Investigating the Role of State and Local Health Departments in Addressing Public Health Concerns Related to Industrial Food Animal Production Sites
نویسندگان
چکیده
OBJECTIVES Evidence of community health concerns stemming from industrial food animal production (IFAP) facilities continues to accumulate. This study examined the role of local and state health departments in responding to and preventing community-driven concerns associated with IFAP. METHODS We conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with state and county health department staff and community members in eight states with high densities or rapid growth of IFAP operations. We investigated the extent to which health concerns associated with IFAP sites are reported to health departments, the nature of health departments' responses, and barriers to involvement. RESULTS Health departments' roles in these matters are limited by political barriers, lack of jurisdiction, and finite resources, expertise, and staff. Community members reported difficulties in engaging health departments on these issues. CONCLUSIONS Our investigation suggests that health departments frequently lack resources or jurisdiction to respond to health concerns related to IFAP sites, resulting in limited engagement. Since agencies with jurisdiction over IFAP frequently lack a health focus, increased health department engagement may better protect public health.
منابع مشابه
Investigating the Role of State Permitting and Agriculture Agencies in Addressing Public Health Concerns Related to Industrial Food Animal Production
OBJECTIVES Industrial food animal production (IFAP) operations adversely impact environmental public health through air, water, and soil contamination. We sought to determine how state permitting and agriculture agencies respond to these public health concerns. METHODS We conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with staff at 12 state agencies in seven states, which were chosen based ...
متن کاملایمنی زیستی در مقررات بین المللی
Modern biotechnology can help global coalition against hunger and malnutrition. Global area under the production of transgenic plants has reached 134 million hectares at the end of the year 2009 and is expected to reach nearly 150 million hectares by the year 2010. In spite of the benefits that modern biotechnology offers, concerns have been raised in the proper and environmentally sound and sa...
متن کاملInvestigating the Trend of Changes in Environmental Health Indicators in the Cities of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Provinces during the Years 2007-2016
Background & objectives: Environmental health is one of the major challenges of sustainable development in most countries. Environmental health indicators are very important because they reflect the changing state of peoplechr('39')s living environment and the existing health threats. This study aimed to investigate the trend of changes in indicators related to environmental health in the citie...
متن کاملImproving Immunization Rates of Underserved Children: A Historical Study of 10 Health Departments
Background Despite high immunization rates, hundreds of thousands of poor and underserved children continue to lack their necessary immunizations and are at risk of acquiring a vaccine-preventable disease. Local Health Departments (LHDs) and public health clinicians figure prominently in efforts to address this problem. Methods This exploratory research compared ten (10) North Carolina LHDs w...
متن کامل