Examining the efficacy of the legal framework governing the management of greywater in South Africa's informal settlements.

The management of greywater and sanitation in South Africa's urban informal settlements is a pressing concern. This review critically examines the legal framework that governs greywater management in South Africa's informal settlements, aiming to shed light on the existing regulations, gaps, and opportunities for sustainable greywater reuse. By scrutinizing the legal framework, the review identifies gaps and challenges in the regulatory environment, including inconsistencies, lack of clarity, and limited enforcement mechanisms. It explores the potential for international best practices to inform possible amendments to the existing legal framework. This was a quantitative research design utilizing a cross sectional survey model. Questionnaires were administered electronically to a sample of 17 municipal leaders from the City of Tshwane, City of Johannesburg and Buffalo City municipalities whose responsibilities were on water management. Descriptive statistics were employed in analysis of the data. Outcomes were reviewed against the alignment or the lack thereof with the SANS 1732:201x standards. This paper underscores the critical need for a coherent and robust legal framework to support responsible greywater management in South Africa's informal settlements. The paper's insights contribute to the ongoing discourse on water governance, shedding light on the pathways toward a more equitable water future.

A Dialectical and Dialogical Approach to Health Policies and Programs: The Case of Open Defecation in India.

A multi-pronged approach to health policy and programs related to open defecation (OD) is proposed via a qualitative study conducted in rural India. A dialogic and dialectic perspective is employed to interpret the key findings from nine focus groups, highlighting the dialectical views toward OD and latrines. Findings indicate that current policy may be too narrow as it does not fully deal with the multiple reasons, including social communication as well as gender, cultural, health and work identity issues, for OD. The results suggest that OD is more complicated than it appears and a multi-pronged, poly-vocal approach to health communication campaigns and policy should be considered.

[Hygienic and sanitary aspects in urban planning: contradiction in national and local urban legislation regarding public health]. / Aspetti igienico-sanitari in ambito urbanistico: conflittualità nelle norme urbanistiche nazionali e locali in tema di sanità pubblica.

Nowadays, the majority of world population lives in urban areas and this portion is going to increase in the coming decades. The health impact of urban areas is well established and described in scientific literature. Italian health and hygiene legislation dealing with urban health is fragmented and not coordinated with the regulation about environment and city planning. The overlapping of legal competences between different authorities and the conflict of attribution between the Central State and Regional Governments deeply contributed to generate uncertainty. The authors here analyse the Italian regulatory framework and depict its lacks in terms of public health protection.

Hygienic Requirements of Urban Living Environment in the Russian Federation and in Italy: a comparison.

AIM: Urban planning tries to contain and regulate the uncontrolled growth of cities, encouraging their sustainable development at environmental, social and health levels. In the present work, the authors compare the regulatory frameworks of the Russian Federation and of Italy, with particular attention paid to the urban aspects of living spaces. METHODS: Considering the extant normative production in the two countries, the authors examine national legislation for Italy and federal legislation for Russia, mainly taking into account the following aspects: urban planning tools and environmental and sanitary protection of living spaces. RESULTS: Hygienic-sanitary requirements regarding living environment in Russia are essentially expressed by two regulatory systems (SNiP and SanPiN), while in Italy they are regulated by the D.M. 07/05/1975. The main principles of urban planning in Russia are expressed by federal standards, while in Italy they are incorporated in the Municipal General Plan (PRG) and in the various local regulations, where all the superordinate regulations are summarized. Finally, aspects related to environmental quality in both countries are governed by various specific laws (federal and state); a complex system of rules that take into account potential impacts on health and the environment. CONCLUSIONS: The authors reckon that clear and updated regulatory tools should be developed, especially in Italy that lags behind, regarding the building and urban hygiene, relying on the most recent acquisitions of international scientific literature in order to guarantee the highest standards in Public Health safeguard.

Doing implementation research on health governance: a frontline researcher's reflexive account of field-level challenges and their management.

