scholarly journals Comparing healthiness across urban, peri-urban, and rural communities in Mymensingh region of Bangladesh

GeoScape ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-23
Author(s):  
Ripan Debnath ◽  
Praghya Parmita Debnath

AbstractPeople in urban and peri-urban areas enjoy better physical access to health facilities compared to those living in rural area. However, healthier natural environment is commonly absent in urban and its adjoining peri-urban areas. Premising on the competitiveness of health determinants outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO), this study has embarked upon comparing healthiness of different communities in a region as well as to ascertain the factor(s) regulating their healthiness related outcome. Relying on presurveyed 1397 household data spreading over an urban, two peri-urban, and eight rural localities in Mymensingh region, Bangladesh, the study has evaluated the communities’ healthiness in views of both the conventional perspective and using a set of health determinants. Illness and disease manifestation as well as socio-economic status of the households were analyzed statistically to get communities’ overall healthiness scenario. Later, comparison among the communities and contribution of different indicators were sought using a combined score index. In this study’s context, it has been found that urban is healthier than rural followed by peri-urban community. Here, rural areas lack education the most that should be improved; peri-urban areas need better income opportunity; and urban area requires better water-supply and waste management facilities to improve their respective health status in a community sense. There is not a commonly accepted health metrics for community’s comprehensive health assessment toward which this study sets a pathway. Besides, using the combined health index developed here, specific interventions required to improve community’s healthiness and minimize the gap among them can easily be identified.

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilmar Torres-López ◽  
Inés Restrepo-Tarquino ◽  
Charlotte Patterson ◽  
John Gowing ◽  
Isabel Dominguez Rivera

<p>Globally, access to improved water sources is lower in rural areas compared to urban areas. Furthermore, in rural areas many people use water from individual systems they have developed with their investments, often without external support. This phenomenon has been called Self-supply. Self-supply ranges from simple to complex systems and different water sources. Water quality varies, from achieving World Health Organization (WHO) standards (0 CFU/100 ml) to systems that provide water posing high risks to human health. While most studies in Self-supply have been developed in Africa, little is known in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). This research explores Self-supply in a rural microcatchment in Colombia (LAC). Data was collected through household and drinking water surveys and analysed. Results showed that 40% of households used Self-supply systems taking water from springs and brooks. Thermotolerant Coliforms were below 50 CFU/100 ml, both in dry and rainy season, and between 5 to 7% of samples achieved the WHO standard. These results suggest that Self-supply has potential to offer safe drinking water, provided improvements on source protection and institutional support. Therefore, Self-supply could contribute to address “unfinished business”, including ensuring access for the hardest-to-reach people, as stated in the post-2015 development agenda.</p>


1997 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia P. Sanchez-Castillo ◽  
David Grubb ◽  
Maria De Lourdes Solano ◽  
Michael F. Franklin ◽  
W. Philip T. James

A study was performed in a rural Mexican community and in Mexico City to investigate possible differences in non-starch polysaccharide (NSP) intakes. One hundred and fourteen women (fifty-five rural and fitty-nine urban) and forty-three men (twenty-four rural and nineteen urban) completed 24 h recall questionnaires for three consecutive days with NSP intakes being estimated from a specially prepared set of new food composition tables. Potential underestimation of intakes was assessed by estimating individual BMR and dividing the estimated energy intakes by BMR to give a ratio. Excluding severe underrecording (ratio < 1·01) suggested NSP intakes of 21·8 and 17·3 g/d in rural men and women and 17·7 and 15·6 g/d in urban men and women respectively. NSP sources differed, with a marked fall in intake from pulses in the urban areas but a compensatory increase of tortilla intakes and a rise in NSP-rich fruit consumption. Both soluble- and insoluble-NSP intakes were higher in rural areas. NSP intakes scaled by probable energy intakes of moderately active adults in developing countries suggest that NSP intakes in Mexico are similar to adjusted values in Africa, i.e. 26·9 g/d in Mexico v. 28·5 g/d in Africa in rural men and 22·9 v. 21·0 g/d respectively in rural women. The NSP: energy density ratio (g/MJ) of the rural diet conformed with the World Health Organization (1990) goal. Data available on urban and rural communities for three countries showed that in each case the intake of NSP was lowest in the urban community.


2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 509-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reema Gill

The human resources for health (HRH), especially nurses, constitute an important part of health systems. It is difficult to ascertain comprehensive information on the availability of health workers globally due to irregular reporting of data from the countries. However, experts have proposed minimum thresholds for achieving certain health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These thresholds have been used as yardsticks by others for determining HRH shortages in their nations. As per the minimum threshold developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), not enough health workers are available in India, especially in the rural areas. The nurse to population ratio in India is even lower than some of the other developing countries in Asia. Various factors, such as low professional and socio-economic status, gender issues, lack of political will on part of the government and unregulated private sector, have led to scarcity of nurses in numbers as well as qualitatively in India. To overcome the dismal working and social conditions, many Indian nurses are migrating to developed nations, further exacerbating the nursing shortages in the country. Inclusive planning, adequate financing and political commitment on the part of all stakeholders are required for overcoming the shortage of health personnel existing in India.


