scholarly journals Water and health in mining settings in sub-Saharan Africa: A mixed methods geospatial visualization

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Leuenberger ◽  
Dominik Dietler ◽  
Isaac Lyatuu ◽  
Andrea Farnham ◽  
Fadhila Kihwele ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Health Determinants ◽  
Positive Trend ◽  
Clean Water ◽  
Water Infrastructure ◽  
Water And Sanitation ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Mining Projects

Industrial mining transforms local landscapes, including important health determinants like clean water and sanitation. In this paper, we combined macro-level quantitative and micro-level qualitative data to show how mining projects affect water infrastructures and ultimately the health of affected communities. Although we observed a positive trend of water infrastructure in mining settings, surrounding communities are also characterized by water scarcity and degradation of water quality. The video at the core of this publication showcases inter-linkages of the findings obtained at both the macro- and the micro-levels, embedding our results in a geospatial context. While mining projects can have positive impacts on the development of local water infrastructure, improved management of negative impacts of mining projects is needed for promoting ‘Good health and well-being’ and ‘Clean water and sanitation’ as promulgated by the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda.

scholarly journals Inclusion of Health in Impact Assessment: A Review of Current Practice in Sub-Saharan Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
pp. 4155
Author(s):  
Dominik Dietler ◽  
Ruth Lewinski ◽  
Sophie Azevedo ◽  
Rebecca Engebretsen ◽  
Fritz Brugger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Health Determinants ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Mining Sector ◽  
Natural Resource Extraction ◽  
Final Sample ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Mining Projects

Natural resource extraction projects, including those in the mining sector, have various effects on human health and wellbeing, with communities in resource-rich areas in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) being particularly vulnerable. While impact assessments (IA) can predict and mitigate negative effects, it is unclear whether and to what extent health aspects are included in current IA practice in SSA. For collecting IA reports, we contacted 569 mining projects and 35 ministries regulating the mining sector. The reports obtained were complemented by reports identified in prior research. The examination of the final sample of 44 IA reports revealed a heavy focus on environmental health determinants and included health outcomes were often limited to a few aspects, such as HIV, malaria and injuries. The miniscule yield of reports (1.6% of contacted projects) and the low response rate by the contacted mining companies (18%) might indicate a lack of transparency in the IA process of the mining sector in SSA. To address the shortcomings identified, policies regulating IA practice should strengthen the requirements for public disclosure of IA reports and promote a more comprehensive inclusion of health in IA, be it through stand-alone health impact assessment or more rigorous integration of health in other forms of IA.

scholarly journals Impact of mining projects on water and sanitation infrastructures and associated child health outcomes: a multi-country analysis of Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) in sub-Saharan Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominik Dietler ◽  
Andrea Farnham ◽  
Georg Loss ◽  
Günther Fink ◽  
Mirko S. Winkler
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Health Surveys ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Demographic And Health Surveys ◽  
Water And Sanitation ◽  
Mining Sites ◽  
2030 Agenda ◽  
Mine Opening ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Mining Projects

