Côte d’Ivoire

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 336-366
Author(s):  
Kwesi Aning
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Military Intervention ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Identity Crisis ◽  
Weak State ◽  
Proximate Factors ◽  
The Face ◽  
Decisive Action ◽  
Atrocity Crimes ◽  
Horizontal Inequalities

Abstract Côte d’Ivoire first experienced a civil war in 2002, but the country’s rapid socio-political disintegration after the demise of Félix Houphouët-Boigny in 1993 produced several risk factors that would eventually culminate in atrocity crimes between 2010 and 2011. This article identifies a weak state that only exercised jurisdiction over the south of the country, years of instability driven by horizontal inequalities and an identity crisis, past abuses that had gone unpunished, and election disputes that served as triggers for atrocity crimes. The deeply polarized nature of Ivorian society meant that local mechanisms for resolving disputes and building peace were not wholly effective, even though they helped to resolve disputes and prevent violence in some local communities. Findings from the Ivorian case demonstrate the need to pay closer attention to the structural and proximate factors that underpin conflicts. Côte d’Ivoire also presents lessons on the need for decisive action in the face of unfolding atrocity crimes. There was a need for timely and decisive response in accordance with the principles of R2P. Nonetheless military intervention was delayed for months, resulting in avoidable fatalities.

scholarly journals Afro-Communitarianism and the Role of Traditional African Healers in the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luís Cordeiro-Rodrigues ◽  
Thaddeus Metz
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Capital ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Preventive Measures ◽  
Healthcare Systems ◽  
Traditional Healers ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Ethical Perspective ◽  
The Face

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant challenges to healthcare systems worldwide, and in Africa, given the lack of resources, they are likely to be even more acute. The usefulness of Traditional African Healers in helping to mitigate the effects of pandemic has been neglected. We argue from an ethical perspective that these healers can and should have an important role in informing and guiding local communities in Africa on how to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Particularly, we argue not only that much of the philosophy underlying Traditional African Medicine is adequate and compatible with preventive measures for COVID-19, but also that Traditional African Healers have some unique cultural capital for influencing and enforcing such preventive measures. The paper therefore suggests that not only given the cultural context of Africa where Traditional African Healers have a special role, but also because of the normative strength of the Afro-communitarian philosophy that informs it, there are good ethical reasons to endorse policies that involve Traditional Healers in the fight against COVID-19. We also maintain that concerns about Traditional African Healers objectionably violating patient confidentiality or being paternalistic are much weaker in the face of COVID-19.

scholarly journals Toward local sustainability: Social capital as a community insurance in Kazakhstan

2021 ◽  
pp. 187936652110381
Author(s):  
Yuliya Darmenova ◽  
EunJoo Koo
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Market Economy ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Mutual Trust ◽  
Historical Evidence ◽  
Reciprocal Relations ◽  
Local Sustainability ◽  
The Face ◽  
Traditional Sense

This article focuses on how social capital, in the form of trust, reciprocal relations, and networks, has contributed to the sustainability of local communities in Kazakhstan in the face of various political and socioeconomic challenges. Drawing on qualitative data, we provide historical evidence of the persistence of locally derived social capital and investigate the ways in which it contributed to local sustainability in Kazakhstan. We first discuss how people in Kazakhstan have historically built and developed networks, reciprocal relations, and mutual trust under different political and economic institutions, for example, in the form of reciprocal labor aid as part of nomadic culture (e.g., “Asar”) and collective funds (e.g., “Kotel”) during Soviet times. We then offer an in-depth understanding of social capital as a form of insurance for local communities, and how it facilitates socioeconomic interactions in contemporary Kazakh society. This study contributes to the understanding of this traditional sense of trust and communal cooperation, as well as its viability in the context of a market economy.

Pediatric dog bites: a population-based profile

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 290-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jackson Fein ◽  
David Bogumil ◽  
Jeffrey S Upperman ◽  
Rita V Burke
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Data Bank ◽  
Population Based ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Region ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Dog Bites ◽  
Severity Of Injury ◽  
The Face ◽  
At Home

