurance companies as well. While almost all the hospitals operating in India have been steadily increasing their medical pricing which is hugely impacting the profitability of insurance companies operating in India. In spite of this increase, Insurer cannot increase their health premium because as per guidelines given by the Insurance regulator (IRDAI), Insurers can revise their pricing only once in 3 years. The Insurance industry is having a very strong Regulator 'IRDAI' to regulate the insurance business and even the premium charged by the Insurance companies are being monitored through IRDAI. Since last once decade, Insurance Industry is demanding some proper Health regulations for health service providers for handling patient and Insurer's different grievances. It is very difficult to understand the medical healthcare system of India with different rates being offered by the hospitals under CGHS (Central government health scheme) and for state government employees and for insurance companies. For increasing health insurance penetration and reducing out of pocket spending, government of India has announced various insurance programmes for poor people but mere announcement of these schemes will not service the purpose until and unless proper regulations are in place for health service providers. During recent pandemic of Covid, Indian Government took some very good steps by capping rates of certain medical tests and treatments but still there are many instances to quote wherein hospitals have overcharged from the patients and unfortunately nobody knows where to raise these problems because currently there is no regulator for these hospitals. Different health insurance programmes introduced by Government of India are running since last few years but nobody including government has taken the issue of overpricing seriously. There are few questions which need to be addressed like how much should the average room rent hospital should charge from patient? How much doctor should charge for a surgical procedure? Nothing is regulated till now. Covid pandemic has already hit the insurance industry very hard and all types of Indian insurers (Life, Nonlife and health) have received a huge number of Covid claims during this pandemic. While pricing these health insurance products, Impact of Covid claims were not considered because nobody thought about it. All the insurance companies have felt the long lasting impact on their financials due to Covid Pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, conflicts involving pharmacists and doctors are presented, especially those linked to the Inspectorate of Sanitation, in the city of Salvador in the last decade of the 19th century, a topic that has not yet been addressed by the historiography. We seek to discuss how the regulation created during the imperial government to control healing practices in general and the work of pharmacists in particular, ended up limiting the work of the latter. Considering the regulations imposed on them by the health authorities to be unfair, for restricting their performance while favoring charlatans, several pharmacists fought to acquire autonomy in the face of what they considered the authoritarianism of doctors. Such conflicts reveal how much the establishment of medical science as hegemonic in the country was a turbulent process even between these supposedly allied professions. The beginning of the Republic, a context permeated by debates and transformations that occurred with the fall of the monarchy, the abolition of slavery and the initial difficulties for the establishment of power, was strongly marked by the presence of doctors, who worked together with military and judiciary to impose a new social organization. This medical presence was visible in the strong influence of racialized thinking that characterized public policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background The Israeli National Health Insurance Law provides permanent residents with a basket of healthcare services through non-profit public health insurance plans, independently of the individual’s ability to pay. Since 2015, several reforms and programs have been initiated that were aimed at reinforcing public healthcare and redressing negative aspects of the health system, and specifically the constant rise in private health expenditure. These include the “From Reimbursement-to-Networks Arrangement”, the “Cooling-off Period” program and the program to shorten waiting times. The objectives of this study were to identify, describe, and analyze changes in private hospitals in 1) the volume of publicly and privately funded elective surgical procedures; and 2) private health expenditure on surgical procedures. Methods Data on the volume and funding of surgical procedures during 2013–2018 were obtained from Assuta Medical Center, Hertzelia Medical Center, the Israeli Ministry of Health and the Central Bureau of Statistics. The changes in the volume and financing sources of surgical activities in private hospitals, in the wake of the reforms were analyzed using aggregate descriptive statistics. Results Between 2013 and 2018 the volume of surgical activities in private for-profit hospitals increased by 7%. Between 2013 and 2017, the distribution of financing sources of surgical procedures in private hospitals remained stable, with most surgical procedures (75–77%) financed by the voluntary health insurance programs of the health plans (HP-VHI). In 2018, following the regulatory reforms, a significant change in the distribution of financing sources was observed: there was a sharp decline in the volume of HP-VHI-funded surgical procedures to 26%. Concurrently, the share of publicly-funded surgical procedures performed in private hospitals increased to 56% in 2018.,. During the study period, private spending on elective surgical procedures in private hospitals declined by 53% while public funding for them increased by 51%. Conclusions and policy implications In the wake of the reforms, there was a substantial shift from private to public financing of elective surgical activity in private hospitals. Private for-profit hospitals have become important providers of publicly-funded procedures. It is likely that the reforms affected the public-private mix in the financing of elective surgical procedures in those hospitals, but due to the absence of a control group, causality cannot be proven. It is also unclear whether waiting times were shortened. Health reforms must be accompanied by a clear and comprehensive set of indicators for measuring their success.

