Federal Commission Research Articles

Importance of national regulatory agencies and national control laboratories in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic: Experience of Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (COFEPRIS)

COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the National Regulatory Agencies (NRAs). One of these challenges is the transfer and validation of new vaccine methodologies so that they are safe, quality, and effective in protecting the population. In this article, we review the process that the Mexican NRA followed for the Vaxzevria and Convidecia vaccines; where communication between manufacturers and NRA allowed the methodological transfer and validation to be carried out before the first batch for application was ready in compliance with WHO guidelines. In this way, the importance of the relationship that must exist between manufacturers and NRAs is manifested to provide an immediate response and provide the population with a means of protection in the event of a public health emergency.

Review of Road Traffic Accident Burdens in Transportation Sector of Ethiopia

The transportation sector has a very immense role in the economic development of a given country. Because human beings' day-to-day activities re highly depends on the transport service. But this sector has its own drawbacks, like road traffic crashes and environmental pollution. In Ethiopia, the road transport sector is poor in terms of quality and service delivery systems. Due to this, the frequent occurrence of road traffic crashes has been recorded in the country continuously. To that end, this paper was mainly intended to review road traffic accident burdens in the transportation sector of Ethiopia. In detail, reviewing the costs of road traffic accidents, the causing factors of road traffic accidents, the types of vehicles highly involved in road traffic accidents, and the victim groups of communities affected by road traffic accidents at the national level were the specific objectives of this paper. Meanwhile, all road traffic accident data found in Ethiopia from the federal police commission report papers, journal articles, and dissertation papers were used for analysis purposes. Besides, the collected data is presented in tables and figures. Furthermore, the data was analyzed and interpreted based on a descriptive research design. Finally, the result of this review shows that trends of road traffic accidents in Ethiopia have been increasing over time by killing, injuring people and damaging resources. Drivers’ bad behaviors, low know-how of road users, poor road infrastructure, old vehicle conditions, and environmental factors are aggravating the occurrence of road traffic accidents in the country. Thus, to tackle this problem, educating people, enforcing traffic laws, enhancing engineering measures, and giving emergency responses were the recommendations given in this paper.

The Judiciary and Presidential Democracy in Nigeria: A Synthetic Analysis

The study analyzed the roles of the judiciary in Nigeria’s presidential democracy using secondary source of data. The secondary source of data includes textbooks, magazines, Newspapers, Journals and other documentary materials relevant to the study. The judiciary as the third arm of Nigeria’s government is appointed by the Executive on the advice of the Federal and State Judicial service commission, subject to the approval of the Legislature. The role of the judiciary includes interpretation of the constitution/laws, adjudicating of cases in courts, advises the Executive and Legislature on some sensitive matters and defends the rights/liberties of the citizens. In Nigeria’s presidential democracy, the Executive arm of government implements laws. The problem of this study is delay in resolution of cases in courts. There are cases in courts that have been pending for many years. Failure of the Executive arm of government to obey court orders in some cases is also a problem. The study recommended that government should establish more courts and employ more judicial officials and the three arms of Nigeria’s government should adhere strictly to the rule of law. Strict adherence to the rule of law by the rulers and the ruled promote democracy.

This is not an act of euthanasia: Legally correct but ethically problematic?

In 2015, the Belgian Federal Commission for the Control and Evaluation of Euthanasia referred a physician to the public prosecutor’s office because it concluded that the physician might have violated the legal conditions for euthanasia. It was the commission’s first referral since its establishment in 2002. However, in 2019, the Antwerp Court sitting in chambers decided not to pursue the physician in criminal court. News reports suggested that it had ruled that the physician did not perform euthanasia because the patient drank the lethal potion herself, thus classifying the act as physician-assisted suicide. However, the court did not make the reasons for its decision public.In this article, we consider the legal and ethical aspects of physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. Although we discern clear differences between these end-of-life decisions, we also note important similarities. Countries that legalise voluntary physician-assisted dying may choose to legislate one or both end-of-life decisions. Providing a legal basis for both options can prevent major legal problems, ensuring that those doctors who violate the law are not acquitted.

