scholarly journals Low uptake of COVID-19 prevention behaviours and high socioeconomic impact of lockdown measures in South Asia: evidence from a large-scale multi-country surveillance programme

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dian Kusuma ◽  
Rajendra Pradeepa ◽  
Khadija I Khawaja ◽  
Mehedi Hasan ◽  
Samreen Siddiqui ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Disease ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Vegetable Intake ◽  
Economic Impacts ◽  
South Asians ◽  
Critical Time ◽  
Prevention Measures ◽  
Running Water ◽  
Knowledge Access

AbstractBackgroundSouth Asia has become a major epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding South Asians’ awareness, attitudes and experiences of early measures for the prevention of COVID-19 is key to improving the effectiveness and mitigating the social and economic impacts of pandemic responses at a critical time for the Region.MethodsWe assessed the knowledge, behaviours, health and socio-economic circumstances of 29,809 adult men and women, at 93 locations across four South Asian countries. Data were collected during the national lockdowns implemented from March to July 2020, and compared with data collected prior to the pandemic as part of an ongoing prospective surveillance initiative.ResultsParticipants were 61% female, mean age 45.1 years. Almost half had one or more chronic disease, including diabetes (16%), hypertension (23%) or obesity (16%). Knowledge of the primary COVID-19 symptoms and transmission routes was high, but access to hygiene and personal protection resources was low (running water 63%, hand sanitisers 53%, paper tissues 48%). Key preventive measures were not widely adopted. Knowledge, access to, and uptake of COVID-19 prevention measures were low amongst people from disadvantaged socio-economic groups. Fifteen percent of people receiving treatment for chronic diseases reported loss of access to long-term medications; 40% reported symptoms suggestive of anxiety or depression. The prevalence of unemployment rose from 9.3% to 39.4% (P<0.001), and household income fell by 52% (P<0.001) during the lockdown. Younger people and those from less affluent socio-economic groups were most severely impacted. Sedentary time increased by 32% and inadequate fruit and vegetable intake increased by 10% (P<0.001 for both), while tobacco and alcohol consumption dropped by 41% and 80%, respectively (P<0.001), during the lockdown.ConclusionsOur results identified important knowledge, access and uptake barriers to the prevention of COVID-19 in South Asia, and demonstrated major adverse impacts of the pandemic on chronic disease treatment, mental health, health-related behaviours, employment and household finances. We found important sociodemographic differences for impact, suggesting a widening of existing inequalities. Our findings underscore the need for immediate large-scale action to close gaps in knowledge and access to essential resources for prevention, along with measures to safeguard economic production and mitigate socio-economic impacts on the young and the poor.

Legislative tools in the Czech watershed management policy

1996 ◽  
Vol 33 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 39-44
Author(s):  
J. Holas ◽  
M. Konvicková
Keyword(s):  
Watershed Management ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Farming System ◽  
Management Policy ◽  
Running Water ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Law System ◽  
Water Quality Regulations

Potential environmental impacts as a result of large-scale farming system in the Czech Republic have created a great deal of concern in recent years. This concern has led to several studies to identify the role of new regulations, directives and other legislative issues in the field of water pollution control. The set of legislative tools related to watershed management policy to promote better agricultural practices is shortly reviewed. The paper emphasises the running water law system amendment with respect to European community water quality regulations.

scholarly journals Universal Masking to Control Healthcare-Associated Transmission of SARS-CoV-2

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Eliza R. Thompson ◽  
Faith S. Williams ◽  
Pat A. Giacin ◽  
Shay Drummond ◽  
Eric Brown ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Infection Prevention ◽  
Index Patient ◽  
Field Investigation ◽  
Point Prevalence ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Prevention Measures ◽  
Infection Control Measures ◽  
Va Health Care System ◽  
Healthcare Associated

Abstract Objective: To assess extent of a healthcare-associated outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 and evaluate effectiveness of infection control measures, including universal masking Design: Outbreak investigation including 4 large-scale point-prevalence surveys Setting: Integrated VA Health Care System with 2 facilities and 330 beds Participants: Index patient and 250 exposed patients and staff Methods: We identified exposed patients and staff and classified them as probable and confirmed cases based on symptoms and testing. We performed a field investigation and assessment of patient and staff interactions to develop probable transmission routes. Infection prevention interventions implemented included droplet and contact precautions, employee quarantine, and universal masking with medical and cloth facemasks. Four point-prevalence surveys of patient and staff subsets were conducted using real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction for SARS-CoV-2. Results: Among 250 potentially exposed patients and staff, 14 confirmed cases of Covid-19 were identified. Patient roommates and staff with prolonged patient contact were most likely to be infected. The last potential date of transmission from staff to patient was day 22, the day universal masking was implemented. Subsequent point-prevalence surveys in 126 patients and 234 staff identified 0 patient cases and 5 staff cases of Covid-19, without evidence of healthcare-associated transmission. Conclusions: Universal masking with medical facemasks was effective in preventing further spread of SARS-CoV-2 in our facility in conjunction with other traditional infection prevention measures.

