Retention of medical doctors and nurses in rural areas of Odisha state, India – a policy analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 178-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manas Ranjan Behera ◽  
Chardsumon Prutipinyo ◽  
Nithat Sirichotiratana ◽  
Chukiat Viwatwongkasem
Keyword(s):  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Financial Incentives ◽  
World Health ◽  
Medical Doctors ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Personal Support ◽  
The Government ◽  
Doctors And Nurses

Purpose Retention of medical doctors and nurses in remote and rural areas is a key issue in India. The purpose of this paper is to assess the relevant policies and provisions with respect to health care professionals, aiming to develop feasible retention strategies in rural areas of Odisha state of India. Design/methodology/approach The study employed documentary review and key informant interviews with policy elites (health planners, policy maker, researchers, etc.). The document review included published and unpublished reports, policy notifications and articles on human resources for health (HRH) in Odisha and similar settings. Throughout the study, the authors adapted World Health Organization’s framework to study policies relevant to HRH retention in rural areas. The adapted framework comprised of the four policy domains, education, regulation, financial incentives, professional and personal support, and 16 recommendations. Findings In Odisha, the district quota system for admission is not practiced; however, students from special tribal and caste (Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste) communities, Socially and Educationally Backward Classes of citizens, and Persons with Disabilities have some allocated quota to study medicine and nursing. Medical education has a provision of community placement in rural hospitals. In government jobs, the newly recruited medical doctors serve a minimum of three years in rural areas. Doctors are given with location-based incentives to work in remote and difficult areas. The government has career development, deployment, and promotion avenues for doctors and nurses; however, these provisions are not implemented effectively. Originality/value The government could address the rural retention problems, as illustrated in the study and put in place the most effective policies and provisions toward recruitment, deployment and attraction of HRH in remote and rural areas. At the same time, implementation HRH strategies and activities must be rigorously monitored and evaluated effectively.

Research on Understanding the vulnerabilities of Children with Disabilities Living in Alternative Care

2021 ◽  
pp. 234930032110228
Author(s):  
Shamim Ferdous ◽  
Mohammad Deloar Hossain
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Children With Disabilities ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
World Health ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽  
Residential Institutions ◽  
The Government

Children with disabilities (CWDs) are one of the most marginalised and excluded groups in the society. Facing daily discrimination in the form of negative attitudes, lack of adequate policies and legislation, they are effectively barred from realising their rights to healthcare, education and even survival. It has been estimated that exposure towards all forms of violence against CWDs is four-time greater than that of children without disabilities. Bangladesh has an estimated 7–10 million CWDs (out of a total of 72 million children, World Health Organisation Report). Most of the time, these children are treated as a burden to their families or the community and thus become subject to violence. There are very few specialised institutions with residential facility to take care of them. So, they are institutionalised in general residential institutions at a significantly higher rate than other children. But both the special and general residential institutions have lack of skilled human resources and knowledge of the special situation and needs of CWDs. Peer groups of the CWDs are also less sensitised, which result in further stigma and discrimination of CWDs. A 2010 study was done by the Ministry of Women and children Affairs. The findings from interviews with adolescents’ aged 13–16 in 12 locations of Dhaka City revealed their extreme vulnerability. In 2010, a study by Bangladesh Protibondhi Foundation that conducted a survey supported by the Save the Children Sweden–Denmark found that 51.4% of CWDs are either at risk of sexual abuse (12.5%) or have been sexually abused (38.9%).The government of Bangladesh has taken a number of legislative and policy steps that indicate commitment to advancing the rights of persons with disabilities. In terms of international instruments, Department of Social Services under Ministry of Social Welfare operates various types of institutions for the children and also CWDs. The study will adopt qualitative and quantitative methods to collect information from both primary and secondary sources and also assess the situation of government non-government organisations/religious institutions where CWDs have residential facilities in order to understand which factors contribute to increased vulnerability of these children.