BACKGROUND: Implementation Research (IR) in and around health systems comes with unique challenges for researchers including implementation, multi-layer governance, and ethical issues. Partnerships between researchers, implementers, policy makers and community members are central to IR and come with additional challenges. In this paper, we elaborate on the challenges faced by frontline field researchers, drawing from experience with an IR study on Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Committees (VHSNCs). METHODS: The IR on VHSNC took place in one state/province in India over an 18-month research period. The IR study had twin components; intervention and in-depth research. The intervention sought to strengthen the VHSNC functioning, and concurrently the research arm sought to understand the contextual factors, pathways and mechanism affecting VHSNC functions. Frontline researchers were employed for data collection and a research assistant was living in the study sites. The frontline research assistant experienced a range of challenges, while collecting data from the study sites, which were documented as field memos and analysed using inductive content analysis approach. RESULTS: Due to the relational nature of IR, the challenges coalesced around two sets of relationships (a) between the community and frontline researchers and (b) between implementers and frontline researchers. In the community, the frontline researcher was viewed as the supervisor of the intervention and was perceived by the community to have power to bring about beneficial changes with public services and facilities. Implementers expected help from the frontline researcher in problem-solving in VHSNCs, and feedback on community mobilization to improve their approaches. A concerted effort was undertaken by the whole research team to clarify and dispel concerns among the community and implementers through careful and constant communication. The strategies employed were both managerial, relational and reflexive in nature. CONCLUSION: Frontline researchers through their experiences shape the research process and its outcome and they play a central role in the research. It demonstrates that frontline researcher resilience is very crucial when conducting health policy and systems research.

Important Regulatory Aspects in the Receipt of Animal Products by Food Services.

The aim of this study was to review the current legislation and rules in Brazil that involve quality assurance of animal products during food service reception. Published federal legislation and technical regulations were verified to present a broad general approach to raw material reception. Food service determinations included specifications of the criteria for evaluating and selecting suppliers, verifying the transport system, reception area requirements, and inspecting raw material. For product approval, the packaging, labeling, and temperature should be evaluated. However, periodic microbiological, physicochemical, and sensory support assessment analyses are not required for receiving animal products. For the safety of the raw material, it was concluded that the largest impacts came from the regulation and supervision of the food sector provider because of the challenges of food service and a lack of requirements to use more complex evaluation methods during the reception of raw materials.

Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food. Final rule.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or we) is issuing a final rule to establish requirements for shippers, loaders, carriers by motor vehicle and rail vehicle, and receivers engaged in the transportation of food, including food for animals, to use sanitary transportation practices to ensure the safety of the food they transport. This action is part of our larger effort to focus on prevention of food safety problems throughout the food chain and is part of our implementation of the Sanitary Food Transportation Act of 2005 (2005 SFTA) and the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011 (FSMA).

[Results of sanitary epidemiologic examination of sanitary protective zone projects (discussion).

The authors defined main transgressions of law in sanitary epidemiologic well-being of population during sanitary epidemiologic examination of project materials for sanitary protective zones for enterprises, constructions and other objects, and during determination of their final dimensions.

[Methodology of assessing and evaluating public health risk in legal regulation of sanitary epidemiologic well-being of population].

The authors describe method to assess and manage risk for public health in system of legal regulation of sanitary epidemiologic well-being of population. Scheme of assessment and management of occupational risks is presented.

A Legislative Reform for the Food Safety System of China: A Regulatory Paradigm Shift and Collaborative Governance.

After describing the historical development of China's food safety system from the perspectives of legislation and administration, this article discusses progress in its food law (The Draft Amendments to Food Safety Law). As a further legislative reform for China's food safety system, the Draft Amendments to the Food Safety Law contain innovative institutional designs and manifest a regulatory paradigm shift from government-centered governance to collaborative governance. However, the Draft Amendments face challenges in their implementation. This article argues that developing collaborative governance for food safety in China can be a solution to these challenges. Based on theoretical and empirical studies of collaborative governance, this article proposes that the institutional design of collaborative governance should focus on providing obligations for administrative agencies in the process of food safety rule-making and standard-setting, increasing the independence of nongovernmental organizations, and building two-way electronic platforms for public participation.