Certificate-of-need (CON) laws restrict entry into health services by requiring healthcare providers to seek approval from state healthcare regulators before making any major capital expenditures. An important question is whether CON laws influence the quality of medical services in CON law states. For instance, if CON laws actually lower the quality of medical services, they fail to achieve their intended effect. This paper tests the hypothesis that hospitals in states with CON laws provide lower-quality services than hospitals in states without CON laws. Our overall results suggest that CON regulations lead to lower-quality care for some quality measures and have little or no effect on other quality standards. The results remain consistent across several robustness tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Legionellosis is a respiratory disease related to environmental health. There have been manifold studies of pipe materials, risk installations and legionellosis without considering the type of transferred water. The objective of this study was to determine the potential development of the causative agent Legionella pneumophila regarding air–water cooling units, legislative compliance, pipe material and type of water. Forty-four hotel units in Andalusia (Spain) were analysed with respect to compliance with Spanish health legislation for the prevention of legionellosis. The chi-square test was used to explain the relationship between material–water and legislative compliance, and a biplot of the first two factors was generated. Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) was performed on the type of equipment, legislative compliance, pipe material and type of water, and graphs of cases were constructed by adding confidence ellipses by categories of the variables. Pipe material–type of water (p value = 0.29; p < 0.05) and legislative compliance were not associated (p value = 0.15; p < 0.05). Iron, stainless steel, and recycled and well water contributed the most to the biplot. MCA showed a global pattern in which lead, iron and polyethylene were well represented. Confidence ellipses around categories indicated significant differences among categories. Compliance with Spanish health legislation regarding the prevention and control of legionellosis linked to pipe material and type of water was not observed.

Bayley stated just four short years ago that "... policing has become dramatically more complex in six ways: its tasks, public demands, strategies, technology, accountability and resources" (p. 164). The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly escalated these policing complexities creating a range of new responsibilities, tasks and strategies for police as well as raising new accountability questions. In this paper, we examine a number of new health regulations that are now commonplace for police to enforce including: restrictions on the number of people visiting private homes, maintaining physical distancing between people in public space, and mandated wearing of masks. We explore what these new tasks, public demands, and strategies mean for the future of policing in democratic societies. We conclude that the pandemic has created unprecedented access for police into the private lives of citizens creating what David H. Bayley would have seen as both as an opportunity and threat to civil society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses some of the proposals made in relation to the regulation of health emergencies. Specifically, it looks at what kind of decisions could be taken under the so-called "law of normality", i.e. in the absence of the declaration of one of the three states of exceptionality ("law of exception"). A brief review is made of the normative changes that have been applied, few at the state level, somewhat more extensive at the autonomous community level. The jurisprudence of the High Courts of Justice and the Supreme Court is critically reviewed. It also explains why the task of prior control entrusted to judges does not fit in with the principle of the separation of powers, and finally, it makes a group of proposals that should be incorporated into current legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The criminal act "Failure to comply with health regulations during an epidemic", as stipulated in Article 206 of the Macedonian Criminal Code, became particularly popular in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemics spread all over the world. This act falls under Chapter 21, which encompasses several criminal acts whose main object of protection is human health. Having in mind the above, by analysing the legal framework from the aspect of the criminal policy, the trend of movement of this act shall be determined. Furthermore, with the help of scientific analysis and description of the statistical data, the detecting and proving activities of the Macedonian law enforcement organs shall be noted through the submitted criminal reports, initiated accusations and delivered judgments for sanctioning of the perpetrators that had failed to comply with health regulations during an epidemic. Finally, the Paper shall elaborate on specific court cases in which the subject was this criminal act. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the efficacy of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and Epidemic Diseases Amendment Act, 1937 in the context of Covid-19 pandemic. The colonial mould of epidemic control laws reviewed the World Health Organization (WHO) legal guidelines for disease preparedness and response. The public health strategies of epidemic-pandemic control need juristic innovation, and blanket application of British enactment fall short of the expectation of the right based approach health and equity. The enforcement of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 during dengue, swine flu, influenza and COVID-19 criticized by the Indian medico-legal community in India. The emerging discourse can be tailor-made to suit the magnitude of the Covid-19 and pandemics needs a careful analysis. Though the WHO Revision of the International Health Regulations, 2005 offers new