Abstract Background Access to improved water and sanitation infrastructures are key determinants of health. The sub-Saharan African region in particular is lagging behind the ambitious goal of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to ensure universal access to improved and reliable water and sanitation for all (Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6). Large mining projects can promote economic growth and hence investments in water and sanitation infrastructures, but at the same time lead to rapid population growth and environmental degradation. In turn, these changes can pose risks and opportunities for child health (SDG 3). In this study we aim to quantify the impacts of mining projects on access to water and sanitation infrastructure as well as diarrhea and malnutrition among children using data from 131 Demographic and Health Surveys from sub-Saharan Africa. Results From a sample of around 1.2 million households, data within the proximity of 52 mine-panels were selected for longitudinal analyses, resulting in 41,896 households and 32,112 children. Improvements in access to modern water and sanitation infrastructures after mine opening were much larger in households near mining sites than in comparison areas located further away (adjusted relative risk ratio (aRRR) water: 18.60, 95 % confidence interval (CI): 13.08–26.46 and aRRR sanitation: 2.56, 95 % CI: 1.32–4.99). However, these associations were weaker among poorer households. In areas close to the mining sites, stunting and underweight prevalence decreased more strongly upon mine opening (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) stunting: 0.62, 95 % CI: 0.43–0.90; aOR underweight: 0.55, 95 % CI: 0.36–0.84). No differential changes were seen for wasting and diarrhea. Large impact heterogeneity was observed both within and across countries. Conclusions Our results suggest that the opening of mines is associated with improvements in access to modern water and sanitation infrastructures (SDG 6) as well as in some health outcomes (SDG 3). However, the large impact heterogeneity suggests that the assessment and management of mining-related impacts on communities should have an increased equity-focus, in order to “leave no one behind” in the work towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Overall, the findings of this study underscore that the resource extraction sector has the potential to make positive and substantial contributions towards achieving the SDGs.

scholarly journals Intersectional stigma and its impact on HIV prevention and care among MSM and WSW in sub-Saharan African countries: a protocol for a scoping review

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. e047280
Author(s):  
Gamji M’Rabiu Abubakari ◽  
Debbie Dada ◽  
Jemal Nur ◽  
DeAnne Turner ◽  
Amma Otchere ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hiv Prevention ◽  
Data Extraction ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Scoping Reviews ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Meta Analyses

IntroductionResearch has established that various forms of stigma (HIV stigma, gender non-conforming stigma and same-gender sex stigma) exist across Sub-Saharan Africa and have consequences for the utilisation of HIV prevention and care services. Stigmas are typically investigated in HIV literature individually or through investigating individual populations and the various stigmas they may face. The concept of intersectionality highlights the interconnected nature of social categorisations and their ability to create interdependent systems of discrimination based on gender, race, sexuality and so on. Drawing from perspectives on intersectionality, intersectional stigma denotes the convergence of multiple marginalised identities within an individual or a group, the experiences of stigma associated with these identities as well as the synergistic impact of these experiences on health and well-being. With respect to HIV, public health scholars can examine the impacts of intersectional stigmas on HIV prevention and care utilisation.Methods and analysisReviewers will search systematically through MEDLINE, Global Health, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection and Africa Index Medicus and citations for quantitative studies, qualitative studies and grey literature that include data on stigma and HIV among men who have sex with men and women who have sex with women in Sub-Saharan Africa. Eligible studies will include primary or secondary data on stigma related to HIV risk factors experienced by this population. Studies will be written in French or English and be published between January 1991 and November 2020. All screening and data extraction will be performed in duplicate, and if discrepancies arise, they will be settled by GM’RA, LEN, DD or AO. Findings from this study will be reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval is not required as there will be no human participants and no protected data will be used in this study. We will disseminate findings through peer-reviewed manuscripts, conferences and webinars.

Family Resemblances, Practical Interrelations and Material Extensions: Understanding Sexual Prohibitions, Production and Consumption in Kilimanjaro

Africa ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Knut Christian Myhre
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Local Mode ◽  
Language Games ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Family Resemblances ◽  
Mode Of Life ◽  
Sub Saharan