Scientific approach using AHP to prioritize low volume rural roads for pavement maintenance

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Akhilesh Nautiyal ◽  
Sunil Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Socioeconomic Development ◽  
Public Works ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Road Transportation ◽  
Rural Roads ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Pavement Maintenance ◽  
Low Volume ◽  
The Government

PurposeA large number of roads have been constructed in the rural areas of India to connect habitations with the nearest major roads. With time, the pavements of these roads have deteriorated and they need some kind of maintenance, although they all do not need maintenance at the same time, as they have all not deteriorated to the same level. Hence, they have to be prioritized for maintenance.Design/methodology/approachIn order to present a scientific methodology for prioritizing pavement maintenance, the factors affecting prioritization and the relative importance of each were identified through an expert survey. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to scientifically establish weight (importance) of each factor based on its relative importance over other factors. The proposed methodology was validated through a case study of 203 low volume rural roads in the state of Himachal Pradesh in India. Ranking of these roads in order of their priority for maintenance was presented as the final result.FindingsThe results show that pavement distresses, traffic volume, type of connectivity and the socioeconomic facilities located along a road are the four major factors to be considered in determining the priority of a road for maintenance.Research limitations/implicationsThe methodology provides a comprehensive, scientific and socially responsible pavement maintenance prioritization method which will automatically select roads for maintenance without any bias.Practical implicationsTimely maintenance of roads will also save budgetary expenditure of restoration/reconstruction, leading to enhancement of road service life. The government will not only save money but also provide timely benefit to the needy population.Social implicationsRoad transportation is the primary mode of inland transportation in rural areas. Timely maintenance of the pavements will be of great help to the socioeconomic development of rural areas.Originality/valueThe proposed methodology lays special emphasis on rural roads which are small in length, but large in number. Instead of random, a scientific method for selection of roads for maintenance will be of great help to the public works department for better management of rural road network.

Forty years of rural reform in China: retrospect and future prospects

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 460-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiwen Chen
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Agricultural Policies ◽  
Timely Manner ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Rural Reform ◽  
Fields Of Study ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Government

Purpose Bottlenecked by rural underdevelopment, China’s overall development is bound to be inadequate and unbalanced. Through a brief retrospect of the reform directed against the “equalitarianism (egalitarianism)” in China’s rural areas, as well as the Chinese Government’s conceptual transformation and systemic construction and improvement thereof, the purpose of this paper is to clarify the panoramic significance of rural reform; the necessity, priority, and long-term nature of the current rural development; and the important role of public policy in doing so. It also looks ahead to consider the prospects for future rural reform. Design/methodology/approach This paper first reviews the rural reforms that were carried out in 1978. Second, it introduces the government’s conceptual change regarding rural reform and the establishment and improvement of the system that underlies it. Finally, the future of rural reform is envisaged. Findings The initial rural reforms brought extensive and profound changes to China’s rural areas. The experience of rural reform has been referred to and escalated by other fields of study. Hence, rural reforms have become something of global significance. Moreover, since the government can undertake reforms well beyond the reach of farmers, its views must be modified in a timely manner, and only then may it reasonably construct and improve the system pertaining to the “three rural issues (agriculture, rural areas, and farmers).” Originality/value This paper reviews the rural reforms carried out in 1978. It introduces the government’s change of concept with respect to rural reforms and the establishment and improvement of the system based on the “three rural issues,” thus looking forward to the future of rural reforms. The findings of this paper are of significance to the formulation of future agricultural policies.

scholarly journals Co-exploring the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the livelihood of persons with disabilities in Bangladesh

2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adity Shayontony Das ◽  
Fatema Akter Bonny ◽  
Arifa Bente Mohosin ◽  
Sabina Faiz Rashid ◽  
Md Tanvir Hasan
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
World Health ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Formal Sector ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Household Level ◽  
The Government ◽  
Health Organization

