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Aims to examine the impact of health and safety legislation emanating from the European Community and to analyse what effect, if any, it will have on British occupational health and safety law. An examination of the social action programmes shows that the pace of change has increased rapidly since the Single European Act was incorporated into the Treaty of Rome and became operative from July 1987. Because of rapid changes that are occurring on a broad front there was a need to be selective. Emphasizes to some extent, therefore, the construction industry because it would appear that European legislation is likely to have a major impact on British law and practice in this industry.

The purpose of this paper is to do a systematic assessment and testing of identified human rights norms alongside social determinant approaches in relation to identified health issues of concern in four Latin American countries (Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay) to show how social determinants and human rights frameworks improve population health.

To do so, in the first part the authors analyze the inequalities both between and within each of the selected countries in terms of health status and health determinants of the population. Then, in the second section, the authors analyze the level of recognition, institutionalisation and accountability of the right to health in each country.

From the data used in this paper it is possible to conclude that the four analysed countries have improved their results in terms of health status, health care and health behaviours. This improvement coincides with the recognition, institutionalisation and creation of accountability mechanisms of human rights principles and standards in terms of health and that a human rights approach to health and its relation with other social determinants have extended universal health coverage and health systems in the four analysed countries.

Despite of the importance of the relation between human rights and social determinants of health, there are few human right scholars working on the issues of social determinants of health and human rights. Most of the literature of health and human rights has been focussed specific relations between specific rights and the right to health, but less human right scholar working on social determinants of health. On the other hand, just a few epidemiologists and people working on social medicine have actually started to use a universal human rights frame and discourse. In fact, according to Vnkatapuram, Bell and Marmot: “while health and human rights advocates have from the start taken a global perspective, social medicine and social epidemiology have been slower to catch up”.

The first case of COVID-19 in the Malawi prison system was reported in July 2020. Human rights organisations raised concerns about the possibility of significant COVID-19 outbreaks and deaths in the prison system, because of the poor infrastructure, lack of healthcare and adequate COVID-19 mitigation measures, existing co-morbidities (tuberculosis, HIV and hepatitis C), malnutrition and poor health of many prisoners.

The authors conducted a legal-realist assessment of the Malawian prison system response to COVID-19 during state disaster measures, with a specific focus on the right to health and standards of healthcare as mandated in international, African and domestic law.

The Malawi prison system was relatively successful in preventing serious COVID-19 outbreaks in its prisons, despite the lack of resources and the ad hoc reactive approach adopted. Whilst the Malawi national COVID plan was aligned to international and regional protocols, the combination of infrastructural deficits (clinical staff and medical provisions) and poor conditions of detention (congestion, lack of ventilation, hygiene and sanitation) were conducive to poor health and the spread of communicable disease. The state of disaster declared by the Malawi Government and visitation restrictions at prisons worsened prison conditions for those working and living there.

In sub-Saharan Africa, there is limited capacity of prisons to adequately respond to COVID-19. This is the first legal-realist assessment of the Malawian prison system approach to tackling COVID-19, and it contributes to a growing evidence of human rights-based investigations into COVID-19 responses in African prisons (Ethiopia, South Africa and Zimbabwe).

Work participation and work facilitation represent basic human rights for everyone. Work represents an important platform for welfare and well-being, but compared to the general workforce in Norway, persons with cognitive disabilities are severely under-represented. When workplaces locked down under the first COVID-19 outbreak spring 2020, some people were made redundant whilst many continued their work from home. The lockdown affected persons with cognitive disabilities through lockdown of workplaces, vocational training centres and even day activity centres. The scheme of working from home was not as obvious or facilitated for this group, as for other employees. When also visits were banned and common areas for socialisation were locked down, the consequences of these lockdowns were exacerbated. In this chapter we have examined and discussed the COVID-19 restrictions in Norway and how they affected the basic human rights of persons with cognitive disabilities, and also how such rights can be promoted through legislation, governance and service provision.

The literature on health care provision for immigrants in Italy has generally been considered to be less relevant than in other sectors in terms of exclusion, due to the universalistic mission and organisation of the health system. Nevertheless, studies have suggested that there are problems relating to service access and use by immigrants in this sector also. In particular, in recent years the increasing proportion of women in the immigrant population has led to the emergence of new needs in the social and health services. The Italian literature on health policy for immigrants is now well‐developed, and there has been particular reference to the gender dimension. However, clinical data and general data on health service use by immigrants are still incomplete. This article will draw from this existing state of the art in the field, as well as research from recent and ongoing comparative projects.1 Following an overview of the institutional framework for immigration policies in Italy and reference to its political context, the article will examine the vulnerable position of female immigrants, both at the general level and in relation to health care. This will involve examination of the principal legislative provisions in the field of health policy for immigrants, and particular arrangements affecting the gender dimension. Specific provisions in health care for immigrant women will be assessed, together with proposals to make them more effective.

This paper aims to explain the phenomenon of low incidence of COVID-19 in Polish prisons. This paper addresses three questions: was the Polish prison system ready to respond to the threats posed by COVID-19; what action has it taken in this regard; and with what effect?

An analysis of the current condition of the Polish prison system was undertaken focusing on items that were the focus of prisoners’ complaints, the interventions of the Ombudsman and the bulletins of the Central Board of the Prison Service. This analysis has been juxtaposed with the opinions of experts in epidemiology and medicine and changes introduced in the law relating to prisoners.

