BACKGROUND In June 2015, an expert consensus guidance statement was published recommending that office workers accumulate 2-4 h of standing and light activity daily and take regular breaks from prolonged sitting. This paper describes public responses to media coverage of the guidance, so as to understand public acceptability of the recommendations within the guidance, and perceptions of sitting...

Background The recent growing awareness of racism as a public health crisis has been hailed step in the right direction to addressing racial disparities. However, contemporary nature these declarations and diversity responses pose important challenges. Objective: To evaluate whether declaring is mere rhetoric or true catalyst for change. Materials & Methods Four officials Washington, DC/Mar...

Lack of social support and social exclusion is associated with adverse effects for mental and physical health. Additionally, women appear to be more vulnerable to social triggers of health disturbances. The hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenocortical-axis (HPA axis) might play a key role in this context as it has been shown both to relate to psychosocial conditions and health outcomes and to respond ...

How does the concept of autonomy assist public responses to 'lifestyle' diseases? Autonomy is fundamental to bioethics, but its emphasis on self-determination and individuality hardly supports public health policies to eat and drink less and take more exercise. Autonomy rejects a 'nanny' state. Yet, the cost of non-communicable diseases is increasing to individuals personally and to public heal...

This historical study of the Aids epidemic in Peru between 1983 and 2000 focuses on legal responses and on medical studies and intervention, especially during the early 1980s, a decade characterized by serious economic crisis and terrorist violence. As elsewhere around the world, the appearance of Aids intensified interactions between scientists, public health specialists, journalists, politici...

This essay focuses on the pioneer activities of public health dentistry in Brazil and its evolution in the 20th century with emphasis on the emergency of a landmark, the sanitary dentistry. Social and preventive dentistry and market dentistry, with reference to the main theoretical works representative of these trends, are presented. The essential characteristics of collective oral health (Braz...

Human history has been shaped by the heavy burden of infectious disease pandemics. Yet, despite bitter lessons learned from history, even those in living memory such as 1918 influenza pandemic and HIV/AIDS epidemic, COVID-19 stands unique sudden, immense health economic impacts to global human population. While costs have great, long-term consequences are still being revealed, urgent need for a...