Strengthening the Pharmacovigilance System in Mexico: Implementation of VigiFlow and VigiLyze, as ICSR and Signal Detection Management Systems.

Pharmacovigilance (PV) activities aim to identify potential risks of medicines and vaccines after they have been authorised in the market by collecting and analysing information on suspected adverse events from different stakeholders. These can be captured and transmitted electronically in the form of Individual Case Safety Reports (ICSRs). Hence, up-to-date ICSRs management systems, like VigiFlow and signal detection and management systems as VigiLyze, have an important role in the PV system of a country. In 2019, after various attempts to establish a PV database that could fulfil the needs of the country, Mexico's National Regulatory Authority, COFEPRIS (Federal Commission for the Prevention against Sanitary Risks) decided to implement these tools. This has been a successful project that is still ongoing, it has involved national and international organisations, and has required the participation and integration of different components of the national PV system. The implementation of these tools has allowed COFEPRIS to increase its reporting trends and quality of reporting, while contributing to make more efficient interactions and processes with PV stakeholders, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has also allowed them to strengthen their commitment to the WHO-Programme for International Drug Monitoring, while highlighting opportunities for improvement in the national PV scenario and in the PV tools themselves. The aim of this article is to describe the implementation process, give an overview of current results regarding ICSR data and processes, and highlight the achievements, challenges, and opportunities for improvement after the three years since the beginning of the project.

Ecotoxicology of agrochemicals used in valle de Santiago Guanajuato, Mexico

The application of pesticides in the agricultural sector represents multiple benefits such as pest and disease control, however, their application entails risks to the environment and the health of people, which can be accidental or due to improper handling. Therefore, this work focuses on the qualitative determination of the ecotoxicology of pesticides used by seasonal farmers in the Municipality of Valle de Santiago. Information on the most commonly used pesticides in the study area was collected through surveys of seasonal agricultural producers and the main points of sale for agrochemicals. The registry of commercial products with the Federal Commission for Protection against Sanitary Risks in Mexico was consulted to verify the active ingredient and its registered use. The environmental impact of the active ingredient was estimated based on a qualitative matrix to determine total ecotoxicology. The use of pesticides in the study area registered a total of 19 products, of which six are insecticides, 12 are herbicides, and one fungicide. The qualitative estimation of the total ecotoxicology of the active ingredients contained in the pesticides shows that the highest value is possessed by insecticides and to a lesser extent by herbicides.

Promoting a ‘new us’ for Switzerland through cultural participation: practice exchange on the basis of a citizen-art project

In 2020, the Swiss Federal Commission for Migration launched a new programme called ‘New us’. The national programme called for participatory projects that question the ‘us and them’ binary and present alternative models for strengthening cultural participation, social cohesion and a polyphonic ‘us’ in Switzerland. This contribution critically appraises a citizen-art project that met the funding criteria of ‘New us’. We argue that the scientific approach of developmental evaluation serves as a compass for the development and steering of open-ended participatory processes. The combined reflection on the artistic and scientific evaluation process engages social work research in the facilitation of cultural participation.

Evaluation of the sugar-sweetened beverage tax in Oakland, United States, 2015-2019: A quasi-experimental and cost-effectiveness study.

While a 2021 federal commission recommended that the United States government levy a sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) tax to improve diabetes prevention and control efforts, evidence is limited regarding the longer-term impacts of SSB taxes on SSB purchases, health outcomes, costs, and cost-effectiveness. This study estimates the impact and cost-effectiveness of an SSB tax levied in Oakland, California. An SSB tax ($0.01/oz) was implemented on July 1, 2017, in Oakland. The main sample of sales data included 11,627 beverage products, 316 stores, and 172,985,767 product-store-month observations. The main analysis, a longitudinal quasi-experimental difference-in-differences approach, compared changes in beverage purchases at stores in Oakland versus Richmond, California (a nontaxed comparator in the same market area) before and 30 months after tax implementation (through December 31, 2019). Additional estimates used synthetic control methods with comparator stores in Los Angeles, California. Estimates were inputted into a closed-cohort microsimulation model to estimate quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and societal costs (in Oakland) from 6 SSB-associated disease outcomes. In the main analysis, SSB purchases declined by 26.8% (95% CI -39.0 to -14.7, p < 0.001) in Oakland after tax implementation, compared with Richmond. There were no detectable changes in purchases of untaxed beverages or sweet snacks or purchases in border areas surrounding cities. In the synthetic control analysis, declines in SSB purchases were similar to the main analysis (-22.4%, 95% CI -41.7% to -3.0%, p = 0.04). The estimated changes in SSB purchases, when translated into declines in consumption, would be expected to accrue QALYs (94 per 10,000 residents) and significant societal cost savings (>$100,000 per 10,000 residents) over 10 years, with greater gains over a lifetime horizon. Study limitations include a lack of SSB consumption data and use of sales data primarily from chain stores. An SSB tax levied in Oakland was associated with a substantial decline in volume of SSBs purchased, an association that was sustained more than 2 years after tax implementation. Our study suggests that SSB taxes are effective policy instruments for improving health and generating significant cost savings for society.