scholarly journals Impact of a nutrition award scheme on the food and nutrient intakes of 2- to 4-year-olds attending long day care

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (14) ◽  
pp. 2634-2642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucinda K Bell ◽  
Gilly A Hendrie ◽  
Jo Hartley ◽  
Rebecca K Golley
Keyword(s):  
Dietary Intake ◽  
Day Care ◽  
Dietary Habits ◽  
Vegetable Intake ◽  
Critical Time ◽  
Food Groups ◽  
Nutrient Intakes ◽  
Long Day ◽  
Award Scheme

AbstractObjectiveEarly childhood settings are promising avenues to intervene to improve children’s nutrition. Previous research has shown that a nutrition award scheme, Start Right – Eat Right (SRER), improves long day care centre policies, menus and eating environments. Whether this translates into improvements in children’s dietary intake is unknown. The present study aimed to determine whether SRER improves children’s food and nutrient intakes.DesignPre–post cohort study.SettingTwenty long day care centres in metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.SubjectsChildren aged 2–4 years (n 236 at baseline, n 232 at follow-up).MethodsDietary intake (morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea) was assessed pre- and post-SRER implementation using the plate wastage method. Centre nutrition policies, menus and environments were evaluated as measures of intervention fidelity. Comparisons between baseline and follow-up were made using t tests.ResultsAt follow-up, 80 % of centres were fully compliant with the SRER award criteria, indicating high scheme implementation and adoption. Intake increased for all core food groups (range: 0·2–0·4 servings/d, P<0·001) except for vegetable intake. Energy intake increased and improvements in intakes of eleven out of the nineteen nutrients evaluated were observed.ConclusionsSRER is effective in improving children’s food and nutrient intakes at a critical time point when dietary habits and preferences are established and can inform future public health nutrition interventions in this setting.

scholarly journals How public perceptions of social distancing evolved over a critical time period: communication lessons learnt from the American state of Wisconsin

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (05) ◽  
pp. A11
Author(s):  
Kaiping Chen ◽  
Luye Bao ◽  
Anqi Shao ◽  
Pauline Ho ◽  
Shiyu Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Computational Methods ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Critical Time ◽  
Effective Communication ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Large Scale Survey ◽  
Main Barrier

Understanding how individuals perceive the barriers and benefits of precautionary actions is key for effective communication about public health crises, such as the COVID-19 outbreak. This study used innovative computational methods to analyze 30,000 open-ended responses from a large-scale survey to track how Wisconsin (U.S.A.) residents' perceptions of the benefits of and barriers to performing social distancing evolved over a critical time period (March 19th to April 1st, 2020). Initially, the main barrier was practical related, however, individuals later perceived more multifaceted barriers to social distancing. Communication about COVID-19 should be dynamic and evolve to address people's experiences and needs overtime.

scholarly journals Asian monsoon projection with a new large-scale monsoon definition

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xingang Dai ◽  
Yang Yang ◽  
Ping Wang
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
Moisture Transport ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Asian Monsoon ◽  
Monsoon Season ◽  
Northwest China ◽  
Winter Monsoon ◽  
Climate Simulation ◽  
Northwestern Part

Abstract This paper focuses on Asian monsoon projection with CMIP5 multi-model outputs. A large-scale monsoon herewith is defined as a vector field of vertically integrated moisture flux from the surface to 500 hPa. Results demonstrate that the model ensemble mean underestimated the summer monsoon and overestimated slightly the winter monsoon over South Asia in both CMIP5 historical climate simulation and the monsoon projection for 2006–2015. The major of the bias is the model climate drift (MCD), which is removed in the monsoon projection for 2016–2045 under scenarios RCP4.5 for reducing the uncertainty. The projection shows that two increased moisture flows northward appeared across the Equator of Indian Ocean, the first is nearby Somalia coast toward northwestern part of South Asia, leading to excess rainfall in where the wet jet could reach, and the second starts from the equatorial Sect. (80°E–100°E) toward northeastern Bay of Bengal, leading to more rainfall spreading over the northwestern coast of Indochina Peninsula. In addition, a westward monsoon flow is intensified over the Peninsula leading to local climate moisture transport belt shifted onto South China Sea, which would reduce moisture transport toward Southwest China on one hand, and transport more moisture onto the southeast coast of the China mainland. The anomalous monsoon would result in a dry climate in Northwest China and wet climate in the coast belt during summer monsoon season for the period. Besides, the Asian winter monsoon would be seemingly intensified slightly over South Asia, which would bring a dry winter climate to Indian subcontinent, Northwest China, but would be more rainfall in southeast part of Arabian Peninsula with global climate warming.

