The Societal Impacts of Covid-19: a transnational perspective

[Extract] The COVID-19 Pandemic, started in China and has since spread all over the world in a short time, deeply affecting all countries.. Most countries have declared a partial or complete lockdown to limit the spread of the virus. A significant portion of employees have been unable to work in traditional ways and have had to adapt to what has become known as the “new normal”. In essence we have gone beyond the norms we used to know and have had to construct new ways of living in the times of COVID-19. The way we know how to work and live has changed. Middle and upper classes, whose jobs are suitable for digitalization, started working online. Every extraordinary period has its winners and losers. The winners of the coronavirus pandemic period were mainly hygiene materials manufacturers, gaming companies, electronic commerce, high technology, and pharmaceutical companies etc. On the other hand, economies all over the world have shrunk. The hardest hit in the pandemic have been the areas of tourism, hospitality and entertainment etc. resulting in high rates of unemployment or underemployment within these sectors. Unemployment and existential anxiety have peaked during 2020 with increased fears posed by the new risks associated with becoming infected. With the loss of loved ones and separation from friends and family. Psycho-social problems have also increased due to the effects of prolonged uncertainty imposed by the pandemic across all facets of everyday life In all life satisfaction has declined across in all social groups with the vulnerable most at risk due to the long lasting effects on the pandemi

Canine rabies control and management in Southeast Asia : from data to models

Canine rabies is a significant public health concern and economic burden in most low- and middle-income countries across Africa and Asia. Global targets for elimination of dog-mediated rabies have been set for 2030. Though fatal once clinical symptoms appear, rabies is preventable through appropriate administration of human and dog vaccines. Postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) is highly effective in averting the onset of rabies if delivered promptly after a person is bitten by a rabid animal. However, its unequal distribution creates disparity between settings. Where access to PEP is limited and the personal costs prohibitive, many people die having been refused appropriate healthcare. On the other hand, indiscriminately administered PEP results in excessive expenditure on non-case patients, subsequent financial strains and vaccine shortages, whilst vulnerable communities remain untreated. The lack of formal surveillance leads to suboptimal detection of the disease, preceding unrestricted transmission and misleading representation of its magnitude, undermining advocacy for funding of control programmes. While mass dog vaccination can eliminate rabies from the source population, it requires extensive resources and is currently not conducted systematically and at scale in most rabies endemic countries. The main objectives of this thesis were first to critically review and evaluate accomplishments and failures of the existing rabies control and management strategies in Southeast Asia (Chapters 1 and 2), and secondly to use these assessments to draw and test potential improvements to accelerate the elimination targets across the region (Chapters 3 and 4). We used a combination of long-term epidemiological datasets, experimental design and theoretical models to examine the theory and implementation of intersectoral, enhanced surveillance and dog quarantine in the context of canine rabies in domestic dogs. Several key themes have emerged from this work. First and foremost, to eliminate rabies will require time, resources and commitment as well as a combination of strategies following the One Health concept. An effective One Health approach entails long-term planning, intersectoral communication and collaboration, and sustained effort using tried and tested methods. Efforts should be directed towards well-coordinated high-coverage annual dog vaccinations using high-quality vaccines and enhanced surveillance targeted through investigations of biting animals. The logistics of vaccinating a very large, free-roaming dog population that is typical of most Southeast Asian countries may be challenging but certainly not impossible. Lessons can be drawn from Bali, Indonesia for other large and dense dog populations, where dog management and rabies control appear difficult. Well-trained teams with nets can rapidly catch and vaccinate large numbers of dogs where central-point vaccinations are insufficient, and post-vaccination surveys of collared dogs can be used to evaluate coverage and target supplementary vaccinations. However, careful planning is required to ensure all communities are reached during campaigns and sufficient vaccine is available over consecutive years. Effective communication strategies are needed to coordinate intersectoral activities, and to keep communities as well as rabies practitioners engaged. Using detailed questionnaires on animal bite histories combined with phone follow-ups and field investigations, we demonstrated the effectiveness of Integrated Bite Case Management (IBCM) in detecting rabies in the dog population, offering a more sensitive alternative to routine surveillance conducted at random. We noted that the reported patient bite incidence reflects the availability of the vaccine and proximity of bite patients to clinics rather than the actual disease incidence in the dog population and should not be taken as an indicator of rabies burden alone without further field investigations. In fact, rabies transmission between dogs appears to take place mostly locally with cases from neighbouring areas, and focal cases from the previous month having been most significantly predictive of future rabies occurrence both in Bali and the Philippines. We advocate that joint investigations such as Integrated Bite Case Management have the potential to foster intersectoral relationships, opening much needed space for collaborative investments between public health and veterinary services. Triage of patients and investigations of suspect dogs offer an effective tool for improved PEP recommendations and reduction of potentially unnecessary expenditures and can provide real-time guidance for tailored quarantine of high-risk contacts. Temporary exclusion of infected dogs appears powerful in curtailing rabies transmission despite the low prevalence of the disease, particularly in settings where optimal vaccination coverage is yet to be achieved, providing a critical stopgap to reduce the number of human deaths due to rabid bites. We conclude that all of the control and prevention activities discussed in this thesis will be necessary for complete interruption of transmission of the virus and sustained elimination of rabies, especially given the enduring risk of re-introductions from neighbouring populations

