The new Code of Ethics of the World Psychiatric Association: A fresh look at the ethical issues of the psychiatric profession.

This article develops the WPA's new Code of Ethics that was developed in 2020. It succeeds the Declaration of Hawaii of 1977 and the Declaration of Madrid of 1996. The Code is divided into four sections that cover the practice of psychiatry in clinical practice, education, research and publication as well as public mental health. We will discuss the new ethical issues that this Code raises in parallel with the development of psychiatry and psychiatrists' role in society in recent years.

Social representations of intellectual disability; a comparison between cultures.

OBJECTIVES: People with Intellectual disability consistently appear to be one of the most looked-down upon and repressed subgroups of society in many cultures. The main aim of this study was to compare social representations of intellectual disability in its various aspects between different cultures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted in four different sites: Beirut-Lebanon, Algiers-Algeria, Tours-France and Namur-Belgium. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire evaluating social representations of intellectual disability. RESULTS: A total of 755 participants consented to take part in the study. Gender only affected social representations in the Lebanese population. Overall, Algerians appeared to have the least positive social representations and Lebanon to have more positive attitudes, while France and Belgium tended to have the most favourable representations. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the imbalance between a European and a non-European country showing the importance of developing tailored interventions to improve general attitudes towards intellectual disability.

[Burnout and psychosocial risk factors in the career of flight attendants: Descriptive study of a population of Lebanese flight attendants]. / Le syndrome d'épuisement professionnel et les facteurs de risques psychosociaux spécifiques au métier des personnels navigants commerciaux libanais, en comparaison avec un groupe témoin.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to investigate the influence of demographic factors (gender and age), work related factors (the position and years of practice) and psychosocial risk factors (cognitive demands, demands to hide emotions, work-family conflict, offensive behaviors…) on the development of burnout among flight attendants, and the nature of psychosocial factors to which they are exposed. METHODS: The sample was divided into two groups: 67 flight attendants and 67 persons in various jobs. Our sampling units were informed and consented to fill in two questionnaires: the Copenhagen burnout inventory (CBI) and the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ II). RESULTS: The burnout syndrome affected both groups equally. It affected equally the women as well as men, whatever their age categories and their years of experience. The flight attendants occupying an intermediate position in the hierarchy had the highest score on the burnout syndrome. The psychosocial factors significantly found in flight attendants compared to the control group were: demands for hiding emotions, quantitative demands, emotional demands, temporal demands, lack of influence at work, of rewards, of possibility for development and variation of work, poor quality of leadership, exposure to sexual harassment, lack of social support from supervisors, colleagues, social community at work and work-family conflict. Four of them correlated positively with the development of burnout: quantitative demands, temporal demands, emotional demands and work-family conflict. Their expected work volume is very high (quantitative demands). They have to perform their tasks quickly in a limited time without forgetting the technical constraints (temporal demands). They have to work with an average of three hundred passengers besides colleagues and subordinates, which requires diligent control of the emotions promoted by the airline code of conduct based on repression of emotions (emotional demands). These demands affect the workers once they find themselves in their family environment and can have a negative effect on their private life (work-family conflict). However, the predictability seems to allow them to be aware of decisions and changes and protect them against burnout. CONCLUSION: The profession of flight attendants appears to be characterized by some psychosocial risk factors, some of which are positively correlated with burnout. Improved working conditions can prevent these risks and protect these employees from burnout.

A water-borne hepatitis A outbreak in Rio de Janeiro.

Durante a 2a. quinzena de marco de l980, foi notificada a ocorrencia de casos de hepatite, no Centro de Pesquise da Petrobras localizado na Ilha do Fundao, na cidade do Rio de Janeiro. Nos ultimos anos, este Centro apresentou uma media de ocorrencia de quatro casos de hepatite por ano, mas no periodo de 5 de marco a 25 de abril foram observados 16 casos. A causa e a possivel fonte desta infeccao foram investigadas. O diagnostico sorologico para hepatite A, dos pacientes, foi feito pela determinacao de anticorpos IgM especificos para este virus. Nao foi identificado nenhum caso subclinico entre um grupo de 60 empregados saudaveis. Uma possivel fonte de infeccao comum foi investigada por meio de um questionario. As analises feitas no sistema de agua indicaram uma contaminacao recente. As informacoes obtidas de outros servicos medicos da mesma localidade nao mostraram nenhuma ocorrencia que sugerisse um surto