[THE IMPROVEMENT OF CITIES AND SANITARY CONTROL IN RUSSIA IN LATE XIX--EARLY XX CENTURIES].

The article considers activity of municipal self-governments of Russia concerning support of sanitary epidemiological well-being of cities in the late XIX--early XX centuries. The acuteness of problem of sanitary conditions of urban settlements particularly became visible in post-reform period due to increasing of number of urban population, alteration of setup and rhythm of life in cities, appearance of new forms of worker's daily chores. Al this, against the background of underdevelopment of communal sphere aggravated epidemiological situation in cities. The impulse to improvement and development of sanitary control was made by the city regulations of 1870 presenting to town authorities the right to deal with sanitary issues. The significant input into improvement of cities was made first of all at the expense of construction of water supplies and sewerage and support of sanitary control of these spheres of municipal economy. Under town councils of many cities the sanitary commissions were organized to support permanent sanitary control in town. The development of town sanitation followed the way of specialization. The housing and communal, trade and food, school and sanitary and sanitary and veterinary control were organized.

[Hygiene, hygienism and public health policy in late 19th century France]. / Hygiène, hygiénisme et politique de la santé publique à la fin du XIXème siècle en France.

In France the desire to expand public health developed mainly because of the hygienist movement which prevailed in the 19th century. This paper aims to show how medical doctors committed themselves deeply at the Chambre des députés and Sénat with the objective of creating the legislation to control sanitary standards which was written between 1870 and 1914.

[On risk-oriented model of sanitary epidemiologic surveillance in occupational hygiene].

In 2015, Federal Service on surveillance in consumers rights protection and public well-being set a task to organize planned work of regional agencies on basis of risk-oriented model of control and supervision. Based on results of pilot project in Rospotrebnadzor Department of Perm area and St-Petersburg, the article covers methodic approaches to classification of objects liable to surveillance in occupational hygiene. The classification considers possibility of sanitary law violation, severity of this violation consequences and number of workers exposed to risk factors including hazardous work conditions. The authors specified recommendations on periodicity and forms of planned inspections considering evaluation of potential risk for human health, determined problems that require solution in implementation of risk-oriented model of surveillance.

[Coordination of governmental and public control in providing sanitary epidemiologic well-being of population and consumers' rights protection].

The article covers features of govenmental and public control in providing sanitary epidemiologic well-being of population and consumers' rights protection. Based on analysis of contemporary legislation, the authors evaluated terms "control" and "supervision", having different legal nature. The authors determined specific traits and define subjects and objects for public control in relationships aimed to provide sanitary epidemiologic well-being of population, evaluated legislative basis of citizens' claims to Rospotrebnadzor, pointed at difficulties in implementation of public control in connection with necessity to create new organizational and legal mechanisms widening control possibilities.

[The necessity of new approaches to the elaboration of the projects for the sanitary (mountainous sanitary) protection districts around the therapeutic and health-promotion facilities, health resorts and their natural medical resources].

The international experience gained during the past two centuries indicates that the most efficient and rational way to ensure the protection of the territories occupied by the therapeutic and health-promotion facilities, spa centres, and health resorts together with their natural medical resources is to set up sanitary (mountainous sanitary) protection districts or zones along the perimeter of these territories. Beginning from 2000, numerous changes and amendments have been annually introduced in the Russian legislation intended to ensure efficacious control over the rational exploitation of the territories of therapeutic and health-promotion value and their natural medical resources. These initiatives have negative effect on the activities of these organizations and the quality of the services they are expected to provide. Taken together these effects lead to the degradation of the spa and health resort business. Bearing in mind the current conditions for economic activities, it is proposed, in contrast to the former global approach, to envisage in the aforementioned projects the establishment of the sanitary (mountainous sanitary) protection districts or zones and determine their borders based on the results of the assessment of their potential for the protection of therapeutic factors and other valuable resources. Equally important is the maximum reduction of the areas of the second and third zones taking into account their relevant objective characteristics. In certain cases, the protective district may coincide with the second zone. As far as the federal health resorts and large territories of special health-promotion value are concerned, some of them may have two or more sanitary (mountainous sanitary) protection districts. Both the owners and the users of these territories should be provided the necessary and sufficient possibilities for the rational nature use at the grounds and in the adjacent water areas suitable for the development of health resort business in the conditions guaranteed by the national legislation.

