scholarly journals EHealth Investment Appraisal in Africa: A Scoping Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 004695802110599
Author(s):  
Sean C. Broomhead ◽  
Maurice Mars ◽  
Richard E. Scott ◽  
Tom Jones
Keyword(s):  
Digital Health ◽  
Health Priorities ◽  
Economic Evaluations ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Investment Appraisal ◽  
The Face ◽  
Probable Impact

eHealth is an opportunity cost, competing for limited available funds with other health priorities such as clinics, vaccinations, medicines and even salaries. As such, it should be appraised for probable impact prior to allocation of funds. This is especially pertinent as recognition grows for the role of eHealth in attaining Universal Health Coverage. Despite optimism about eHealth’s potential role, in Africa there remain insufficient data and skills for adequate economic appraisals to select optimal investments from numerous competing initiatives. The aim of this review is to identify eHealth investment appraisal approaches and tools that have been used in African countries, describe their characteristics and make recommendations regarding African eHealth investment appraisal in the face of limited data and expertise. Methods: Literature on eHealth investment appraisals conducted in African countries and published between January 1, 2010 and June 30, 2020 was reviewed. Selected papers’ investment appraisal characteristics were assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute checklist for economic evaluations and a newly developed Five-Case Model for Digital Health (FCM-DH) checklist for investment appraisal. 5 papers met inclusion criteria. Their assessments revealed important appraisal gaps. In particular, none of the papers addressed risk exposure, affordability, adjustment for optimism bias, clear delivery milestones, practical plans for implementation, change management or procurement, and only 1 paper described plans for building partnerships. Discussion: Using this insight, an extended 5-Case Model is proposed as the foundation of an African eHealth investment appraisal framework. This, combined with building local eHealth appraisal capabilities, may promote optimal eHealth investment decisions, strengthen implementations and improve the number and quality of related publications.

Constructing Impossible Uprisings

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frédéric Volpi
Keyword(s):  
Local Level ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Political Life ◽  
North African ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Unexpected Events ◽  
Causal Processes ◽  
The Face ◽  
North African Countries

This chapter introduces the ‘eventful sociology’ that characterizes the emergence of protest episodes in the four North African countries. Events are non-routine sequences of actions that reshape the routine forms of governance (and opposition) structuring everyday social and political life. Transformative events initiate a transformation of behaviors that is both strategic and reactive, and that reshapes social and political life first at the local level. This chapter qualifies the emergence of new causal processes and how they interact with preexisting practices of governance. The narrative places side by side the views and strategies of different pro- and anti-regime actors in the face of unexpected events and their consequences. The chapter outlines how sequences of events produced new practices, arenas and actors of contestations, often as unintended consequences of interactions. This event-centric account of protest episodes highlights the transformative role of protest in the construction of newly effective forms of political behaviors.

scholarly journals Developing entrepreneurship in Africa: investigating critical resource challenges

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 644-666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Yawo Atiase ◽  
Samia Mahmood ◽  
Yong Wang ◽  
David Botchie
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Theory ◽  
Contract Enforcement ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Entrepreneurship Development ◽  
Access To Credit ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Political Governance