Socio-economic impacts derived from large scale restoration in three Great Green Wall countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 87 ◽  
pp. 160-168
Author(s):  
Moctar Sacande ◽  
Marc Parfondry ◽  
Clara Cicatiello ◽  
Giuseppe Scarascia-Mugnozza ◽  
Assoumane Garba ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Economic Impacts ◽  
Green Wall

Abstract P149: A Large-scale Multi Ethnic Study of a Direct Measure of Insulin Sensitivity Demonstrates That South Asians are the Most Insulin Resistant Ethnic Group in the US

Circulation ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 125 (suppl_10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica S Divakaruni ◽  
Fahim Abbasi ◽  
Manisha Desai ◽  
Cynthia A Lamendola ◽  
Latha Palaniappan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Insulin Sensitivity ◽  
Ethnic Group ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
South Asians ◽  
Insulin Resistant ◽  
The Us ◽  
Resistant Group ◽  
Direct Measures

Introduction: Insulin resistance (IR) is a known risk factor for heart disease. Few studies have compared race/ethnic differences in IR using ‘gold standard’ direct measures of insulin sensitivity. Methods: A total of 892 non-diabetic subjects (548 White, 106 South Asian, 103 East Asian, 86 Hispanic and 49 Black) underwent a 4-hour insulin suppression test (IST) as a part of various IR related studies at Stanford over the last ∼20 years. We used generalized estimating equations assuming an exchangeable correlation structure to determine the association between race/ethnicity and steady state plasma glucose (SSPG) derived from an IST, accounting for correlation of outcomes among subjects from the same study. We similarly determined whether differences in plasma triglyceride (TG) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels among race/ethnic groups could be explained by differences in SSPG. All analyses were adjusted for age, sex, and BMI. Results: Significant differences among the race/ethnic groups in SSPG were observed (p <0.001). South Asians were the most insulin resistant group with a mean increase in SSPG of 38 mg/dL, compared to whites after controlling for age, sex, and BMI, a difference equivalent to ∼1/2 of the standard deviation of SSPG. East Asians were the next most resistant group (mean +33 mg/dl SSPG compared to whites) followed by Hispanics (+20 mg/dl), Whites, and Blacks (−7 mg/dl). South Asians were the only group with significantly higher TG (mean +1.16 fold, p=0.04) and lower HDL (−3.0 mg/dl, p=0.02) levels compared to whites but these differences were no longer evident after controlling for SSPG. In contrast, Blacks had significantly lower TG (mean 0.8 fold, p = 0.006) compared to whites, but this difference was not at all mitigated after adjusting for SSPG. Blacks also had no significant differences in HDL compared to whites. Conclusions: Direct measures of insulin sensitivity suggest that South Asians are the most insulin resistant race/ethnic group in the US even after adjusting for the principal determinants of IR. IR may be largely responsible for differences in TG and HDL observed between South Asian and other race/ethnic groups. The etiologies behind differences in insulin sensitivity across race/ethnic groups remain to be determined.

Other risk factors and explanations

2019 ◽  
pp. 173-197
Author(s):  
Raj S. Bhopal
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Vitamin D ◽  
Chronic Disease ◽  
Hypothesis Testing ◽  
Vitamin D Deficiency ◽  
Chronic Inflammation ◽  
Thyroid Dysfunction ◽  
South Asians ◽  
Evaluation Studies ◽  
Anatomy And Physiology

As is usual with medical and scientific puzzles, there have been numerous creative ideas to explain South Asians’ susceptibility to diabetes, CHD, and stroke that have not been developed into either fully articulated hypotheses or have rarely or never been included in hypothesis testing or evaluation studies. These include thyroid dysfunction, lactose intolerance, vitamin B12 and folate deficiency, infection, and chronic inflammation. Vitamin D deficiency has been studied intensively recently in relation to chronic disease including some work on South Asians. Cardiovascular anatomy and physiology has been explored in observational and though these explanations have little theoretical foundation but they need some consideration.

scholarly journals An Opportunities-Based Approach to Mitigating Risks Associated with Infrastructure Development Projects

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 9-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Don Messerschmidt
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Field Experience ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Infrastructure Projects ◽  
Energy And Environment

‘Risk' is a major point of focus in the literature on resettlement and reconstruction associated with the impacts of major infrastructure development on project affected individuals and families. Previous approaches to risk appear to emphasize the negative consequences of development, and it is no wonder then that project affected people often emphatically resist development and change. This paper proposes that a more pro-active, positive opportunities and benefits approach be taken in dealing with resettlement and reconstruction associated with large scale infrastructure projects. The discussion is focused on the eight ‘risk factors' (or ‘opportunity factors'?) listed in the well known ‘Impoverishment Risk and Reconstruction' (IRR) Model. Three more such factors are added to the list based on field experience in South Asia. The point is that by emphasizing the potential opportunities and benefits, project affected people are more likely to be supportive of projects that may disrupt their lives. Key words: Resettlement, opportunities, risk, IRR model, South Asia, infrastructure development  doi: 10.3126/hn.v3i0.1912 Hydro Nepal: Journal of Water, Energy and Environment Issue No. 3, January, 2008 Page 9-15

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