Awareness and health risk protection behaviours of scavengers in the Gbalahi landfill site, Ghana, in the era of sustainable development

Waste picking is a pivotal in achieving sustainable waste management, environment health and economic development in the era of sustainable development. The study assessed the practices, knowledge, perception and health risk protection behaviours of waste scavengers in the Gbalahi landfill site. A total of 60 scavengers were conveniently sampled and interviewed. The study revealed that 93% of the waste scavengers sort waste using hooks and their bare hands. The study also showed 62% of the respondents have ever been physically abused by other scavengers. A good number of scavengers believed they have been fortified against “dirt diseases” during their childhood and have developed natural immunity against diseases. The knowledge of scavengers was skewed towards economic benefits as they viewed waste picking as a survival strategy. Discrimination and physical abuse posed a seemingly significant psychological health risk to majority of them. Safety and protection practices are limited to the use of pieces of clothes to cover the nose, wearing of multiple clothes and worn-out boots recovered from the landfill. Most of the respondents risk being exposed to the virus and pathogens. It is recommended that education and increased sensitisation should be encouraged and implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ghana Health Service and other allied institutions in order to regularise and ensure the health and safety of waste scavengers.

COMPLIANCE-STRATEGIZING OF ECONOMIC SECURITY OF THE BUSINESS IN DIGITALIZATION CONDITIONS

The content, main tasks and functions of compliance-strategizingof economic secu­rity of businessin the conditions of digitalization are revealed. Emphasis is placed on the need to consolidate and coordinate legal, economic, social and health aspects of security with compliance technologies and strategic planning of business processes, which will help ensure the competitiveness and risk protection of business, as well as on digital platforms. It is noted that it is necessary to separateresource potential as a part of corporate strategic compliance. An important area of further development of compliance-strategizing– "change management" – is considered.

Benefits of Compliance and Risk Management

Compliance is a program that aims to protect organizations from the occurrence of financial fraud, corruption, behavior and/or misconduct of employees linked to them, preventing their good reputation and financial soundness from being shaken. It is a tool whose purpose is to establish rules, standards and guidelines for internal processes within organizations. It was developed in the United States in 1970, and its practices were transformed into a legal institute, through the enactment of the Pioneer Law against Corruption FCPA (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act), motivated by the Watergate Case, which involved then-President Richard Nixon and members of his administration, by paying bribes in surveys in favor of his re-election. In this context, this article has as its main question: how do the benefits offered by the Compliance and Risk Management program collaborate to reduce the risks of fraud, illicit and corruption within organizations? The aim of this study was to present the benefits provided by the adoption of the Compliance and Risk Management program in public and private companies, in their internal processes and relationships with their segment of activity, and how they collaborate for fraud mitigation. The methodology was adopted as a bibliographic research, and it was about the benefits caused by fraud prevention programs. It was found that Compliance and risk management programs bring effective risk protection benefits, mitigating fraud and corruption, combined with new Information Technology Governance (IT) solutions, such as Enterprise Governance, Risk Management and Compliance (EGRC).

Challenges of Hydrate Risk Management at Low Water Cuts Using Anti-Agglomerants

BWOLF (DH 180/185) flowlines, in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, were being treated continuously with LDHI to manage hydrate risk. Application of the Anti-Agglomerant (AA) was being utilized to treat the asset under the initial conditions, including water cuts up to 20%, for potential unplanned shut ins. Due to a well zone change, water cut dropped from 20% to <1%. The assumption was that chemical treatment volumes for hydrate management would decrease based on water volume. However, at these lower water cuts, it was determined that higher by volume of water treatment dosing was required to provide adequate hydrate risk protection. Additionally, dead-oil circulations were periodically being used to address some pressure build up and return the system back to baseline pressures. Rocking cell testing was conducted to determine the optimal chemical treating doses using AA alone, as well as AA + MeOH as options. However, the rocking cell equipment limitation for water cuts is ~10%, below which results have previously not been trusted. Extrapolation for estimated dosages were needed for the lower water cuts observed in the field. Autoclave tests were done at higher water cuts (30 and 50%) to also provide data for curve fitting to confirm whether the increase need for LDHI at lower water cuts was indeed exponential in nature. Field monitoring of flowline pressures was conducted to determine treatment effectiveness. Additionally, field monitoring of water cut over time was also observed and related back to how the chemical treatment behaved in relation. After the well zone change, application of the AA alone was not enough to effectively address the hydrate risk and resulted in gradual build up of hydrate within the system. Periodic MeOH pills were applied to reduce delta pressure, but care was necessary to avoid reaching MeOH limitations within the crude. Additionally, this method did not effectively remove hydrate formation in the flowline. Less frequently, but when necessary, dead oiling was utilized to remove the build up quite effectively. This was not ideal due to down time and deferred production. It's felt that Webber et al. correctly described the significant increase of AA dosing requirements at very low water cuts (<5%) resulting in a power function relationship. This creates further challenges such as cost of chemical treatment due to higher dosing requirements and potential water quality issues topsides when higher doses of AA are used. The data and results within confirm limited examples of where lower water cut can result in significantly increased dosing requirements for AAs and why a power function relationship should be considered when extrapolating treatment recommendations at 5% or below. There is interest in further understanding the AA requirements at low water cuts and the effectiveness of deal oiling on hydrate build up going forward. This data is particularly relevant for new deepwater projects that consider chemical use as one of the primary options for hydrate management.

