scholarly journals Globalisation and Skills for Development: Some Lessons from Sub-Saharan Africa

2003 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 284-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leon Tikly ◽  
John Lowe ◽  
Michael Crossley ◽  
Hillary Dachi ◽  
Roger Garrett ◽  
...  

This article reports on an international policy research study funded by the United Kingdom (UK) Government's Department for International Development (DfID), entitled Globalisation and Skills for Development in Tanzania and Rwanda: implications for education and training policy and practice. The research is a contribution to a broader ‘Skills for Development Initiative’ launched by the UK Secretary of State for International Development (Short, 1999). The study was a collaborative effort between the Universities of Bristol, Bath, Dar es Salaam and the Kigali Institute of Education. The findings and the analysis generated by this research are rich and complex.

2008 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 3-4
Author(s):  
B Rice ◽  
A Nardone ◽  
N Gill ◽  
V Delpech

The latest HIV data for 2007 has recently been published for the United Kingdom (UK). During the year, an estimated 6,840 (95% confidence intervals 6,600-7,050) persons (adjusted for reporting delays) were newly diagnosed with HIV in the UK. This represents a 12% decline from a peak of new HIV diagnoses reported in 2005 (7,800). Almost all this decline in new HIV diagnoses was in HIV-infected heterosexuals from sub-Saharan Africa who were probably infected in their country of origin.


2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (21) ◽  
pp. 10430-10434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaspard Kerner ◽  
Noe Ramirez-Alejo ◽  
Yoann Seeleuthner ◽  
Rui Yang ◽  
Masato Ogishi ◽  
...  

The human genetic basis of tuberculosis (TB) has long remained elusive. We recently reported a high level of enrichment in homozygosity for the common TYK2 P1104A variant in a heterogeneous cohort of patients with TB from non-European countries in which TB is endemic. This variant is homozygous in ∼1/600 Europeans and ∼1/5,000 people from other countries outside East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. We report a study of this variant in the UK Biobank cohort. The frequency of P1104A homozygotes was much higher in patients with TB (6/620, 1%) than in controls (228/114,473, 0.2%), with an odds ratio (OR) adjusted for ancestry of 5.0 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.96–10.31, P = 2 × 10−3]. Conversely, we did not observe enrichment for P1104A heterozygosity, or for TYK2 I684S or V362F homozygosity or heterozygosity. Moreover, it is unlikely that more than 10% of controls were infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, as 97% were of European genetic ancestry, born between 1939 and 1970, and resided in the United Kingdom. Had all of them been infected, the OR for developing TB upon infection would be higher. These findings suggest that homozygosity for TYK2 P1104A may account for ∼1% of TB cases in Europeans.


Subject Effects of the UK decision to leave the EU on African states. Significance The decision of voters in the United Kingdom to leave the EU ('Brexit') will alter its relationships with countries across the world. London's engagement with countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) will change depending on the form the Brexit takes, but the vote to leave risks diminishing the United Kingdom's influence. Impacts Divides in EU and UK policy toward African issues could deepen. A weaker EU will reinforce the need for African states to build relationships with other areas of the world, particularly Asia. Diminishing UK influence could pressure countries such as Germany to expand their engagement with SSA states.


The notion that social protection should be a key strategy for reducing poverty in developing countries has now been mainstreamed within international development policy and practice. Promoted as an integral dimension of the post-Washington Consensus that emerged around the turn of the new millennium, all major international development agencies and bilateral donors now include a strong focus on social protection in their advocacy and programmatic interventions, and a commitment to providing social protection was recently enshrined within the Sustainable Development Goals. The rhetoric around social protection, particularly when delivered in the form of cash transfers, has sometimes reached hyperbolic proportions, with advocates seeing it as a silver bullet that can tackle multi-dimensional problems of poverty, vulnerability, and inequality and a southern-led success story that challenges the unequal power relations inherent within international aid. This book examines how the operation of power and politics at multiple levels of governance shapes the extent to which political elites are committed to social protection, the form this commitment takes, and the implications this has not only for the future shape of welfare regimes but also for state–citizen relations on the continent. With a particular focus on cash transfers, the chapters set out how the politics of promoting social protection has played out in countries from all regions of sub-Saharan Africa. The power relations we examine include those that operate within and amongst global development agencies, between global actors and political and bureaucratic elites, and between and amongst political and bureaucratic elites within Africa.