Background: According to World Health Organization (WHO), vulnerable groups such as persons with disabilities are facing severe impacts of the pandemic. There has always been significant challenges and hurdles in terms of achieving adequate and equitable inclusivity of persons with disabilities in all sections of social life. Education and employment of persons with disabilities were least focused which created more marginalization for the community. The long term impact of these marginalization has also led to the lack of jobs and social security of persons with disabilities, which is very clear now given the crisis in place. In low and middle income countries like Bangladesh the situation is even worse. To better understand the conditions of persons with disabilities in this crisis situation, the present study was initiated to explore the dimensions of livelihood with respect to income and wellbeing of persons with disabilities and to generate evidence for developing policies around these issues.Methods: A qualitative study was undertaken among 30 persons with disabilities from 8 different geographical divisions of Bangladesh. The interviews were conducted through telephone calls due to the existing COVID-19 crisis and mobility restrictions. The respondents were purposively selected based on gender, type of disability, area of resident (urban, rural) and their ability to communicate, therefore most (25/30) respondents were persons with physical disability. Thematic analysis was conducted to generate the findings of the study.Findings: Study findings revealed that majority of the respondents were involved in informal jobs. Predominantly males were daily wage-earners and often the sole breadwinner of the families, very few females were involved in economic activities. Since they had no stable income, the economic shock from the COVID-19 pandemic had affected them badly even leading to household level famine. The study identifies low level of education and informal job security as the primary causes of socio-economic insecurity among persons with disabilities, resulting in challenges in ensuring a stable livelihood during crisis situations, such as COVID-19.Conclusion: Constant alienation of persons of disabilities from the formal sector results in the deterioration of their livelihood standards which even worsen during any emergency crisis such as COVID-19. The study pinpoints that only aided services are not adequate to ensure persons with disabilities' rights rather there is an urgent need of disability inclusion in formal job sector and livelihood training for persons with disabilities. To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and to irradiate the inequality towards persons with disabilities in the society it is important for the Government and concern bodies to focus on the inclusiveness with better implementation and monitoring strategies.

Evaluation of access to electricity and the socioeconomic effects in rural and urban expanses of Nigeria

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Toluwalope Ogunro ◽  
Luqman Afolabi
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
National Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Rural And Urban Areas ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
The Government ◽  
Electricity Access

PurposeRecently, multidimensional aspects of poverty has been increasingly focused on which includes education, economy and health, while access to modern energy such as stable electricity is also one of the possible solution; thus, this article aims to divulge the relation between access to electricity and progression in socioeconomic status in urban and rural areas of Nigeria in an attempt to propose a sustainable framework for access to electricity.Design/methodology/approachDemographic and health survey data are collected using four categories of model of questionnaires. A standard questionnaire was designed to gather information on features of the household's dwelling element and attributes of visitors and usual residents between the 2018 period. Biomarker questionnaire was used to gather biomarker data on men, women and children. Logistic model estimation technique was employed to estimate the socioeconomic factors affecting access to electricity in Nigeria.FindingsThese studies discovered that there are diverse set of factors affecting access to electricity in Nigeria especially in the rural areas. However, respondent residing in rural areas are still largely deprived access to electricity; most importantly, households with no access to electricity are more likely to use self-generating sets as revealed. Additionally, empirical findings indicated that the higher the level of your education and wealth, the higher the likelihood of having access to electricity in Nigeria. These factors included political will to connect the rural areas to the national grid, development of other infrastructures in those deprived areas and others.Practical implicationsThe problem confronting access to electricity in Nigeria has three components. The first is the significance of those deprived access to electricity in the rural areas and the physical resources needed to connect them to the national grid. The second is the political willingness of the government to have equitable distribution of public goods evenly between rural and urban areas especially on electricity access which will go a long way in reducing poverty in Nigeria. The third is lack of robust national development plans and strategy to tackle the problems facing electricity access in Nigeria.Social implicationsAs the rate of socioeconomic status/development increases, access to electricity is anticipated to rise up in Nigeria.Originality/valueThe findings can be used by the policy makers to address problems facing access to electricity in Nigeria.

scholarly journals Final orientation for new graduates on the highest attainable standard of health

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 362-365
Author(s):  
Samlee Plianbangchang
Keyword(s):  
Self Care ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Individual Responsibility ◽  
World Health ◽  
Public Health Workforce ◽  
Content Type ◽  
New Graduates ◽  
National Medical ◽  
The Government ◽  
Health Organization

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the importance of taking responsibility for our own self-care as fundamental to achieving optimum healthcare at all levels: family, community and country. However, for self-care to work at its best, the support of the government and the national medical and public health workforce are required in addition to increased facilities that ensure the development and long-term maintenance of a person’s health status. Moreover, inter-disciplinary government policy, strategy and resource support should be placed as a central part of the national healthcare development system. Design/methodology/approach It is a commentary piece of work from own long experience in working with the World Health Organization. Findings The value of self-care and individual responsibility in achieving one’s own good health ultimately results in improved national and global health standards. Originality/value This commentary explores the ideas and concepts on ways and means of leading people to think and act toward achieving their own optimum health in order to lead a socially and economically productive life and ultimately achieve “the highest attainable standard of health,” a WHO objective.

