scholarly journals Strengthening Country Readiness for Pandemic-Related Mass Movement: Policy Lessons Learned

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 6377
Author(s):  
Matteo Dembech ◽  
Zoltan Katz ◽  
Istvan Szilard
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Mass Movement ◽  
Policy Option ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Infection Prevention And Control ◽  
Mass Migration ◽  
Health Response ◽  
The Uk

The COVID-19 pandemic has thus far restricted the large movement of people; nonetheless, we cannot exclude the disruptive power of a virus with similar characteristics to COVID-19 affecting both high- and low-income countries, as a factor for future mass migrations. Indeed, the top 15 countries affected by COVID-19 host about 9 million refugees, and it is, therefore, important to investigate and strengthen the readiness of countries’ health policies to ensure they are well equipped to deal with potential large influxes of ‘epidemic-related refugees and migrants.’ Using the Bardach Policy Framework as a tool for analysis, this article investigates the readiness of countries for a potential public health event (mass migration generated by future pandemics), therefore, aiming at a health response forecasting exercise. The article reviews the policies put in place by countries who faced large influxes of migrants between 2011 and 2015 (the policy-prolific years between the Arab Spring migration and the introduction of stringent measures in Europe) and new evidence generated in response to the COVID-19 pandemic (including the ‘ECDC Guidance on infection prevention and control of COVID-19 in migrant and refugee reception and detention centres in the EU/EEA and the UK’ and the ‘WHO Lancet priority for dealing with migration and COVID-19′) to formulate a policy option able to strengthen national system capacities for responding to influxes of epidemic-related migrants and the management of highly infectious diseases.

scholarly journals Somalia

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (86) ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Net Present Value ◽  
Debt Relief ◽  
Debt Management ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Debt Sustainability ◽  
Poor Countries ◽  
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries ◽  
Hipc Initiative

This paper presents an assessment of Somalia’s eligibility for assistance under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. The macroeconomic framework reflects the policy framework underlying the proposed three-year Fund-supported program. The debt relief analysis (DRA) remains largely unchanged, but some of the underlying debt data has been updated to reflect new information from creditors. In addition, this paper presents an assessment of debt management capacity in Somalia and a full Debt Sustainability Analysis under the Debt Sustainability Framework for Low-Income Countries. The DRA reveals that, after traditional debt relief mechanisms are applied, Somalia’s debt burden expressed as the net present value of debt-to-exports ratio is 344.2 percent at the end of December 2018—significantly above the HIPC Initiative threshold. Despite the challenging environment, progress on reform and policy implementation has been good and sustained reforms have translated into economic results. In addition to the coordinated support from the World Bank and the IMF, reforms have been supported by other development partners.

A Systems Approach for Sustainably Reducing Childhood Diarrheal Deaths in Developing Countries

2016 ◽  
pp. 1208-1227
Author(s):  
Monica Gray
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Industrialized Nations ◽  
Sub Saharan

Diarrhea is the second leading cause of death and is the major cause of malnutrition in children under age 5 worldwide. More than 50 percent of the cases occur in developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. Open defecation, substandard fecal disposal systems, and contaminated water supplies are the typical causes of diarrheal diseases. This public health crisis in low income countries mirrors the experiences of today's industrialized nations two centuries ago. The lessons learned from their sanitary evolution can be instructive in charting a sustainable path towards saving the lives of almost 2 million children annually. In this chapter a case study of Cuba's sanitary reformation is also presented to showcase successes, similar to those of developed countries, within a developing country and economically challenging context.

scholarly journals The Political Economy of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Does Performance on the SDGs Affect Re-Election?

