scholarly journals A Challenges of Adopting Local Visual Contents in Awareness Campaigns for Control of Communicable Diseases

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-41
Author(s):  
Ebenezer Odji ◽  
Wilson Truman Okaka ◽  
Johnson Yekini Obe ◽  
Blessing Chidubem Ario ◽  
Deborah Oluwapelumi Adelakun
Keyword(s):  
Communicable Disease ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Communication Strategy ◽  
Awareness Campaigns ◽  
Accessible Information ◽  
The Government

This paper asserts that public awareness creation and raising (ACR) adopting local-visual-evidences (LVE) have already been established by studies as an effective health communication strategy that can be employed to alleviate the outbreaks of communicable diseases. The purpose of the paper is to establish the major challenges of effective implementation of this important risk communication strategy. This study was informed by relevant good practice, lessons learned, and the results of previous studies on awareness creation (AC) with a focus on communicable diseases in Nigeria. This review examined the probable prospects and challenges of adopting LVE-based AC contents to provide policymakers, public health, and safety agencies accessible information for effective decision-making options. The preliminary findings revealed that the use of LVE-based AC information services or contents is not favourable for the patients, their families, or friends when appropriate precautions are not taken. The same also applies to the government, public awareness communication campaigners or content designers, and their development partners or sponsors. However, the paper found that LVE-based public awareness communication campaigns would be effective in curbing the outbreaks of communicable diseases if effectively conducted at the community level. It is highly recommended that public awareness communication practitioners, governmental and non-governmental organisations, involved in communicable disease management and prevention, know that participatory community engagement leads to higher awareness for behaviour change. The study proposed a LVE Adoption Pattern to guide decision-makers in crisis situations.

Environmental Degradation in the Ikorodu Sub-Urban Lagos - Lagoon Coastal Environment, Nigeria

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shakirudeen Odunuga ◽  
Samuel Udofia ◽  
Opeyemi Esther Osho ◽  
Olubunmi Adegun
Keyword(s):  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Coastal Environment ◽  
Resource Exploitation ◽  
Average Growth ◽  
Awareness Campaigns ◽  
The Government ◽  
State Of The Environment

Introduction:Human activities exert great pressures on the environment which in turn cause environmental stresses of various intensities depending on the factors involved and the sensitivity of the receiving environment.Objective:This study examines the effects of anthropogenic activities along the sub-urban lagoon fragile coastal ecosystem using DPSIR framework.Results:The results show that the study area has undergone a tremendous change between 1964 and 2015 with the built up area increasing to about 1,080 ha (17.87%) in 2015 from 224 ha (1.32%) in 1964 at an average growth rate of 16.78ha per annum. The nature of the degradation includes an increasing fragility of the ecosystem through the emergence and expansion of wetlands, flooding and erosion as well as a reduction in the benefits from the ecosystem services. Population growth, between 2006 and 2015 for Ikorodu LGA, estimated at 8.84% per annum serves as the most important driving force in reducing the quality of the environment. This is in addition to Pressures emanating from anthropogenic activities. The state of the environment shows continuous resource exploitation (fishing and sand mining) with the impacts of the pressures coming from water pollution, bank erosion, biodiversity loss and flooding. Although there has been a strong policy formulation response from the government, weak implementation is a major challenge.Recommendation:The study recommends public awareness campaigns and the implementation of existing policies to ensure a sustainable sub-urban lagoon coastal environment..

scholarly journals Non-communicable disease pattern in adults seeking preventive general health checkup

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-25
Author(s):  
Bikash Shrestha ◽  
Bipin Nepal ◽  
Ravi Mahat ◽  
Abish Adhikari
Keyword(s):  
General Health ◽  
Communicable Disease ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
Mineral Density ◽  
Health Checkup ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Normal Bone Mineral Density ◽  
The Government

