How was the British imperial state transformed from an ancien régime in 1819 to a liberal one that depended upon a new science of government?

Religious and cultural health and food practices are informed and influenced by religious texts and beliefs. These beliefs and practices can impact dietary and food choices, which in turn can impact health. The Mediterranean dietary pattern, including regional variations of countries in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, is particularly aligned with Qur’anic guidance. The healthful dietary practices and health benefits conferred by specific foods mentioned in the Qur’an include and guide to components emphasized in the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet). This chapter examines Qur’anic guidance on food, nutrition, and dietary practices and, in particular, how this guidance relates to the traditional MedDiet. This information can be used to tailor acceptable and healthful dietary patterns for those in diverse Muslim communities. In addition, the health benefits of the traditional dietary patterns of Mediterranean countries, including the Middle East and North Africa, can and have been widely adopted globally for health interventions.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe mental health condition characterized by a chronic pattern of disturbed interpersonal function, affective instability, impulsive behavior, and an unstable sense of self. BPD has considerable public health importance due to its high burden on patients, families, and health care systems. Common in the general population, BPD is highly prevalent in psychiatric settings. It emerges from the interactions between biological (e.g., genetics, neurobiology, and temperament) and environmental factors (e.g., maltreatment and inadequate support). During adolescence, BPD can be differentiated from other psychopathology as a coherent clinical entity. Longitudinal studies have shown that symptomatic remission is common, although functional recovery is less frequent. Specialized psychotherapies, such as dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and mentalization-based treatment (MBT), are considered the first line of treatment. Generalist approaches, such as good psychiatric management (GPM), have also been found effective. Given that specialized treatment availability is limited, and most clinicians will encounter patients with BPD due to its prevalence, it is critical that generalist clinicians learn how to manage BPD effectively.

There are often tensions within New Public Health because of the subjective nature of religion and spirituality. Omitting this crosscutting dimension reduces the evidence base and therefore the growth of New Public Health. Identifying the differences for low-income, middle-income, and predominantly Muslim countries compared to high-income countries outlines the ways these could exert an impact on New Public Health. Health-related guidance within the Qur’an and Prophetic sayings relates to the ways these link to the aims of New Public Health and their parallel positioning. Simultaneously, they differ, with Islam exhibiting a more salutogenic position. Therefore, the chapter suggests that the evidence base requires moving from New Public Health’s biomedical roots towards a more cohesive integration of the practices and beliefs of Muslim communities.

Religious beliefs and practices play a critical role in how public health and health care outcomes are realized. While there is little research on non-Muslim experiences with public health initiatives and health outcomes in Muslim Majority Countries (MMCs), there is a body of literature that identifies multiple social determinants of health that lead to poorer indicators of health and health outcomes in these countries. In addition, in societies where there are large immigrant Muslim populations, perceptions of the quality of care, participation in public health initiatives, and access to health care that is culturally relevant and aligned with belief systems has been found to impact health outcomes. Barriers and facilitators to accessing and receiving care in both MMCs and communities serving Muslim populations have been identified. Social determinants of health such as economic status, access to and quality of education and health care, social and built environment, foodways, and collaborative community action to advance cultural competence of providers and other public health stakeholders can all improve health indicators and health outcomes of MMCs and communities with Muslim populations.

The public health community protects and improves the health and well-being of regional and community populations around the world. In Muslim communities, the concept of public health is closely aligned with the teachings and principles of Islam. A working understanding of the unique cultural and spiritual constructs within Muslim communities can positively affect public health issues. Similar to European and Western societies, Muslims should encounter increased exposure to emerging public health issues such as infectious diseases, conditions related to an aging population, and limited access to technology-enhanced health care. A blended approach to public health that retains historic culture and tradition and includes modern methodologies is needed. Successful programs in Muslim communities should incorporate culturally appropriate health education, lay and community health workers, immunization outreach, and an evidence-based approach to program development.

In many developed or high-income countries, significant oral health inequalities exist in disadvantaged communities, including refugee and migrant populations. In low- and middle-income countries, inequalities are even higher. Residing within these countries are Muslim populations who frequently base their oral health practices on the guidance within the prophetic Hadith and Sunnah. Public dental health needs to acknowledge that alternative oral hygiene aids and practices play a significant role for some Muslims, particularly those from low and middle-Income Countries (LMICs). Incorporating guidance from the Prophetic guidance may assist in reducing oral health inequalities while simultaneously addressing the implications of cultural diversity on national oral health promotion messages.

This chapter discusses the Islamic perspectives on public health which emphasize the promotion of physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. Islamic teachings encourage preventive measures such as personal hygiene, nutritious food, and spiritual rituals. Islamic leaders stress the importance of providing accessible health care to all individuals, caring for vulnerable populations, and incorporating Islamic teachings and ethical values into modern medical knowledge. Contemporary Islamic perspectives prioritize preventive measures, accessible health care, addressing social determinants of health, community responsibility, and ethical medical practice.

What does Chinese law have to say about people who are involved in sex work and the places where it occurs? Prostitution control is a universal problem for which states have adopted a variety of policies to address the public order, public health, and commercial challenges that it presents. This chapter describes that range of regulatory possibilities. It then explains the official choices that China has made, through discussions of the policing, health, and taxation rules and institutions that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has adopted to regulate prostitution.

The Nagoya Protocol to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has threatened to impede access to genetic resources and related data for cross-border scientific research. In principle, every use of genetic resources would require a set of contracts under the CBD, in a “bilateral” regime. The related transaction costs could overwhelm many transnational research undertakings, affecting even public health responses to outbreaks and epidemics. However, the Nagoya Protocol also offers a unique opportunity to resolve this dilemma, despite struggles to define the meaning and coverage of “digital sequence information.” The coverage of genetic sequence data under the CBD remains controversial mainly because users do not know what the potential consequences of such coverage might ultimately entail. This chapter’s objective is to outline a type of coverage devised specifically for pathogens that would promote science, public health, and commercial applications while also protecting the interests of provider countries, supporting innovation, and addressing inequalities. The authors envision an agreed waiver for pathogen sequence data used for upstream scientific research purposes under the Nagoya Protocol, without compromising the duty of users to share benefits. This waiver should help alleviate the problems of definition and subject-matter coverage that have stymied multilateral action.

This chapter is about the local health officials who implement China’s surveillance and behavioral outreach health policies for estimating the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and reducing its occurrence among sex workers. These policies set out clear guidelines for targeting certain types and numbers of sex workers for HIV/AIDS testing and outreach, with the goal of obtaining accurate knowledge of the overall sex worker population and reaching out to the individuals who present the greatest concerns to public health. These policies are also designed to protect the individual rights of sex workers, a prerequisite for obtaining higher quality data and increasing the likelihood that public health interventions will yield safer sexual behaviors. Yet frontline health workers often deviate from these rules, as obstacles within China’s health bureaucracy complicate proper policy implementation. Local health officials must also contend with two powerful entities that are predisposed to oppose their work: the sex industry and the police. Taken together, these challenges lead health agents to focus their testing and outreach efforts on hostesses instead of low-tier sex workers – even though women in the low tier are most in need of health interventions – and result in other irregularities in policy implementation with grave public health consequences.