scholarly journals A critical cartography of domestic violence policies in Mozambique

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eunice Jethá ◽  
Ines Keygnaert ◽  
Mohamed Seedat ◽  
Joaquim Nhampoca ◽  
Mohsin Sidat ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Monitoring And Evaluation ◽  
World Health ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
Office Visits ◽  
Strategic Action ◽  
National Policies ◽  
Critical Cartography ◽  
International Agencies ◽  
Governmental Institutions

Abstract Background Domestic violence (DV) affects millions of people worldwide, especially women impacting their health status and livelihoods. To prevent DV and to improve the quality of victims’ lives, Mozambican governmental and non-governmental entities are making efforts to develop adequate policies and legislation and to improve the accessibility of services for victims of DV. However, a critical review of whether or not current policies and legislation concerning DV in Mozambique are in agreement with international guidelines has yet to be examined. Therefore, this paper aims to map the Mozambican legislative and policy responses to DV. It also strives to analyse their alignment with international treaties and conventions and with each other. Methods Through a critical cartography, documents were selected and their content analysed. Some of these documents were not available online, printed versions were not available on the field and some were not up to date. Therefore, we had to search for them via physical office visits at governmental institutions with a responsibility to deal with DV aspects. These documents were listed and analysed for key content applying a framework inquiring on recommendations of international agencies such as World Health Organization. Subsequently, we compared these policies with international conventions and treaties of which Mozambique is signatory and with each other to identify discrepancies. Results Overall, six institutions were visited assuring identification of all available information and policy documents on DV. We identified a total of fifteen national DV documents of which five were on laws, one on policy and nine institutional strategic/action plans. Most of the national DV documents focused on strategies for assistance/care of victims and prevention of DV. Little focus was found on advocacy, monitoring and evaluation. Conclusions Mozambique has demonstrated its commitment by signing several international and regional treaties and conventions on DV. Despite this, the lack of consistency in the alignment of international treaties and conventions with national policies and laws is remarkable. However, a gap in the reliable translation of national policies and laws into strategic plans is to be found particularly in relation to naming type, beneficiaries, main strategies and multi-sectorial approach.

scholarly journals Guideline for Preventive Chemotherapy for the Control of Taenia solium Taeniasis

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Community Education ◽  
Guideline Development ◽  
Taenia Solium ◽  
Monitoring And Evaluation ◽  
World Health ◽  
Preventive Chemotherapy ◽  
Wide Audience ◽  
Full Life Cycle ◽  
Endemic Areas ◽  
Governmental Institutions

The larval stage of the parasite Taenia solium can encyst in the central nervous system causing neurocysticercosis, which is the main cause of acquired epilepsy in the countries in which the parasite is endemic. Endemic areas are those with the presence (or likely presence) of the full life cycle of Taenia solium. The parasite is most prevalent in poor and vulnerable communities in which pigs roam free, open defecation is practiced, basic sanitation is deficient, and health education is absent or limited. Several tools are available for the control of Taenia solium. Preventive chemotherapy for Taenia solium taeniasis, which is directed at the adult tapeworm, is one of them. Other tools focus on pig management, pig vaccination and treatment, sanitation and hygiene, and community education. Three potential drugs—niclosamide, praziquantel, and albendazole—have been considered for use for preventive chemotherapy in Taenia solium taeniasis control programs through mass drug administration or targeted chemotherapy. In this Guideline, we provide recommendations for preventive chemotherapy in Taenia solium-endemic areas using niclosamide, praziquantel, or albendazole, including at which dose and in which population groups. The development of this Guideline is based on the latest standard World Health Organization methods for guideline development, including the use of systematic search strategies, synthesis, quality assessment of the available evidence to support the recommendations, and participation of experts and stakeholders in the Guideline Development Group and External Review Group. The recommendations are intended for a wide audience, including policymakers and their expert advisers, and technical and program staff at governmental institutions and organizations involved in the planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of preventive chemotherapy programs for the control of Taenia solium.

scholarly journals Chlorhexidine for facility-based umbilical cord care: EN-BIRTH multi-country validation study

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (S1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sojib Bin Zaman ◽  
◽  
Abu Bakkar Siddique ◽  
Harriet Ruysen ◽  
Ashish KC ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Umbilical Cord ◽  
Health Management ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Public Hospitals ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Management Information System ◽  
Cord Care ◽  
National Policies ◽  
Exit Survey ◽  
Umbilical Cord Care

