Welfare and Economic Effects of Fiscal Behaviour of Local Governments in Nigeria

The Nigerian constitution recognises the local government areas (LGAs) as the third tier of government, and sets aside for it the responsibility of effective public service delivery at the grassroots. In recent times, debates have ensued on the effectiveness of the 774 LGAs in Nigeria. While a polar group calls for scrapping of the LGAs because of their poor or non-performance due to, among others, corruption; some others have advocated for a reasonable degree of autonomy to guarantee effectiveness and accountability in the discharge of their duty. In view of this, the study examines the fiscal behaviour of the LGAs with a view to investigating whether they enhance welfare or not. Also, the paper studies factors that affect revenue drive of LGAs, identifies main sources of revenue and its applications. Both primary and secondary data from Osogbo Local Government Area of Osun State are employed in the study that utilises descriptive and inferential statistical techniques. On welfare, the fiscal behaviour of Osogbo LGA is felt most in education sub-sector, followed by health and sanitation. The results further show that’ low internal revenue generation; political interference and inadequate mobility for tax collection are the primary factors affecting the performance of LGAs. Lastly, the study finds that increased spending on essential services would improve standard of living of people at the local level. Keywords: Local government, welfare, fiscal action

Risk Factors for Maternal Vitamin D Deficiency within the United Arab Emirates

Introduction: Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy is a public health problem and it has been associated with negative pregnancy outcomes for both mothers and infants. Aim: To estimate the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in pregnant women in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and to identify the contribution of risk factors to the 25(OH)D levels. Methods: It is a cross-sectional study in which vitamin D levels of 1088 adult pregnant women were assessed. Information on vitamin D intake was available in a sub-sample of 266 women. Results: The mean serum 25(OH)D was 26.2 nmol/L (95% CI 25.2-27.1 range 5-129.1 nmol/L) with 69% of women being vitamin D deficient (<30 nmol/L). In the bivariate analysis, showed that no predictors could have been indicated as no values exceeded significance (p<0.2). Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis could not be applied to identify predictors of vitamin D levels as no values exceeded p=0.2. Conclusion: Due to the high prevalence of vitamin deficiency in UAE, there is an urge for interventions focusing on supplementation, fortification and diet diversity for preventing health consequences during a critical period of development

Social and demographic factors associated with morbidities in young children in Egypt: A Bayesian geo-additive semi-parametric multinomial model.

Globally, the burden of mortality in children, especially in poor developing countries, is alarming and has precipitated concern and calls for concerted efforts in combating such health problems. Examples of diseases that contribute to this burden of mortality include diarrhoea, cough, fever, and the overlap between these illnesses, causing childhood morbidity and mortality. Methods: To gain insight into these health issues, we employed the 2008 Demographic and Health Survey Data of Egypt, which recorded details from 10,872 children under five. This data focused on the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of household members. We applied a Bayesian multinomial model to assess the area-specific spatial effects and risk factors of co-morbidity of fever, diarrhoea and cough for children under the age of five. Results: The results showed that children under 20 months of age were more likely to have the three diseases (OR: 6.8; 95% CI: 4.6-10.2) than children between 20 and 40 months (OR: 2.14; 95% CI: 1.38-3.3). In multivariate Bayesian geo-additive models, the children of mothers who were over 20 years of age were more likely to have only cough (OR: 1.2; 95% 2 CI: 0.9-1.5) and only fever (OR: 1.2; 95% CI: 0.91-1.51) compared with their counterparts. Spatial results showed that the North-eastern region of Egypt has a higher incidence than most of other regions. Conclusions: This study showed geographic patterns of Egyptian governorates in the combined prevalence of morbidity among Egyptian children. It is obvious that the Nile Delta, Upper Egypt, and south-eastern Egypt have high rates of diseases and are more affected. Therefore, more attention is needed in these areas. Funding: The authors have no support or funding to report. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist

Disparities in risks of malaria associated with climatic variability among women, children and elderly in the Chittagong hill tracts of Bangladesh

Malaria occurrence in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh varies by season and year, but this pattern is not well characterized. The role of environmental conditions on the occurrence of this vector-borne parasitic disease in the region is not fully understood. We extracted information on malaria patients recorded in the Upazila (sub-district) Health Complex patient registers of Rajasthali in Rangamati district of Bangladesh from February 2000 to November 2009. Weather data for the study area and period were obtained from the Bangladesh Meteorological Department. Non-linear and delayed effects of meteorological drivers, including temperature, relative humidity, and rainfall on the incidence of malaria, were investigated. We observed significant positive association between temperature and rainfall and malaria occurrence, revealing two peaks at 19 °C (logarithms of relative risks (logRR) = 4.3, 95% CI: 1.1–7.5) and 24.5 °C (logRR = 4.7, 95% CI: 1.8–7.6) for temperature and at 86 mm (logRR = 19.5, 95% CI: 11.7–27.3) and 284 mm (logRR = 17.6, 95% CI: 9.9–25.2) for rainfall. In sub-group analysis, women were at a much higher risk of developing malaria at increased temperatures. People over 50 years and children under 15 years were more susceptible to malaria at increased rainfall. The observed associations have policy implications. Further research is needed to expand these findings and direct resources to the vulnerable populations for malaria prevention and control in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh and the region with similar setting