Impact of public-funded health insurances in India on health care utilisation and financial risk protection: a systematic review

ObjectiveUniversal Health Coverage aims to address the challenges posed by healthcare inequalities and inequities by increasing the accessibility and affordability of healthcare for the entire population. This review provides information related to impact of public-funded health insurance (PFHI) on financial risk protection and utilisation of healthcare.DesignSystematic review.Data sourcesMedline (via PubMed, Web of Science), Scopus, Social Science Research Network and 3ie impact evaluation repository were searched from their inception until 15 July 2020, for English-language publications.Eligibility criteriaStudies giving information about the different PFHI in India, irrespective of population groups (above 18 years), were included. Cross-sectional studies with comparison, impact evaluations, difference-in-difference design based on before and after implementation of the scheme, pre–post, experimental trials and quasi-randomised trials were eligible for inclusion.Data extraction and synthesisData extraction was performed by three reviewers independently. Due to heterogeneity in population and study design, statistical pooling was not possible; therefore, narrative synthesis was performed.OutcomesUtilisation of healthcare, willingness-to-pay (WTP), out-of-pocket expenditure (including outpatient and inpatient), catastrophic health expenditure and impoverishment.ResultsThe impact of PFHI on financial risk protection reports no conclusive evidence to suggest that the schemes had any impact on financial protection. The impact of PFHIs such as Rashtriya Swasthy Bima Yojana, Vajpayee Arogyashree and Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana showed increased access and utilisation of healthcare services. There is a lack of evidence to conclude on WTP an additional amount to the existing monthly financial contribution.ConclusionDifferent central and state PFHIs increased the utilisation of healthcare services by the beneficiaries, but there was no conclusive evidence for reduction in financial risk protection of the beneficiaries.RegistrationNot registered.

Sustainable Finance and COVID-19: The Reaction of ESG Funds to the 2020 Crisis

We investigated the financial performance of a sample of sustainable investment funds in terms of returns, volatility, and contagion risk during the financial crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to conduct a more reliable analysis, we considered a homogenous sample composed of 30 funds declaring the same benchmark (the MSCI Europe index). The Morningstar Sustainability ESG rating was used to determine the level of sustainability of each fund. Both the GARCH models and the event study suggest that funds with a higher ESG rating were able to outperform other funds during the COVID-19 period. These funds had a greater level of resilience and exhibited a lower level of risk contagion during the pandemic. These instruments appear to assume the role of risk protection and should be considered a means of both promoting sustainable growth and minimizing portfolio risk.

Alleviating the burden of diabetes with Health Equity Funds: Economic evaluation of the health and financial risk protection benefits in Cambodia

In Cambodia, diabetes caused nearly 3% of the country’s mortality in 2016 and became the fourth highest cause of disability in 2017. Providing sufficient financial risk protection from health care expenditures may be part of the solution towards effectively tackling the diabetes burden and motivating individuals to appropriately seek care to effectively manage their condition. In this study, we aim to estimate the distributional health and financial impacts of strategies providing financial coverage for diabetes services through the Health Equity Funds (HEF) in Cambodia. The trajectory of diabetes was represented using a Markov model to estimate the societal costs, health impacts, and individual out-of-pocket expenditures associated with six strategies of HEF coverage over a time horizon of 45 years. Input parameters for the model were compiled from published literature and publicly available household survey data. Strategies covered different combinations of types of diabetes care costs (i.e., diagnostic services, medications, and management of diabetes-related complications). Health impacts were computed as the number of disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) averted and financial risk protection was analyzed in terms of cases of catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) averted. Model simulations demonstrated that coverage for medications would be cost-effective, accruing health benefits ($27 per DALY averted) and increases in financial risk protection ($2 per case of CHE averted) for the poorest in Cambodia. Women experienced particular gains in health and financial risk protection. Increasing the number of individuals eligible for financial coverage also improved the value of such investments. For HEF coverage, the government would pay between an estimated $28 and $58 per diabetic patient depending on the extent of coverage and services covered. Efforts to increase the availability of services and capacity of primary care facilities to support diabetes care could have far-reaching impacts on the burden of diabetes and contribute to long-term health system strengthening.