European journal of public health
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Austerity measures-reducing social spending and increasing taxation-hurts deprived groups the most. Less is known about the impact on health. ⋯ We distinguish those impacts of economic crises from those of austerity as a response to it. Where possible, data from across Europe will be drawn upon, as well as more extensive analysis of the UK's austerity measures performed by the authors of this review.
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Eur J Public Health · Oct 2017
Comparative StudyThe growth of 'Dry January': promoting participation and the benefits of participation.
This article explores contributors to the rapid growth of the annual UK alcohol abstinence challenge 'Dry January' and the benefits of registration. Evidence from four sources is presented: (i) registrations via the Dry January website, (ii) surveys of population-representative samples of drinkers, (iii) surveys of Dry January registrants and (iv) surveys of a control group of drinkers who wanted to change to their drinking behaviour but had not registered for Dry January. ⋯ Comparisons of Dry January registrants to the control group suggest that registering for Dry January reduced problematic drinking and enhanced the capacity to refuse alcohol. The four sources of data suggest that 'social contagion' and 'diffusion' have aided the growth of the awareness, appeal and practice of Dry January.
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Eur J Public Health · Oct 2017
Comparative StudyRestricted health care entitlements for child migrants in Europe and Australia.
More than 300 000 asylum seeking children were registered in Europe alone during 2015. In this study, we examined entitlements for health care for these and other migrant children in Europe and Australia in a framework based on United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). ⋯ Putting pressure on governments to honour the obligations of the UNCRC and explicitly entitle all children equal rights to health care can be an important way of advocating for better access to primary and preventive care for asylum seeking and undocumented children in Australia and the EU.
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If public health is the field that diagnoses and strives to cure social ills, then understanding political causes and cures for health problems should be an intrinsic part of the field. In this article, we argue that there is no support for the simple and common, implicit model of politics in which scientific evidence plus political will produces healthy policies. Efforts to improve the translation of evidence into policy such as knowledge transfer work only under certain circumstances. These circumstances are frequently political, and to be understood through systematic inquiry into basic features of the political economy such as institutions, partisanship and the organization of labour markets.