Understanding US Regulatory Bodies

The regulation of teacher education is important to promote quality educator preparation across the world, and many countries have regulatory bodies in the attempt to ensure this. Yet, the quality of teacher education in many corners of the globe is falling. Lack of maintenance and deterioration of professional standards are found in various programs and policies, for example, in access or admission policies, appointment of personnel, infrastructure maintenance, and modes or styles of delivering pedagogical skills, among others. Teacher education programs around the world are not governed by a single system. There are various modes though which teacher education is offered, such as departments of education in universities or institutions, independent teacher education universities or institutions, and the like. Regulatory bodies regarding teacher education, which originated after the middle of the 20th century, mainly perform these prime functions: provide recognition or affiliation to the teacher education institutions based on certain criteria; set standards for the infrastructure of the institutions for running the programs; define or regulate the curricula of the programs; and formulate guidelines for the award of certificates, diplomas, and degrees. The nature and functions of regulatory bodies vary from country to country, keeping in mind the contextual demand of teacher education in the respective countries. Teacher education regulatory bodies are more visible in federal or decentralized countries because of the diverse features and complex nature of their teacher education systems. A regulatory body becomes dysfunctional when it deviates from its main concerns and objectives; for example, it is observed in some cases a regulatory body of teacher education performs accreditation-related functions, whereas in other cases the accreditation body of education performs the regulatory function of teacher education. Yet, the regulatory bodies of teacher education should work according to the mandates and objectives entrusted to them. When a regulatory body of teacher education system is free from impediments that affect it and works with zeal to achieve its mandates, it can effectively increase the quality of the teacher education system. The stakeholders of a teacher education system feel better about the system when its regulatory body is transparent, constructive, and trustworthy.

Cosmetics are products used for enhancing or maintaining the appearance of the human body. They include skincare, haircare, fragrances, and personal hygiene products. While cosmetics can provide various benefits, they may also pose risks to consumers’ health and safety. As a result, many countries have established regulatory bodies to ensure the safety and efficacy of cosmetic products. Regulatory bodies are responsible for setting and enforcing standards for cosmetic products to protect consumers from potential harm. They evaluate the safety and effectiveness of ingredients used in cosmetics and establish guidelines for labeling, advertising, and packaging. Some of the major regulatory bodies that oversee cosmetics include the US Food and Drug Administration, the European Commission, and Health Canada. Regulatory bodies typically require cosmetic manufacturers to conduct safety assessments on their products and ingredients before they can be marketed to consumers. These assessments involve evaluating the potential toxicity, skin irritation, and other potential risks associated with the product or ingredient. Regulatory bodies also conduct postmarket surveillance to monitor adverse reactions and to ensure that products continue to meet safety and quality standards. Furthermore, regulatory bodies play a crucial role in ensuring that cosmetics are safe and effective for consumers. The regulations and guidelines they establish help to protect consumers from potential health risks associated with cosmetic products. The important regulatory frameworks governing cosmetic and herbal cosmetic products in various areas and nations have been briefly summarized in this chapter. It is crucial to follow these rules to guarantee product safety and safeguard customer interests. Companies need to keep aware as the cosmetics industry develops and reacts to the shifting regulatory environment.

A good physician must be both clinically and ethically competent. High ethical standards are especially important in psychiatry in which several unique challenges present due to a vulnerable patient population, intimate physician–patient relationships, diagnoses made on signs and symptoms rather than irrefutable laboratory investigations, and therapeutic options directed at altering thinking and behaviour. It is critical that psychiatric training equip practitioners with the ability to identify ethical dilemmas in clinical practice and research and respond appropriately. Despite a call to action and the development of guidelines for ethical practice by several regulatory bodies, formal ethics teaching in psychiatry training programmes is still in embryonic stages in the developed world and virtually non-existent in the developing world. Here we highlight the current status of bioethics teaching in psychiatry residency programmes in Pakistan, an example of a developing country where such training is vital, as unethical practices abound in resource-poor settings where clinical and research practices are non-transparent and there are no effective regulatory, legal and accountability bodies. It is critical and urgent that needs-responsive bioethics curricula are developed, institutionalized and implemented in medical schools and post-graduate training programs across the developing world.“Take-home” points• Bioethics teaching should be a key, assessed component of all psychiatric training programmes• Bioethics curricula should be culturally contextual, responsive to stakeholder needs and geared towards preparing psychiatrists for ethical clinical practice and research, bioethics teaching and institutional leadershipFuture directions• Comprehensive needs assessment studies should be conducted to document current bioethics-related knowledge and attitudes in psychiatry training programmes in developing countries• Development, institutionalization and dissemination of needs-responsive bioethics curricula for psychiatry programmes in developing countries

