Health inequalities in hypertension and diabetes management among the poor in urban areas: a population survey analysis in south Korea

AbstractThe paper compares the morbidity and healthcare utilisation scenario prevalent in Gujarat and Maharashtra as well as for all − India over the last 35 years by exploring the National Sample Surveys data for 1980–81, 1986–87, 1995–96, 2004, and 2014. The differentials and trends in morbidity rate, health seeking behaviour, use of public and private providers for inpatient and outpatient care and associated cost, and burden of treatment are analysed by population groups. Changes in people’s demand for health services are correlated with the supply factors i.e. expansion of public and private health infrastructure. Rising cost and burden of treatment on the poor are examined through receipt of free inpatient and outpatient services as well as the extent of financial protection under the health insurance schemes received by them. Overtime, morbidity rates have gone up, with several folds increase in select states; the reliance on public provision has gone down substantially despite being cheaper than the private sector; and cost of treatment at constant prices increased considerably even for the poor. Hospitalisation costs were higher among insured than the non-insured households in several states irrespective of whether resident in rural or urban areas (Haryana, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, and Assam have reported that insured households ended-up paying almost double the hospitalisation expenses in 2014). Leaving aside Kerala (where insured households have paid just a half of the cost of the non-insured), this clearly reflects the widespread prevalence of moral hazard and insurance collusion in India.

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The Fingerprint of Climate Change and Urbanization in South Korea

Atmosphere ◽

10.3390/atmos9070273 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 9 (7) ◽

pp. 273 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Won-Ho Nam ◽

Guillermo Baigorria ◽

Eun-Mi Hong ◽

Taegon Kim ◽

Yong-Sang Choi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

South Korea ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Temporal Trends ◽

Weather Data ◽

Maximum Temperature ◽

Island Effect ◽

Temperature Trends ◽

Agricultural Areas ◽

Precipitation And Temperature

Understanding long-term changes in precipitation and temperature patterns is important in the detection and characterization of climate change, as is understanding the implications of climate change when performing impact assessments. This study uses a statistically robust methodology to quantify long-, medium- and short-term changes for evaluating the degree to which climate change and urbanization have caused temporal changes in precipitation and temperature in South Korea. We sought to identify a fingerprint of changes in precipitation and temperature based on statistically significant differences at multiple-timescales. This study evaluates historical weather data during a 40-year period (1973–2012) and from 54 weather stations. Our results demonstrate that between 1993–2012, minimum and maximum temperature trends in the vicinity of urban and agricultural areas are significantly different from the two previous decades (1973–1992). The results for precipitation amounts show significant differences in urban areas. These results indicate that the climate in urbanized areas has been affected by both the heat island effect and global warming-caused climate change. The increase in the number of rainfall events in agricultural areas is highly significant, although the temporal trends for precipitation amounts showed no significant differences. Overall, the impacts of climate change and urbanization in South Korea have not been continuous over time and have been expressed locally and regionally in terms of precipitation and temperature changes.

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Rural and Urban Suicide in South Korea

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/12.17.pr0.111.5.495-497 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 111 (2) ◽

pp. 495-497 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

B. C. Ben Park ◽

David Lester

Keyword(s):

South Korea ◽

Suicide Rate ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Urban Areas ◽

The Elderly ◽

Suicide Rates ◽

Rural And Urban

Suicide rates in 2005 in South Korea were higher in rural areas than in urban areas. Those in rural areas more often used pesticides and chemicals as a method for suicide, and there was a greater proportion of men and the elderly, both groups at higher risk for suicide in South Korea. These three factors may account for the high rural suicide rate in South Korea.

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Letter To The Editor

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.45.2.340a ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 45 (2) ◽

pp. 340-341

Author(s):

Alfred Yankauer

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

New England ◽

Private Practice ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Young Men ◽

Government Programs ◽

Large Cities ◽

The Poor ◽

Letter To The Editor ◽

The Rich

Dr. Yankauer wrote: Dr. Marks' point is moot. It has been raised previously in a Pediatrics Commentary. At about the same time a New England practitioner complained that private practice was being ignored in government programs. The question of whether young men finishing their residencies will "go where they are needed" can only be answered by time. The problem is that they are needed just about everywhere (by the rich as well as the poor) because of mounting manpower shortages.3 It is worth mentioning that in urban areas outside of the large cities, where money does not lead to such sharply segregated residential districts and hospital out-patient departments are underdeveloped, practicing pediatricians are virtually the only source of health care.

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ICT-Supported Education for Sustainable Development of South Korean Rural Communities

Regional Development ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-0882-5.ch408 ◽

2012 ◽

pp. 769-785

Author(s):

K. P. Joo

Keyword(s):

Adult Education ◽

Rural Communities ◽

South Korea ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Urban Areas ◽

The South ◽

Social Challenges ◽

Rural And Urban Areas ◽

South Korean ◽

Rural And Urban

The rural communities in South Korea have faced serious challenges as the country has gradually opened the agricultural market and extended the conclusion of Free Trade Agreement with more and more countries. Moreover, due to the national socio-economic and political structures, South Korea has been undergoing the technological imbalance between rural and urban areas. In order to cope with these vital social challenges, the South Korean government has exerted considerable investment and effort in establishing ICT knowledge and skills as well as infrastructure in rural areas. Thus, conceptualizing ICT in the context of adult education, this chapter addresses three ICT-supported adult education programs oriented toward developing ICT skills and competencies of people in agricultural areas of South Korea. The South Korean cases of agricultural ICT education represent the vast and concentrated national efforts in integrating ICT across rural areas in this fast changing global situation.