Abstract Background Umbilical cord hygiene prevents sepsis, a leading cause of neonatal mortality. The World Health Organization recommends 7.1% chlorhexidine digluconate (CHX) application to the umbilicus after home birth in high mortality contexts. In Bangladesh and Nepal, national policies recommend CHX use for all facility births. Population-based household surveys include optional questions on CHX use, but indicator validation studies are lacking. The Every Newborn Birth Indicators Research Tracking in Hospitals (EN-BIRTH) was an observational study assessing measurement validity for maternal and newborn indicators. This paper reports results regarding CHX. Methods The EN-BIRTH study (July 2017–July 2018) included three public hospitals in Bangladesh and Nepal where CHX cord application is routine. Clinical-observers collected tablet-based, time-stamped data regarding cord care during admission to labour and delivery wards as the gold standard to assess accuracy of women’s report at exit survey, and of routine-register data. We calculated validity ratios and individual-level validation metrics; analysed coverage, quality and measurement gaps. We conducted qualitative interviews to assess barriers and enablers to routine register-recording. Results Umbilical cord care was observed for 12,379 live births. Observer-assessed CHX coverage was very high at 89.3–99.4% in all 3 hospitals, although slightly lower after caesarean births in Azimpur (86.8%), Bangladesh. Exit survey-reported coverage (0.4–45.9%) underestimated the observed coverage with substantial “don’t know” responses (55.5–79.4%). Survey-reported validity ratios were all poor (0.01 to 0.38). Register-recorded coverage in the specific column in Bangladesh was underestimated by 0.2% in Kushtia but overestimated by 9.0% in Azimpur. Register-recorded validity ratios were good (0.9 to 1.1) in Bangladesh, and poor (0.8) in Nepal. The non-specific register column in Pokhara, Nepal substantially underestimated coverage (20.7%). Conclusions Exit survey-report highly underestimated observed CHX coverage in all three hospitals. Routine register-recorded coverage was closer to observer-assessed coverage than survey reports in all hospitals, including for caesarean births, and was more accurately captured in hospitals with a specific register column. Inclusion of CHX cord care into registers, and tallied into health management information system platforms, is justified in countries with national policies for facility-based use, but requires implementation research to assess register design and data flow within health information systems.

scholarly journals Sodium Levels of Processed Meat in Australia: Supermarket Survey Data from 2010 to 2017

Nutrients ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1686 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emalie Sparks ◽  
Clare Farrand ◽  
Joseph Santos ◽  
Briar McKenzie ◽  
Kathy Trieu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sodium Intake ◽  
Meat Products ◽  
Monitoring And Evaluation ◽  
Sodium Content ◽  
World Health ◽  
Processed Meat ◽  
High Sodium ◽  
Processed Meats ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Health Dialogue

High sodium intake increases blood pressure and consequently increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases. In Australia, the best estimate of sodium intake is 3840 mg sodium/day, almost double the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline (2000 mg/day), and processed meats contribute approximately 10% of daily sodium intake to the diet. This study assessed the median sodium levels of 2510 processed meat products, including bacon and sausages, available in major Australian supermarkets in 2010, 2013, 2015 and 2017, and assessed changes over time. The median sodium content of processed meats in 2017 was 775 mg/100 g (interquartile range (IQR) 483–1080). There was an 11% reduction in the median sodium level of processed meats for which targets were set under the government’s Food and Health Dialogue (p < 0.001). This includes bacon, ham/cured meat products, sliced luncheon meat and meat with pastry categories. There was no change in processed meats without a target (median difference 6%, p = 0.450). The new targets proposed by the current government’s Healthy Food Partnership capture a larger proportion of products than the Food and Health Dialogue (66% compared to 35%) and a lower proportion of products are at or below the target (35% compared to 54%). These results demonstrate that voluntary government targets can drive nutrient reformulation. Future efforts will require strong government leadership and robust monitoring and evaluation systems.

scholarly journals Development, validation, and pilot implementation of the minimum datasheet for a domestic violence registry system: The case of a developing country

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0261460
Author(s):  
Shabnam Iezadi ◽  
Kamal Gholipour ◽  
Ahmad Khanijahani ◽  
Mahasti Alizadeh ◽  
Bahram Samadirad ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Content Validity ◽  
Past History ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
World Health ◽  
Registry System ◽  
History Of ◽  
Pilot Implementation