Introducing the Federal Commission for Quality Assurance in Medical Assessment

Introducing the Federal Commission for Quality Assurance in Medical Assessment Abstract. As at January 1, 2022, the Federal Council has established the Federal Commission for Quality Assurance in Medical Evaluation. This will supervise accreditation as an evaluation institution, manage the procedure for the preparation of expert opinions and the results of medical reports, and make public recommendations. This article describes the composition and tasks of the commission. In addition, it presents the existing quality assurance measures and possible new directions in this area.

Factors Affecting Climate Change Governance in Addis Ababa City, Ethiopia

Climate change in Ethiopia’s capital city of Addis Ababa is characterized by an increase in rainfall and subsequent flooding and severe temperature with more heat waves. The city government has now recognized climate change as a serious threat, including it being a reason for loss of life and livelihoods. Even though governance has become a key mechanism to address a reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions and vulnerability to climate change, the practice of climate-change governance has been undermined by different factors. Thus, this study examined factors affecting climate-change governance in the city. The research adopted a mixed research design and depends on primary and secondary data sources. The binary logistic regression model and descriptive statistics were both used to analyse the quantitative data, while the descriptive method was used for the qualitative data. The results reveal that a lack of coordination, political will and leadership are the major factors that hinder the practice of governance in the city, followed by inadequate finance, policy, strategy, and regulation. In addition, a shortage of knowledgeable experts, lack of access to information and technologies had their own contributions to the ineffectiveness of climate-change governance. Thus, the city administration should place emphasis on climate change, giving it comparable weight to other crosscutting issues, and enabling the functioning of the steering committee with a strong accountability system. In addition, the city administration should take aggressive measures, including revising or formulating new policy, strategy or regulation, and even creating an independent institution for climate-change issues. Furthermore, the Addis Ababa City environmental protection and green development commission should create an enabling environment to attract non-state actors, in general, and NGOs, in particular, and should assign one directorate to mobilise finance, following the approach taken by the federal environmental protection commission. The commission should implement a mechanism to efficiently utilize the budget by applying continuous monitoring and evaluation. The commission should also provide continuous training and capacity building for leaders and experts at sub-city and Woreda levels.

Transmisión vertical y espacial de precios en el mercado mexicano e internacional de ganado vacuno

From 2000 to 2019, the Mexican beef subsector has undergone significant structural changes; the most important was the concentration of both production and marketing stages. In 2019, the Mexican Federal Commission of Competence revealed that, Mexican households’ income diminished between 16 and 31 % due to a lack of market efficiency. In the case of meat, the reduction may be up to 98 %. In this context, the objective of this study was to examine the degree of spatial price transmission between national and international live cattle prices and the vertical transmission between live cattle prices and carcass meat prices to evaluate market efficiency. The econometric approach consists of the estimation of a vector error correction model, using monthly beef real prices, for the period 1990-2019. Findings from this research provide information for decision-makers and stakeholders in this industry: these comprehend unidirectional transmission of international beef prices to domestic beef prices and from farm price to processor price. Also point to the existence of asymmetric price transmission, which is related to whether cattle and beef prices are increasing or decreasing. Results indicate that a long-run single cointegration relationship exists between international and farmer prices, and between processor and farm price. The direction of price transmission tends to go from producers to processors and from international price to farmer price. When the international price increases, the speed of adjustment tends to be significantly slower, in contrast to when the international price decreases, resulting in a significantly faster rate of adjustment.

