Thesis (M.A.)--University of Canterbury, 2009. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 146-158). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Under the ancient threat of morbidity and mortality from infectious diseases, human societies have responded for thousands of years by imposing social containment measures. Even before theorists and laymen recognized the existence of pathogenic organisms, or fully understood the principles of contagion, many societies and individuals did empirically infer that such diseases were transmissible from human to human (as well as sometimes between animals and humans). Having few effective technological measures to prevent or treat contagions, they did devise a variety of socio-behavioral procedures for separating overtly ill persons or suspected disease-carriers from nominally uninfected people. These methods included various kinds of quarantines and isolations. By the early years of the American republic, all of the states and many other jurisdictions had the legal power to impose them, and they have long remained on the codebooks of much of the country even as secular trends and bio-scientific advances appeared to reduce the dangers of epidemic disease in the Developed World. In recent years, however, there has been a recognized resurgence of infectious diseases in Western countries, and such developments as microbial resistance to antibiotics are threatening present-day control technologies. Under these circumstances, it is hypothesized here that societies must plan for the renewed usage of the ancient socio-legal contagion-controls, including quarantines and isolations, at least as part of a multi-pronged response to the renewed challenge of epidemics. However, the existing quarantine/isolation laws do not universally reflect modern scientific understandings of disease processes, and they have always conflicted with other socioethical and litical "goods" such as individual liberties and commerce. Thus, it is submitted here that it has become crucial to understand the historic character of quarantine-type measures on a "macro" plane, in order to learn from past errors, and to help develop modern quarantine/isolation laws and practices that reflect current bioscientific and legal thinking. The instant Dissertation analyzes the longstanding system of socio-legal controls over contagion, presenting a hypothetical structure that distinguishes them along several "Dimensions." In addition, it presents a functional schema that would help public health policy-makers, legislative drafters, and administrators to address individual contagions in terms of another set of "Dimensions," which would be more responsive to evolving bioscientific and jurisprudential thought. To that end, this Dissertation presents a simple Algorithm that can be utilized when developing contagion-control laws that can be closely fitted to particular contagions, their specific manifestations, and their epidemic phases.

published_or_final_version / Geography / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Architecture

No abstract available. / Thesis (MMed)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2006.

INTRODUCTION Chronic non-communicable diseases (CND) become the reason of 50 percent of deaths in the welfare societies. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has indicated that in the 2025 CND, especially cardiovascular diseases will remain the most important health problem in Europe and in the world [The World health Report, 1998]. The mortality rates from IHD, as well as overall mortality in Lithuania, increased since 1995, a tendency for decrease during the last decade has been observed. According to the Lithuanian Statistics, the mortality rate from IHD in 2001 was 628.2/100000 inhabitants per year [Lithuanian Ministry of Health, 2004]. It decreased almost by quarter as compared to 1995; nevertheless, the mortality rates from IHD in Lithuania exceed the average (mean) of the European Union countries nearly by two fold [WHO Data Base, 2003]. The investigations in the world, as well as in Lithuania have shown that the risk factors (RF) of the CND are common for all the CND [V.Grabauskas, 1995, IU.Haq, 1999]. In Lithuania the epidemiological research on CND has been performed in the context of the international integrated preventive program on non-communicable diseases (CINDI) [J.Petkevičienė, 1994, J.Klumbienė, 1999]. Therefore, the role of the family doctor in the primary prevention of CND, especially the ischemic heart disease (IHD), becomes very important in a certain community. The investigation in Lithuanian have shown that every second 35-64 year old man or woman... [to full text]

<p>Hypertension is one of the most common non-communicable diseases, and it is the leading cause of cardiovascular diseases, death and disability worldwide, especially in developing countries. Physical activity has been regarded as a commonly accepted modality for preventing and treating hypertension. However, despite its known benefits, this modality of treatment and prevention of&nbsp / hypertension continues to be underused. The present study aimed to determine the demographic, social and health-related factors that are associated with levels of physical activity participation among adults with hypertension in Kigali, Rwanda. This cross-sectional study was conducted with 252 adults with hypertension and 87 healthcare professionals through the Godin Leisure-Time&nbsp / Exercise Questionnaire (GLTEQ) and Physical Activity Exit Interview (PAEI). Two thirds of the participants (69.44%) were classified as sedentary. The following factors were found to be significantly&nbsp / (P&lt / 0.05) associated with the levels of physical activity: age, marital status, and level of education, residence, tobacco / past and current users, alcohol / current user, diabetes mellitus, BMI, perceived health status, self-efficacy, and blood pressure. None of the healthcare professionals were considered good physical activity counsellor. The findings of the present study highlight the need for the implementation of health promotion strategies aimed at promoting physical activity lifestyle among individuals with hypertension in Rwanda. Efforts should be made in educating people with hypertension on the benefits of integrating regular physical&nbsp / activity in their daily lives. Furthermore, healthcare professionals should be educated concerning how to promote physical&nbsp / activity to all patients especially those with hypertension.</p>

Hypertension is one of the most common non-communicable diseases, and it is the leading cause of cardiovascular diseases, death and disability worldwide, especially in developing countries. Physical activity has been regarded as a commonly accepted modality for preventing and treating hypertension. However, despite its known benefits, this modality of treatment and prevention of hypertension continues to be underused. The present study aimed to determine the demographic, social and health-related factors that are associated with levels of physical activity participation among adults with hypertension in Kigali, Rwanda. This cross-sectional study was conducted with 252 adults with hypertension and 87 healthcare professionals through the Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire (GLTEQ) and Physical Activity Exit Interview (PAEI). Two thirds of the participants (69.44%) were classified as sedentary. The following factors were found to be significantly (P<0.05) associated with the levels of physical activity: age, marital status, and level of education, residence, tobacco; past and current users, alcohol; current user, diabetes mellitus, BMI, perceived health status, self-efficacy, and blood pressure. None of the healthcare professionals were considered good physical activity counsellor. The findings of the present study highlight the need for the implementation of health promotion strategies aimed at promoting physical activity lifestyle among individuals with hypertension in Rwanda. Efforts should be made in educating people with hypertension on the benefits of integrating regular physical activity in their daily lives. Furthermore, healthcare professionals should be educated concerning how to promote physical activity to all patients especially those with hypertension. / Magister Scientiae - MSc

Thesis (Ph.D. (Human Movement Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Human Movement Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.