Background Domestic violence (DV) is a universal issue and an important public health priority. Establishing a DV Registry System (DVRS) can help to systematically integrate data from several sources and provide valid and reliable information on the scope and severity of harms. The main objective of this study was to develop, validate, and pilot-test a minimum datasheet for a DVRS to register DV victims in medical facilities. Materials and methods This study was conducted in two main phases. Phase one includes developing the datasheet for registration of DV in the DVRS. In phase two, the datasheet designed in the previous step was used in a pilot implementation of the DVRS for 12 months to find practical challenges. The preliminary datasheet was first developed using information on similar registry programs and guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) and then reviewed by four expert panels. Through a two-round Delphi technique, experts evaluated the instrument using the Content Validity Index (CVI) and Content Validity Ratio (CVR). The consistency of the responses was evaluated by test-retest analysis. Finally, two physicians in two forensic medical clinics registered the victims of physical and/or sexual violence perpetrated by a family member. Results Preliminary datasheet consisted of 31 items. In the first round of Delphi, fifteen items had good content validity (I-CVI and CVR) and were kept, and seven items were moved to the next round. Also, in the first round of Delphi, experts suggested adding three items, including history of the violence, custody of the child, and custody of the elderly. All items evaluated in the second round were kept due to good CVR and CVI scores. As a result of Test-retest correlation coefficients for self-reprted items, two items including perpetrator’s alcohol and drug use status were excluded (r(30) = +.43, and +.38, p< .01, two-tailed, respectively). Finally, 24 items were included in the datasheet including 15 items for individuals’ characteristics (victims’ characteristics and perpetrators’ characteristics), eight items for incidents’ characteristics, and one item for past history of violence experience. A total of 369 cases were registered from September 23, 2019, to July 21, 2020. The majority of the reported cases were female (82%) and were 19–40 years old. No physical and/or sexual violence was reported from rural areas, which calls upon researchers to explore how services for detecting and treating the victims can be made accessible to these areas. Conclusion DVRS can show trends in DV by age, sex, the context of the violence, and incidence characteristics at every point in time. This is particularly valuable in planning and prioritizing research areas and interventions for DV prevention. Additionally, DVRS can be linked to other disease registry programs which can contribute to continuity and coordination of care, and major research in the future. Although a DVRS can be a promising initiative in identifying the areas in need of urgent interventions, there is no guarantee for its proper implementation due to limited resources and other challenges.

scholarly journals Associations between infection intensity categories and morbidity prevalence in school-age children are much stronger for Schistosoma haematobium than for S. mansoni

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. e0009444
Author(s):  
Ryan E. Wiegand ◽  
W. Evan Secor ◽  
Fiona M. Fleming ◽  
Michael D. French ◽  
Charles H. King ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ultrasound Image ◽  
Infection Intensity ◽  
Control Program ◽  
Monitoring And Evaluation ◽  
World Health ◽  
Current Status ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
School Age ◽  
Preventive Chemotherapy ◽  
Urogenital Schistosomiasis

Background World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for measuring global progress in schistosomiasis control classify individuals with Schistosoma spp. infections based on the concentration of excreted eggs. We assessed the associations between WHO infection intensity categories and morbidity prevalence for selected S. haematobium and S. mansoni morbidities in school-age children. Methodology A total of 22,488 children aged 6–15 years from monitoring and evaluation cohorts in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zambia from 2003–2008 were analyzed using Bayesian logistic regression. Models were utilized to evaluate associations between intensity categories and the prevalence of any urinary bladder lesion, any upper urinary tract lesion, microhematuria, and pain while urinating (for S. haematobium) and irregular hepatic ultrasound image pattern (C-F), enlarged portal vein, laboratory-confirmed diarrhea, and self-reported diarrhea (for S. mansoni) across participants with infection and morbidity data. Principal findings S. haematobium infection intensity categories possessed consistent morbidity prevalence across surveys for multiple morbidities and participants with light infections had elevated morbidity levels, compared to negative participants. Conversely, S. mansoni infection intensity categories lacked association with prevalence of the morbidity measures assessed. Conclusions/significance Current status infection intensity categories for S. haematobium were associated with morbidity levels in school-age children, suggesting urogenital schistosomiasis morbidity can be predicted by an individual’s intensity category. Conversely, S. mansoni infection intensity categories were not consistently indicative of childhood morbidity at baseline or during the first two years of a preventive chemotherapy control program.