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 6445
Author(s):  
Christian Kroll ◽  
Vera Zipperer
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Economic Voting ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Agenda 2030 ◽  
Development Goals

While the economic voting hypothesis is a well-researched approach to explain behavior at the ballot box, a broader perspective of economic, social and environmental issues regarding a government’s chances to get re-elected is still missing in the literature. In this context, this paper makes use for the first time of the Agenda 2030 with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the comprehensive policy framework that all 193 UN member states have pledged to achieve. The objective of our study is therefore to examine the relationship between SDGs’ progress and the likelihood of re-election. Our analysis of 124 countries regarding performance on the SDGs over time and voting behavior shows: the chance to get re-elected as a government significantly increases for progress made towards SDG 5 (Gender Equality). Notable differences are also found for high-income vs. low-income countries. The fact that governments are rewarded at the ballot box for successful action towards gender equality is encouraging, while the mechanisms behind other SDG areas deserve more research.

scholarly journals Understanding International Variation in Cancer-Specific 'Access to Diagnostics' Data and Steps Toward Cohesive Cancer Intelligence Frameworks: An International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP) Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement 2) ◽  
pp. 68s-68s
Author(s):  
I. Reguilon ◽  
D. Robinson ◽  
J. Butler ◽  
S. Harrison ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Health Service ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Service Planning ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Cancer Outcomes ◽  
Diagnostic Data ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Data Collections

Background: Robust and accurate data underpins cancer research, planning, control and comparisons; it shapes the policies and structures of health systems internationally. Access to diagnostics is crucial for timely cancer diagnosis and treatment planning as previous evidence has shown that delays in diagnosis can impact cancer outcomes. It is possible that differences in cancer outcomes internationally are a consequence of differing levels of access to diagnostic tests. By better understanding variation in this access, this relationship can be further explored. However, diagnostic data availability is not currently well documented. Aim: The primary goal of this exercise was to identify already existing routine or national datasets exploring 'access' variables relating to diagnostics for imaging and endoscopy tests. These access variables included capacity, use, workforce, location and financial factors, and where possible specific to the cancer population. Secondly, to address what high-income countries need to improve to fulfill the existing criteria for 'cancer intelligence frameworks', such as those set out by the National Health Service in England. Methods: Mixed methods including online searches and discussion with local contacts were used to explore key diagnostic data variables across the seven participating countries of ICBP phase 2 (Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and the UK). Results: Gaps and inconsistencies in diagnostics data were identified in each country. These key issues make comparisons within and between countries challenging: inconsistent definitions, collection at different levels within a health system, and queries about the coverage, reliability, and linkage of data (especially for cancer) were raised. The usage and allocation of workforce is also poorly documented, and a lack of appropriate infrastructure raised as a key barrier to better collection of data. Currently, most countries do not have a centralised data collection organization, and there are no international or standardized definitions for the diagnostic data that should be collected and could be compared. Conclusion: Health data are disparately collected internationally, with little diagnostics data that can be linked to cancer populations. The data sources and gaps identified add weight to existing efforts to improve data collections and health service planning. International agreement on the key performance indicators, their definitions and how best to organize collected data are required to address gaps and enable robust comparisons. These definitions and an understanding of best practice will be useful for middle- and low-income countries who want to develop or start collecting cancer-specific data. Existing 'cancer intelligence' frameworks could be adapted for international use, but rely on the agreement and adoption of standardized definitions and metrics for the cancer population.

Medical electives in the UK for students from low income countries

BMJ ◽  
2013 ◽  
pp. f7135
Author(s):  
Beatrice Dyer ◽  
Louisa Pollock ◽  
Isaac Jabang ◽  
Beate Kampmann
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
The Uk

scholarly journals Understanding ‘The Essential Fact about Capitalism’: Markets, Competition and Creative Destruction

2001 ◽  
Vol 175 ◽  
pp. 67-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Carlin ◽  
Jonathan Haskel ◽  
Paul Seabright
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Productivity Growth ◽  
Selection Process ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Poor Countries ◽  
Market Shares ◽  
Improved Performance ◽  
The Business Cycle ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
The Uk

