scholarly journals Diabetes in Sub-Saharan Africa – Overview of a Looming Health Challenge

2009 ◽  
Vol 05 (01) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Felix K Assah ◽  
Jean-Claude Mbanya ◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Recognition ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Scarce Resources ◽  
Health Challenge ◽  
Social And Economic Development ◽  
The World ◽  
Public Health Challenge ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Imminent Threat ◽  
And Control

The number of people living with diabetes in the world is increasing rapidly. Most of the increase will occur in developing countries such as those in sub-Saharan Africa. Diabetes is currently recognised as a real and imminent threat to social and economic development globally and is set to be a major public health challenge in the 21st century. In sub-Saharan Africa, the challenge posed by diabetes is even more overwhelming since diabetes will have to share scarce resources with infections and malnutrition. Even worse, diabetes still has to gain sufficient political and social recognition in order to warrant aggressive national policies for prevention and treatment. In this article we present an overview of the burden of diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa and the specificities of care and control, and highlight the importance of developing effective national diabetes programmes.

Diabetes in Sub-Saharan Africa – Overview of a Looming Health Challenge

2009 ◽  
Vol 05 (0) ◽  
pp. 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix K Assah ◽  
Jean-Claude Mbanya ◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Recognition ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Scarce Resources ◽  
Health Challenge ◽  
Social And Economic Development ◽  
The World ◽  
Public Health Challenge ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Imminent Threat ◽  
And Control

The number of people living with diabetes in the world is increasing rapidly. Most of the increase will occur in developing countries such as those in sub-Saharan Africa. Diabetes is currently recognised as a real and imminent threat to social and economic development globally and is set to be a major public health challenge in the 21st century. In sub-Saharan Africa, the challenge posed by diabetes is even more overwhelming since diabetes will have to share scarce resources with infections and malnutrition. Even worse, diabetes still has to gain sufficient political and social recognition in order to warrant aggressive national policies for prevention and treatment. In this article we present an overview of the burden of diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa and the specificities of care and control, and highlight the importance of developing effective national diabetes programmes.

Analysis of COVID-19 Prevention and Control Modes and Effects

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 628-665
Author(s):  
Jian Zhou ◽  
◽  
Xiaohui Lu ◽  
Liang Ye ◽  
Yu Shao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Active Treatment ◽  
Prevention And Control ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
And Cluster Analysis ◽  
And Control ◽  
First Contact ◽  
South Europe

This study evaluates COVID-19 prevention and control policies. Based on the simulation, we compare the effects of two major policies: contact restriction and active treatment. Through regression and cluster analysis, we classified 169 countries and regions in the world into 10 groups, among which five groups accounted for the major proportion: the ones with the labels “CHN (China) mode,” “SE (South Europe) mode,” “ENE-SSA (East & North Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa) mode,” “US (United States) mode,” and “DEU (Germany) mode”). Differences in the effects of the prevention and control of COVID-19 in typical countries in each mode are comprehensively investigated. The conclusions of this study can be summarized as follows: First, contact restriction outperforms active treatment in curbing the spread of COVID-19. Second, “CHN mode” ranks the highest level of epidemic control and emphasizes epidemic prevention and control more than economic stimulus, which is the opposite of the “US mode”. Regression analysis reveals that the differences in epidemics worldwide are caused by policy differences among modes.

Christianity in the Twentieth Century

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Stanley
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Racial Identity ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Central Importance ◽  
Regional Survey ◽  
History Of Christianity ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Different Parts

This book charts the transformation of one of the world's great religions during an age marked by world wars, genocide, nationalism, decolonization, and powerful ideological currents, many of them hostile to Christianity. The book traces how Christianity evolved from a religion defined by the culture and politics of Europe to the expanding polycentric and multicultural faith it is today—one whose growing popular support is strongest in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, China, and other parts of Asia. The book sheds critical light on themes of central importance for understanding the global contours of modern Christianity, illustrating each one with contrasting case studies, usually taken from different parts of the world. Unlike other books on world Christianity, this one is not a regional survey or chronological narrative, nor does it focus on theology or ecclesiastical institutions. The book provides a history of Christianity as a popular faith experienced and lived by its adherents, telling a compelling and multifaceted story of Christendom's fortunes in Europe, North America, and across the rest of the globe. It demonstrates how Christianity has had less to fear from the onslaughts of secularism than from the readiness of Christians themselves to accommodate their faith to ideologies that privilege racial identity or radical individualism.

Crowdsourcing Covid-19 signals in sub-Saharan Africa: Leveraging digital contributor networks for participatory surveillance of Covid-19 symptoms and deaths (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ngozi A Erondu ◽  
Sagal A Ali ◽  
Mohamed Ali ◽  
Schadrac C Agbla
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Health Seeking ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Local Networks ◽  
The World ◽  
Sub Saharan