paradigm the Indian government resort to the Epidemic Diseases Amendment Ordinance, 2020 needs a critical appraisal in COVID-19 pandemic in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Israeli National Health Insurance Law provides permanent residents with a basket of healthcare services through non-profit public health insurance plans, independently of the individual's ability to pay. Since 2015, several reforms and programs have been initiated that were aimed at reinforcing public healthcare and redressing negative aspects of the health system, and specifically the constant rise in private health expenditure. These include the "From Reimbursement-to-Networks Arrangement", the "Cooling-off Period" program and the program to shorten waiting times. The objectives of this study were to identify, describe, and analyze changes in private hospitals in 1) the volume of publicly and privately funded elective surgical procedures; and 2) private health expenditure on surgical procedures. Methods: Data on the volume and funding of surgical procedures during 2013–2018 were obtained from Assuta Medical Center, Hertzelia Medical Center, the Israeli Ministry of Health and the Central Bureau of Statistics. The changes in the volume and financing sources of surgical activities in private hospitals, in the wake of the reforms were analyzed using aggregate descriptive statistics. Results: Between 2013 and 2018 the volume of surgical activities in private for-profit hospitals increased by 7%. Between 2013 and 2017, the distribution of financing sources of surgical procedures in private hospitals remained stable, with most surgical procedures (75–77%) financed by the voluntary health insurance programs of the health plans (HP-VHI). In 2018, following the regulatory reforms, a significant change in the distribution of financing sources was observed: there was a sharp decline in the volume of HP-VHI-funded surgical procedures to 26%. Concurrently, the share of publicly-funded surgical procedures performed in private hospitals increased to 56% in 2018.,. During the study period, private spending on elective surgical procedures in private hospitals declined by 53% while public funding for them increased by 51%. Conclusions and policy implications: In the wake of the reforms, there was a substantial shift from private to public financing of elective surgical activity in private hospitals. Private for-profit hospitals have become important providers of publicly-funded procedures. It is likely that the reforms affected the public-private mix in the financing of elective surgical procedures in those hospitals, but due to the absence of a control group, causality cannot be proven. It is also unclear whether waiting times were shortened. Health reforms must be accompanied by a clear and comprehensive set of indicators for measuring their success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a central health challenge of the twenty first century, poses substantial population health risks, with deaths currently estimated to be around 700,000 per year globally. The international community has signaled its commitment to exploring and implementing effective policy responses to AMR, with a Global Action Plan on AMR approved by the World Health Assembly in 2015. Major governance challenges could thwart collective efforts to address AMR, along with limited knowledge about how to design effective global governance mechanisms. To identify common ground for more coordinated global actions we conducted a narrative review to map dominant ideas and academic debates about AMR governance. We found two categories of global governance mechanisms: binding and non-binding and discuss advantages and drawbacks of each. We suggest that a combination of non-binding and binding governance mechanisms supported by leading antimicrobial use countries and important AMR stakeholders, and informed by One Health principles, may be best suited to tackle AMR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of public understandings of healthcare services enacted in different nations across the globe is rapidly gaining popularity among the medical professionals and the related researchers. Some of the countries which have been adversely affected by the public unawareness of critical health-related laws include Indonesia. Despite its high and ever-expanding population, Indonesia is experiencing significant health-related challenges since most of its citizens do not appropriately apprehend some of the most important health policies, including the Minister of Health Regulation No.4. policy which was enacted in 2018. In this concern, the current project was aimed at investigating the level of public apprehension of the healthcare policies. In this regard, the study was based on answering the respective question: How well do members of the public in Banjarmasin City understand and interpret the Minister of Health Regulation No.4. policy? Resultantly, it was hypothesized that the most Indonesians are unaware or do not comprehend the aspects of the recently implemented Minister of Health Regulation No.4. (2018) policy and the respective obligations of hospitals to their patients. The study exercise was performed in Banjarmasin City and comprised of about 12 healthcare centers. In general, the study incorporated 350 respondents. It was determined that most Indonesians are not aware of the existence of the Minister of Health Regulation No.4. (2018) policy. In this case, the government and related healthcare stakeholders should enforce significant programs to improve the apprehension of the above healthcare policy among Indonesians, such as conducting educational seminars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses factors to consider when assessing whether to impose health restrictions on the international traveler's entry into the U.S. Topics include the dissemination of infectious diseases through migration of humans, the application of health regulations by the U.S., and due process analysis on international travel and health regulations. Also discussed are international regulations and their effect on U.S. health regulations on entry.