Purpose By drawing upon institutional theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of four critical resources (credit, electricity, contract enforcement and political governance) in explaining the quality of entrepreneurship and the depth of the supporting entrepreneurship ecosystem in Africa. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative approach based on ordinary least squares regression analysis was used. Three data sources were employed. First, the Global Entrepreneurship Index (GEI) of 35 African countries was used to measure the quality of entrepreneurship and the depth of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Africa which represents the dependent variable. Second, the World Bank’s data on access to credit, electricity and contract enforcement in Africa were also employed as explanatory variables. Third, the Ibrahim Index of African Governance was used as an explanatory variable. Finally, country-specific data on four control variables (GDP, foreign direct investment, population and education) were gathered and analysed. Findings To support entrepreneurship development, Africa needs broad financial inclusion and state institutions that are more effective at enforcing contracts. Access to credit was non-significant and therefore did not contribute to the dependent variable (entrepreneurship quality and depth of entrepreneurial support in Africa). Access to electricity and political governance were statistically significant and correlated positively with the dependent variables. Finally, contract enforcement was partially significant and contributed to the dependent variable. Research limitations/implications A lack of GEI data for all 54 African countries limited this study to only 35 African countries: 31 in sub-Saharan Africa and 4 in North Africa. Therefore, the generalisability of this study’s findings to the whole of Africa might be limited. Second, this study depended on indexes for this study. Therefore, any inconsistencies in the index aggregation if any could not be authenticated. This study has practical implications for the development of entrepreneurship in Africa. Public and private institutions for credit delivery, contract enforcement and the provision of utility services such as electricity are crucial for entrepreneurship development. Originality/value The institutional void is a challenge for Africa. This study highlights the weak, corrupt nature of African institutions that supposedly support MSME growth. Effective entrepreneurship development in Africa depends on the presence of a supportive institutional infrastructure. This study engages institutional theory to explain the role of institutional factors such as state institutions, financial institutions, utility providers and markets in entrepreneurship development in Africa.

scholarly journals Budowanie relacji interpersonalnych w klasach I–III w warunkach nauczania zdalnego

2021 ◽  
pp. 15-28
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Kosek ◽  
Agata Wolska
Keyword(s):  
Distance Learning ◽  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Interpersonal Relations ◽  
Contact Distance ◽  
Learning Conditions ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
The Face ◽  
Teachers And Parents

Building Interpersonal Relationships in Grades 1–3 in Distance Learning Conditions Interpersonal relations are an integral part of living in society. Interpersonal competences combine activities related to communication, making new friends, solving problems or cooperating with others. Therefore, they are extremely important at every educational stage. However, building proper relations among education participants becomes more difficult when schools around the world switch to distance learning due to the COVID-19 virus pandemic. Relations between teachers and students, as well as among classmates, often undergoes various modifications, frequently deteriorating the quality of mutual contact. Distance education has also changed the role of pupils’ parents. The new situation often required from them to adapt to their child’s schedule in order to support them and help them in learning. This particularly applies to the families with younger children. In order to explain these issues, this article will present the results of research conducted among teachers and parents of pupils from grades 1–3 on the relationship at a pupil–pupil and a student–teacher level. The didactic and educational activities of teachers that are undertaken by them in order to improve contact on both these levels in the face of the new reality will also be discussed. The article will also address the topic of transformations of the abovementioned relations, which took place during and after the transition to compulsory distance learning.

scholarly journals Social Exclusion and Austerity Policies in England: The Role of Sports in a New Area of Social Polarisation and Inequality?

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 5-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Collins ◽  
Rein Haudenhuyse
Keyword(s):  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Sport Participation ◽  
Sports Participation ◽  
Leisure Sports ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Socially Excluded

Poverty still counts as the core of social exclusion from sport and many other domains of people’s lives. In the first part of this paper, we shortly describe the recent poverty trends in England, and identify groups that are more at-risk of being poor and socially excluded. We then focus on the relationship between poverty, social exclusion and leisure/sports participation, and describe a case study that addresses young people’s social exclusion through the use of sports (i.e., <em>Positive Futures</em>). Although further analysis is warranted, it would seem that growing structural inequalities (including sport participation)—with their concomitant effects on health and quality of life—are further widened and deepened by the policy measures taken by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition in the UK. In addition, within a climate of austerity, sport-based social inclusion schemes are likely to become wholly inadequate in the face of exclusionary forces such schemes envision to combat.