AbstractThrough the ‘procreative paradigm’, sexuality and its relationships to other social practices have recently regained importance in the study of sub-Saharan Africa. Despite its apparent novelty, I argue that this paradigm invokes an anthropological approach that harks back to the discipline's beginnings. In an attempt at a fresh departure, I use Ludwig Wittgenstein's late philosophy to investigate the meaning of sexual prohibitions among the Chagga-speaking people of Rombo District, Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania. Starting from local linguistic usage, I describe the multiple ‘language-games’ of the vernacular notion of ‘power’,horu. In this manner, I demonstrate how production, reproduction and consumption are conceptually, practically and materially intertwined through the ‘family resemblances’ of this local concept.Horuis expended through productive practices; in multiple ways it is converted, transferred and exchanged between adults and children in reproduction; and it is replenished through the consumption of specific ‘powerful’ foods. By means of different objects, the activities of work, sex and feeding enable ‘power’ to flow between persons. The multiple vernacular usages of the notion ofhoru, and its practical and material concomitants, interrelate diverse spheres of social life in such a manner that they constitute an overlapping network that extends laterally. Human capability and well-being are constituted through participation in these activities, and engagement in the mutual flows, conversions and exchanges of ‘power’ that encompass humans, livestock and vegetable matter. The sexual prohibitions of Rombo regulate and channel these flows and conversions, in order to ensure their beneficial effects for the parties concerned. I therefore argue that the sexual prohibitions are notex post factointerpretations or justifications that explain or control preceding experiences, but rather that they are constitutive of the local mode of life. An appreciation of lateral relationships between concepts, practices and objects enables an evasion of some of the problems that arise from the procreative paradigm.

scholarly journals Reinterpreting the SDGs: Taking Animals into Direct Consideration

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 843
Author(s):  
Olle Torpman ◽  
Helena Röcklinsberg
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Clean Water ◽  
Water And Sanitation ◽  
Agenda 2030 ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Zero Hunger

The United Nations Agenda 2030 contains 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs). These goals are formulated in anthropocentric terms, meaning that they are to be achieved for the sake of humans. As such, the SDGs are neglecting the interests and welfare of non-human animals. Our aim in this paper was to ethically evaluate the assumptions that underlie the current anthropocentric stance of the SDGs. We argue that there are no good reasons to uphold these assumptions, and that the SDGs should therefore be reconsidered so that they take non-human animals into direct consideration. This has some interesting implications for how we should understand and fulfil the pursuit of sustainability in general. Most noticeably, several SDGs—such as those regarding zero hunger (SDG 2), good health and wellbeing (SDG 3), clean water and sanitation (SDG 6)—should be achieved for animals as well. Moreover, the measures we undertake in order to achieve the SDGs for humans must also take into direct account their effects on non-human animals.

“It’s better I’m dead”: oppression and suicidal ideation

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Reber
Keyword(s):  
Suicidal Ideation ◽  
Host Country ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Environmental Context ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Temporary Migrant ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
First Time

Purpose Anecdotal accounts of suicide among temporary low-wage migrant workers in the UAE are numerous, but unofficial and qualitative accounts remain unexplored. This study aims to examine how the socio-environmental context can lead some low-wage migrants, irrespective of their nationality or culture, to contemplate suicide for the first time after arriving in the host country. Design/methodology/approach The findings draw from ten months of qualitative fieldwork (2015–2016) and in-depth interviews conducted with 44 temporary migrant workers from sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, earning in the lowest wage bracket in Dubai. The study used a non-probabilistic, purposive sampling approach to select participants. Three criteria drove eligibility: participants had to reside in the UAE, be non-national and earn Dh1500 (US$408) or less a month. Otherwise, diversity was sought in regard to nationality, occupation and employer. Findings Eight (18%) of the 44 study participants interviewed admitted to engaging in suicidal thoughts for the first time after arriving in the UAE. The findings suggest that for low-wage migrants working in certain socio-environmental contexts, the religious, gendered or other cultural or group characteristics or patterns that may be predictors of suicide in migrants’ country of origin may become secondary or possibly even irrelevant when one is forced to survive under conditions that by most objective standards would be deemed not only oppressive but extremely exploitative and abusive. Originality/value This study contributes to understandings of how the emotional and psychological well-being of temporary foreign low-wage migrant workers can be impacted by the socio-environmental context of the host country. It is a first step in understanding the intimate thoughts of low-wage migrant workers on the topic of suicidality, furthering our understanding of suicidal ideation and the factors that can contribute to it.