BACKGROUND In sub-Saharan Africa, underreporting of cases and deaths has been attributed to various factors including, weak disease surveillance, low health-seeking behaviour of flu like symptoms, and stigma of Covid-19. There is evidence that SARS-CoV-2 spread mimics transmission patterns of other countries across the world. Since the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way research can be conducted and in light of restrictions on travel and risks to in-person data collection, innovative approaches to collecting data must be considered. Nearly 50% of Africa’s population is a unique mobile subscriber and it is one of the fastest growing smart-phone marketplaces in the world; hence, mobile phone platforms should be considered to monitor Covid-19 trends in the community. OBJECTIVE We demonstrate the use of digital contributor platforms to survey individuals about cases of flu-like symptoms and instances of unexplained deaths in Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Somalia, and Zimbabwe. METHODS Rapid cross-sectional survey of individuals with severe flu and pneumonia symptoms and unexplained deaths in Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Somalia and Zimbabwe RESULTS Using a non-health specific information platform, we found COVID-19 signals in five African countries, specifically: •Across countries, nearly half of the respondents (n=739) knew someone who had severe flu or pneumonia symptoms in recent months. •One in three respondents from Somalia and one in five from Zimbabwe respondents said they knew more than five people recently displaying flu and/or pneumonia symptoms. •In Somalia there were signals that a large number of people might be dying outside of health facilities, specifically in their homes or in IDP or refugee camps. CONCLUSIONS Existing digital contributor platforms with local networks are a non-traditional data source that can provide information from the community to supplement traditional government surveillance systems and academic surveys. We demonstrate that using these distributor networks to for community surveys can provide periodic information on rumours but could also be used to capture local sentiment to inform public health decision-making; for example, these insights could be useful to inform strategies to increase confidence in Covid19 vaccine. As Covid-19 continues to spread somewhat silently across sub-Saharan Africa, regional and national public health entities should consider expanding event-based surveillance sources to include these systems.

A comparison of global suicide terrorism by region before and after 9/11 terrorist attacks

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmet Guler ◽  
Mustafa Demir
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Interrupted Time Series ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Suicide Terrorism ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The World ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Global Terrorism Database

Purpose This study aims to examine the effect of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on suicide terrorism in different regions of the world and changes in the trends in suicide terrorism according to regions before and after 9/11. Design/methodology/approach Using the data obtained from the Global Terrorism Database from 1981 to 2019, the descriptive statistics were computed first and then, independent samples t-tests were run to compare the monthly mean percentage of suicide-terrorism incidents that occurred in each region between the pre-9/11 and the post-9/11 periods. Finally, to statistically assess the effect of the 9/11 attacks and changes in the trends for the dependent variables over time, monthly interrupted time-series analyzes were conducted. Findings The results of monthly interrupted time series analyzes showed that after the 9/11 attacks, the trends for suicide-terrorism rates decreased significantly in three regions including South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa and Europe, while the trend for suicide-terrorism rates increased significantly in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, no statistically significant changes in the trends in suicide-terrorism rates occurred in three regions including North America, East Asia and Central Asia and Southeast Asia before 9/11, during November 2001 or after 9/11. Originality/value This study indicates the critical importance of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in suicide terrorism and its impact on these events in different regions of the world. The research also provides some recommendations concerning the effectiveness of defensive and offensive counterterrorism policies against suicide terrorism.

Quelea quelea (weaver bird).

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Cheke
Keyword(s):  
Bird Species ◽  
Breeding Population ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Grain Crops ◽  
The World ◽  
Major Pest ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Economical Losses

Abstract The red-billed quelea is a small weaver bird native to sub-Saharan Africa and renowned for its attacks on small-grain crops within Africa. It is the most numerous bird species in the world, with peak post-breeding population estimated at 1,500,000,000. The red-billed quelea is mainly granivorous, except when feeding its chicks insects or when eating insects prior to migration or breeding, and it relies on a supply of grass seeds to survive. When unable to find grass seeds or when opportunities arise, quelea will attack crops. It is a major pest throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa and can cause significant economical losses.

scholarly journals Africa and the wider world: creole communities in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans

Tempo ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 465-481
Author(s):  
Malyn Newitt
Keyword(s):  
Technology Transfer ◽  
Indian Ocean ◽  
World Economy ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Eastern Africa ◽  
Cultural Appropriation ◽  
The World ◽  
African Slaves ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
Sub Saharan

Abstract: Portuguese creoles were instrumental in bringing sub-Saharan Africa into the intercontinental systems of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean. In the Atlantic Islands a distinctive creole culture emerged, made up of Christian emigrants from Portugal, Jewish exiles and African slaves. These creole polities offered a base for coastal traders and became politically influential in Africa - in Angola creating their own mainland state. Connecting the African interior with the world economy was largely on African terms and the lack of technology transfer meant that the economic gap between Africa and the rest of the world inexorably widened. African slaves in Latin America adapted to a society already creolised, often through adroit forms of cultural appropriation and synthesis. In eastern Africa Portuguese worked within existing creolised Islamic networks but the passage of their Indiamen through the Atlantic created close links between the Indian Ocean and Atlantic commercial systems.

scholarly journals An afebrile heartwater-like syndrome in goats

2013 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhoda Leask ◽  
Kenneth P. Pettey ◽  
Gareth F. Bath
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Signs ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Febrile Reaction ◽  
Presumptive Diagnosis ◽  
Appropriate Treatment ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Characteristic Features ◽  
And Control

Heartwater is a serious limiting factor for sheep and goat production in the major endemic area of sub-Saharan Africa and therefore most knowledge, research and control methods originate from this region. Whilst the usual or common clinical presentations can be used to make a presumptive diagnosis of heartwater with a good measure of confidence, this is not always the case, and animals suffering from heartwater may be misdiagnosed because their cases do not conform to the expected syndrome, signs and lesions. One aberrant form found occasionally in the Channel Island breeds of cattle and some goats is an afebrile heartwaterlike syndrome. The most constant and characteristic features of this heartwater-like syndrome comprise normal temperature, clinical signs associated with generalised oedema, and nervous signs, especially hypersensitivity. The presumption that the disease under investigation is the afebrile heartwater-like syndrome entails a tentative diagnosis based on history and clinical signs and the response to presumed appropriate treatment (metadiagnosis). The afebrile heartwater-like syndrome presents similarly to peracute heartwater but without the febrile reaction. Peracute cases of heartwater have a high mortality rate, enabling confirmation of the disease on post-mortem examination. Recognition of the afebrile heartwater-like syndrome is important to prevent deaths and identify the need for appropriate control measures.

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