Framing the tax and health nexus: a neglected aspect of public health concern

Previous studies have described various associations between tax policy and health. Here we propose a unifying conceptual framework of ‘Five R’s’ to stimulate awareness about the importance of tax to health improvement. First, tax can improve representation and democratic accountability, and help make governments more responsive to the needs of its citizens. Second, tax can create a revenue stream for a universal pool of public finance for health care and other public services. Third, progressive taxation when combined with appropriate public spending can help redistribute wealth and income and mitigate social and health inequalities. Fourth, the re-pricing of harmful products (e.g. tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy food) can help reduce their consumption. Fifth, taxation provides a route by which certain harmful industries can be regulated. The paper also discusses the barriers that hinder the full potential for taxation to be used to improve health, including: weak tax administrations, large ‘shadow economies’, international trade liberalisation, tax avoidance, transfer pricing by transnational corporations and banking secrecy. We suggest that a greater awareness of the manifold associations between tax and health will encourage health practitioners to actively promote fairer and better taxation, thereby helping to improve health and reduce health inequalities

Mind the gap? Civil society policy engagement and the pursuit of gender justice: critical discourse analysis of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in Africa 2003–2015

This article presents critical discourse analysis of state and civil society organisations’ efforts to implement the gender mainstreaming goals set out in the United Nations’ Beijing Declaration. It is argued that the latter represents a generational opportunity to apply a Feminist Political Economic Framework to development in Africa. However, the research findings show how current practice falls short of the sought-after participative democratic model of mainstreaming. Instead, analysis reveals significant differences in state and civil society organisations’ policy framing, issues over conceptual clarity and a disjuncture in state and civil society prioritisation of key gendered issues such as poverty, economic inequality and conflict resolution. This matters because it indicates that the capacity of the civil sphere to act as a political arena from which NGOs may challenge the traditionally male-dominated power structures is being undermined by a ‘disconnect’ between state and civil society as they pursue contrasting agendas

The idea of a new Zimbabwe post- Mugabe

Zimbabwe has gone through deep political, economic and social challenges for close to three decades. Once known as the shining light of Africa, Zimbabwe is now often known for dominating international headlines for the wrong reasons. In November 2017, the country experienced a radical change to the constitutional and political order, which brought an end to former President Robert Mugabe’s 37-year reign. Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was once Mugabe’s right-hand man, assumed leadership of both the country and the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF). He was reelected in the July 2018 harmonised elections, although under disputed circumstances. The removal of Robert Mugabe has provided the country an opportunity to break from the past, and hopes have been raised for the birth of a new Zimbabwe. This chapter explores some of the measures that the administration post-Mugabe should implement to set the country on a new path. Thus, the purpose of this chapter is not to argue for a particular political formation or political leaders to govern. Rather, its objective is to explore whether the idea of a new Zimbabwe is possible and what it would take to realise this objective. Before discussing the prospects for this desired state of affairs, it is important to examine the current situation, which is explored in the first part of the chapter. A brief overview of the fall of Mugabe and rise of Mnangagwa is then provided to show how a leader who commanded respect beyond the shores of our continent could exit in such an undignified manner. The core section is dedicated to a discussion of the prospects for a new Zimbabwe, and concluding remarks end the chapter

International migration: The state-sovereignty-migration nexus

Commonly, international human migration is blamed for corroding states sovereignty, especially stemming from policy circles, academic literature and citizens of the host countries. This has attracted the attention of the media highlighting hazards of being a migrant, with some countries viewing migrants as enemies; and, Cuba provides a vivid case. Yet in other countries, migrants are viewed as important contributors to social and economic development, with Mexico, the Dominican Republic and India serving as examples. This article locates migrants in the framework of human rights as guided by international law without prejudice to the demands of state sovereignty, but linking the two in the context of developing international standards. Migration is seen as a feature of human history dating back to primordial time. Nothing appears surprising in the movement of people across borders, defining a migrant through emigration and immigration while giving due respect to the sovereignty of states, both sending and receiving. The article discusses the nexus between migrants and state sovereignty in order to highlight the mutual benefit grounded in international law. It attempts to portray a more positive image of the migrant person in light of the global world, socio-economic development and human rights fundamentals. The main challenge remains that of implementing human rights, which appear to be at the crossroads of individual rights and state sovereignty. The paper reveals how the challenge can be overcome while maintaining the structure of rights and freedoms without infringement on states’ sovereignty. It concludes that migrants remain on the periphery of effective protection from the vagaries of the citizens, partly because the state has a tendency to confine certain rights to its citizenry. States possess discretionary authority to control the ingress of foreign nationals into their territories though sometimes they fail to do that as evidenced by hundreds of millions of irregular migrants around the world. The paper reveals that, the symbiotic relationship between migrants, regular or irregular, and state sovereignty should be strengthened

Cholera

Cholera is a bacterial infection that is transmitted in water or food contaminated with a carrier’s excreta. It enters the body through the mouth and the digestive system...