scholarly journals Reflections on Climate Change and Public Health in Africa in an Era of Global Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edlyne Eze Anugwom
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Health Planning ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Health Security ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Sub Saharan

The study examined the impact of climate change on public health provisioning in Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to recognising the multifarious influence of climate change on health, it argues that the quest for global health security can only be achieved against the backdrop of concerted mainstreaming of climate change response into public heath provisioning, especially in the developing world. Adapting to climate change and mitigating its impact would logically require integrating it into public health planning, programming and interventions. Therefore, if health security entails provisioning and catering to the full range of health needs of people, climate change given its undoubted implications for health should be in the forefront of health security globally. Despite the global discourse of climate change and health security, tangible actions and programmes at different levels are needed to achieve the goals of good health and effective health security. This is no less the case now that the pandemic has challenged and stretched health institutions and provisions. However, the complex and intertwining effects of climate change and its manifold nexus with public health and health security can easily be apprehended through the systems perspective. There is the need for both radicalization of the public health system in Sub-Saharan Africa and concerted efforts across disciplines and actors to achieve effective climate change mitigation and adaptation and thus further strengthen health security.

Features of Rural Communities in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa That Influence Well-Being of Older Persons

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 420-421
Author(s):  
Andrew Banda ◽  
Norah Keating ◽  
Jaco Hoffman ◽  
Jose Parodi ◽  
Nereide Curreri
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Older People ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Older Persons ◽  
Subjective Wellbeing ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Sub Saharan

Abstract In their recent volume, Critical Rural Gerontology, Skinner et al (2021) challenge us to set aside unidimensional notions of rural communities as bypassed vs very supportive; and to identify the elements of rurality that empower or exclude older people and how these differ across cultures and settings. Covid-19 has highlighted the need for safe and inclusive communities. Given that LMIC will be home to the majority of older adults (Gonzales et al. 2015), we undertook a scoping review of features of rural communities that influence wellbeing of older people in countries across Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. The review included literature in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese, using search engines MEDLINE, CINAHL Complete, PsycInfo, SocINDEX, SciELO, AJOL (Africa Journals Online), LILACS, Redalyc, LatinIndex and Clacso. Findings illustrate diversity in how community features including remoteness, infrastructure and belonging influence material, social and subjective wellbeing of older residents.

Financial well-being of customer-to-customer co-creation experience: a comparative qualitative focus group study of savings/credit groups

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nkosinathi Sithole ◽  
Gillian Sullivan Mort ◽  
Clare D'Souza
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Experiences ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Focus Group Study ◽  
Financial Capability ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
Sub Saharan

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the effects of the customer-to-customer co-creation experiences of savings/credit groups in the African context and how savings/credit groups influence financial capability and enhance financial well-being.Design/methodology/approachUsing purposive sampling, a study of a total of 18 focus groups was conducted in sub-Saharan Africa. Nine urban-based savings/credit groups were drawn from across South Africa and additional nine, rural-based savings/credit groups were studied in the Monduli district of Tanzania.FindingsFindings demonstrate that the African philosophy of Ubuntu, which promotes customer-to-customer interaction, is the cornerstone of the customer-to-customer co-creation experience. Ubuntu philosophical principles were found to influence the dialogue, access, risk and transparency model of co-creation and customer-dominant logic. The results show further that customer-to-customer co-creation experience positively influences the cognitive, financial, personal and social experiences of members. Specifically, it was found that cognitive and financial experiences positively influence financial satisfaction, financial self-esteem, financial self-efficacy and financial capability, all of which enhance financial well-being. In addition, personal and social experiences positively influence equality, self-confidence, entrepreneurial skills and motivation that in turn enhance social well-being.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has implications for many different stakeholders concerned with the financial inclusion of low-income consumers, particularly in the southern part of Africa.Originality/valueTo the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore the effects of customer-to-customer co-creation experiences in traditional financial services settings in order to understand how these indigenous financial services influence the financial capability and financial well-being of co-creation members.

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