During the COVID-19 epidemic – despite serious chronic problems in the Polish penitentiary system – the statistics indicated that 24 individuals were infected and no deaths occurred. When compared to the statistics of non-prison cases, this result is extremely low.

Given the newness of the problem, the conflicts of different interests, the “double” isolation of prisons (penal and epidemiological) and the reluctance of the prison administration to provide information about what is happening behind prison walls, researchers must rely on statistics and subjective contacts with prisoners, for example, by investigating their complaints.

As a result of the research, the author believes that the transparency of institutions such as prisons should be ensured, primarily expressed in the provision of information to both prisoners and the public relating to methods adopted to prevent epidemics in the context of prison and prisoners.

The value of this paper is to show how prisons have managed in a new, exceptional situation to balance the right to health and personal safety of prisoners and warders, with the right to contact with the outside world and humane living conditions in a closed and doubly isolated space. The findings presented will add value to the knowledge and effectiveness of the prison administration’s reaction and response to an emergency such as an epidemic.

The main aim of the study was to measure and assess the efficiency of the healthcare system in Poland.

An output-oriented Data Envelopment Analysis model with a 2-years window analysis extension was used between 2013 and 2018. The analysis was completed with a determination of the sources of productivity changes (between the first and last year of the study period) and factors that influence efficiency.

Efficient regions have been identified and the spatial diversity in their efficiency was confirmed. The study identified individual efficiency trends together with “all-windows” best and worst performers. Using panel modeling, it was confirmed that the efficiency of health protection is influenced by, among others, accreditation certificates, the length of the waiting list or the number of medical personnel.

Although the analysis was conducted at the voivodeship level (NUTS2), which was fully justified, it would be equally important to analyze data with a lower aggregation level. It would be extremely valuable from the perspective of difficulties faced by the healthcare system in Poland.

The identification of areas and problems affecting the efficiency of the healthcare system in Poland may also be a hint for other countries with similar system solutions that also struggle with the same problems.

The paper explains the efficiency of the country's healthcare system while also paying attention to changes in its level, factors influencing it, spatial diversity and impact on the sector functioning.

After 1945 all countries of the communist Eastern Europe implemented a uniform model of health-care system and health policies called socialist Health Services that provided universal, free of charge health care to all citizens. The initial model underwent many reforms with the largest change taking place during the country's democratization and transition to a market economy system after 1989. The processes of the democratization of the political life and economic changes included privatization of the health-care and medical services. In addition to state hospitals, medical care was provided by private doctors and these services were fully paid for by patients. The private medical care was greatly available but was not controlled by the state until a few years later when the state developed networks of state-regulated services, including public and independent health-care centers. Among other changes of the recent decades was establishment of accreditation system in Polish medical institutions implemented in Poland after 1997. As of 2011 there are 98 accredited Polish hospitals. The prevailing mix-health-care system (private and public) is divided by differences in quality of services, with much higher quality medical services being offered by private clinics than by state-sponsored hospitals.

To improve the performance both in terms of patient safety and quality of treatments, this research studies one of the most delicate processes of health organizations, that is to say, the clinical risk management in maternal and child pathway. This paper aims to analyze the accidents that occurred in a complex health facility through the standard mapping of this pathway included in the CartoRisk, i.e. a risk assessment tool for the a priori analysis.

The research uses the case study methodology, as it explores a complex process in which a lot of variables and actors are involved. It analyzes the accidents occurred in the largest health facility at national and European level.

After a presentation of the regulatory framework and the studied health organization, the research analyzes the accidents occurred in maternal and child pathway from 2014 to 2018. It showed the main risks according to the standard mapping of the maternal and child pathway. Furthermore, it identified 11 new risks mainly associated with physiologic birth and Caesarean birth.

This study presents the regulatory framework, the health facility and the accidents of a health organization. Moreover, besides the accident analysis, the research integrates further risks into the standard mapping adopted to carry out this study and proposes a risk management approach. Therefore, the value of the research for operators will consist of the integration of the standard mapping used for a priori analysis to be reused in the hospitals where they work, while for researchers it will represent a deep knowledge of a real case.

Developing interventions in challenging contexts should imply proper discussion from its theoretical framework to implementation details. The purpose of this paper is to examine health promotion in prison settings as a mean of improving inmates’ rights concerning physical/emotional well-being, empowering inmates both to reclusion and re-entry challenges.

The development of a health promotion program, implemented in a prison setting with an initial group of 11 inmates, is described. The program design followed professionals’ and inmates’ inputs and previous similar interventions taking a peer education, community-based and participative approach.

Although some prison settings present major constraints to interventions’ development, the authors were able to perform the program and reinforced the idea that prisons can and should be health-promoting contexts. The authors found several specific needs that must be addressed when people are under custody, if we want imprisonment to be developmental instead of detrimental experiences.

As a single-year-funded program, its replication and valid evaluation were enabled. Being external to the system also complicated the process agility, and conditioned inmates’ selection and compliance.

This paper promotes a best-practices forum in this issue; it addresses prison health agents’ training, who may assume an institutional essential role; it concerns inmates’ rehabilitation and ultimately, community health and safety.

The use of a peer education approach in these contexts is an innovative feature, since it has been developed in other institutional contexts and social groups. Nevertheless, the authors maintain the strong adequacy of this methodology to work with inmates and inside prison settings.