Note on Conquest and Cession

2021 ◽  
pp. 280-281
Author(s):  
Martin Wight
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
European History ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
National Policies ◽  
Saving Face ◽  
Legal Frameworks

In this note Wight provided a brief survey of institutions for the conquest and cession of territories, illustrated by examples in European history since the fifteenth century. Some legal and political forms concealed de facto conquest and cession to spare the amour propre of the losing party and thereby minimize its humiliation. In some cases, enfeoffment combined conquest with continuing vassal status. Other methods of saving face and bargaining over status included granting an imperial vicariate, diplomatically evading the issue, camouflaging the cession, and making the cession conditional. Conquest and cession became more direct and undisguised with the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, if not earlier. Since the eighteenth century, however, the consent of the residents of the territory to be ceded has become a more prominent issue. Since 1919 disregard for previous approaches to conquest and cession has led to new political and legal frameworks on recognition involving national policies such as the Stimson Doctrine, international treaties such as the Kellogg–Briand Pact, and international organizations such as the League of Nations and the United Nations.

scholarly journals Evolving global and national criteria for identifying a suspected case of COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (8) ◽  
pp. 030006052093894
Author(s):  
Amporn Atsawarungruangkit ◽  
Jin Yuan ◽  
Takamitsu Kodama ◽  
Ming-Tai Cheng ◽  
Mohammad Mansouri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
World Health ◽  
Suspected Case ◽  
Health Insurance System ◽  
Accurate Identification ◽  
Public Health Agencies ◽  
International Agencies ◽  
Health Agencies ◽  
Epidemiological Risk ◽  
Health Organization

Background The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) began in December 2019 and continues to spread worldwide. Rapid and accurate identification of suspected cases is critical in slowing spread of the virus that causes the disease. We aimed to highlight discrepancies in the various criteria used by international agencies and highly impacted individual countries around the world. Methods We reviewed the criteria for identifying a suspected case of COVID-19 used by two international public health agencies and 10 countries across Asia, Europe, and North America. The criteria included information on the clinical causes of illness and epidemiological risk factors. Non-English language guidelines were translated into English by a co-author who is fluent in that particular language. Results Although most criteria are modifications of World Health Organization recommendations, the specific clinical features and epidemiological risks for triggering evaluation of patients with suspected COVID-19 differed widely among countries. The rationale for these differences may be related to each country’s resources, politics, experience with previous outbreaks or pandemics, health insurance system, COVID-19 outbreak severity, and other undetermined factors. Conclusion We found no consensus regarding the best diagnostic criteria for identifying a suspected case of COVID-19.

scholarly journals Could Mergers Become More Sustainable? A Study of the Stock Exchange Mergers of NASDAQ and OMX

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 8581
Author(s):  
Wenjing Xie ◽  
João Paulo Vieito ◽  
Ephraim Clark ◽  
Wing-Keung Wong
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Stock Market ◽  
Financial Markets ◽  
Stock Markets ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
National Policies ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Stock Market Investors

This study investigates whether the merger of NASDAQ and OMX could reduce the portfolio diversification possibilities for stock market investors and whether it is necessary to implement national policies and international treaties for the sustainable development of financial markets. Our study is very important because some players in the stock markets have not yet realized that stock exchanges, during the last decades, have moved from government-owned or mutually-owned organizations to private companies, and, with several mergers having occurred, the market is tending gradually to behave like a monopoly. From our analysis, we conclude that increased volatility and reduced diversification opportunities are the results of an increase in the long-run comovement between each pair of indices in Nordic and Baltic stock markets (Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) and NASDAQ after the merger. We also find that the merger tends to improve the error-correction mechanism for NASDAQ so that it Granger-causes OMX, but OMX loses predictive power on NASDAQ after the merger. We conclude that the merger of NASDAQ and OMX reduces the diversification possibilities for stock market investors and our findings provide evidence to support the argument that it is important to implement national policies and international treaties for the sustainable development of financial markets.

scholarly journals Protection against Domestic Violence in Jordanian Law and International Conventions

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 363-387
Author(s):  
Laith K. Nasrawin
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
International Standards ◽  
National Standards ◽  
Global Standards ◽  
The Family ◽  
Governmental Institutions ◽  
International Conventions ◽  
Optimal Protection ◽  
Special Protection

Abstract This article addresses the issue of protection against domestic violence in both Jordanian law and international conventions. It does so by defining domestic violence and its various causes and by exploring the relevant global standards and best international practices for combating it. The article also deals with the reality of protection against domestic violence in Jordan by referring to the special protection of the family and to the related follow-up by national and governmental institutions, and the relevant national standards. The Law Regarding Protection from Domestic Violence (Law No. 6/2008) contains protective provisions and other treatments to reduce this phenomenon, but it fails to provide optimal protection against domestic violence. The article proposes a set of recommendations to improve national standards for protection against domestic violence so that Jordan’s laws concerning protection against domestic violence conform to international standards.

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