Assessment of access to health services and vulnerabilities of female fish traders in the Kafue Flats, Zambia: analysis report

Under the regional programme Fisheries and HIV/AIDS in Africa: Investing in Sustainable Solutions, the WorldFish Center conducted this study on access to health services and vulnerabilities of female fish traders in the Kafue Flats floodplains in Zambia. This report outlines and analyses the particular vulnerabilities of female fish traders in the Kafue Flats fishery and formulates recommendations to facilitate stakeholder uptake of strategic responses to tackle the drivers of the epidemic in fishing communities and improve the livelihoods of fisher folk and fish traders in the Kafue Flats and other fisheries in Zambia. (pdf contains 55 pages

Assessment of access to health services and vulnerabilities of female fish traders in the Kafue Flats, Zambia: analysis report

Under the regional programme Fisheries and HIV/AIDS in Africa: Investing in Sustainable Solutions, the WorldFish Center conducted this study on access to health services and vulnerabilities of female fish traders in the Kafue Flats floodplains in Zambia. This report outlines and analyses the particular vulnerabilities of female fish traders in the Kafue Flats fishery and formulates recommendations to facilitate stakeholder uptake of strategic responses to tackle the drivers of the epidemic in fishing communities and improve the livelihoods of fisher folk and fish traders in the Kafue Flats and other fisheries in Zambia.Women, Fishermen, Trade, Vulnerability, Viral diseases, Zambia,

A transition in the Dutch wastewater system? : The struggle between discourses and with lock-ins

Recently, calls have increased for a paradigm shift or transition towards resource recovery and a circular economy in the Dutch wastewater system. However, we have observed diverging interpretations on the nature of the transition. This reflects the political environment of sustainability transitions: political struggle emerges over the definition of problems, futures and strategies to be used. In order to help clarify the emerging debate and identify political choices, we conducted a discourse analysis. We identified three discourses that reveal some of the political choices to be made. One discourse is becoming dominant and focusses on optimising the large-scale infrastructure, market development and legislative changes. The discourse draws on the existing infrastructure and current political-economic institutions, which gives it an advantage in becoming dominant. Our findings also suggest that this discourse shapes a transition pathway that is characterised by lock-in effects and, at most, incremental changes instead of a fundamental shift in the established Dutch wastewater system

“When one shingle sends up smoke”: The Summit Beacon Advises Akron About the Epidemic Cholera, 1849

Elizabeth Hall explains the American cholera epidemic of 1849, with special attention to how cholera afflicted Akron, a booming canal town in Northeast Ohio. The article presents the full text of 1849 Akron newspaper articles on cholera and explains how their mix of good and bad information was published right before scientific breakthroughs in cholera research

Health and poverty in Guatemala

Unlike many other countries in Latin America, Guatemala is only at the beginning of the demographic, and epidemiological transition. The population is young, is growing rapidly, and is still primarily rural. Guatemala is among the worst performers in terms of health outcomes in Latin America, with one of the highest infant mortality rates, and one of the lowest life expectancies at birth. Major causes of death in Guatemala still include treatable, and communicable diseases, such as diarrhea, pneumonia, cholera, malnutrition, and tuberculosis. A significant share of Guatemalans lack access to health care services. A combination of both supply- and demand-side constraints limit the ability of households to seek health care services in Guatemala, with supply-side constraints playing a more dominant role in rural areas than urban. Some progress has been made in reforming the health sector. Important steps have been taken on the institutional side, with health being one of the pilot ministries to decentralize financial management under the Integrated System for Health Care (SIAS program). Public spending has shifted toward preventive care, which is essential for treating the health problems faced by the poor. Despite these efforts, spending and health outcomes has not improved significantly. In addition, public spending on health is not well targeted. Overall, public health spending benefits the highest quintiles disproportionately, By type of facility, public spending on hospitals is by far the more regressive.Health Systems Development&Reform,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Early Child and Children's Health,Public Health Promotion,Disease Control&Prevention,Health Systems Development&Reform,Health Economics&Finance,Health Indicators,Adolescent Health,Health Monitoring&Evaluation

Urbanisation as a Threat or Opportunity in the Promotion of Human Wellbeing

It is possible to present a credible picture of urbanisation as one of the greatest threats to human health, wellbeing and development, although this paper will argue that to do so requires focusing on a limited set of cities. There is a stronger evidence base on cities and urbanisation underpinning good health, fulfilment of civil rights, democracy and freedom from deprivation, although with important exceptions. It is possible to present urbanisation as the most serious driver of human-induced climate change (and of most other kinds of ecological damage). But cities also have the potential to be places where high living standards can be delinked from unsustainable ecological footprints and high greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (and there are some cities that demonstrate this). Of course, a very different set of urban centres get highlighted, depending on which of these points one wants to substantiate. What this paper seeks to do is to highlight both the threats and the opportunities posed by urbanisation

Cholera Control in 2021

Cholera remains a global threat in the 21st century, chiefly due to the continued lack of adequate resource provision and the political will to ensure a safe potable water supply and sanitary waste disposal for a burgeoning global population. The current Special Issue on cholera provides an overview of the available control measures from the perspectives of bioecology, immunology and vaccinology and treatment. These modalities have the potential to reduce cholera case fatality rates to less than 1% if properly implemented. In this Special Issue on cholera, the current state of the art in science-based control measures is reported on by several of the world’s leaders in research on the control of cholera and allied acute watery diarrheal diseases. Dr. Rita Colwell, Dr. Anwar Huq and colleagues at the University of Maryland and the University of Florida will review the latest information on environmental factors related to the prediction and prevention of cholera. Dr. Jacqueline Dean and Dr. John Clemens contribute an overview of recent insights into the performance of licensed and recommended cholera vaccines. Dr. Jan Holmgren will present an update on cholera immunity and the next generation of cholera vaccines. Dr. David Nalin will discuss cholera treatment options and optimums for the 21st century, and Dr. Richard A. Cash will focus on bringing diarrhea treatment, control, and prevention to the community