This article centres on the state's obligation to ensure that third party non-state actors do not interfere with the enjoyment of economic and social rights (ESR) by rights-holders. In it, the author analyses and compares the different ways in which regional bodies deal with the obligation to protect ESR, seeking to account for the variety in their approaches. Amongst other things, the article highlights the way in which the regional bodies in question have referred to, and relied on, the jurisprudence of other international and regional human rights entities in fleshing out the state's obligation to protect ESR under their own legal frameworks. While focusing on the obligation to protect ESR in particular, the author's findings cast light more generally on the interpretation and application of ESR by the regional human rights bodies under consideration.

Standards of physiotherapy practice by respective regulatory bodies and authorities is well documented. However, the triad alignment reported, and efforts taken by physiotherapy stakeholders is unclear and limited. This article aims to highlight any constructive alignment that exist between the three stakeholders namely the regulatory bodies, employers and the higher educational institutions (HEIs). Literature searched was conducted using Google Scholar using keywords on "physiotherapy standards", "clinical competence", "regulatory bodies" and "physiotherapy". Results showed evidence of physiotherapy regulatory bodies, educational institutions and healthcare employers advocating standards of physiotherapy. Physiotherapy authorities advocates the standards of physiotherapy competence, while educational institutions develop various competency assessment tools to measure the outlined standards on their physiotherapy graduate's. However, the healthcare providers' (employers) feedback on their expected employability skills is not promising. Evidence suggest discrepancy in the alignment, between these stakeholders and an improved mechanism could be proposed to ensure these standards are well communicated and integrated. Such constructive alignment is imperative in ensuring the physiotherapy workforce produced meet the current 21st century health care demands for optimal patient outcome.

Health care professionals face medicolegal threats from numerous quarters - complaints, inquests, litigation, and investigation with possible disciplinary action by their regulatory body. To the individual practitioner the regulatory body is the most personal, as not only do they run the risk of public criticism by the regulatory body but also the possibility of censure. Sanction may include the temporary or permanent loss of their ability to practise with concomitant loss of income.

This study focused on understanding challenges within creative development of advertising industry in Malaysia. This will be analysed through the adaptation that needed to be made by key industry players from two advertising self-regulatory guidelines in Malaysia which are Malaysia Advertising Codes of Practice and Malaysian (The Code) and Multimedia Content Forum of Malaysia (the Content Forum). Both code of conduct is a crucial part of the advertising regulatory framework as it justifies the mechanism behind industry implementation in any kind of advertising messages intended. Using Sternberg & Lubart (1995) Investment Theory of Creativity, this article analyses the idea behind regulatory bodies' rules, focusing on the role of the contemporary advertising creative quality and whether it generates the ability in moulding freedom or restrictions towards industry players. Through purposive sampling, informants were selected within advertising industry professionals such as advertising agencies and brand experts. The historical context and current state of Malaysia's advertising environment were better understood due to the insights from and in-depth interview conducted between regulatory bodies, brand experts, and advertising agency representatives. Outcome of the findings have developed six key concepts to reflect the challenges such as Relationship between client and advertising agencies, Societal acceptance of the creative work, Invasion of social media in advertising, Limited resources for prestige award submission, Layers of approval authority, and Decreasing creative talent pool within Malaysia.