2008 ◽  
Vol 13 (49) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Lattimore ◽  
Z Yin ◽  
L Logan ◽  
B Rice ◽  
A Thornton ◽  
...  

In the United Kingdom (UK) in 2007, an estimated 77,400 persons were living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) of whom 28% are unaware of their infection. A total of 7,734 persons were newly diagnosed with HIV infection in 2007, of which 31% were diagnosed late. This highlights the need for wider HIV testing, especially in those areas with a high diagnosed prevalence, as recommended in recent national guidelines. Among newly diagnosed cases of HIV in 2007, 41% acquired their infection through sex between men (four in five of whom acquired their infection in the UK) and 55% through heterosexual contact (four in five of whom acquired their infection abroad, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa). Young persons aged 16 to 24 years are disproportionally affected by sexually transmitted diseases (STIs) accounting for 65% of genital chlamydia infections, 50% of cases of genital warts and 50% of cases of gonorrhoea that were diagnosed in 2007.


Children ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 526
Author(s):  
James Ditai ◽  
Aisling Barry ◽  
Kathy Burgoine ◽  
Anthony K. Mbonye ◽  
Julius N. Wandabwa ◽  
...  

The initial bedside care of premature babies with an intact cord has been shown to reduce mortality; there is evidence that resuscitation of term babies with an intact cord may also improve outcomes. This process has been facilitated by the development of bedside resuscitation surfaces. These new devices are unaffordable, however, in most of sub-Saharan Africa, where 42% of the world’s 2.4 million annual newborn deaths occur. This paper describes the rationale and design of BabySaver, an innovative low-cost mobile resuscitation unit, which was developed iteratively over five years in a collaboration between the Sanyu Africa Research Institute (SAfRI) in Uganda and the University of Liverpool in the UK. The final BabySaver design comprises two compartments; a tray to provide a firm resuscitation surface, and a base to store resuscitation equipment. The design was formed while considering contextual factors, using the views of individual women from the community served by the local hospitals, medical staff, and skilled birth attendants in both Uganda and the UK.


2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 1279.1-1279
Author(s):  
Z. Rutter-Locher ◽  
J. Galloway ◽  
H. Lempp

Background:Rheumatological diseases are common in Sub-Saharan Africa [1] but specialist healthcare is limited and there are less than 150 rheumatologists currently serving 1 billion people in Sub-Saharan Africa [2]. Rheumatologists practising in the UK NHS are likely to be exposed to migrant patients. There is therefore, an unmet need for health care providers to understand the differences in rheumatology healthcare provision between Sub-Saharan Africa and the UK and the barriers which migrants face in their transition of rheumatology care.Objectives:To gain an understanding of the experiences of patients with rheumatological conditions, about their past healthcare in Sub-Saharan Africa and their transition of care to the UK.Methods:A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews was conducted. Participants were recruited from two rheumatology outpatient clinics in London. Thematic analysis was applied to identify key themes.Results:Seven participants were recruited. Five had rheumatoid arthritis, one had ankylosing spondylitis and one had undifferentiated inflammatory arthritis. Participants described the significant impact their rheumatological conditions had on their physical and emotional wellbeing, including their social and financial implications. Compared to the UK, rheumatology healthcare in Sub-Saharan Africa was characterised by higher costs, limited access to specialists, lack of investigations and treatments, the use of traditional medicines and poor communication by clinicians. Barriers to transition of rheumatology care to the UK were: poor understanding of rheumatological conditions by the public and primary care providers, lack of understanding of NHS entitlements by migrants, fear of data sharing with immigration services and delayed referral to specialist care. Patient, doctor and public education were identified by participants as important ways to improve access to healthcare.Conclusion:This study has described, for the first time, patients’ perspectives of rheumatology health care in Sub-Saharan Africa and the transition of their care to the UK. These initial findings allow healthcare providers in the UK to tailor management for this migrant population and suggests that migrants need more information about their NHS entitlements and specific explanations on what non-clinical data will be shared with immigration services. To increase access to appropriate care, a concerted effort by clinicians and public health authorities is necessary to raise awareness and provide better education to patients and migrant populations about rheumatological conditions.References:[1]G. Mody, “Rheumatology in Africa-challenges and opportunities,” Arthritis Res. Ther., vol. 19, no. 1, p. 49, 2017.[2]M. A. M. Elagib et al., “Sudan and Sweden Active Rheumatoid Arthritis in Central Africa: A Comparative Study Between,” J. Rheumatol. J. Rheumatol. January, vol. 43, no. 10, pp. 1777–1786, 2016.Acknowledgments:We are grateful to the patients involved in this study for their time and involvement.Disclosure of Interests:None declared