Albo crosses the line: the Labor win in the 2022 Australian federal election

ABSTRACT Labor has won a slim majority in the House of Representatives in the 2022 Australian federal election. Labor pursued a ‘small target’ strategy, focusing on economic issues. Labor and the Coalition combined won only about two-thirds of the primary vote. The new government faces a deteriorating economy and significant energy issues. However, Labor will make climate action a higher priority, also giving attention to such matters as a constitutionally enshrined indigenous ‘voice’ to parliament and a federal integrity commission. Internationally, Labor claims to be more effective than the Coalition, with some prospect of improved relations with China.

Analysis of the human capital of the federal electricity commission (CFE), in the city of Villahermosa for the design of an improvement proposal

Objectives: Analyze the human capital in the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), in the city of Villahermosa to design an improvement proposal. Carry out a diagnosis on the human capital of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE). Methodology: The research will be descriptive because the independent variables will be described, as well as the research variables. This investigation is also considered as non-experimental, because the variables cannot be manipulated, the data will be obtained from the heads of departments. Surveys were carried out, which are based on the 10 elements that make up the TIEP (Integral Technique for Productivity Evaluation). Contribution: Once the results are obtained, a proposal is designed for the company through an improvement Model, to increase the productivity of human capital

Race in education policy: school safety and the discursive legitimation of disproportionate punishment

ABSTRACT Interventions instated to disrupt the destructive effects of the school-to-prison pipeline on students of color were repealed as a result of the US Education Department’s 2018 Federal Commission on School Safety report. Using a critical policy and critical discourse framework, this paper examines how the language used in the report facilitated the process of repeal while concealing the insidious effects that the repeal could have on students of color and especially black students. Based on this analysis, the paper argues that education policy discourse is influenced by and supports the covert operation of white supremacist ideological structures that hinder the struggle for equity and justice in education.

The personal cost of repetitive mental health inquiries that fail to result in change

<h2>ABSTRACT</h2><h3>Background</h3> Nurses and other professionals working in mental health care, and those utilising it, will likely be aware that the sector has been the subject of scrutiny through numerous public inquiries and Royal Commissions over the years. <h3>Aim</h3> The aim of this paper is to understand the total number of high-profile public inquiries undertaken in relation to mental health in Australia over the last 30 years. Importantly, we then seek to quantify the likely contributions by the community, including by people with experience of mental illness and their supporters, to those inquiries and to consider the personal impacts and outcomes of those contributions. <h3>Methods</h3> Information available in the public domain (online) on Royal Commissions, parliamentary inquiries, and federal Commission inquiries held in Australia between 1991 and August 2021, relating to mental health, is drawn on, collated, and compared. <h3>Findings</h3> No less than 55 high-profile public inquiries relevant to mental health have been held over the last 30 years, involving more than 55,000 public submissions and 9,000 witnesses, among other contributions made by the community. A significant proportion of these include contributions made by people who use mental health services, who share their personal stories in a process that is acknowledged as being potentially traumatic. <h3>Discussion</h3> Despite this enormous effort by the community generally, and by people with experience of mental health care specifically, to effect change in the mental health sector through formal inquiry processes, analysis shows that key recommendation themes identified for mental health care 30 years ago remain current issues today. <h3>Conclusion</h3> We see a role for mental health nurses together – to call on the Federal and State Governments to fund and implement the meaningful change required to improve the mental health system, as identified in the long-line of inquiries to date. With major budget announcements for mental health care recently made in Australia, now is the time to influence policy direction and implementation into the future.