BackgroundPrevious studies have identified risk factors for dog bites in children, but use data from individual trauma centers, with limited generalizability. This study identifies a population risk profile for pediatric dog bites using the National Trauma Data Bank. We hypothesized that the population at risk was younger boys, that such bites occur at home, are moderately severe, and are on the face or neck.MethodsFor this retrospective cross-sectional study, a sample of 7912 children 17 years old and younger with International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-9 event code E906.0, for dog bites, were identified. Datasets from 2007 to 2014 were used. Data included patient’s gender, age, ICD-9 primary and location E-codes, AIS body region and AIS severity.ResultsMost children were 6–12 years old and female, but a similar number fell into the narrower range of 0–2 years old. Injuries in the younger group frequently occurred at home, on the face and head, and with minor severity. Age of the child predicts the location of incident (P<0.001), the severity of injury (P<0.001) and the body region of the injury (P<0.001). Body region of the injury predicted its severity (P<0.001).DiscussionYounger children are more likely to receive dog bites, and bites incurred are likely of greater severity. Children this young cannot yet be taught how to properly interact with a dog.ConclusionsDog bites are a significant source of morbidity for children. Based on the population risk factors profile generated, this study recommends targeting live dog education towards the parents of young children.

A qualitative exploration of the prescribing and use of statins in asymptomatic people in Ireland: A case of medicalisation, biomedicalisation and pharmaceuticalisation

2020 ◽  
pp. 136345932094606
Author(s):  
Paula Byrne ◽  
Órla O’Donovan ◽  
Susan M Smith ◽  
John Cullinan
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
High Cholesterol ◽  
Medical Problems ◽  
The Public ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Face ◽  
Notable Increase ◽  
Qualitative Exploration

There has been a notable increase in the use of statins in people without cardiovascular disease but who may be at risk in the future. The majority of statin users now fall into this category but little research has focused exclusively on this group. Debate has ensued regarding medicating asymptomatic people, and processes described variously as medicalisation, biomedicalisation and pharmaceuticalisation are used to explain how this happens. These overlapping and interrelated processes require issues to be ‘problemised’ as medical problems requiring medical solutions given the prevailing understandings of health, risk and disease. However, current understandings of risk and disease are not simply the result of technological and scientific advances, they are also socially constructed. We interviewed members of the public, GPs and others, and found that rather than high cholesterol being seen as one of several risk factors that contributes to heart disease, it tended to be promoted simplistically to the status of a disease needing treatment of itself. Statins were justified by those taking them as different to ‘unnecessary medicines’. However, some participants demonstrated resistance to statins, worried about over-medicalisation and deviated from accepted practices, indicating a complex ‘muddling through’ in the face of uncertainty.

Needle and Syringe Programs in the Community: Responding to Multiple and Diverse Needs

2001 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 47-53
Author(s):  
Clive Aspin
Keyword(s):  
Health Service ◽  
People Who Inject Drugs ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Aids Epidemic ◽  
Integral Component ◽  
Early Implementation ◽  
The Face ◽  
Needle And Syringe Programs ◽  
Considerable Resistance ◽  
Hiv Aids

AbstractNeedle and syringe programs (NSP) are an integral component of Australia's response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and as such, have been in place since the early days of the epidemic. Because of their early implementation, they have played a key role in helping to stem the spread of HIV among people who inject drugs. Also, they have been instrumental in ensuring that clients have had access to appropriate resources and education. However, these programs have often operated in the face of considerable resistance from a range of stakeholders and in particular, local communities. This article provides an insider's perspective on the operation of a large Sydney NSP and describes how the Program caters to the expressed needs of all members of the community, while continuing to provide an effective and responsive health service to people who inject drugs.

scholarly journals The Responsibility to Protect in a world of already existing intervention

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 1080-1102
Author(s):  
Robin Dunford ◽  
Michael Neu
Keyword(s):  
Recent Literature ◽  
Military Intervention ◽  
International Community ◽  
Responsibility To Protect ◽  
Humanitarian Crises ◽  
Structural Prevention ◽  
The Face

In the face of humanitarian crises, members of the international community are often presented with a choice: engage in forms of action, including military intervention, or stand by and watch. This framing ignores practices of intervention that are already taking place and contributing to the emergence and perpetuation of humanitarian crises. Despite calling for more attention to be paid to already existing intervention, literature on the Responsibility to Protect has not adequately understood its implications for the legitimacy and likely effectiveness of military intervention. To redress this gap, we argue, first, that a focus on already existing intervention complicates the moral calculus on which defences of military intervention as part of the Responsibility to Protect are based. Second, we claim that actors already engaged in damaging practices of intervention are bad international citizens who are not fit for the purpose of humanitarian military intervention. Third, we argue that in both ignoring already existing intervention and calling for additional military intervention under its third pillar, the Responsibility to Protect legitimises a moralistic form of militarism. These three arguments show that it is a mistake to follow recent literature in responding to already existing intervention by simply adding to the Responsibility to Protect, for instance, duties to engage in structural prevention and to support refugees. Rather, what is needed is a more fundamental rethink that departs from the Responsibility to Protect.