Author(s):  
Yongjian Xu ◽  
Anupam Garrib ◽  
Zhongliang Zhou ◽  
Duolao Wang ◽  
Jianmin Gao ◽  
...  

High out-of-pocket (OOP) payments for chronic disease care often contribute directly to household poverty. Although previous studies have explored the determinants of impoverishment in China, few published studies have compared levels of impoverishment before and after the New Health Care Reform (NHCR) in households with members with chronic diseases (hereafter referred to as chronic households). Our study explored this using data from the fourth and fifth National Health Service Surveys conducted in Shaanxi Province. In total, 1938 households in 2008 and 7700 households in 2013 were included in the analysis. Rates of impoverishment were measured using a method proposed by the World Health Organization. Multilevel logistic modeling was used to explore the influence of the NHCR on household impoverishment. Our study found that the influence of NHCR on impoverishment varied by residential location. After the reform, in rural areas, there was a significant decline in impoverishment, although the impoverishment rate remained high. There was little change in urban areas. In addition, impoverishment in the poorest households did not decline after the NHCR. Our findings are important for policy makers in particular for evaluating reform effectiveness, informing directions for health policy improvement, and highlighting achievements in the efforts to alleviate the economic burden of households that have members with chronic diseases.


2021 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 167-169
Author(s):  
Anastasia Simion ◽  
Maria Simion ◽  
Geanina Moldovan

Abstract Introduction: Recommended by the World Health Organization as the optimal way of infant feeding, maternal breast milk represents the best nourishment for the newborn baby during its first six months. The purpose of this study was to evaluate some of the Romanian mothers’ characteristics that can influence their attitude towards breastfeeding and food diversification. Methods: A questionnaire about 32 questions, including demographics items and breastfeeding attitudes, was sent online (socializing platforms) in 2020 to mothers from all Romania districts. Our sample included at the end 1768 subjects, who fully completed the questionnaire. Statistical analysis was carried out using the GraphPad statistical software. Results: The prevalence of breastfeeding for more than six months was only 32.18% in our group, and most of them were educated mothers who lives in urban areas (OR=2.76), were married (OR=1.98), had over 30 years old (OR=1.43) and have more than one child (OR=1.74). Conclusions: We underline the importance of tackling in our future community interventions some of the socio-demographic characteristics of pregnant women (like groups education, good and accessible information about breastfeeding, young age, first pregnancy, or mothers from rural areas as well) in developing good habits of breastfeeding or complementary feeding, in order to improve their children health status and proper development.


2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 509-520
Author(s):  
T. C. M. Sousa ◽  
C. Barcellos ◽  
A. F. Oliveira ◽  
J. Schramm ◽  
L. Garbayo

The Global Burden of Disease is the official metrics of World Health Organization in use to support public health evidence-based decision-making. It has been systematically used to assess environmental risk factors such as unsafe Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), as part of the measurement of Environmental Burden (EB). This article reports on the first study in Brazil that estimates the EB attributable to unsafe WASH associated with diarrhea for children under five years old for the country and macro-regions for 1998. The EB of diarrhea for this subgroup was estimated using the population attributable fraction (PAF) method for four scenarios of exposition to unsafe WASH. Results of PAF were multiplied by the EB obtained from the 1998 Brazilian GDB Study. The regions with higher EB for children below five years old were north and northeast, both predominantly rural. The EB attributable to unsafe WASH was 15% in 1998. The estimation of the EB of diarrhea contributes to the re-assessment of Brazil's attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) in both health and environmental dimensions. Results obtained indicated that the country's precarious conditions of WASH in rural areas are below the goals of MDG, as well as in impoverished urban areas.


2021 ◽  
Vol 319 ◽  
pp. 01049
Author(s):  
Abdelghani Asraoui ◽  
Abdelmajid Soulaymani ◽  
Chems Eddouha Khassouani