Application of Due Process in Recruitment and Selection of Personnel into the Federal Civil Service. Part 2

This study was conducted to investigate the constraint to the effective application of due process in the recruitment and selection of personnel into the federal civil service. Four objectives and four research questions guided the study. A sampling technique was used in carrying out the work. A total number of three hundred (300) respondents were used for the study. The instruments for data collection were a questionnaire and observation checklist. Three hundred (300) copies of the questionnaire were distributed to the staff of the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), Abuja and two hundred and seventy-six (276) were returned representing a 92% return rate. The frequency table and Mean were the statistical measures employed for the data analysis. The findings revealed that there were no strategies or methods of recruitment and selection of staff into the federal civil service. However, the findings also revealed that practices such as political interference and corruption during recruitment and selection in federal civil service tend to undermine the principle of due process. Based on the findings, it was recommended that the federal civil service commission should formulate sound policies and practices that will minimize the degree of politicization and corruption in the recruitment and selection of staff into the federal civil service; make use of modern sources and techniques of recruitment and selection such as, E-recruitment process and Information Communication Technology (ICT)-based selection resources as their source of recruitment and selection; and develop strategies or methods that will result in the effective application of due process in their recruitment and selection exercises.

A numerical experiment for geological sequestration of CO[formula omitted] in the pre-Comondú sandstones of Las Tres Virgenes geothermal area, Baja California Sur, Mexico

The most recent studies on geological sequestration of CO2 in Mexico point towards high sequestration potential associated with geologically stable zones and high-emission centres. These studies overlook however, the potencial that high heat flow areas in the country can offer to geological sequestration of CO2 by mineral precipitation. Here we present an assessment of the CO2 sequestration capacity of the Pre-Comondú sandstones, that overlie the productive granitic basement of the Las Tres Virgenes geothermal field (10 MWe). Both, the physical properties and mineralogical description of the sandstone are defined from drilling core analyses reported by the Federal Commission of Electricity. The initial formation water saturating the sandstone is determined by means of a batch simulation of equilibrium between the primary minerals in the rock and a 1 M solution of NaCl in water. Injection of supercritical CO2 is then numerically simulated. Simulations are based on the TOUGHREACT software and the equation of State Module ECO2N. Our results show Pre-Comondú sandstone favour mineralization of CO2 through the precipitation of carbonates in moderate geologic times (100–300 yr). Mineral changes occur within two main zones in the CO2-impacted reservoir, the zone lying close to the injection point is dominated by precipitation of low-albite, kaolinite, calcite, and minor siderite, whereas the distal zone responds with moderate changes in the system illite-smectite. Changes in porosity are moderate and consistent with the two mineralization zones. Furthermore, the decline in porosity occurs in the long term, which suggests moderate risk for injection operations. Although high reservoir temperature is unfavorable to CO2 solubility, high pressure can counteract this effect, so the system can benefit from higher mass diffusivity and reactivity. This manifests in an accelerated sequestration rate.

Anti-corruption mechanisms: A study in the light of international law and national regulation

Corruption is a constant dilemma that challenges societies and manifests itself differently in every state and civilization. This phenomenon has disastrous consequences on the economy and society. After clarifying the different approaches to corruption, this paper sheds light on the types of corruption and its causes. Sources of corruption can lie in the weakness of the rule of law, judiciary, internal control system, and low wages (Sumpf, Araji, &amp; Crompton, 2016). This paper also examines important anti-corruption instruments such as international and regional organizations, and governmental and non-governmental bodies. It intends to review the state of corruption at the national level and how Jordan and Iraq tackled corruption by analyzing the data of the reports published by the transparency organization and the local authorities: the Jordanian Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission and the Iraqi Federal Commission of Integrity. The aim is to show what these nations have done on a domestic level to fulfill the international requirement to reduce corruption. This study found that most anti-corruption laws are laws to establish relevant bodies and departments, but they are not special laws to combat corruption crimes. Moreover, although Iraq and Jordan joined international and regional conventions to combat corruption, they have not been fully successful in curbing it. The main recommendations based on these findings are to increase the role of international and local monitoring agencies, enforce written laws, and enhance cooperation between agencies. Arab countries must establish clear public policies and strategies for combating corruption.

