scholarly journals From Chronic Disease to Food Poverty: Evidence from Pakistan

2015 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abid A. Burki ◽  
Mushtaq A. Khan ◽  
Sobia Malik

While poverty and its causes have long been studied by economists, the link between chronic disease and food poverty has been a neglected area of research. This article investigates the impact of chronic disease on food poverty by using two rounds of panel data of Pakistan and linear probability regression framework. Chronic disease is defined to include diabetes, arthritis, heart disease, AIDS, cancer and asthma. The regression results show that on average the effect of chronic disease on food poverty is statistically equal to zero, but this effect significantly varies by income groups categorised by three non-income based classifications. We note that the incidence of chronic disease is significantly higher among non-poor when permanent income of the household is incorporated into the model, most notably among individuals coming from low- and middle-income backgrounds. Thus public health policies that seek awareness, prevention and treatment of chronic diseases have the potential to alleviate poverty in a high poverty environment.

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 3315
Author(s):  
Ewa Zender-Świercz ◽  
Marek Telejko ◽  
Beata Galiszewska

Due to the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, most countries have tightened their public health policies. One way to limit the spread of the virus is to make mouth and nose cover compulsory in public spaces. The article presents the impact of wearing masks on the perception of thermal comfort. The following masks were analysed: FFP2, cotton, medical, PM2.5, half-face protective shield plastic and full-face protective shield plastic. The research was carried out for two scenarios of an ambient temperature: −20 and 30 °C. A thermal manikin was used for the tests. In the case of when a temperature equals 20 °C, the dry masks increase comfort, both general and local, while wet masks reduce comfort. On the other hand, at 30 °C, only wet masks do not increase discomfort. In addition, moist masks require less heat flux to achieve a certain skin temperature. However, it should be remembered that it is not advisable to wet the masks from the health point of view.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-157
Author(s):  
Samuel Adu Gyamfi ◽  
Phinehas Asiamah ◽  
Benjamin Dompreh Darkwa ◽  
Lucky Tomdi

Abstract Akyem Abuakwa is one of the largest states of the Akan ethnic group in Ghana. Notwithstanding its size and important contribution to Ghana’s development, historians have paid little attention in doing academic research on the health history of the people. Using a qualitative method of research, this paper does a historical study on public health policies in Akyem Abuakwa from the 1850s to 1957. We utilised documentary and non-documentary sources to discuss the various public health policies implemented in Akyem Abuakwa from the pre-colonial era to the colonial era. We examined the impact of the policies on the people of Akyem Abuakwa and the various challenges faced by the British colonial administration in their quest to implement public health policies.


1977 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-274
Author(s):  
Leslie E. Small ◽  
Donn A. Derr

During the past decade, the cost of constructing new homes has risen dramatically. While the overall consumer price index rose by 74 percent between 1967 and the end of 1976, the cost of constructing new housing rose by about 103 percent nationally. This trend in costs has priced a growing proportion of lower and middle income groups out of the market for new houses. The national average price for new housing is currently $52,000 per unit. This has led to expressions of public concern that efforts need to be undertaken to find ways by which these low and middle income groups can obtain access to new housing.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Masudur Rahman ◽  
Guan Fuquan ◽  
Laila Arjuman Ara

This paper empirically investigates the effects of financial development on incomes of Chinese residents particularly within various income groups using data from six provinces by applying the Quantile Regression model. The Greenwood and Jovanovich hypothesis that illustrates the inverted U shaped relationship between financial development and income inequality is tested. This empirical study demonstrates that financial development has a positive but non-linear effect on the annual income of individuals from various income groups at different quantiles. The effect is an inverted U or Kuznets effect indicating an increase at first and then a drop. As for the distribution of the impact on various income groups, the low-income group is under the most dominant influence followed by the high-income group with the middle-income groups receiving relatively smaller influence. Findings indicate that promoting balanced financial development would help to ease the income gap between Chinese residents.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-43
Author(s):  
Maurício De Bonis ◽  
Fábio Scucuglia