Non Communicable diseases (NCDs) are now endemic in low and middle income countries. Nepal had a high burden of communicable diseases (CDs) which has now been overtaken by NCDs. Although prevention and control of NCDs is prioritized in national policies and strategies, there is no proper monitoring system. This study aims to review the morbidity pattern among the adults seeking preventive general health checkup in a major tertiary care hospital in Kathmandu. 3000 cases were evaluated. 53.6% were males and 46.4% were females. The mean age of cases was 44.9 yrs. Most of the cases ranged from 40 to 60 years of age. Almost half of them were from Kathmandu district. Nearly 78% participants live a sedentary life. Abdominal obesity was seen in 27.5% of females and 21.7% of males. Nearly 49% of cases were overweight and 24% were obese. Almost 21 % of the cases were smokers and about 36% of them consumed alcohol. Only 9% are vegetarians. 10% have diabetes and 20% have hypertension. 69% of females and 43% of males have less than normal bone mineral density. The government and private sectors must focus on strengthening preventive and curative services for early detection of risk factors and management of NCDs.

Research Collaboration in a Communication Rights Campaign: Lessons Learned

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 303-320
Author(s):  
Charlotte Ryan
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
News Media ◽  
Research Collaboration ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Collaborative Action Research ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Awareness Campaigns ◽  
Communities Of Color ◽  
Life Issues

In building public support for social change, activists in communities of color routinely approach broader audiences via news media. Communities of color, however, routinely face disparities that limit their access to media including local news media outlets. This lack of access mirrors inequalities in political, social, and economic arenas and can slow public awareness campaigns to address disparities in health, environmental, and other quality-of-life issues. I describe two community-based collaborative action research studies that documented and challenged how local television newscasts underrepresented and misrepresented three communities of color in Boston. The linkage between communication rights and campaigns to address quality-of-life issues is presented, as well as unresolved challenges in the collaborative research process. The study has implications for environmental health campaigns.

scholarly journals Face Mask Utilization in the Era of COVID-19: Nigeria Experience

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clement Kevin Edet ◽  
Agiriye M. Harry ◽  
Anthony Ike Wegbom ◽  
Olatunde Raimi ◽  
Adeniyi Francis Fagbamigbe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Face Mask ◽  
Suspected Case ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Public ◽  
Awareness Campaigns ◽  
The Government

Abstract Background: The use of face masks has been accepted and recommended globally as a tool for COVID-19 protection. The government of Nigeria made wearing of face masks compulsory in public places. However, no evidence has shown user compliance or knowledge. This study investigated the knowledge and utilization of face masks among the Nigerian population. Methods: This was a web-based cross-sectional survey conducted from July 2 to August 28, 2020 using a convenience sampling technique. This was in adherence to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) guideline of physical/social distancing. Data was collected using a pre-tested questionnaire. Descriptive statistics of frequency with percentage were used to present responses.Results: A total of 811 respondents participated in the survey with the mean age of 36.93±12.17 years, out of which 43.8% were male and 56.2% were female. Christians were 94.6%, those employed were 84.7%, 61.1% attained tertiary education and 50.8% belonged to a household size of 3-5 persons. Almost all the respondents 91.9% and 94% were aware that face masks can reduce the spread of COVID-19 and should be worn in the public respectively. 95.3% of the participants had used a face mask as a protection against COVID-19. Furthermore, 90.2% used face masks in the public, 53% used it when entering restricted places, 45.5% when with a suspected case and 30.7% used a mask due to fear of arrest/punishment. The majority of respondents used homemade masks (70%) and 71.2% reused their masks.Conclusion: This study demonstrated adequate knowledge and utilization of face masks among the population. The homemade mask was mostly used. However, there was a poor cleaning culture of the mask among the population. There should be intensive public awareness campaigns through social and mass media on how to clean reusable face masks.

