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Poor diets are the major cause of death and disease globally, driving high levels of obesity and noncommunicable diseases. Cheap, heavily marketed, ultra-processed, energy-dense and nutrient-poor food and drinks that are high in fat, sugar and salt play a major role. The high-sugar content of these products leads to consumption levels much higher than recommended. The World Health Organization recommends that sugar intake should be reduced to just 5% of energy intake by using fiscal policies and food and drink reformulation strategies. Over the previous decade, the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has implemented several policies aimed at reducing sugar intake. We compare the soft drinks industry levy and the sugar reduction programme, examining how differences in policy design and process may have influenced the outcomes. Success has been mixed: the mandatory levy achieved a reduction in total sugar sales of 34.3%, and the voluntary reduction programme only achieved a 3.5% reduction in sugar levels of key contributors to sugar intake (despite a target of 20%). Both policies can be improved to enhance their impact, for example, by increasing the levy and reducing the sugar content threshold in the soft drinks industry levy, and by setting more stringent subcategory specific targets in the sugar reduction programme. We also recommend that policy-makers should consider applying a similar levy to other discretionary products that are key contributors to sugar intake. Both approaches provide valuable learnings for future policy in the United Kingdom and globally. La malnutrition est l'une des principales causes de deces et de pathologies dans le monde, entrainant des taux eleves d'obesite et un grand nombre de maladies non transmissibles. Massivement commercialises, les aliments et boissons bon marche, ultra-transformes, riches en energie et pauvres en nutriments, a forte teneur en graisse, en sucre et en sel jouent un role majeur. La quantite de sucre contenue dans ces produits engendre une consommation qui depasse largement les recommandations en la matiere. L'Organisation mondiale de la Sante conseille de reduire la proportion de sucre afin que ce dernier ne represente plus que 5% de l'apport energetique grace a des politiques fiscales et des strategies de revision de la composition des aliments et des boissons. Au cours des dix dernieres annees, le gouvernement du Royaume-Uni de Grande-Bretagne et d'Irlande du Nord a adopte plusieurs politiques visant a reduire la consommation de sucre. Dans le present document, nous comparons la taxe sur l'industrie des sodas avec le programme de reduction du sucre, en examinant comment les differences de conception et de mise en oeuvre des politiques pourraient avoir influence les resultats. Le succes s'est revele mitige: la taxe obligatoire a permis de faire chuter le total des ventes de sucre de 34,3%, alors que le programme de baisse volontaire n'a pas permis de faire diminuer ce taux de plus de 3,5% chez les acteurs cles de l'apport en sucre (bien loin des 20% cibles). Les deux politiques peuvent etre ameliorees pour renforcer leur impact, par exemple en augmentant la taxe et en reduisant la teneur en sucre maximale applicable a l'industrie des sodas, mais aussi en definissant des objectifs specifiques plus stricts dans les sous-categories du programme de reduction du sucre. Nous encourageons en outre les responsables politiques a instaurer une taxe similaire sur d'autres produits non essentiels qui contribuent eux aussi a la consommation de sucre. Les deux approches fournissent des renseignements precieux pour de futures mesures au Royaume-Uni et partout dans le monde. Las dietas inadecuadas son la principal causa de muerte y enfermedad en todo el mundo. Ademas, impulsan altos niveles de obesidad y enfermedades no transmisibles. Los alimentos y las bebidas baratos, muy comercializados, ultraprocesados, hipercaloricos y pobres en nutrientes, con un alto contenido en grasas, azucar y sal, desempenan una funcion importante. El alto contenido en azucar de estos productos conduce a niveles de consumo muy superiores a los recomendados. La Organizacion Mundial de la Salud recomienda reducir el consumo de azucar a solo el 5% de la ingesta energetica mediante politicas fiscales y estrategias de reformulacion de alimentos y bebidas. En la ultima decada, el gobierno del Reino Unido de Gran Bretana e Irlanda del Norte ha aplicado varias politicas encaminadas a reducir la ingesta de azucar. Comparamos el impuesto del sector de las bebidas no alcoholicas y el programa de reduccion del azucar, examinando como las diferencias en el diseno y el proceso de las politicas pueden haber influido en los resultados. El exito ha sido desigual: el impuesto obligatorio logro una reduccion de las ventas totales de azucar del 34,3%, y el programa de reduccion voluntaria solo consiguio una reduccion del 3,5% en los niveles de azucar de los principales contribuyentes a la ingesta de azucar (a pesar de un objetivo del 20%). Se pueden mejorar ambas politicas para aumentar su impacto, por ejemplo, aumentando el impuesto y reduciendo el umbral de contenido de azucar en el impuesto del sector de las bebidas no alcoholicas, y estableciendo objetivos especificos por subcategorias mas estrictos en el programa de reduccion de azucar. Tambien recomendamos a los responsables de formular las politicas que estudien la posibilidad de aplicar un impuesto similar a otros productos discrecionales que contribuyen decisivamente a la ingesta de azucar. Ambos enfoques aportan valiosas ensenanzas para las futuras politicas del Reino Unido y del resto del mundo. [phrase omitted], Introduction Excessive sugar consumption, increasing the risk of weight gain, is associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, certain noncommunicable diseases and 13 types of cancer. (1,2) There [...]