The promotion of Portuguese language and culture through radio broadcasters is one of the statutory requirements established by law. Considering that the state media regulatory body (Entidade Reguladora para a Comunicação Social - ERC) is responsible for regulating and monitoring media activity in Portugal, it shall verify compliance with these rules which are postulated by a system of quotas for the Portuguese music broadcasting. We consider this system an essential starting point in order to assess the quest for the Portuguese identity and consolidation through radio. This assessment is based on a certain understanding of language: a legalistic approach derived from the wording of the law that foresees language as a crucial element for the definition of a so-called Portuguese identity and as a constitutive premise of a cultural pattern. 
 Bearing in mind the legal framework for the radio and for the regulatory body, we scrutinize broadcasters’ performance according to the established system of quotas through the analysis of the regulatory body’s findings stated in the ERC’s 2009 Report of Regulation.
 This article deconstructs the significance of the system of quotas for the Portuguese music broadcasting considering a regulatory approach on behalf of legal imperatives in terms of identity, language and culture promotion, trying to answer some questions: What are radio broadcasters expected to do? What legal imperatives do they have to follow? Do they actually comply with them? What kind of intervention does the Portuguese regulatory body develop in this matter?

Assistive technology services and devices support the participation and inclusion of people living with disability. In Australia, the regulatory bodies, agencies and schemes that manage assistive technology provision are governed by national and / or state-based Acts and Legislation. This study examined the assistive technology sector from the perspective of the regulatory bodies, agencies and schemes. Regulatory bodies, agencies and schemes that manage funding for assistive technology in Australia were identified by the research team. A website audit reviewed publicly available documents and information. Semi-structured interviews with representatives from the agencies and schemes were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The audit (n =17) found that the range and level of information publicly available was variable. The availability of assistive technology for driving and transport, design and building for access and safety, and mobility was most often promoted. The qualitative findings (n = 11) indicated variability and challenges within four themes: operationalising the legislation; internal assistive technology processes; reasonable and necessary; and risks in the assistive technology pathway. Regulatory bodies, agencies and schemes are critical to the effectiveness of the sector. The findings identified opportunities for the organisations to review how internal processes are communicated publicly, and for the sector to address the perceived risks related to health professional availability, knowledge and skills, and limited accessibility to trial assistive technology. Subsequent studies explored the perspectives of the assistive technology advisors and suppliers and the recipients of assistive technology services and devices.

The regulation of health and social care professionals has entered a new era. On 2 April 2014, the joint Law Commission of England and Wales, the Scottish Law Commission, and the Northern Irish Law Commission published their long awaited final report and draft bill on the future regulation of healthcare professionals, and in England only, the regulation of social workers.1 The report is the culmination of more than 3 years work to review the UK’s legislation for the nine regulatory bodies governed by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA). The General Medical Council (GMC) is one of the nine regulatory bodies within the remit of the project. The GMC currently operates under the Medical Act 1983 with each of the other regulatory bodies also operating using their own specific legal framework. The Draft Regulation of Health and Social Care Professionals etc Bill 2014 will provide a more flexible and consistent framework for all regulators of health and social care professionals. The draft bill will replace the current separate legislation with a single statutory framework for all regulatory bodies. This will give regulators greater operational autonomy and impose greater consistency between the regulators in certain key areas where it is in the public interest to do so, such as fitness to practise adjudication. The draft bill introduces a number of changes that will potentially affect all practising GPs. Every GP in the UK is aware of the need to be …

The importance of using standardized terminology in titles and abstracts of pharmacy practice articles.

