Effects of coronavirus disease pandemic on tuberculosis notifications, Malawi

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic might affect tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis and patient care. We analyzed a citywide electronic TB register in Blantyre, Malawi and interviewed TB officers. Malawi did not have an official COVID-19 lockdown but closed schools and borders on March 23, 2020. In an interrupted time series analysis, we noted an immediate 35.9% reduction in TB notifications in April 2020; notifications recovered to near prepandemic numbers by December 2020. However, 333 fewer cumulative TB notifications were received than anticipated. Women and girls were affected more (30.7% fewer cases) than men and boys (20.9% fewer cases). Fear of COVID-19 infection, temporary facility closures, inadequate personal protective equipment, and COVID-19 stigma because of similar symptoms to TB were mentioned as reasons for fewer people being diagnosed with TB. Public health measures could benefit control of both TB and COVID-19, but only if TB diagnostic services remain accessible and are considered safe to attend.Peer reviewe

Impact of COVID-19 on tuberculosis notifications in Blantyre Malawi: an interrupted time series analysis and qualitative study with healthcare workers.

COVID-19 may impact on tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis and care. We analysed a city-wide electronic TB register in Blantyre, Malawi and interviewed TB officers. Malawi had no official “lockdown” but closed schools and borders on 23 March 2020. In interrupted time series analysis, there was an immediate 35.9% reduction in TB notifications (95% CI 22.0 to 47.3%) in April, which recovered to near pre-pandemic numbers by December 2020, but with 333 (95% CI 291 to 375) fewer cumulative notifications than anticipated. Women and girls were impacted (30.7% fewer cases, 95% CI 28.4 to 33.0%) more than men and boys (20.9% fewer, 95% CI 18.5 to 23.3). Fear of COVID-19 infection, temporary facility closure, inadequate protective equipment and COVID-19 stigma with similar presenting symptoms to TB were mentioned. Public health measures could benefit both TB and COVID-19, but only if diagnostic services remain accessible and are considered safe to attend

Ethnicity and Home Ownership in Montreal, 1921–51

Montreal has long been perceived as “a city of tenants” in a North-American world of owners. This perception has been explained by the strong presence of French Canadians who were poor and had a lower preference for home ownership.This article provides for the first time relevant data that allows a detailed comparison of housing types, values, tenure and occupations of French Canadians, English Canadians and immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe, and for the cities of Montreal, Lachine, Outremont, Verdun and Westmount, between 1921 and 1951.Indeed, Montreal was largely a town of tenants living in plexes. But these data show that, in proportion, French Canadians were as much owner-occupants as other ethnic groups and that, in fact, the low rate of owner-occupancy was due more to English Canadians and Eastern Europeans who were attracted to the new apartment buildings.These data also show that one can be a wealthy tenant living in a downtown apartment of great value, or the owner with limited means of a house of little value on the outskirts of the city.Montréal a longtemps été perçue comme « une ville de locataires » dans un monde nord-américain de propriétaires. Cette exception a souvent été attribuée à la forte présence de Canadiens français, pauvres et peu désireux de devenir propriétaires.Cet article fournit pour la première fois des données permettant de comparer, de manières détaillée, les types d’habitat, leur valeur, les statuts d’occupation et les profils d’emploi des Canadiens français et anglais, des immigrants originaires d’Europe du sud et de l’est, pour Montréal, Lachine, Outremont, Verdun et Westmount de 1921 à 1951.Certes, Montréal était une ville largement dominée par des locataires logés dans les plex. Mais ces données montrent que les Canadiens français étaient proportionnellement autant propriétaires occupants que les autres groupes ethniques et que ce sont en fait les Canadiens anglais et les Européens de l’est, plus attirés par les nouveaux immeubles à appartements, qui firent baisser le pourcentage de propriétaires occupants.Elles montrent également que l’on peut être le locataire aisé d’un appartement de grande valeur au cœur de la ville, ou un propriétaire sans grands moyens d’une maison de peu valeur en périphérie