This paper examines two ways in which competition works in modern capitalist economies to improve productivity. The first is through incentives: encouraging improvements in technology, organisation and effort on the part of existing establishments and firms. The second is through selection: replacing less-productive with more productive establishments and firms, whether smoothly via the transfer of market shares from less to more productive firms, or roughly through the exit of some firms and the entry of others. We report evidence from the UK suggesting that selection is responsible for a large proportion of aggregate productivity growth in manufacturing, and that much of this is due in turn to selection between plants belonging to multi-plant firms. We also investigate whether the nature of the selection process varies across the business cycle and report evidence suggesting that it is less effective in booms and recessions. Finally, although in principle productivity catch-up by low-income countries ought to be easier than innovation at the frontier, in the absence of a well functioning competitive infrastructure (a predicament that characterises many poor countries), selection may be associated with much more turbulence and a lower rate of productivity growth than in relatively prosperous societies. We report results of a survey of firms in transition economies suggesting that, particularly in the former Soviet states (excluding the Baltic states), poor output and productivity performance has not been due to an unwillingness on the part of firms to change and adapt. On the contrary, there has been a great deal of restructuring, much new entry and large reallocations of output between firms; but such activity has been much more weakly associated with improved performance than we would expect in established market economies.

Guidelines and scientifically-based spina bifida care: Guidance across the lifespan in a global health context

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 453-455
Author(s):  
Jonathan Castillo ◽  
Heidi Castillo ◽  
Timothy J. Brei
Keyword(s):  
Spina Bifida ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Cultural Beliefs ◽  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
Wide Distribution ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Evidenced Based

The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us that, if of nothing else, we live in a globalized community. Enthusiasm for evidenced-based medical knowledge is also contagious. Just as the incidence of SARS-CoV-2, the associated coronavirus, has had a borderless impact on global public health, so too neural tube defects have widespread significance. Previously, the concept of “blue marble health” was introduced as a policy framework to illustrate trends in the geographic distribution of health disparities affecting at-risk populations that live, not only in low-income countries, but also in pockets of the populace in wealthier nations. Subsequently, the Spina Bifida Association’s Collaborative Care Network, through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recently produced the “Guidelines for the Care of People with Spina Bifida.” While language differences, immigration, cultural beliefs, acculturation, local resources and social determinants of health, must be taken into account when these guidelines are implemented across the globe, they could not come at a more suitable time. The current digital age, as well as open access to this special issue, will ensure their ongoing wide distribution.

scholarly journals Impact of maternal antibodies and microbiota development on the immunogenicity of oral rotavirus vaccine in African, Indian, and European infants

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward P. K. Parker ◽  
Christina Bronowski ◽  
Kulandaipalayam Natarajan C. Sindhu ◽  
Sudhir Babji ◽  
Blossom Benny ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Maternal Antibodies ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Rotavirus Vaccine ◽  
Specific Antibodies ◽  
Environmental Enteric Dysfunction ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Antibody Levels ◽  
Microbiota Diversity

AbstractIdentifying risk factors for impaired oral rotavirus vaccine (ORV) efficacy in low-income countries may lead to improvements in vaccine design and delivery. In this prospective cohort study, we measure maternal rotavirus antibodies, environmental enteric dysfunction (EED), and bacterial gut microbiota development among infants receiving two doses of Rotarix in India (n = 307), Malawi (n = 119), and the UK (n = 60), using standardised methods across cohorts. We observe ORV shedding and seroconversion rates to be significantly lower in Malawi and India than the UK. Maternal rotavirus-specific antibodies in serum and breastmilk are negatively correlated with ORV response in India and Malawi, mediated partly by a reduction in ORV shedding. In the UK, ORV shedding is not inhibited despite comparable maternal antibody levels to the other cohorts. In both India and Malawi, increased microbiota diversity is negatively correlated with ORV immunogenicity, suggesting that high early-life microbial exposure may contribute to impaired vaccine efficacy.

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