According to the World Health Organization, diabetes is the cause of 1.5 million deaths each year, 80% of which occur in low- and middle-income countries. It will become the principal cause of death by 2030. In Morocco, the situation is as alarming as at the global level. However, the prevalence of diabetes at the provincial level is unknown. This paper aims to present partial results obtained from a statistical study, carried out in February 2021, where we estimated the prevalence of diabetes and studied some socio-demographic determinants among the diabetic population living in Salé, Morocco. The investigation included a sample of 488 households selected according to a two-stage stratified probabilistic sampling plan (466 of which were surveyed (i.e. 1868 individuals) with a response rate of 466/488 =95.5%). The results showed that, in 2021, diabetes was affecting 5.5% (95% CI 4.5%, 6.6%) of the studied population (5.8% of women and 5.1% of men, 5.6% in urban areas and 4.5% in rural areas). The proportion of diabetics increases significantly with age (p-value=0.0001<0.05). It was 0.1% among young people (<18 years), 3.9% among individuals aged 18-59, and 26.9% among those aged 60 and above. A logistic model, making it possible to predict, with an accuracy of 91.7%, the risk of contracting diabetes among the population aged 18 and above (1,308 subjects, 7.8% of which were diabetic), was performed. The model included several socio-demographic determinants. Age, educational level, economic activity, average household income and smoking were significantly associated with diabetes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 116
Author(s):  
Made Agus Nurjana ◽  
Gunawan Gunawan ◽  
Dwi Hapsari Tjandrarini ◽  
Olwin Nainggolan

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (Tb) remains a health problem throughout the world. World Health Organization (WHO) has set it as a &ldquo;Global Emergency&rdquo; disease. The difficulty of confirming the diagnosis of it in children, different from it in adults, causes the treatment of it in children often neglected. This problem is exacerbated by the supporting environmental conditions, namely living in slums, which makes the risk of transmission even higher. OBJECTIVE: To identify internal and external factors related to Tb in children aged 0-59 months living in slums in Indonesia. MATERIAL &amp; METHOD: The data source used was the 2013 Basic Health Research (Riskesdas) using a sample of children less than five years old who lived in slums in 34 provinces in Indonesia. RESULTS: Logistic regression analysis found three risk factors, namely BCG immunization status (age-based), at-risk home environment, and gender (residential area-based). Vaccinated children under one year of age have the best probability of not suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis. Those who live in a house inhabited by less than five people, or in that occupied by more than four with no one of which smokes or does not suffer from pulmonary tuberculosis has a probability of not being exposed to it. Likewise, women who live in rural areas have almost two times less probability of suffering from it, compared to men in urban areas. CONCLUSION: Factors contributing to the prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis in infants in slums are the status of BCG immunization, air cleanliness in the neighborhood, which can be seen from the differences of risks in rural and urban, and the number of inhabitants per house and their behavior.


Author(s):  
Khaled Hassan

Introduction: Diabetes is defined as a disorder in the assimilation, use and storage of sugars provided by food, its management is ensured by monitoring overweight and obesity and regular glycemic control.  Methods: The study took place over a period of one year from January to December 2015.The evaluation of overweight and obesity was carried out by calculating the Body Mass Index, weight and height were measured according to the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), Glycemic control was performed by blood analysis of glycosylated hemoglobin and fasting blood glucose.  Results: The age range of patients is between 8 months and 80 years, with a dominance of diabetics from urban areas (74%) compared to those from rural areas (26%). Overweight affects all of this population. The average BMI of women tends towards obesity (IMC?30): (29.21 Kg / m 2 ± 3.1) for gestational diabetes and (29.15 Kg / m 2± 3.2) for type 2 diabetes. The glycemic control values are above the norms. The difference between the values of glycosylated hemoglobin between men (8.5 7% ± 2.6) and women (8.1% ± 2.3) is not significant (P> 0.05) Conclusion:All diabetics have BMI and glycemic control values above the norms. In-depth research is needed on these diabetics in order to establish an urgent program of remediation. Keywords: Diabetes, prevalence, BMI, overweight, Glycosylated hemoglobin, fasting blood sugar


Author(s):  
Biswas Shrestha ◽  
Binita Shrestha

Nepal, considered one of the poorest and underdeveloped nations in the world, has a particularly pronounced health crisis in its rural areas due to extreme shortages of health professionals. Home to 80% of the total population, the rural parts of Nepal are estimated to have a physician ratio of 2.4 physicians per 100 000 people (1), about 100 times lower than the minimum acceptable ratio provided by the World Health Organization (6, WHO 2006). The challenges of the mountainous topography of this Himalayan nation are further compounded by the disastrous scarcity of health professionals, viz. doctors, nurses, public health and biomedical researchers, etc. Consequently, simple and easily treatable diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, etc. take the lives of thousands of Nepali villagers every year. The health status and quality of life along with other grave problems such as poverty, illiteracy, and lack of infrastructures of development are worse in rural areas around the world, especially in developing nations such as Nepal compared to urban areas in developed nations (13, 18). Health crisis, underdevelopment, and poverty entangle rural areas in developing nations in a vicious circle, each contributing to the other, in which ill-health of rural residents negatively affects their productivity, economic output, socio-cultural contributions, and participation in the competitive world of globalization. The health crisis in rural parts of Nepal exists due to the extreme shortage of health professionals resulting from their preferences for working in urban cities in Nepal and in other developed nations, is caused by an intricate fabric of domestic push factors and international pull factors and can only be addressed through sustained cooperation between the national and international bodies.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document