API Process Safety Site Assessment Program PSSAP®: Significant Program Updates and Future Focus

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin M. Frazier ◽  
Alexa S. Burr ◽  
Ryan D. Meng
Keyword(s):  
Good Practice ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Feedback Mechanism ◽  
American Petroleum Institute ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Safety Performance ◽  
Process Safety ◽  
Site Assessment ◽  
Assessment Program ◽  
Industry Standards

Abstract The American Petroleum Institute (API) and the U.S. oil and natural gas industry have long been committed to protecting the health and safety of our workers, contractors and neighbors. For more the 75 years, API has led the development of industry standards, sharing lessons learned as well as the establishment of training and certification programs. In recent years, despite safety improvements by the refining industry, incidents have increased attention on process safety by industry, governments, non-government organizations (NGOs), and the media. Recognizing these concerns, API and our memebrs are working collectively to improve or develop new programs improve process safety performance. As part of the industry's ongoing commitment, API, in collaboration with industry partners, has developed a Process Safety Site Assessment Program (PSSAP®), an assessment program focused on evaluating higher risk activities in a refining, petrochemical, or chemical facility. This program is intended to: Promote process safety performance improvement industry wide; Promote learnings from industry practices; Provide benchmarking through the consistent use of industry-developed good practice protocols; Serve as a feedback mechanism for an analysis of industry performance; and, Encourage safety collaboration among participating sites and industry experts. PSSAP benchmarking, a key aspect of the program, allows sites to judge their performance against that of their peers in a blinded fashion. In addition to this benchmarking, the consistent use of our good-practice protocols enables API to analyze where companies may still be working to improve. Taking that information, API has implemented other programs to assist industry in those areas. Further, it has allowed API to quantify PSSAP protocol scoring improvements across the industry, seeing positive momentum in benchmarking scoring across the life of the program. PSSAP® is also a primary resource to support API Energy Excellence® implementation. API Energy Excellence is another critical API program in which all API members commit to enhance the integrity of operations across the industry by applying standards, implementing workforce training programs, and participating in performance initiatives. Downstream and petrochemical operators can use these PSSAP protocols to help demonstrate conformance to their API Energy Excellence requirements. PSSAP® is flexible so that sites can tailor assessments to specific needs and operations. It provides options for smaller sites that do not have on-site internal assessment capabilities or do not think a full PSSAP General Assessment is warranted. It is intended that assessments focus on higher risk activities and includes an evaluation of both the quality of written programs at a site and the effectiveness of field implementation of those programs.

Empowering Crisis Response-Led Citizen Communities

2016 ◽  
pp. 270-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hemant Purohit ◽  
Mamta Dalal ◽  
Parminder Singh ◽  
Bhavana Nissima ◽  
Vijaya Moorthy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Skill Sets ◽  
Partnership Model ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
Leadership Structure ◽  
Relief Operations ◽  
The Government ◽  
Set Up

Crisis times are characterized by a dynamically changing and evolving need set that should be evaluated and acted upon with the least amount of latency. Though the established practice of response to rescue and relief operations is largely institutionalized in norms and localized; there is a vast sea of surging goodwill and voluntary involvement that is available globally to be tapped into and channelized for maximum benefit in the initial hours and days of the crisis. This is made possible with the availability of real-time, collaborative communication platforms such as those facilitated by Facebook, Google and Twitter. They enable building and harnessing real-time communities as an amorphous force multiplier to collate, structure, disseminate, follow-through, and close the loop between on-ground and off-ground coordination on information, which aids both rescue as well relief operations of ground response organizations. At times of emergencies, amorphous online communities of citizens come into existence on their own, sharing a variety of skill sets to assist response, and contribute immensely to relief efforts during earthquakes, epidemics, floods, snow-storms and typhoons. Since the Haiti earthquake in 2010 to the most recent Ebola epidemic, online citizen communities have participated enthusiastically in the relief and rehabilitation process. This chapter draws from real world experience, as authors joined forces to set up JKFloodRelief.org initiative, to help the government machinery during floods in the state of Jammu & Kashmir (JK) in India in September 2014. The authors discuss the structure and nature of shared leadership in virtual teams, and benefits of channelizing global goodwill into a purposeful, and sustained effort to tide over the initial hours when continued flow of reliable information will help in designing a better response to the crisis. The authors discuss the lessons learned into 5 actionable dimensions: first, setting up response-led citizen communities with distributed leadership structure, in coordination with the on-ground teams. Second, communicating clearly and consistently about sourcing, structuring, and disseminating information for both internal team challenges, solutions, and plans with shared goal-preserving policies, as well as external public awareness. Third, developing partner ecosystem, where identifying, opening communication lines, and involving key stakeholders in community ecosystem - corporates, nonprofits, and government provide a thrust for large-scale timely response. Fourth, complementing and catalyzing offline efforts by providing a public outlet for accountability of the efforts, which recognizes actions in both off-ground and on-ground environments for volunteers, key stakeholders and citizens. Lastly, the fifth dimension is about follow-up & closure, with regrouping for assessing role, next steps, and proper acknowledgement of various stakeholders for a sustainable partnership model, in addition to communicating outcome of the efforts transparently with every stakeholder including citizen donors to ensure accountability. With the extensive description of each of these dimensions via narrative of experiences from the JKFloodRelief.org initiative, the authors aim to provide a structure of lessons learned that can help replicate such collaborative initiatives of citizens and organizations during crises across the world.