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An Effect of Urban Forest on Urban Thermal Environment in Seoul, South Korea, Based on Landsat Imagery Analysis

Forests ◽

10.3390/f11060630 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 630

Author(s):

Peter Sang-Hoon Lee ◽

Jincheol Park

Keyword(s):

South Korea ◽

Vegetation Cover ◽

Land Surface ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Urban Forest ◽

Thermal Environment ◽

Urban Forests ◽

Cooling Effect ◽

Surrounding Areas

The urban heat island effect has posed negative impacts on urban areas with increased cooling energy demand followed by an altered thermal environment. While unusually high temperature in urban areas has been often attributed to complex urban settings, the function of urban forests has been considered as an effective heat mitigation strategy. To investigate the cooling effect of urban forests and their influence range, this study examined the spatiotemporal changes in land surface temperature (LST) of urban forests and surrounding areas by using Landsat imageries. LST, the size of the urban forest, its vegetation cover, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) were investigated for 34 urban forests and their surrounding areas at a series of buffer areas in Seoul, South Korea. The mean LST of urban forests was lower than that of the overall city, and the threshold distance from urban forests for cooling effect was estimated to be roughly up to 300 m. The group of large-sized urban forests showed significantly lower mean LST than that of small-sized urban forests. The group of urban forests with higher NDVI showed lower mean LST than that of urban forests with lower mean NDVI in a consistent manner. A negative linear relationship was found between the LST and size of urban forest (r = −0.36 to −0.58), size of vegetation cover (r = −0.39 to −0.61), and NDVI (r = −0.42 to −0.93). Temporal changes in NDVI were examined separately on a specific site, Seoul Forest, that has experienced urban forest dynamics. LST of the site decreased as NDVI improved by a land-use change from a barren racetrack to a city park. It was considered that NDVI could be a reliable factor for estimating the cooling effect of urban forest compared to the size of the urban forest and/or vegetation cover.

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Examining calorie undernourishment in India: Is it due to choice or inadequacy?

Nutrition and Health ◽

10.1177/0260106020949739 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 026010602094973

Author(s):

Udaya S Mishra ◽

Balakrushna Padhi ◽

Rinju

Keyword(s):

Rural Areas ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Urban Poor ◽

Food Choices ◽

National Sample ◽

Sample Survey ◽

The Poor ◽

Food Expenditure ◽

Lower Magnitude ◽

Common Understanding

Background: Calorie undernourishment is often associated with poverty but India presents a unique scene of decline in money-metric poverty and rise in calorie deprivation. Existing literature has varied explanation towards this effect. However, neither are the poor entirely calorie compromised nor do all the non-poor qualify calorie compliance. Aim: This is an attempt at verifying whether calorie undernourishment is a result of choice of food basket or the inadequacy of food expenditure. Method: An answer to this question is attempted with the exploration of data obtained from the National Sample Survey Organization’s Consumption Expenditure of Indian households for the periods 2004–2005 and 2011–2012. Results: Findings reveal that over the last one decade, the average per capita per day calorie intakes have slightly increased from 2040.55 Kcal in 2004–2005 to 2087.33 Kcal in 2011–2012, which has led to the increased share of well-nourished households from 20.21% in the 61st round to 22.78% in the 68th round of survey in rural areas, whereas the similar increase in urban areas is from 36.1% to 40.65%. Conclusions: Calorie undernourishment among the non-poor is observed that calorie undernourishment, if any, among the non-poor is entirely due to choice but the same among the poor has a divide between choice and inadequacy. The urban poor are calorie compromised more due to choice rather than inadequacy as against their rural counterparts. With higher poverty, calorie, non-compliance among the poor is more due to choice when compared with lower magnitude of poverty. These observations form a basis for contesting the common understanding that calorie compromise is entirely driven by inadequacy/incapacity of food expenditure. could be viewed in terms of the food choices made, especially among the poor while setting the minimum threshold of food expenditure to be calorie compliant.

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A review of tuberculosis contact investigations in the poor urban areas of Manila, The Philippines

Public Health Action ◽

10.5588/pha.16.0042 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 6 (4) ◽

pp. 220-225 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

L. Coprada ◽

S. Yoshimatsu ◽

A. Querri ◽

E. Lopez ◽

P. Agujo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

The Philippines ◽

The Poor ◽

Contact Investigations

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Sustainability and the Expected Effects of Office-to-Residential Conversion in Historic Downtown Areas of South Korea

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12229576 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (22) ◽

pp. 9576

Author(s):

Eunkwang Kim ◽

Sanghong Lee

Keyword(s):

South Korea ◽

Urban Space ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Supply And Demand ◽

Residential Building ◽

Urban Revitalization ◽

Urban Centers ◽

South Korean ◽

Rate Building ◽

Building Conversion

South Korea has industrialized and urbanized rapidly since the 1970s, and subsequently, the historic downtown areas of major cities have been hollowed out as the population and industry have become concentrated in urban centers. Based on the Urban Decline Indicators of Korea, in accordance with the Urban Revitalization Act of the South Korean government, a comparative analysis of the population changes, office vacancy rate, building aging rate, decrease in the number of industries and employees, and housing supply and demand in historic downtown areas and new urban areas of six major South Korean cities demonstrated that all six historic downtown areas have declined significantly. Currently, little research is available in South Korea on the expansion of urban living and the inflow of urban residents through office-to-residential building conversion. Therefore, this study explores the expansion of urban residences to revitalize these historic downtown areas. To this end, this study examines the feasibility of converting poorly functioning, vacant offices in historic downtown areas into residential spaces to present a sustainable strategy for their complexation. This study finds that office-to-residential building conversion is a sustainable way to recover urban space and grow the population and industry in historic downtown areas.

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