scholarly journals Becoming Without

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 323-347
Author(s):  
Luísa Reis-Castro

Abstract The Aedes aegypti mosquito, known as the vector for Zika, dengue, chikungunya, and yellow fever viruses, has historically been targeted by public health campaigns as an enemy to be eliminated. However, new strategies, such as the transgenic approach, biologically modify the A. aegypti so that they can be deployed to control their own population—here, mosquito breeding and mating is operationalized as an insecticide. In this case, the insect must be simultaneously a friend and an enemy, cared for and killed, and it must establish encounters and nonencounters. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork at a “biofactory” in the northeast of Brazil dedicated to mass-producing these transgenic mosquitoes, this article investigates the new forms of labor and value produced through these contrasting human-mosquito relations. The author also examines how the project is implemented within broader geopolitics of experimentation and more-than-human gendered conceptions. Analyzing the multispecies relationships engendered under the premise that it is possible to produce nonencounters, she identifies the historical conditions and promissory claims of transforming the A. aegypti ’s reproductive capacity into labor for killing. Such recasting yields what the author calls the “nonencounter value” within the scientific remaking of mosquitoes, their becoming and being.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Koed Madsen

Previous research concerning the effectiveness of public health campaigns have explored the impact of message design, message content, communication channel choice and other aspects of such campaigns. Meta analyses reported in the literature reveal, however, that the choice of endorsers in health campaigns remains unexplored. The present study addresses this gap in the literature by studying what makes doctors from public health campaigns appear trustworthy in the eyes of the receiver. The present research examines propensity for trust as well facets of trustworthiness of such expert doctors based on a survey carried out in the UK (155 respondents). Underlying factors of trustworthiness are explored to gain more insight into the understanding of how trust may affect the public’s belief updating and the formation of intentions. Exploratory factor analyses suggest four dimensions of trustworthiness. Multiple regression analyses demonstrate that these factors explain almost 70% of the variance in the participants’ expressed trust in doctors from public health campaigns. Doctors’ ethical stance and their care for the health of the general population appear to be more important for perceived trustworthiness than their actual professional background, although their abilities and competences are closely related to ethics and benevolence. For policy makers this has important implications when selecting endorsers for public health campaigns in order to design effective health related communication, for example to combat obesity.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heeje Lee ◽  
Minah Kang ◽  
Sangchul Yoon ◽  
Kee B. Park

Abstract Tobacco use is one of the main public health concerns as it causes multiple diseases. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is one of the 168 signatory countries of the World Health Organization (WHO) member states agreed to adopt the WHO Framework Convention of Tobacco Control (FCTC). However, there is lack of information regarding the tobacco use in the DPRK and the government’s efforts for tobacco control. The aim of the study was to find the prevalence of tobacco use among the DPRK people and the government’s efforts to control tobacco use among its population, through literature review combined with online media content analysis. In 2020, the prevalence of tobacco smoking in males of 15 years and older was 46.1%, whereas that in females was zero. The online media contents showed the DPRK government’s stewardship to promote population health by controlling tobacco use. Furthermore, the DPRK government has taken steps to implement the mandates of the FCTC including introduction of new laws, promotion of research, development of cessation aids, as well as public health campaigns.


Author(s):  
Roy Schwartzman ◽  
Jenni M. Simon

The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States spawns a perplexing polemic. Intransigent coronavirus skeptics who defy public health recommendations often get cast as ideological zealots or as perniciously ignorant. Both characterizations overlook a more fundamental epistemic opposition. The authors recast the conflict between COVID-19 skeptics and public health advocates as the rhetorical incompatibility between the deliberative, scientifically grounded public health experts and the intuitive, emotion-driven mental heuristics of the non-compliant. This study examines the discourse of COVID-19 misinformation purveyors on broadcast media and online. Their main contentions rely on heuristics and biases that collectively not only undermine trust in particular medical experts, but also undercut trust in the institutions and reasoning processes of science itself. The findings suggest ways that public health campaigns can become more effective by leveraging some of the intuitive drivers of attitudes and behaviors that scientists and argumentation theorists routinely dismiss as fallacious.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Mark Anderson ◽  
Kerwin Kofi Charles ◽  
Claudio Las Heras Olivares ◽  
Daniel I. Rees

The US tuberculosis (TB) movement pioneered many of the strategies of modern public health campaigns. Using newly transcribed mortality data at the municipal level for the period 1900–1917, we explore the effectiveness of public health measures championed by the TB movement, including the establishment of sanatoriums and open-air camps, prohibitions on public spitting and common cups, and requirements that local health officials be notified about TB cases. Our results suggest that these and other anti-TB measures can explain, at most, only a small portion of the overall decline in pulmonary TB mortality observed during the period under study. (JEL H51, I12, I18, N31, N32)


Antibiotics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hood ◽  
Toleikyte ◽  
Ashiru-Oredope

It has been widely recognised that a significant proportion of the world’s population suffer inequalities in accessing high quality healthcare and wider services. Within healthcare, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global threat to public health affecting all healthcare systems and growing at an alarming pace. To ensure that national AMR campaigns developed by Public Health England are inclusive of all populations within the target audience a health equity assessment tool (HEAT) was used. The project leads for each campaign completed the HEAT independently with a follow up meeting with the study team to discuss and clarify the responses. A trend analysis was carried out with common themes being used to provide recommendations. The campaigns have demonstrated equality and diversity based on the requirements of the Equality Act 2010, particularly age, sex, and race protected characteristics. Some notable results include the translation of website materials in over 30 languages and reaching individuals in 122 countries. It was however noted that several of the protected characteristics were not applicable. The continuous development of resources with collaboration from a variety of diverse user groups would be advantageous towards aiding future campaign reach. The use of the HEAT has demonstrated the ease and cost-effective way to assess any health inequalities and would be a useful addition to antimicrobial stewardship and public health campaigns.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document