Regional cooperation on health in Africa is not new. The institutional landscape of regional cooperation for health and health research, however, has seen important changes. Recent health emergencies have focussed regional bodies' attention on supporting aspects of national health preparedness and response. The state of national health research systems is a key element of capacity to plan and respond to health needs - raising questions about the roles African regional bodies can or should play in strengthening health research systems. We mapped regional organisations involved in health research across Africa and conducted 18 interviews with informants from 15 regional organisations. We investigated the roles, challenges, and opportunities of these bodies in strengthening health research. We deductively coded interview data using themes from established pillars of health research systems - governance, creating resources, research production and use, and financing. We analysed organisations' relevant activities in these areas, how they do this work, and where they perceive impact. Regional organisations with technical foci on health or higher education (versus economic or political remits) were involved in all four areas. Most organisations reported activities in governance and research use. Involvement in governance centred mainly around agenda-setting and policy harmonisation. For organisations involved in creating resources, activities focused on strengthening human resources, but few reported developing research institutions, networks, or infrastructure. Organisations reported more involvement in disseminating than producing research. Generally, few have directly contributed to financing health research. Informants reported gaps in research coordination, infrastructure, and advocacy at regional level. Finally, we found regional bodies' mandates, authority, and collaborations influence their activities in supporting national health research systems. Continued strengthening of health research on the African continent requires strategic thinking about the roles, comparative advantages, and capability of regional organisations to facilitate capacity and growth of health research systems.

This is a literature review that entails prioritised areas of research in order to unpack local/regional manufacture of pharmaceutical commodities in sub-Saharan Africa. The specific objectives of the study shall entail: establishing the key research questions that need to be asked to inform governments if they want to develop their local manufacturing capability; determining the key research questions that need to be asked by regional bodies if they want to develop regional manufacturing capability; establishing the steps that governments should take if they want to develop their local manufacturing capability/industry; determining key considerations for regional bodies as they develop regional manufacturing capability; and, developing a prioritised research framework of key considerations for governments and regional bodies as they develop local manufacturing capability. The research output is expected to be a comprehensive knowledge repository for governments, regional bodies and private sector investors with interests in local/regional manufacture of pharmaceutical commodities in sub-Saharan Africa. The establishment of regional manufacturing hubs in Eastern, Western, Central and Southern African regions is highly recommended. This hubs could begin with pharmaceutical commodities such as tablets, capsules and general antibiotics with emphasis on importation of APIs.

In order to fulfil its mission, the Belgian Regulatory Body (constituted in Belgium by FANC and Bel V) has set up its own Research & Development programme, independent from the Waste Management Organisation's one. The Regulatory Body's Research & Development programme is mostly intended to investigate safety issues with the objective to be able to assess if the safety concept developed by the Waste Management Organisation fulfils the defined safety requirements. It includes the development and the follow-up of in situ experiments in underground research laboratories (e.g. in the Mont Terri project in Switzerland and at Tournemire in France). Such activities are essential to maintain and improve the scientific and technical skills, to strengthen the independence from the Waste Management Organisation and to build public confidence in the regulatory function. More generally, Research & Development in underground research laboratories is important to the Regulatory Body as it allows investigating processes, technologies and activities important to safety under in situ conditions. In particular, it is essential to accurately identify and characterize the processes upon which the safety functions of a disposal system rely, as well as processes that may affect the system performance. It is also necessary to demonstrate that construction and operational methods and technologies are technically feasible and can be implemented as assumed in the safety case. Such research and development activities are of great importance to properly manage some of the key uncertainties associated with a disposal programme and in particular to identify, characterize and reduce them where needed.

This study looked at broadcasting regulatory bodies in eight Arab countries: Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Mauritania, through a comparative normative analysis. It also sought to discover the real objectives behind establishing these bodies by looking at the extent of the powers granted to them and the degree of their independence from government agencies, and their ability to perform their tasks without being subjected to political interference. Finally, the research assessed the extent to which these bodies can reorganize the broadcasting services to ensure the diversity in views and expressive languages about it in the programs. The study reached a number of results, the most important of which is that these regulatory bodies, which were described as independent, do not respond to the international standards in the field of broadcasting regulation and that they do not enjoy sufficient independence from the government; however, the establishment of these bodies does not reflect a radical shift in the policies of these countries In its dealings with the audio-visual media sector, which is still largely subject to the interference and control of the government. Keywords: media regulation, regulatory bodies, media policies, broadcasting