Understanding the slum–health conundrum in sub-Saharan Africa: a proposal for a rights-based approach to health promotion in slums

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 65-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominic A. Alaazi ◽  
Gamel A. M. Aganah
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Urban Slum ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Housing Provision ◽  
Slum Dwellers ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact

Sub-Saharan Africa is the world’s least urbanized region but is ironically also the region with the largest proportion of urban slum dwellers. However, there exists limited understanding of the impact of slums on health in the region. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted a systematic search in PubMed, Google, and Google Scholar to identify and review studies examining the slum–health relationship in sub-Saharan African cities. Subsequently, we performed thematic analysis of 40 studies to identify themes that explain the health impact of slums in the region. The majority of studies characterize slums as health-damaging settings, where poverty and unfavorable environmental conditions pose threats to public health and safety. Only a handful of studies suggest a beneficial relationship between slums and health, in such areas as affordable housing provision, employment generation, and community cohesion. We argue that the literature’s overwhelming emphasis on the environmental risks of slums feeds into a neoliberal urban agenda that seeks to clear slums at the expense of their beneficial contributions to health. Accordingly, we advocate a shift in policy discourse, from static characterization of slums as health risks to a health-promotion agenda that emphasizes the housing and service rights of slum populations.

Anxiety, isolation and diminishing resources: the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on residential care home facilities for older people in south-east Nigeria

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Prince Chiagozie Ekoh
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Care Home ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Care Homes ◽  
Family Structures ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Fear And Anxiety ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Institutionalized older adults in care homes and long-care facilities have been identified as being at greater risk of COVID-19 related morbidity and mortality. Thus, this paper aims to explore the impact of COVID-19 on care homes in south-east Nigeria given the recent increasing popularity of care homes in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted qualitative research method, and data was collected from 10 older residents and 5 caregivers using interviews from two care homes, while ensuring the safety of the researcher and participants. The collected data was analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings Findings revealed that the physical health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is not a major problem in the homes. However, fear and anxiety, social disconnection and economic hardship were the major problems identified by the older residents and caregivers in the homes. Originality/value The popularity of care homes in Nigeria is growing as family structures continue to change. However, previous studies which have revealed devastating effect of COVID-19 on institutionalized older adults have been from the global north. This is the first study designed to bridge the gap in literature and contribute to knowledge on this topic from Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Politicizing Poverty

2021 ◽  
pp. 108-149
Author(s):  
Monique Deveaux
Keyword(s):  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Urban Slum ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Collective Consciousness ◽  
Political Consciousness ◽  
Founding Member ◽  
Slum Dwellers ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
La Via Campesina

This chapter explains how poor-led political activism politicizes public discourse about poverty, as well as fosters the critical, political consciousness of people living in poverty. It shows how poor-led organizations and movements harness this collective consciousness to develop and advance more radical, pro-poor policies for poverty reduction and development. The chapter spotlights the work of urban slum dweller political mobilizations in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, especially Slum Dwellers International (SDI) and some of its founding member-groups; the piqueteros workers’ movement in Argentina; the landless rural movements in Latin America, particularly the MST in Brazil, its global spinoff, La Vía Campesina, and the rural empowerment group, Nijera Kori, in Bangladesh. These examples serve to show how poor groups politicize poverty both within public discourse and in the eyes of members of poor communities.

The Health Impact of Water and Sanitation Utilities Privatization and Regulation in Sub-Saharan Africa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Bagnoli ◽  
Salvador Bertomeu-Sanchez ◽  
Antonio Estache
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Water And Sanitation ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Imperfect Data ◽  
High Population Growth ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Rural Access ◽  
The Impact

As of 2017, the urban access rate to safe water sources in 2017 stood at 84% while rural access was still around 45%. The rates for sanitation were 44% and 22%, respectively. Since the 1980s many high-profile reforms supported by international organizations have been implemented in the region in an attempt to close the access gaps in the water and sanitation sector (WSS). Two recommendations with high international exposure were an increased role for large-scale private sector participation in the management and financing of national or regional utilities and the creation of separate sector regulatory agencies to increase the independence of regulation. Both reforms seemed to contribute to improved water access rates, at least for the urban population, but not enough to catch up with the demands of a fast-growing population; and both failed to deliver on sanitation. The progress these initiatives allowed was correlated with improvements in the average health outcomes for some indicators (i.e., under-five mortality associated to diarrhea) but once again, it was not enough and was not fairly distributed. Indeed, improvements seem to have mostly benefited upper- and middle-income groups. Unfortunately, an evaluation of the health effects of these two reforms have not yet been fully established empirically, which is why it seems prudent to talk about correlations rather than causal effects. Most of the statistically robust evidence on the impact of utilities and regulatory reforms on health is incomplete because details of several dimensions of these reforms and their context are not measured consistently across countries or within countries. In addition, the small amount of econometric evidence available is based on pre-2010 data for SSA. The imperfect data is however solid enough to suggest that without further governance changes in the region, the health risks are likely to increase. This is because due to the high population growth rate of the region, closing the access gaps is likely to get tougher considering current investment levels and technological choices. The necessary changes require improving the match between policy and technological choices, including service delivery technologies that are consistent with the ability to pay and the tariff and subsidy levels adopted to ensure cost recovery without excluding any category of users.