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. e047118
Author(s):  
Joanne Welsh ◽  
Mechthild M Gross ◽  
Claudia Hanson ◽  
Hashim Hounkpatin ◽  
Ann-Beth Moller

IntroductionMaternal and neonatal mortality are disproportionally high in low-and middle-income countries. In 2017 the global maternal mortality ratio was estimated to be 211 per 100 000 live births. An estimated 66% of these deaths occurred in sub-Saharan Africa. Training programmes that aim to prepare providers of midwifery care vary considerably across sub-Saharan Africa in terms of length, content and quality. To overcome the shortfalls of pre-service training and support the provision of quality care, in-service training packages for providers of midwifery care have been developed and implemented in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa. We aim to identify what in-service education and training materials have been used for providers of midwifery care between 2000 and 2020 and map their content to the International Confederation of Midwives’ Essential Competencies for Midwifery Practice (ICM Competencies), and the Lancet Midwifery Series Quality Maternal and Newborn Care (QMNC) framework.Methods and analysisA search will be conducted for the years 2000–2020 in Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PubMed/MEDLINE, Social Sciences Citation Index, African Index Medicus and Google Scholar. A manual search of reference lists from identified studies and a hand search of literature from international partner organisations will be performed. Information retrieved will include study context, providers trained, focus of training and design of training. Original content of identified education and training materials will be obtained and mapped to the ICM Competencies and the Lancet Series QMNC.Ethics and disseminationA scoping review is a secondary analysis of published literature and does not require ethical approval. This scoping review will give an overview of the education and training materials used for in-service training for providers of midwifery care in sub-Saharan Africa. Mapping the content of these education and training materials to the ICM Competencies and The Lancet Series QMNC will allow us to assess their appropriateness. Findings from the review will be reflected to stakeholders involved in the design and implementation of such materials. Additionally, findings will be published in a peer-reviewed journal, and used to inform the design and content of an in-service training package for providers of midwifery care as part of the Action Leveraging Evidence to Reduce perinatal morTality and morbidity (ALERT) study, (https://alert.ki.se/) a multi-country study in Benin, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda.Trial registration numberPACTR202006793783148; Post-results.


Wetlands ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Dixon ◽  
Adrian Wood ◽  
Afework Hailu

AbstractThroughout sub-Saharan Africa wetlands provide ecosystem services that are critical to the development needs of many people. Local wetland use, however, is often at odds with broader national policy goals in which narratives of conservation and protection dominate, hence a recurring challenge is how to reconcile these tensions through the development of policies and field practice that deliver sustainable development. In this paper we examine the extent to which this challenge has been achieved in Ethiopia, charting the changes in wetlands policy and discourse over the last twenty years while reviewing the contribution of the multidisciplinary Ethiopian Wetlands Research Programme (EWRP) (1997–2000). Our analysis suggests that despite EWRP having a significant legacy in developing national interest in wetlands among research, government and non-governmental organisations, its more holistic social-ecological interpretation of wetland management remains neglected within a policy arena dominated by specific sectoral interests and little recognition of the needs of local people. In exploring the impacts at the local level, recent investigations with communities in Ilu Aba Bora Zone highlight adjustments in wetland use that famers attribute to environmental, economic and social change, but which also evidence the adaptive nature of wetland-based livelihoods.


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