This report contemplates an instrumental composition as a project for audiovisual production in social isolation, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Based on the problematization of the impact of the pandemic in music making, solutions were sought that were not only viable as an artistic result but that could also be projected in a purposeful and prospective way in times of humanitarian crisis, of dismal symmetry between capitalist neoliberalism and programmed neglect in public health policies. After a description of the research on the use of art in past pandemics as a guiding principle in the choice of materials, the audiovisual production is detailed. The piece was written in April 2020 as a result of the analysis of a Renaissance motet, which, in turn, was conceived as a tribute to a composer who had perished from the plague and as a palliative against the disease.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilberto Gonzalez-Parra ◽  
David Martínez-Rodríguez ◽  
Rafael-J. Villanueva-Micó

Several SARS-CoV-2 variants have emerged around the world and the appearance of other variants depends on many factors. These new variants might have different characteristics that can affect the transmissibility and death rate. The administration of vaccines against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) started in early December of 2020 and in some countries the vaccines will not soon be widely available. In this article, we study the impact of a new more transmissible SARS-CoV-2 strain on prevalence, hospitalizations, and deaths related to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. We study different scenarios regarding the transmissibility in order to provide a scientific support for public health policies and bring awareness of potential future situations related to the COVID-19 pandemic. We construct a compartmental mathematical model based on differential equations to study these different scenarios. In this way, we are able to understand how a new, more infectious strain of the virus can impact the dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic. We study several metrics related to the possible outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic in order to assess the impact of a higher transmissibility of a new SARS-CoV-2 strain on these metrics. We found that, even if the new variant has the same death rate, its high transmissibility can increase the number of infected people, those hospitalized, and deaths. The simulation results show that health institutions need to focus on increasing non-pharmaceutical interventions and the pace of vaccine inoculation since a new variant with higher transmissibility as, for example, VOC-202012/01 of lineage B.1.1.7, may cause more devastating outcomes in the population.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarafa A. Iyaniwura ◽  
Musa Rabiu ◽  
Jummy F. David ◽  
Jude D. Kong

AbstractAdherence to public health policies such as the non-pharmaceutical interventions implemented against COVID-19 plays a major role in reducing infections and controlling the spread of the diseases. In addition, understanding the transmission dynamics of the disease is also important in order to make and implement efficient public health policies. In this paper, we developed an SEIR-type compartmental model to assess the impact of adherence to COVID-19 non-pharmaceutical interventions and indirect transmission on the dynamics of the disease. Our model considers both direct and indirect transmission routes and stratifies the population into two groups: those that adhere to COVID-19 non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and those that do not adhere to the NPIs. We compute the control reproduction number and the final epidemic size relation for our model and study the effect of different parameters of the model on these quantities. Our results show that direct transmission has more effect on the reproduction number and final epidemic size, relative to indirect transmission. In addition, we showed that there is a significant benefit in adhering to the COVID-19 NPIs.


2021 ◽  
pp. 199-225
Author(s):  
Eduardo Tosta

Understanding the interactions of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) with humans is deeply grounded in immunology, from the diagnosis to pathogenesis, from the clinical presentations to the epidemiology, prevention, and treatment. However, the difficulty of capturing the complex and changeable array of immunological concepts and incorporating them into the strategies of control of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic poses significant hindrances to establish optimal public health policies. The contribution of immunology to the control of the pandemic is to shed light on the features and mechanisms of the protective immunity elicited by SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccines. Do they induce effective protective immunity? How? For how long? What is the effect of vaccination on individuals who were previously infected? To appropriately answer these questions, it is necessary to get rid of the outdated notion of a naïve, static, and closed immune system, which leads to misconceptions about susceptibility, specificity, immunological memory, and protective immunity. The present essay discusses these issues based on current immunological concepts.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 50-50
Author(s):  
Julie Bobitt ◽  
Beth Prusaczyk

Abstract Public health policies can be a tool for the promotion and protection of older adult’s well-being but how can we ensure that policies will be effective and applied as intended? This presentation will discuss how implementation science can be used to both inform and evaluate health policies. Scientific evidence developed by applying dissemination and implementation frameworks can be used to inform policy makers as they develop legislation. When used to evaluate policy, D&I frameworks can be applied to examine policy diffusion, how a state, community, or individual organization chooses to carry out the policy, and the impact that policy has on the intended population. D&I frameworks are an effective way to measure the difference between policy intent and what actually happens when a policy is implemented. Examples of how D&I frameworks have been used to inform and evaluate policy will be shared.


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