scholarly journals COVID-19 – what do we know and how are we dealing with it? A quick online cross-sectional study in India

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashwani Verma ◽  
Dhanshree R Gunjawate ◽  
Sanny Bhushan Kumar ◽  
CNV Sai Bharath ◽  
Rohit Ravi
Keyword(s):  
Preventive Measure ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
World Health ◽  
Good Knowledge ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Home Based ◽  
The Government ◽  
Infection Spread

PurposeCoronavirus disease 2019 is a global public health emergency affecting almost the entire world. The exponential spread of the infection has become a matter of concern. The study aims to determine how well people in India know about COVID-19 outbreak and actions taken to cope up during lockdown.Design/methodology/approachA total of 5,000 randomly selected participants were sent the survey link, of which 1,526 responded (response rate of 30.5%). The survey was conducted from March 28 till March 31, 2020. The 20-item questionnaire aimed to determine how well people know about COVID-19 outbreak as well as actions taken to cope up during the lockdown. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the findings.FindingsParticipants exhibited good knowledge about the primary and secondary symptoms of COVID-19 and infection spread. Over 95% participants knew preventive measures such as use of masks, sanitizers and hand wash. And, 80% of the participants felt that steps taken by the government are effective, while 93% opined that lockdown would be effective. There was apprehension regarding the infection spread, its containment and age group affected. Over 60% referred the World Health Organization website as their source of information. During the lockdown, participants engaged in home-based exercise (39%) and yoga (28%) for fitness while used social media (64%) and television (63%) for entertainment.Originality/valueAlthough participants exhibited good knowledge related to symptoms and preventive measure related to COVID-19, the beliefs related to infection spread and containment need to be addressed. These should be targeted through health promotional campaigns focusing on mental health and home-based physical activities.

Falling inequality will help China 'rebalance' economy

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
National Bureau ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Hukou Reform ◽  
The Government ◽  
People's Congress ◽  
Opinion Polls ◽  
Official Corruption

Subject Inequality in China. Significance 'Income distribution' is the social issue of greatest concern to the Chinese public, according to opinion polls by Xinhua and the People's Daily ahead of the National People's Congress (NPC) currently underway in Beijing. However, the latest data from China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicate, paradoxically, that income inequality has actually narrowed for six successive years. Impacts Though falling, inequality is still high enough to weaken political stability. Greater equality will not earn the government as much popular support as cracking down on official corruption and conspicuous consumption. Urbanisation and household registration (hukou) reform will redress imbalances that have disadvantaged people from rural areas.

Colombia peace talks offer scope for organised crime

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Peace Treaty ◽  
Western Coast ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Criminal Violence ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
The Government ◽  
Criminal Groups

Subject The rising threat from BACRIM. Significance Organised criminal groups are now the non-state actors most frequently responsible for internal displacement of Colombians, according to a recent UN report. There is also evidence that the so-called BACRIM (criminal bands) are seeking to fill the vacuum after an eventual demobilisation of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The BACRIM, and Los Urabenos in particular, have expanded control over rural areas and the mining sector, posing a threat as the government seeks to attract foreign investment to boost development in a post-conflict environment. Impacts Criminal violence in cities along the western coast is already causing damage to Colombia's international image. Increased insecurity perceptions risk marring the political and economic benefits the government expects from the peace process. Criminal groups such as Los Urabenos will benefit from the vacuum left by the FARC if a peace treaty is signed later this year.

Smuggling will weigh on Tunisian economy and politics

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
Coalition Government ◽  
Security Threats ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Tax Revenues ◽  
Border Towns ◽  
General Elections ◽  
The Government

Significance Essid has been working to form a new coalition government since general elections in late December. The new unity government will face tremendous pressure to jumpstart the economy, ensure political stability, and counter growing security threats. One major challenge -- cross-border smuggling -- poses a particularly serious threat to the new government. Smuggling costs the government some 615 million dollars per year, representing nearly 5% of total tax revenues, and undermines legitimate trade, further damaging growth. Impacts If the government fails to address smuggling, it will continue to lose critical revenue. Yet cracking down on smuggling will probably meet with considerable opposition -- particularly in rural areas and border towns. The new government's lack of a decisive mandate will impede reforms.

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