scholarly journals Patterns and trends of hospital mortality due to non-communicable diseases and injuries in Tanzania: a 10- year retrospective analysis

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonard E.G. Mboera ◽  
Coleman Kishamawe ◽  
Susan F. Rumisha ◽  
Mercy G. Chiduo ◽  
Evord Kimario
Keyword(s):  
Communicable Disease ◽  
International Classification Of Diseases ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
Coding System ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Non Communicable Diseases ◽  
Chronic Respiratory Diseases ◽  
Premature Deaths ◽  
Classification Of Diseases ◽  
The Government

Abstract Background: Globally, non-communicable diseases (NCD) kill about 40 million people annually, with about three-quarters of the deaths occurring in low and middle-income countries. This study was carried out to determine the patterns, trends, and causes of non-communicable disease mortality in hospitals of Tanzania from 2006-2015.Methods: This retrospective study involved primary, secondary, tertiary, and specialized hospitals in Tanzania. Death statistics were extracted from inpatient department registers, death registers, and International Classification of Diseases (ICD) report forms. Variables collected were deceased’s age, sex, cause and date of death. The ICD-10 coding system was used to assign each death to its underlying cause. Data were analysed using STATA version 14. Results: A total of 247,976 deaths were reported during the 10 years (2006–2015) in 39 hospitals. Of the total deaths, 67,711 (27.3%) were due to non-communicable diseases (NCD) and injuries. Cardio-circulatory diseases (31.9%), cancers (18.6%), chronic respiratory diseases (18.4%), and injuries (17.9%) accounted for the largest proportion (86.8%) of deaths due to NCDs. The majority (57.6%) of deaths due to NCD occurred among males. Overall, the total deaths from NCDs increased by 153.3% from 4,298 in 2006 to 10,886 in 2015. The age group 15-59 years (53.4%) was the most affected category. The overall 10-year annual age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) for all NCDs and injuries was 235.2 per 100,0000 population. It was higher for males (287.2/100,000) than for females (186.7/100,000). The annual ASMR increased from 11.9 in 2006 to 36.5 per 100,000 populations in 2015. Most of the NCD deaths occurred in the secondary (40.0%) and primary level hospitals (27.8%). There were variations in the type of non-communicable diseases by geographical distributions. Conclusions: There was a substantial increase in ASMR due to NCDs and injuries in Tanzania from 2006 to 2015. Most of the deaths due to NCD and injuries affected the productive young adult group and males. The burden caused by NCD in the most productive ages means that families, communities, and the nation at large suffer from premature deaths. The government of Tanzania must invest in early detection and timely treatment of NCDs to reduce premature deaths.

scholarly journals Economic burden of diabetes mellitus and its socio-economic impact on household expenditure in an urban slum area

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 1808 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophia D. Fernandes ◽  
Sunny D. A. Fernandes
Keyword(s):  
Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Financial Burden ◽  
Urban Slum ◽  
Diabetic Patients ◽  
Economic Implications ◽  
Total Cost ◽  
Awareness Campaigns ◽  
The Government ◽  
Socio Economic Impact