Emergence of infectious diseases

From SARS to avian influenza, Ebola virus and MERS-CoV, infectious diseases have received increasing attention in recent decades from scientists, risk managers, the media and the general public. What explains the constant emergence of infectious diseases? What are the related challenges? In five chapters, experts from different scientific fields analyse the ecological, social, institutional and political dynamics associated with emerging infectious diseases. This book discusses how the concepts, scientific results and action plans of international or governmental organizations are constructed and coordinated. In clear straightforward language, this book explores the continuities and discontinuities that occur with emerging infectious diseases, both in terms of collective action and in our relationship to the biological world

Climate Change and the Health Sector

The health sector is known to be one of the major contributors towards the greenhouse gas emissions causing the climate crisis, the greatest health threat of the 21st century. This volume positions the health sector as a leader in the fight against climate change and explores the role of the health system in climate policy action. It delivers an overview of the linkages between climate change and the health sector, with chapters on the impact of climate change on health, its connection to pandemics, and its effects on food, nutrition and air quality, while examining gendered and other vulnerabilities. It delves into the different operational aspects of the health sector in India and details how each one can become climate-smart to reduce the health sector’s overall carbon footprint, by looking at sustainable procurement, green and resilient healthcare infrastructure, and the management of transportation, energy, water, waste, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and plastics in healthcare. Well supplemented with rigorous case studies, the book will be indispensable for students, teachers, and researchers of environmental studies, health sciences, and climate change. It will be useful for healthcare workers, public health officials, healthcare leaders, policy planners, and those interested in climate resilience and preparedness in the healthcare sector

URBAN CORPORIS X - UNEXPECTED

Starting from the emergency provoked by the Sars-Cov2 that affected the whole world, the book brings the contributions of researchers and artists from all over the world discussing the theme of the \u201cunexpected\u201d, its implication, and inter-action with everyday life. The book presents a series of essays divided into three parts: Living unexpectedly, Missing interactions, and Different sociality. These three categories bring together authors who have had a reading of the unexpected emergency that occurred, pointing out different perspectives upon dynamics and relation caused by this situation, underlining how the isolation period has affected both the domestic and the urban sphere. Moreover, through drawings, photomontages and photographs, several authors gave a visual interpretation of the changed lives, spaces, and routines. All these contributions don\u2019t want to answer to the enormous problems brought by the pandemic. Rather they synthesize an interpretation of the shifting condition that occurred, showing both the great reactive capacity and the fragility of the no longer present reality

Kenya Human Development Report 2013: Climate Change and Human Development - Harnessing Emerging Opportunities

Since independence, Kenya has been progressing towards the realization of human development. The national economy has expanded throughout the years, and significant progress has been achieved in reducing genderbased differences, supporting the development of the most vulnerable segments of the population, improving access to health and sanitation services, promoting a more equitable access to resources, protecting human rights, and valuing individual goals and objectives. Consequently, the 2012 Human Development Index (HDI) estimate for Kenya is now 0.522, an improvement from the previous year's score of 0.509. This score is higher than the average for Sub-Saharan Africa

Global health - a challenge for interdisciplinary research

Human, animal and plant health is a field of work which offers opportunities for inter- and trans-disciplinary research. The whole topic bridges the natural and social sciences. Today, in a world of global environmental change it is widely recognized that human societies and their wellbeing depend on a sustainable equilibrium of ecosystem services and the possibility of cultural adaptation to global environmental change. The need to identify and quantify health risks related to global environmental change is now one of the most important challenges of humankind. Describing spatial (geographic, intra/inter-population) and temporal differences in health risks is an urgent task to understand societies’ vulnerabilities and priorities for interventions better. The Göttingen International Health Network (GIHN) is a research and teaching network in relation to this cross-cutting topic. The book provides a collection of articles which contribute to this issue of overriding importance and presents an overview of the GIHN launch event