Management of menstrual hygiene, practices and perceptions among vulnerable Bharia women in Madhya Pradesh: A pilot survey

India has the highest proportion of adolescents and the highest adolescent pregnancy and childbirth rate in the tribal segment of the population. Very few studies have focused on the use of sanitary pad and quality of health care as menstrual hygiene practices. The data was collected among ‘Bharia’ women who identified as one of the particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs) in Madhya Pradesh. Towards comparing the use, source, and components of menstrual hygiene practices among adolescents and adult mothers, the sample included adolescent (10-19 years) and adult women 20-49 years of age. The relevant information was collected by trained female investigator with designed questionnaire from the respondents. Findings revealed that only 22.7% women are using sanitary pad during menstruation period in the studied tribe. It was seen the use of this absorbent (sanitary pad) for menstrual hygiene among the adolescents were found significantly higher (37.5%) than that of adult women (14.3%), whereas, the use of old cotton was found significantly higher (78.6%) among adult women. Awareness on menstrual hygiene about 50% adolescents and 64% adult women believed it is a curse of God. About 25% adolescents and 21.4% adult women believed menstruation is a natural process. The tribe has underprivileged menstrual hygiene practices owing to low awareness, illiteracy, and poverty. The special IEC education campaign with suitable strategy can be forced to optimum hygiene practices.

COVID Appropriate Behaviour compliance and Vaccine Hesitancy: Findings from a COVID-19 Health Education Campaign in a Government Tertiary Care Hospital in Delhi, India

Introduction Public health measures remain the best available approach to tackle the COVID pandemic. However, little is currently known about the compliance and acceptance of these measures by people in India. Methods The Department of Community Medicine, VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital, a tertiary care hospital in New Delhi, organized a health education campaign for raising awareness on COVID-19 in the hospital premises over a period of 15 days in May2021. Educational and interactive sessions were conducted by medical residents, interns and staff. Data on compliance to public health measures was collected and analysed using SPSS 21. All quantitative variables were descriptively analysed while qualitative data was narratively analysed. Results 84(12.57%) of those observed were wearing their mask incorrectly. Social distancing was inadequate at 16 sites. 69(10.33%) reported to have received single or both doses of vaccine. Common reasons for not getting vaccinated included doubts about vaccine efficacy, eligibility, adverse events, availability and accessibility. Conclusions Mask usage was universal, but directives on correct protocol of wearing masks needs to be widely circulated. Credible information about vaccine safety, efficacy, availability and accessibility needs to be available to the community to build confidence in COVID-19 vaccination.

Noxious Weed Views and Behaviors in Montana after 25 Years of Public Education

In 1994 a general population survey was conducted to evaluate Montanans’ knowledge about noxious weeds, and results from that survey launched an ongoing statewide education campaign. In 2019 we conducted another general population survey to assess the views and behaviors of Montanans as they relate to noxious weeds and to identify new approaches for disseminating noxious weed information. We also asked questions to evaluate changes over the 25-year period, though our ability to make direct comparisons is subject to limitations. We implemented a mail-based survey in March through May 2019. The response rate was 18%, with 830 responses from 4,582 valid mailing addresses. Just under half (48%) of respondents report “little” or “no” knowledge about noxious weeds, which would constitute a 19-point improvement since 1994. A large majority (68%) of respondents indicate that noxious weeds are a “serious” or “very serious” problem, and appreciation for the range of negative impacts associated with noxious weeds is considerable. Most respondents (61%) identify humans as contributing “a lot” to noxious weed spread, and respondents report that their behaviors to prevent the spread of noxious weeds have increased over time. While the 1994 respondents rated television, newspaper, and radio as the best ways to disseminate information about noxious weeds, respondents now also recognize methods such as websites and social media pages as effective. Our survey identifies a need for increased educational messaging for women and people in the 18-39 age group. Overall, our results indicate that individuals who have seen different forms of advertisements and have participated in educational programs are more likely to consider noxious weeds a serious problem and to engage in behaviors to stop their spread.

Optimal Control in a Mathematical Model of Smoking

This paper presents a dynamic model of smoking with optimal control. The mathematical model is divided into 5 sub-classes, namely, non-smokers, occasional smokers, active smokers, individuals who have temporarily stopped smoking, and individuals who have stopped smoking permanently. Four optimal controls, i.e., anti-smoking education campaign, anti-smoking gum, anti-nicotine drug, and government prohibition of smoking in public spaces are considered in the model. The existence of the controls is also presented. The Pontryagin maximum principle (PMP) was used to solve the optimal control problem. The fourth-order Runge-Kutta was employed to gain the numerical solutions.