Application of Due Process in Recruitment and Selection of Personnel into the Federal Civil Service. Part 1

This study was conducted to investigate the constraint to the effective application of due process in the recruitment and selection of personnel into the federal civil service. Four objectives and four research questions guided the study. A sampling technique was used in carrying out the work. A total number of three hundred (300) respondents were used for the study. The instruments for data collection were a questionnaire and observation checklist. Three hundred (300) copies of the questionnaire were distributed to the staff of the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), Abuja and two hundred and seventy-six (276) were returned representing a 92% return rate. The frequency table and Mean were the statistical measures employed for the data analysis. The findings revealed that there were no strategies or methods of recruitment and selection of staff into the federal civil service. However, the findings also revealed that practices such as political interference and corruption during recruitment and selection in federal civil service tend to undermine the principle of due process. Based on the findings, it was recommended that the federal civil service commission should formulate sound policies and practices that will minimize the degree of politicization and corruption in the recruitment and selection of staff into the federal civil service; make use of modern sources and techniques of recruitment and selection such as, E-recruitment process and Information Communication Technology (ICT)-based selection resources as their source of recruitment and selection; and develop strategies or methods that will result in the effective application of due process in their recruitment and selection exercises.

Državna politika razdvajanja svećenika Katoličke crkve u Bosni i Hercegovini na „pozitivne“ i „reakcionarne“ (1945-1963)

The illumination of the state policy of separating „positive“ from „negative“ priests of the Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the most important issues in the scientific understanding of the position of this religious community during the first decades of existence of AVNOJ Yugoslavia. The post-war government in Bosnia and Herzegovina treated a large number of priests of the Catholic Church as real or potential enemies of the state. In addition to ideological reasons, which were more or less similar in all communist parties, the negative attitude of the CPY towards the Catholic Church was influenced by the fact that some priests supported the Ustasha movement during World War II. The justification for the negative attitude of party structures towards priests was argued most often in the documents of the Commission for Religious Affairs with the following reasons: that most priests supported the occupier and domestic traitors during the war; that they spread hostile propaganda against the national liberation movement; that they actively participated in the fight against the new social order; that they had committed war crimes and persecuted members of other faiths, and that they had been linked to criminal Ustasha emigration abroad. In addition to „negative“ priests, there were „positive“ priests that also acted in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as they were reported in the documents of the Commission for Religious Affairs. They did not agree to the policy of confrontation with the state and demanded the establishment of dialogue and co-operation between the Church and the state. Some of the most prominent representatives of this group of priests were: Fr Bono Ostojić, Ph.D. Karlo Karin, Fr Mile Leko, Fr Josip Markušić, Fr Serafin Dodig, Fr Kruno Misilo and others. Holders of „positive tendencies“ among the clergy, according to the Commission for Religious Affairs, understood the importance of establishing communication and contacts with state authorities and the harmfulness of the negative attitude of the Catholic Church towards the state. Their goal was to change the methods of solving problems between the Church and the state, and to build a path that would suit the interests of the priests of the Catholic Church and the interests of the state community, without interfering with the church's dogmatic canonical principles. The „differentiation“ of priests was treated as a positive result of the work of the new government, because, according to their assessments, in the first post-war years, representatives of religious communities had a hostile attitude towards the newly created socialist Yugoslav state. Therefore, the Commission for Religious Affairs (federal and republican) has continuously pointed out the importance of implementing a policy of „stratification and differentiation“ within religious communities. According to the observations of the Federal Commission for Religious Affairs, the post-war „differentiation“ among the priests happened primarily due to their attitudes regarding the relationship between the state and the Catholic Church. Some considered it desirable and useful to establish communication with the newly created authorities, while others maintained a negative attitude. In addition to these two groups, there was a third group that was undecided. When considering the biographical data of the priests of the Catholic Church proposed for state decorations, it can be stated that the authorities carefully took into account which priests would be on the list of candidates recommended for awards. A positive attitude towards the new socialist social order, active participation in the establishment of the Association of Catholic Priests in Bosnia and Herzegovina, loyalty, patriotism towards socialist Yugoslavia, and contribution to the development of the Association of Catholic Priests in Bosnia and Herzegovina, are some of the most important reasons for choosing candidates for awards. In the article, based on unpublished archival sources, the author contextualises the political circumstances and the circumstances in which the state policy of differentiation of „positive“ from „reactionary“ priests of the Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina took place, points out the reasons for and bearers of such policy, and analyses its expression and results. Also, the author presents the policy of awarding state recognitions and decorations to individual priests in Bosnia and Herzegovina.