Local and state environmental health departments are at the front line of detecting and responding to environmental health risks. Their responsibilities include surveillance of disease vectors such as mosquitoes and [...]

The following are short explanations of seven votes taken in the U.S. House of Representatives during the 117th Congress, second session, during calendar year 2022. In italics is a short [...]

The management of the bubonic plague in colonial Lagos, Nigeria, unavoidably put the indigenous population at the receiving end of massive social disruptions. The impact of the control measures on the social and political temperament of the area with the reactions it elicited among the indigenous people is absent from the historiography of the bubonic plague in Lagos. This study draws upon primary sources (first-hand accounts and interviews) to provide insight into how residents in colonial Lagos grappled with the plague and the colonial state's attempts to control the epidemic and govern the city. The central argument of this paper is that at a time of growing nationalism among an increasingly politically conscious African educated class, public health measures adopted to control the bubonic plague only served to breed political unrest and intra-party antagonism that threatened the social thread of the city. Lagos political space provides us with the opportunity to study how medical issues became entangled with nationalist agitation. Evidence for the study was drawn from archival materials sourced from the National Archives of Nigeria, Ibadan; the British National Archive, London; and oral interviews conducted in Lagos. KEYWORDS: Lagos; colonial medicine; bubonic plague; slum; nationalism; epidemic, INTRODUCTION In early July 1924, the medical department formally notified the people of Lagos of an outbreak of bubonic plague. The first victim of the disease was confirmed to be [...]

This keynote commentary at the 2021 Asian Congress for Media and Communication (ACMC) conference with the theme Change, Adaptation and Culture: Media and Communication in Pandemic Times is addressed through a discussion of three main issues: 1. The COVID-19 Pandemic and how it is being coped with; 2. A parallel Infodemic--a crisis of communication, and the surge of 'disinformation' and truth challenges in this 'age of hatred and intolerance'; and 3. The global Climate Emergency and the disproportionate impact this is having on the Asia-Pacific region. Finally the author concludes with an overview of some helpful strategies for communicators and educators from his perspective as a journalist and media academic with a mission. (1) Keywords: ACMC2021, climate change, COVID-19, disinfodemic, disinformation, fake news, health journalism, investigative journalism, journalism, keynote, New Zealand, pandemic, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, public health, Timor-Leste, FIRST a tribute to two extraordinary and inspirational journalists who have shed light on dark places and given the rest of us hope. We recently celebrated when Rappler chief executive [...]

THE FOLLOWING are short explanations of nine votes taken in the U.S. House of Representatives during the 117th Congress, second session, during calendar year 2021. In italics is a short [...]