Valuing Education: The role of soft power in Chinese engagement with Tonga

<p>The bilateral relationship between China and Tonga has existed for almost fifteen years, expanding from an initially limited scope to encompass trade, education, tourism, culture and defence. While China has rapidly expanded its official relationship with Tonga, this expansion has created tensions within Tongan society generated by fears of Chinese immigrants taking jobs and businesses. These tensions boiled over in 2006, as Tongans rioted in the capital Nuku’alofa against Chinese shopkeepers over perceived unfair competition. The aftermath of the Nuku’alofa riots has seen an increasing awareness from China of the need to educate Tongans to its presence in their country, and its goals on the world stage. This new awareness has resulted in China adopting a number of approaches to educate Tongans as part of its expanding engagement. Education has become a central plank of this new-found education campaign, with China introducing several programmes to expose Tongan students to its culture and values, including scholarships for tertiary students to study within China. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the correlation between China’s increasing political and economic engagement with Tonga, and the increasing use of education programmes such as scholarships to educate Tongans about China and its culture and values. To accomplish this, the political and economic ties between China and Tonga will be analysed, as will the soft power initiatives that China has undertaken. These will then be analysed to test whether or not the increase in soft power initiatives is due to the expansion of political and economic ties between the two countries. This will allow the use of soft power by China in Tonga to be compared to the trends evident in other South Pacific states, to determine whether Tonga is a unique case or whether China is undertaking these policies across the region.</p>

Valuing Education: The role of soft power in Chinese engagement with Tonga

<p>The bilateral relationship between China and Tonga has existed for almost fifteen years, expanding from an initially limited scope to encompass trade, education, tourism, culture and defence. While China has rapidly expanded its official relationship with Tonga, this expansion has created tensions within Tongan society generated by fears of Chinese immigrants taking jobs and businesses. These tensions boiled over in 2006, as Tongans rioted in the capital Nuku’alofa against Chinese shopkeepers over perceived unfair competition. The aftermath of the Nuku’alofa riots has seen an increasing awareness from China of the need to educate Tongans to its presence in their country, and its goals on the world stage. This new awareness has resulted in China adopting a number of approaches to educate Tongans as part of its expanding engagement. Education has become a central plank of this new-found education campaign, with China introducing several programmes to expose Tongan students to its culture and values, including scholarships for tertiary students to study within China. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the correlation between China’s increasing political and economic engagement with Tonga, and the increasing use of education programmes such as scholarships to educate Tongans about China and its culture and values. To accomplish this, the political and economic ties between China and Tonga will be analysed, as will the soft power initiatives that China has undertaken. These will then be analysed to test whether or not the increase in soft power initiatives is due to the expansion of political and economic ties between the two countries. This will allow the use of soft power by China in Tonga to be compared to the trends evident in other South Pacific states, to determine whether Tonga is a unique case or whether China is undertaking these policies across the region.</p>

Mathematical analysis of hepatitis B epidemic model with optimal control

Infection of hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a global health problem. We provide the study about hepatitis B virus dynamics that can be controlled by education campaign (awareness), vaccination, and treatment. Initially we bring constant controls in considerations for treatment, vaccination, and education campaign (awareness). In the case of constant controls, we study the stability and existence of the disease-free and endemic equilibria model’s solutions. Afterwards, we take time as a control and formulate the suitable optimal control problem, acquire optimal control strategy in order to reduce the number of humans that are infected and the costs associated. At the end, results of numerical simulations show that the optimal combination of education campaign (awareness), treatment, and vaccination is the most efficient way to control the infection of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.

Survei Cross-Sectional Online Untuk Menilai Vaksin Covid-19 Terkait Akseptabilitas, Pengetahuan dan Kesediaan Membayar di Kalangan Mahasiswa Kesehatan Masyarakat di Provinsi Sumatera Utara

The purpose of the study was to assess the Covid-19 vaccine related to acceptability, knowledge and willingness to pay among public health students in North Sumatra Province. The research design is an online cross-sectional survey using "Google Form" with a sample of all public health students at Sari Mutiara Indonesia University and Prima Indonesia University who have not received the Covid-19 vaccine (91 respondents). The study found that the acceptability of the Covid-19 vaccine among public health students in North Sumatra Province was still low (46.2%) as was the willingness to pay (36.3%). There is no relationship between knowledge and acceptability of the Covid-19 vaccine. The majority of public health students think vaccines are a cure for COVID-19. There is a significant relationship between willingness to pay and the acceptability of the Covid-19 vaccine for public health students, so the free vaccine program will determine the level of coverage of the Covid-19 vaccination. Health education campaign interventions about the Covid-19 vaccine from public health experts are needed to straighten students' knowledge of the Covid-19 vaccine, which is ultimately expected to be able to build confidence in the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccine.

MATHEMATICAL MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF CHOLERA DISEASE DYNAMICS WITH CONTROL

A deterministic mathematical model of cholera infection incorporating health education campaign, vaccination of susceptible humans, treatment of infected human and water sanitation is developed. It is shown that the solution of the model uniquely exist, it is positive and bounded in a certain region. The disease-free equilibrium (DFE) state of the model was determined and used to compute the basic reproduction number as a threshold for effective disease management. The result from stability analysis for the disease-free equilibrium state (DFEs) shows that it is locally as well as globally asymptotically stable whenever the basic reproduction number is less than unity (). The results obtained from the sensitivity index of show that the control parameters of public health education campaign, vaccination of susceptible individuals, treatment of infected humans and water sanitation are crucial parameters to cholera management. Numerical simulations show that, expanded and improved vaccination among other interventions is crucial in decreasing cholera burden. Furthermore, from the numerical simulations and results it is recommended that a combination of mass and consistent public health education campaigns, expanded vaccination coverage, prompt treatment of infected individuals, with water sanitation, is vital to public health strategies in eradicating cholera infection and deaths in the shortest possible time