In 1988, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) was launched with the goal of eradicating polio by the year 2000. After 25 years, several dynamics still challenge this large public health campaign with new cases of polio being reported annually. We examine the roots of this initiative to eradicate polio, its scope, the successes and setbacks during the last 25 years and reflect on the current state of affairs. We examine the social and political factors that are barriers to polio eradication. Options are discussed for solving the current impasse of polio eradication: using force, respecting individual freedoms and gaining support from those vulnerable to fundamentalist ‘propaganda’. The travails of the GPEI indicate the need for expanding the Convention on the Rights of the Child to address situations of war and civic strife. Such a cultural and structural reference will provide the basis for global stakeholders to engage belligerent local actors whose local political conflicts are barriers to the eradication of polio. Disregard for these actors will result in stagnation of polio eradication policy, delaying eradication beyond 2018. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recent changes in sanitary policies within the European Union (EU) concerning disposal of carcasses of domestic animals and the increase of non-natural mortality factors, such as illegal poisoning, are threatening European vultures. However, the effects of anthropogenic activities on demographic parameters are poorly studied. Using a long-term study (1994-2011) of the threatened Pyrenean Bearded Vulture Gypaetus barbatus population, we assess the variation in the proportion of breeding pairs, egg-laying dates, clutch size, breeding success, and survival following a sharp reduction in food availability in 2005 due to the application of restrictive sanitary policies decreasing livestock carcass availability. We found a delay in laying dates and a regressive trend in clutch size, breeding success, and survival following policy change. The maintenance of specific supplementary feeding stations for Bearded Vultures probably reduced the negative effects of illegal poisoning and food shortages, which mainly affected subadult survival. A drop in food availability may have produced changes in demographic parameters and an increase in mortality due to an increased exposure to contaminated food. As a result, supplementary feeding as a precautionary measure can be a useful tool to reduce illegal poisoning and declines in demographic parameters until previous food availability scenarios are achieved. This study shows how anthropogenic activities through human health regulations that affect habitat quality can suddenly modify demographic parameters in long-lived species, including those, such as survival, with high sensitivity to population growth rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arsenic is widely distributed in nature in air, water and soil. Acute and chronic arsenic exposure via drinking water has been reported in many countries, especially Argentina, Bangladesh, India, Mexico, Mongolia, Thailand and Taiwan, where a large proportion of ground water is contaminated with arsenic at levels from 100 to over 2,000 micrograms per liter (ppb). Public health standards of maximum of 50 ppb have been adopted by the US and World Health Organization in the 1970s and the 80s. Carcinogenicity and genotoxicity led to the WHO recommendation of 10 ppb maximum level in 1993, followed by the US adoption of the same in 2001, with the US estimate that 5% of all US community water systems will have to take corrective actions to lower the current levels of arsenic in their drinking water. In high arsenic areas of the world, the need for better water treatment and resulting economic impact would be even greater. In this article, we briefly review the geochemistry, natural distribution, regulation, anthropogenic sources and removal mechanisms of arsenic, pointing especially to the promise of reverse osmosis (RO) as a practical means of purification. We conclude that arsenic in the commonly high oxidation states of (V) is very effectively removed by RO. With further attention to the removal of the weakly acidic arsenic (III) species in waters by the operation of RO at sufficiently high pHs made possible by the newer antiscalants, practical processes can be developed with RO to remove all major species of arsenic from water. Further studies are needed in the characterization of the arsenic species being treated and in the design of the RO process to match the demands. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The coronavirus pandemic has affected all facets of our lives and all ages and social strata worldwide. Measures have been taken to protect against the spread of the virus, such as more rigorous hand hygiene, the use of face masks and social distancing. However, the focus has often been on young people, who have been seen as a group lacking sufficient respect for government-imposed measures. This review outlines the preventive measures that have been taken in different countries and discusses their specific impact on young people and adolescents, taking into account the developmental stage and concrete needs of this age group. It summarizes those studies that have provided information on compliance with preventive measures by young people and adolescents, concluding that although compliance levels among this age group are lower than among older adults, the general view of youths as non-compliant is not consistent with real, objective data. The review also summarizes different views regarding the possible reasons for this lower level of compliance, taking into account both social (gender and age) and personal factors (personality, empathy, prosociality, self-control, cognitive styles and motivations), and discusses the practical implications of these findings for the future., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they do not have conflicts of interest., (©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)