scholarly journals A qualitative study of zoonotic risk factors among rural communities in southern China

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong-Ying Li ◽  
Guang-Jian Zhu ◽  
Yun-Zhi Zhang ◽  
Li-Biao Zhang ◽  
Emily A Hagan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Southern China ◽  
Zoonotic Disease ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Disease Emergence ◽  
Ethnographic Interviews ◽  
Zoonotic Risk

Abstract Background Strategies are urgently needed to mitigate the risk of zoonotic disease emergence in southern China, where pathogens with zoonotic potential are known to circulate in wild animal populations. However, the risk factors leading to emergence are poorly understood, which presents a challenge in developing appropriate mitigation strategies for local communities. Methods Residents in rural communities of Yunnan, Guangxi and Guangdong provinces were recruited and enrolled in this study. Data were collected through ethnographic interviews and field observations, and thematically coded and analysed to identify both risk and protective factors for zoonotic disease emergence at the individual, community and policy levels. Results Eighty-eight ethnographic interviews and 55 field observations were conducted at nine selected sites. Frequent human–animal interactions and low levels of environmental biosecurity in local communities were identified as risks for zoonotic disease emergence. Policies and programmes existing in the communities provide opportunities for zoonotic risk mitigation. Conclusions This study explored the relationship among zoonotic risk and human behaviour, environment and policies in rural communities in southern China. It identifies key behavioural risk factors that can be targeted for development of tailored risk-mitigation strategies to reduce the threat of novel zoonoses.

Leadership as zero-institution

Semiotica ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 (213) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuomas Kuronen ◽  
Aki-Mauri Huhtinen
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Military Intervention ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
Presidential Leadership ◽  
Weak State ◽  
Cold War Era ◽  
Iconic Figure

AbstractIn this essay, we study the emergence and institutionalization of political leadership. Our empirical case is the presidential leadership of the former Cold War era President of Finland, Urho Kekkonen. Towards the end of his tenure as the president, which lasted for 25 years, his leadership became a “zero-institution,” in the same sense as articulated by Claude Lévi-Strauss. Kekkonen became an iconic figure in the society, whose status as the leader was never seriously challenged during his tenure. His private fishing ritual among his fishing “tribe” provided central content for his leadership mythology as an “able fisherman,” which he and his allies used for the purposes of furthering his political objectives. Along the emergence of his uncontested status in the society, the country’s “official line” in foreign policy became to be known as “Finnlandisierung” outside Finland; a culture in which a weak state yields to the demands of a stronger neighbor without direct military intervention. In light of this, we also discuss the potential of zero-institutions and similar “traumas” in association with the (ab)use of power in organizations and a culture of (self-)censorship.

scholarly journals Assessment of swimmer behaviors on pool water ingestion

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura M. Suppes ◽  
Leif Abrell ◽  
Alfred P. Dufour ◽  
Kelly A. Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Urine Analysis ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Water Ingestion ◽  
Pool Water ◽  
Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass ◽  
Outbreak Investigations ◽  
The Face ◽  
At Risk Populations ◽  
Environmental Sensor

Enteric pathogens in pool water can be unintentionally ingested during swimming, increasing the likelihood of acute gastrointestinal illness (AGI). AGI cases in outbreaks are more likely to submerge heads than non-cases, but an association is unknown since outbreak data are self-reported and prone to bias. In the present study, head submersion frequency and duration were observed and analyzed for associations with pool water ingestion measured using ultra high pressure liquid chromatography – tandem mass spectrometry. Frequency of splashes to the face was also quantified. Reliable tools that assess activities associated with pool water ingestion are needed to identify ingestion risk factors and at-risk populations. Objectives were to determine if the observed activities were associated with ingestion, and to test environmental sensor and videography assessment tools. Greater frequency and duration of head submersion were not associated with ingestion, but frequency of splashes to the face, leisurely swimming, and being ≤18 were. Videography was validated for assessing swimmer head submersion frequency. Results demonstrate ingestion risk factors can be identified using videography and urine analysis techniques. Expanding surveys to include questions on leisure swimming participation and frequency of splashes to the face is recommended to improve exposure assessment during outbreak investigations.

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