Montréal : Logements et pouvoirs, 1940-1960

Montreal : Wohnungen und Machtinstanzen 1940-1960 Für den Ballungsraum von Montreal stellen die Vierziger und Fünfziger Jahre eine besondere Epoche dar : die des Übergangs zur Gegenwart. Geprägt von den Auseinandersetzungen zwischen den drei Ebenen staatlicher Macht und dem zunehmenden Einfluß lokaler Interessengruppen, führen diese Jahrzehnte die Verwirklichung einiger durch die ökonomische Entwicklung seit Beginn des Jahrhunderts auf die Tagesordnung gesetzter Veränderungen herbei, die schon damals geplant, aber durch die 1929 einsetzende Krise und durch den Zweiten Weltkrieg verschleppt worden waren. Bei den Debatten und lokalen Auseinandersetzungen geht es vorwiegend um den wachsenden Eingriff der Zentralbehörden in Fragen des Wohnungsbaus, um die räumliche Verteilung der kommunalen Funktionen und sozialen Gruppen und um die Umgestaltung der Lebensformen.Power and Housing in Montréal 1940-1960 The fourties and fifties form in the urban development of Montreal a particular period, that of the transition to the contemporary period. They were marked by the power struggles between the three government levels and the increased action of local pressure groups. Thus took place, some more than necessary changes, which should have taken place at the beginning of the century under the planned economic development, but which were delayed by the 1929 slump and the second world war. Increasing central State intervention in the housing field, the spatial redistribution of urban functions and social groups, and the development of new ways of life, were the focal points of discussions and local confrontation.Les années quarante et cinquante constituent pour le développement de l'espace urbain montréalais une période particulière, celle de la transition, du passage à l'ère contemporaine. Elles sont marquées par les luttes de pouvoirs entre les trois paliers gouvernementaux et l'action accrue de groupements d'intérêts locaux, amenant la réalisation de certains changements nécessités dès le début du siècle par le développement économique, planifiés à cette époque, mais retardés par la venue de la crise de 1929, puis par la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Intervention croissante de l'Etat central dans le domaine du logement, redistribution spatiale des fonctions urbaines et des groupes sociaux et aménagement des modes de vie sont au cœur des débats et des affrontements locaux.Montreal : viviendas y poderes, 1940-1960 Las décadas del cuarenta y cincuenta constituyeron, para el desarrollo del espacio urbano de Montreal, un periodo particular, el de la transición, del paso a la era contemporánea. Ellas han sido marcadas por las luchas de poderes entre los tres niveles gubernamentales y la acción intensificada de agrupaciones de intereses locales que condujeron a ciertos cambios, cuya necesidad para el desarrollo económico había sido ya percibida y aún planificada desde principios de siglo, pero que fueron retardados por el estallido de la crisis de 1929 y luego por la Segunda Guerra Mundial. El meollo de las diseusiones y enfrentamientos locales ha sido la intervención creciente del Estado en el campo de la vivienda, la redistribución espacial de las funciones urbanas y de los grupos sociales, y la adaptación a los modos de vida.Choko Marc H. Montréal : Logements et pouvoirs, 1940-1960. In: Les Annales de la recherche urbaine, N°33, 1987. La ville et ses logements. pp. 69-77

The characteristics of housing tenure in Montreal

Several problems need to be addressed before attempting an explanation of housing tenure in Montreal. First. data on changes in ownership ratios through time should be examined in order to indentlfy periods of key significance. The second step would then be to identify for each of these periods those factors that could explain disparities between cities, making sure that they are weighted in similar ways and are thus comparable. More general explanations of ownership characteristics should get rid of a priori assumptions and pay more attention to the impacts of the production system as well as those of consumption which are usually addressed. This paper tilustrates the need for such further research through its critical examination of the existing literature and data, and the explanations that these have put forward