Conflicts in Biafra, Katanga and Cabinda as a result of the geopolitical legacy of colonialism

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (10-3) ◽  
pp. 238-246
Author(s):  
Olga Dzhenchakova
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Economic Factor ◽  
Colonial Period ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Impact

The article considers the impact of the colonial past of some countries in sub-Saharan Africa and its effect on their development during the post-colonial period. The negative consequences of the geopolitical legacy of colonialism are shown on the example of three countries: Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Angola, expressed in the emergence of conflicts in these countries based on ethno-cultural, religious and socio-economic contradictions. At the same time, the focus is made on the economic factor and the consequences of the consumer policy of the former metropolises pursuing their mercantile interests were mixed.

scholarly journals The impact and cost‐effectiveness of community‐basedHIVself‐testing in sub‐Saharan Africa: a health economic and modelling analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (S1) ◽  
pp. e25243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Cambiano ◽  
Cheryl C Johnson ◽  
Karin Hatzold ◽  
Fern Terris‐Prestholt ◽  
Hendy Maheswaran ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Economic ◽  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Modelling Analysis ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals Financial Inclusion, Income Inequality and Sustainable Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan African Countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1780
Author(s):  
Chima M. Menyelim ◽  
Abiola A. Babajide ◽  
Alexander E. Omankhanlen ◽  
Benjamin I. Ehikioya
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Kuznets Curve ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Financial Access ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Sustainable Economic Growth ◽  
The Impact

This study evaluates the relevance of inclusive financial access in moderating the effect of income inequality on economic growth in 48 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) for the period 1995 to 2017. The findings using the Generalised Method of Moments (sys-GMM) technique show that inclusive financial access contributes to reducing inequality in the short run, contrary to the Kuznets curve. The result reveals a negative effect of financial access on the relationship between income inequality and economic growth. There is a positive net effect of inclusive financial access in moderating the impact of income inequality on economic growth. Given the need to achieve the Sustainable Development Targets in the sub-region, policymakers and other stakeholders of the economy must design policies and programmes that would enhance access to financial services as an essential mechanism to reduce income disparity and enhance sustainable economic growth.

scholarly journals Mapping 20 Years of Urban Expansion in 45 Urban Areas of Sub-Saharan Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 525
Author(s):  
Yann Forget ◽  
Michal Shimoni ◽  
Marius Gilbert ◽  
Catherine Linard
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Annual Growth Rate ◽  
Urban Dynamics ◽  
Mapping Approach ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact

By 2050, half of the net increase in the world’s population is expected to reside in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), driving high urbanization rates and drastic land cover changes. However, the data-scarce environment of SSA limits our understanding of the urban dynamics in the region. In this context, Earth Observation (EO) is an opportunity to gather accurate and up-to-date spatial information on urban extents. During the last decade, the adoption of open-access policies by major EO programs (CBERS, Landsat, Sentinel) has allowed the production of several global high resolution (10–30 m) maps of human settlements. However, mapping accuracies in SSA are usually lower, limited by the lack of reference datasets to support the training and the validation of the classification models. Here we propose a mapping approach based on multi-sensor satellite imagery (Landsat, Sentinel-1, Envisat, ERS) and volunteered geographic information (OpenStreetMap) to solve the challenges of urban remote sensing in SSA. The proposed mapping approach is assessed in 17 case studies for an average F1-score of 0.93, and applied in 45 urban areas of SSA to produce a dataset of urban expansion from 1995 to 2015. Across the case studies, built-up areas averaged a compound annual growth rate of 5.5% between 1995 and 2015. The comparison with local population dynamics reveals the heterogeneity of urban dynamics in SSA. Overall, population densities in built-up areas are decreasing. However, the impact of population growth on urban expansion differs depending on the size of the urban area and its income class.

scholarly journals Prevalence of mastitis in Nigerian livestock: a Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-29
Author(s):  
Hussaini Ojagefu Adamu ◽  
Rahimat Oshuwa Hussaini ◽  
Cedric Obasuyi ◽  
Linus Irefo Anagha ◽  
Gabriel Oscy Okoduwa
Keyword(s):  
Control Strategies ◽  
Dairy Farms ◽  
Livestock Production ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Ecological Development ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Control And Management ◽  
The Impact

AbstractMastitis is a disease of livestock that directly impede livestock production and thus hindering the socio-ecological development of sub-Saharan Africa. Studies have estimated the prevalence of this disease in 30% of Africa countries, with Ethiopia having the highest prevalence. The coverage is low, despite the wide livestock and dairy farms distribution in Africa. Furthermore, estimated economic losses due to the impact of mastitis are lacking in Nigeria. The disease is endemic in Nigeria as indicated by the available data and there are no proposed management plans or control strategies. This review is thus presented to serve as a wakeup call to all parties involved to intensify efforts towards the diagnosis, control, and management of the disease in Nigeria.

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