Federal Office of Public Health

The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) classifies chemical substances in terms of acute oral toxicity in the rat, and other available data such as skin and/or inhalation toxicity, skin and eye irritation/corrosive effects, subacute/subchronic/chronic toxicity, carcinogenicity/mutagenicity/teratogenicity and human exposure. Substances are placed in one of 5 classes ranging from Category 1 (most hazardous) to Category 5 (least hazardous). 

When the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health compared the amount of antimony in waters bottled both in PET and in glass, the concentrations in PET bottles were somewhat higher, but still well below the allowed maximal concentrations (1% of the tolerable daily intake determined by the WHO), and it is concluded that the health risk involved is negligible. A recent study found similar low concentrations for antimony in the water bottled in PET [58]. 

Food Standards Agency, London, United Kingdom University of Plymouth, Plymouth, United Kingdom Swiss Federal Office of Public Health, Zurich, Switzerland National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), Paris, France... 

Federal office of public health. Swiss federal act on human research, http //www.bag.admin.ch/themen/medizin/00701/00702/ 07558/. Accessed 14 Apr 2013... 

Federal office of public health (2001) Konzept Sonderbewil-ligungen fiir nicht zugelassene Arzneimittel. 13 Dec 2001. 

Programme de Calcul du Coefficient de Diffusion a Partir de Mesures Experimentales, Software developed by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health, Bern, Switzerland, http //www.bag.admin.ch/verbrau/gebrauch/info/f/exdif.htm... 

Chemical regulations in Switzerland are the responsibility of two institutions the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health, Bundesamt fiir Gesundheitswesen (BAG), and the Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forests and Landscape, BUWAL (Bundesamt fur Umwelt, Wald und Landschaft). Although the requirements for the notification of new chemical substances are very similar to those of the EU, there are some specific features [34]. Any manufacturer or importer of a chemical substance has to perform an environmental compatibility assessment as part of a self-control according to the Ordinance on Substances [35]. This is not just for notified substances it includes all products. 

The Federal Office for Public Health does not require a mandatory notification of cosmetics. 

The Initiative is housed in the Department of Health s Office of School Health. The Office, with its 23 staff members, is in the Health Systems Bureau of the Public Health Division. The Office of School Health has grown dramatically in the last few years, with the expansion of the New Mexico School Mental Health Initiative (Adelman et al., 1999 Adelsheim, 2000 Adelsheim, Carrillo, Coletta, 2001 Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2001). Funded initially by a Federal Maternal and Child Health grant, this collaboration of state agencies, schools, families, and community partners has made great strides in expanding both programs and support for addressing the mental health needs of students so they may be successful in school. 

Just as the benefits of insecticides to public welfare fall into two classes, so also do the hazards fall into two groups first, those which are traditionally and legally the responsibilities of local, state, and federal health officers, and, second, those which are traditionally and legally the responsibilities of other authorities. The two groups are often impossible to separate. Of direct interest to the public health professions are the following ... 

ICPs should ensure that hospitals have current telephone numbers for notification of both internal (ICPs, epidemiologists, infectious diseases specialists, administrators, and public affairs officials) and external (state and local health departments, Federal Bureau of Investigation field office, and CDC Emergency Response office) contacts and that they are distributed to the appropriate personnel.9 ICPs should work with clinical microbiology laboratories, on- or off-site, that receive specimens for testing from their facility to ensure that cultures from suspicious cases are evaluated appropriately. 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (1991b) Protection of Human Subjects, Subpart D Additional Protections for Children Involved as Subjects in Research, Code of Federal Regulations, Title 45, Public Welfare Part 46, Subpart D 46.401-46.409, Revised June 18, 1991, Effective August 19, 1991, Washington, DC Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration, October 1, 1994 (45 CFR Subtitle A), pp.132-135. 

ESF 8 Health and Medical - Led by the United States Public Health Service s Office of Emergency Preparedness, ESF 8 Health and Medical serves as the basis for federal response to the health needs of disaster victims, epidemic - The occurrence of any known or suspected contagion that occurs in clear excess of normal expectancy (a threatened epidemic occurs when the circumstances are such that a disease may reasonably be anticipated to occur in excess of normal expectancy). evacuation - An organized removal of civilians from a dangerous or potentially dangerous area. 

With any suspicious outbreaks, the local health department, poison center, law enforcement agency, and US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) should be contacted immediately. Due to the absence of a nationwide surveillance system for animal diseases, the responsibility for detecting possible outbreaks of unusual symptoms in animals will fall over several different groups of people. Farmers, agriculture officials, veterinarians, animal control officers, wildlife rehabilitators, (animal) poison control centers and the lay public (animal owners) may all be involved in detecting outbreaks. 

The federal government has had some insight into the need for a federal office to oversee dissemination of information on alternative medicine. Previously known as the Office of Alternative Medicine (established in 1992), the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) was established in 1998 as part of the National Institutes of Health. The mission of the NCCAM is to give the public reliable information on the safety and effectiveness of complementary and alternative medicine, with an emphasis on clinical trial sponsorship.The budget of the NCCAM has grown from 2 million in 1992 to almost 70 million in 2000, and almost half the budget is mandated to fund peer-reviewed grants. The NCCAM also helps to disseminate information to... 

Approximately 7000 pharmacists serve the federal government in a variety of roles and organizations, including the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Department of Defense (DOD), and the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS). Pharmacists in the uniformed services, Army, Navy, Air Force, and PHS, may be cither commissioned officers or hired via the civil service system. Opportunities for clinical practice and research in the federal government represent a large, but relatively unknown option. 

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