Probable impact of the 1994 elections on laboratory medicine

1995 ◽  
Vol 41 (8) ◽  
pp. 1223-1227
Author(s):  
H S Foster
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Laboratory ◽  
Quality Of Healthcare ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
Probable Impact ◽  
Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments

Abstract During the past quarter century, federal health policy makers concerned themselves with: (a) improving the quality of healthcare delivered to the American public; (b) increasing access to needed healthcare services; and (c) curtailing the escalating cost of such services. These goals led Congress to expand the role of the federal government in regulating the delivery of healthcare. The enactment of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA '88) was a significant and widely discussed example of how Congress, when controlled by the Democrats, sought to correct healthcare problems and achieve federal objectives. In November 1994, the Republicans won majorities in both the Senate and the House, promising to reduce the federal government's power. Many now believe that CLIA '88, or significant parts of it, could be substantially modified as part of this effort. This paper addresses the developments that led the Democrats to seek enactment of CLIA '88 and the likely arguments that may be offered by the Republicans to lessen the rigor and scope of the law.

scholarly journals The Impacts of Chinese FDI and China–Africa Trade on Economic Growth of African Countries: The Role of Institutional Quality

Economies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
Miao Miao ◽  
Qiaoqi Lang ◽  
Dinkneh Gebre Borojo ◽  
Jiang Yushi ◽  
Xiaoyun Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Generalized Method Of Moments ◽  
Institutional Quality ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Policy Action ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Chinese Foreign Direct Investment

While there is a consensus on the expanding importance of the China–Africa economic relationship, there is much more debate on how to portray the relationship. Thus, this study is aimed to examine the impacts of the China–Africa trade and Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) on the growth of African countries controlling the mediating role of institutional quality. The two-step system Generalized method of moments (GMM) model is applied using robust data for the period of 2003–2017. Drawing on complementary theoretical perspectives, this study took into account the conditional effect of China–Africa trade and Chinese FDI subject to the institutional quality of African countries and the interdependence of China–Africa trade and Chinese FDI to African countries. The benign impacts of the China–Africa trade and Chinese FDI on economic growth to African countries remain contingent upon appropriate policy action to improve the institutional quality of African countries and the synergies between the China–Africa trade and Chinese FDI to African countries.

Role of anthropological opinion in verification of eyewitness identification result

2017 ◽  
Vol 297 ◽  
pp. 50-58
Author(s):  
Piotr Herbowski ◽  
◽  
Dorota Lorkiewicz-Muszyńska ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Eyewitness Identification ◽  
Crime Scene ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
Criminal Trial ◽  
Front Part ◽  
Legal Proceedings ◽  
Probative Value ◽  
The Face

Probative value of results obtained in the course of legal proceedings with the participants of the criminal act may vary. This also concerns results of identification by an eyewitness. The exceptional role of its result in the criminal trial derives from the fact that categorical identification of a suspect by the witness becomes directly incriminating evidence. Problems connected with verification of identification parade result, which often occur both in Poland and in other countries, have been presented on the basis of a real criminal case. The main evidence submitted by the prosecutor was identification of several people who had been suspected of theft by an eye witness. Some important doubts relating to their guilt, however, arose in the criminal trial in court several years after the crime. The court decided to use the help of an expert in the field of anthropological identification. Comprehensive analysis of the CCTV recordings from the crime scene and additional examinations carried out by an expert made it possible to verify the results of the identification parade objectively and precisely. For the defendants the anthropological opinion was just exculpatory evidence. However, it opened up new possibilities to obtain information, especially when low quality of CCTV recordings does not allow for a detailed analysis of the characteristics of morphological elements of the head including its front part which is the face.

scholarly journals Electoral Governance and Human Rights Amid Pandemics in Africa: Key lessons from the Early COVID-19 Experience

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Mansha Mohee
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Initial State ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Infectious Disease Outbreaks ◽  
The Face ◽  
State Responses

Abstract Over 25 African countries had planned elections for 2020. In the face of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, states resorted to one of two courses of action: adherence to planned electoral timelines in the shadow of the outbreak, which largely led to record low voter turnouts and hastened the spread of the virus; or adjourning elections with ill-defined election programming, constitutional tensions and unrest over delayed polls. The global health crisis not only frustrated the organization of the electoral process but set severe challenges to democracy, the rule of law and human rights in the region at a time of landmark elections, notably in Ethiopia, Burundi and Malawi. This article analyses initial state responses in electoral administration in light of international electoral norms, and interrogates the role of national and regional mechanisms in securing safe, inclusive, timely, free and fair elections amid new infectious disease outbreaks.

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