Background: India is on the brink of an epidemic of diabetes mellitus (DM). In the near future, DM will pose a severe burden on the already fragile and under-resourced health care system in India.Methods: A prospective community based cohort study was taken up for assessing the financial burden on households of patients with DM in an urban slum of Mumbai to reflect the economic implications of DM.Results: The mean age of participants was 51 years. Forty (33.33%) out of 120 were suffering from diabetes for more than 5 years and it was proved statistically that the total cost of expenditure on treatment per month was significantly related to the duration of DM. On an average the monthly direct expenditure was INR 687.5 per patient and indirect expenditure was INR 348.75 per patient. Catastrophic expenditure was borne by 5.8% of the participants.Conclusions: Direct cost forms the major component of the total cost of DM management. The expenditure on the management of Diabetes increases with the duration of the illness. As the out-of-pocket expenditure is the mainstay of financing the cost of diabetes mellitus in India, there is a possibility of these households of DM patients might be pushed into the poverty trap. It is recommended that the Government facilities for management of DM should be strengthened and quality of services should be improved in the interest of diabetic patients. Public awareness campaigns about the economic implications of DM and services provided by the government should be carried out.

scholarly journals Awareness on health insurance and health care costs among non-communicable disease patients attending a tertiary care centre

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 1301
Author(s):  
J. Jebamalar ◽  
P. K. Kailash Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Health Insurance ◽  
Health Expenditure ◽  
Communicable Disease ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Catastrophic Health Expenditure ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
Tertiary Care Centre ◽  
College Hospital ◽  
Non Communicable Diseases ◽  
The Government

Background: The silent epidemic of non-communicable diseases threatens to retard the progress towards curbing catastrophic health expenditure. The present study aimed to describe the level of awareness about and utilisation of health insurance and to measure the healthcare costs for non-communicable diseases.Methods: A total of 354 adult patients suffering from non-communicable diseases, who reside in Villupuram district and attend the NCD clinic in the Government medical college hospital, Villupuram were studied over a period of 6 months.Results: 77% of the subjects were aware of health insurance. The most frequent source of information was local government officials and the hospitals themselves. 74.01% had availed some form of health insurance. There was a moderately strong correlation between loss of wages and total health expenses. The incidence of catastrophic health expenditure due to NCD clinic visits was around 7%.Conclusions: The absence of outpatient costs in the covers of most health insurance schemes may be decreasing their effectiveness in controlling catastrophic health expenditure.

scholarly journals An Assessment of Women Entrepreneurship Performance in Nigeria

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Safiyyah Muhammad Aliyu
Keyword(s):  
Service Sector ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
National Bureau ◽  
Formal Sector ◽  
Women Entrepreneurship ◽  
Awareness Campaigns ◽  
The Government

Entrepreneurial activities are important factors in creating and increasing employment opportunities and fuelling economic growth. Entrepreneurship is an important source of job creation and opening career opportunities for both women and men. However, women are less likely to have successful enterprises or businesses than men. This paper is aimed at assessing women entrepreneurship in Nigeria: their present state of involvement in comparison to the male entrepreneurs, their challenges, contributions and performance in the formal and informal business sector of the economy. The paper employed the descriptive method of analysis. An inductive methodology involving observation, collection of secondary data and the analysis of such data was employed. To this end, a lot was devoted to the presentation and analysis of data obtained from the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria, the National Bureau of Statistics and the Federal Office of Statistics. It was discovered that women participate more in the micro business (informal sector) constituting 42.1% of the ownership structure. Their performance constitutes 13.57% in the formal sector as against the male entrepreneurs at 86.43%. Their poor performance and contribution are a result of the constraints they face. It was also discovered that their performance was higher in the Trade and Agricultural Sector in 1997 but higher in the Education and Service Sector by 2012. Among others, it is recommended that good practice in supporting women entrepreneurship should be initiated by the government in the form of training courses, advisory services or creating awareness campaigns.  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document