[Mad cow disease: 20 years after]. / La vache folle : 20 ans après.

Mad cow disease: 20 years after. Twenty years after the peak of the mad cow disease crisis, an overview was made by the National Food Council about the public health consequences, scientific advances, management measures taken to control the disease, persistent uncertainty about long-term impact on human health, and the difficulty to communicate in such a critical context. An in depth work to follow and explain the evolution of food production and transformation methods is indispensable. In a critical phase, the expression of the multiple actors requires to be made as coherent and coordinated as possible.

La vache folle : 20 ans après. Vingt ans après le pic de la crise de la vache folle, le Conseil national de l'alimentation a voulu tirer des leçons de la crise en termes de communication. Après un bilan des conséquences de santé publique, des avancées scientifiques, des mesures de gestion qui ont été prises pour maîtriser la maladie, et des incertitudes persistantes pour la santé humaine, les difficultés de communication dans un tel contexte ont été analysées. Un travail de suivi et de pédagogie sur l'évolution des techniques de production dans le secteur agroalimentaire est indispensable. En période de crise, l'expression des multiples acteurs de ce secteur gagne à être rendue aussi cohérente et coordonnée que possible.

[Global health security at the time of Nagoya]. / La sécurité sanitaire mondiale à l'heure de Nagoya.

The International Health Regulations are the main legal instrument to prevent the international propagation of diseases, particularly related to infectious agents. It supports the exchange of samples between countries. These exchanges have raised expectations, in many countries, about the sharing of the benefits resulting from these exchanges. About influenza viruses with pandemic potential, the 2011 pandemic influenza preparedness framework Agreement is a response to these expectations. These exchanges are also influenced by the progress made in genetics.The Nagoya Protocol, which came into force in 2014, creates a new framework concerning the use of genetic resources, including about pathogens. It will have a positive impact on public health, if it facilitates the exchanges of gene sequence data about pathogens and if it permits benefits sharing internationally. Such a result is possible, if its implementation builds upon the pandemic influenza preparedness framework Agreement.

[Health international agreements: what are they? For what purpose?]. / Quels sont et à quoi servent les accords internationaux de santé ?

Health international agreements: what are they? for what purpose?. Under the auspices of the World Health Organization, the efforts made to strengthen public health at the world level are reflected in three international agreements. The commitment of Member States to contribute to the protection of the health of the world population is underlined in the International Health Regulation and in the Pandemic influenza preparedness Framework. The Framework Convention on tobacco control aims at protecting the population of each Member State from the major health risks linked to tobacco use.

Quels sont et à quoi servent les accords internationaux de santé ?. Trois accords internationaux soulignent les efforts faits, sous l'égide de l'Organisation mondiale de la santé, en vue de renforcer la santé publique au niveau mondial. Le Règlement sanitaire international et le Cadre de préparation en cas de grippe pandémique soulignent l'engagement des États membres à contribuer à la protection de la santé de la population mondiale. La convention-cadre de lutte anti-tabac vise à protéger la population de chaque État membre vis-à-vis du risque sanitaire majeur auquel expose l'usage du tabac.

[National health security agencies: facts and perspectives]. / Les agences nationales de sécurite sanitaire : constats et perspectives.

Despite major changes in its composition over the past two decades, the French health security infrastructure, currently consisting of eight agencies, has endured. This infrastructure has reinforced the French state's capacity to protect the health of its population, but it did not yet provide total protection. The future of national health agencies will depend on their ability to maintain the priority given to public health security ; to preserve credible, high-level scientific expertise ; to meet the challenges of healthcare safety ; and to organize health security at the European level.

[National plan for the prevention and control "influenza pandemic"]. / Plan national de prévention et de lutte contre une pandémie grippale.

France has developed a national plan for the prevention and control of an influenza pandemic with the aim of reducing its health impact and its consequences on the economic and social life of the country. The main objectives of the plan are to prepare the country to face an epizootic of avian influenza due to a highly pathogenic virus, to detect the first manifestation of a new flu virus, to curb its spread by adopting early and appropriate public health measures and to protect the French population, as well as French citizens abroad. Ensuring that the population has the best possible access to prevention and care, through the organisation and adaptation of the health system facing a pandemic, is one of the major goals of the plan. The plan, and organisation associated to it, forms the foundation of a coherent and adaptable system which every citizen should feel ownership of.

Liver repopulation trial using bone marrow cells in a retrorsine-induced chronic hepatocellular injury model.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine the potential of bone marrow derived cells to participate in liver repopulation. In this model, the injected cells had a "selective growth advantage" compared to the native hepatocytes whose proliferation was blocked by retrorsine. METHODS: Total bone marrow cells were isolated from male Fisher 344 rats not deficient in dipeptidyl peptidase activity (F344, DPP IV+). The animals were given an injection of retrorsine and were divided in 2 groups: 1/group R (N=13): female F344 rats received 4.106 male cells at day 0 (labeled by chromosome Y). 2/group RH (N=19): Male F344 DPP IV- rats received 4.106 male DPP IV+ cells after hepatectomy at day 0 (labelled by DPP IV activity). RESULTS: Group R: no male cell was detected by PCR at day 14, 28, 56 and 84. Group RH: isolated DPP IV+ transplanted cells were observed at days 14 and 28 in the periportal areas. Later, these cells were no longer visible. Liver regeneration occurred by proliferation of small clusters of hepatocytes. CONCLUSIONS: In this experimental model the capacity of transplanted bone marrow cells to repopulate the liver was tested against the same capacity of native liver stem cells. Liver regeneration occurred via native liver cells seen as small hepatocytes. In this model the small hepatocytes may be considered as hepatic stem cells.

[The Direction Générale de la Santé today]. / La Direction générale de la santé aujourd'hui.

The Direction générale de la santé, created fifty years ago as part of the French Ministry of Health, is devoted to public health. Among the current challenges which the Direction générale de la santé must meet are various types of potential health crisis, preparing the country for major health threats, reinforcing disease prevention and risk management, coordinating health institutions at the national level, and promoting French health policies within Europe and internationally.