Issues in access to safe drinking water and basic hygiene for persons with physical disabilities in rural Cambodia.

An estimated 1.6 million people die from diarrheal diseases each year due to lack of access to safe water and sanitation, and persons with physical disabilities face additional barriers. In Cambodia, approximately 5% of the population is disabled, presenting substantial obstacles in accessing these basic services. The purpose of this study was twofold: first, to identify the challenges facing persons with physical disabilities in accessing safe household water and basic hygiene in rural Cambodia; and, second, to use these results to generate policy and practice recommendations for the water and sanitation hygiene sector implementing water treatment system interventions in rural settings. Fifteen field interviews were conducted with persons with physical disabilities. Thematic analysis was used to identify six main themes. The results indicated that environmental barriers to access were greater in the workplace than household settings and those persons with disabilities had greater awareness about safe drinking water compared to basic hygiene. Additionally, lack of physical strength, distance to water, and lack of financial means were noted as common access barriers. The findings support ongoing research and offer insight into the particular challenges facing persons with physical disabilities in rural areas in accessing safe drinking water and basic hygiene.

[The features of the establishment of zones of sanitary protection of the water source].

There are regulatory gaps in sanitary laws, which specify the procedure of approval of projects of sanitary protection zones (SPZ) of water objects. It goes without saying that natural complexes, where water intake is organized, should have a special ecological status, which plays a substantial role in the creation of favorable conditions for human health. Some recommendations are given to improve sanitary legislations. Sanitary regulations and standards (SanPin) 2.1.4.1110-02 as well as the Water Code of the Russian Federation do not fully take into account the statements of some Federal laws regarding the protection of water objects. E.g. according to the Federal law No 33- FL of 14.03.1995 "On specially protected natural reservations" there is a legal base for increasing the status of SPZ of water sources by enlarging the list of Specially Protected Natural Reservations by including SPZ therein.

[Scientific approaches to modernization of the regulatory framework in the field of hygiene of planning and building of settlements in Ukraine].

In the paper there are investigated and analyzed the new laws and regulations of sanitary and town planning legislation, introduced in 2011-2012 which concern issues of planning and building of settlements. It is established that the functions of the State for Sanitary and Epidemiological Oversight have been given up and the necessity of incorporation in the Law of Ukraine "On ensuring sanitary and epidemiological welfare of the population" alterations which touch upon the implementation of a new approach to the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Oversight of the objects, namely for the placement of objects with low and moderate epidemic risk accordingly to hygienic declarations, objects with high risk--using an approach directed to the risk assessment of the impact of such facilities on public health.

Why do water and sanitation systems for the poor still fail? Policy analysis in economically advanced developing countries.

The results of an independent evaluation of 60 case studies of water and sanitation infrastructure projects in India, Mexico, and South Africa, most of them implemented since 2000, demonstrate an ongoing problem of failing infrastructure even in economically advanced developing countries. This paper presents a meta-analysis of those project case study results and analyses whether the design of existing policies or other factors contribute to failures. It concludes that the observed failures are due to well-known reasons and recommends how the implementation of the Dublin-Rio Principles can be improved. (They were introduced twenty years ago to avoid such failures by means of more sustainable planning.).

[The becoming of public medicine (second half of XVIII-first half of xix centuries). Report I: The origin of concept of medical police, governing bodies of medical sanitary business, physician sanitary legislation].

The present report covers the history of origination of concept of medical police in the second half of XVIII century. This body became one of the most important tool of state governance in Austria. France, Prussia and Russia. The relationship between origin of this concept and the results of scientific studies in area of investigation of epidemic constitutions is demonstrated. Two directions of activity of bodies of state governance are considered concerning the implementation of medical police--imposition of public administration of activities of physicians and development by joint efforts of physicians and lawyers of special physician sanitary legislation.