Whole-Of-Government Approaches to NCDs: The Case of the Philippines Interagency Committee—Tobacco

To address the rise in non-communicable diseases (NCDs), governments are now being urged to ‘put forward a multisectoral approach for health at all government levels, to address NCD risk factors and underlying determinants of health comprehensively and decisively’ [UN, 2011. Political Declaration of the High-Level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (No. A/66/L.1). New York, NY: United Nations]. There is a global consensus that whole-of-government approaches (WG) can be particularly effective in regulating products such as tobacco, pre-packaged foods and alcohol, which are or can be major risk factors for NCDs. Despite the overwhelming push towards interagency arrangements for health policymaking and implementation, including in contemporary efforts to prevent and control NCDs, there has been minimal investigation into how countries have pursued WG and which types of institutional designs and arrangements offer particular utility to achieve health objectives. This article examines these issues through a case study concerning the interagency mechanism that the Philippine government currently utilizes to govern tobacco control, the Interagency Committee—Tobacco (IAC-T). We conducted key informant interviews (n = 33) with government officials, and representatives from civil society organizations, health professional associations and intergovernmental organizations. We targeted informants who have been involved in the work of the IAC-T and/or tobacco control policy more broadly. We also analysed public documents to contribute to our analysis of the structure, functioning and legal status of the IAC-T. Our findings highlight two salient challenges that arose in the Philippines case: (1) the inclusion of industry representation on the IAC-T and (2) the attempt to consolidate the responsibilities of the different departments through a policy of ‘balance’ between health and commercial interests. We analyse how health proponents navigated this challenging institutional arrangement and the various barriers they faced in achieving the intended health objectives. We draw from this case to discuss the lessons that can inform broad calls for WG to NCDs

RELIABILITY AND STABILITY OF THE SIX QUESTION DISABILITY MEASURE IN THE CURRENT POPULATION SURVEY: WHAT THE DATA CAN AND CANNOT TELL US ABOUT DISABILITY AND LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION

The Current Population Survey (CPS) has been a major source of disability data for public policy and research. The aim of this study was two-fold. First, the study examined the six disability measures added to the CPS in 2008 to determine if they are both a reliable and stable method of describing disability over a period of two survey administrations in a 12-month period. Second, this study then assessed the impact of disability upon labor force participation. This research used a subset of the respondents to the longitudinal CPS Annual Social and Economic Supplement; it included (N=11,721) respondents who indicated a positive answer to the disability questions in both survey months that the disability variables were measured. Descriptive analysis of expected demographic variable distributions supported the construct reliability of the measures. Correlation analysis utilizing Kappa coefficients demonstrated that all six measures of types of disability in the CPS are stable across time, and Fisher Z transformations show that, among the six, measures of physical and mobility difficulties were the most stable. Measures of visual difficulties, while stable, are significantly less stable than the other disability measures. Logistic regression analysis indicated that all six disability measures have a significant predictive effect on the likelihood of employment of persons with disabilities, and a fully-controlled model including contextual variables supported the conclusion that four of the six types of disability (physical disability and difficulties with remembering, mobility and vision) have independent statistically significant effects on employment

Self-inflicted Injuries Racial-Based Differences in Substance Abuse and in Potential Years of Life Lost

Background and Methods: Suicide is a leading cause of death in the US. Substance abuse is a known risk factor for suicide. The exact correlation between substance abuse and suicide is unknown. In addition, the potential years of life lost due to suicide is unknown. A 10-year review (2007-2016) of self-inflicted injury individuals in the National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) is performed. Pearson Chi-square statistical test is utilized for the analysis. Results: Our results also indicate that those tested positive for substance abuse have a higher Hospital Discharge Disposition death rate compared to those who were tested negative, 56.79\% who died were tested positive. We also found that Years of Potential Life Lost (YPLL) from suicide is 224603 for Whites, 31156 for Blacks, 3054 for Native Americans, 5474 for Asians, 38758 for Hispanics, 106806 for ‘Unknown’, and 6594 for others. The most common methods of suicide are Cut/Pierce (40.56%), Firearm (31.26%), and Fall (10.50%), and the remaining percentage for other means of suicide; this is strongly associated with substance abuse (p-value\u3c .001). Those who committed suicide by Cut/Pierce 61.81% of them were drug tested positive, by Firearm 61.24%, and by Fall 60.44%. Our results also indicate that death rate related to illicit drug is slightly higher than prescription drug. Among the self-inflicted injury in the sample of size 44683, 52.64% percentage of them are tested positive of illicit substance usage and the remaining are tested negative. And also, those with severe traumatic brain injury, 51.98% are tested positive of illicit substance use. By race group, the distribution of illegal use of drug is as follow: 59.06\% of self-inflicted injuries Blacks are tested positive for illicit drug, 50.22% for self-inflicted injuries Whites and 55.24% for self-inflicted injuries Hispanics. Conclusions: This paper provides a succinct overview of substance abuse (illicit and prescribed) and by race groups using trauma database. The paper also highlights some potential years of life loss due to self-inflicted injuries. In addition, the paper points out the distribution of methods of suicide

Design and Use of a Systematic Site Visit Protocol: Implications for Novice Evaluators and Mentors

Site visits are frequently used by evaluators to gain first-hand experience and knowledge about program implementation. However, few peer-reviewed articles describe the procedures used for designing and conducting site visits. This article describes the process of constructing and using a systematic site visit protocol. Theories and concepts of evaluation, including the measurement of fidelity and quality and the importance of context to site-level implementation, guided the construction of this protocol. Using a systematic method for program inquiry can improve the consistency of qualitative observations of program activities by enhancing intentionality, transparency, and emergence within the site visit process. The method presented may be especially helpful to novice evaluators and their mentors in learning about and teaching the process of conducting site visits

Exercise Science Academic Programs and Research in the Philippines

In this invited editorial, professors from leading institutions in the Philippines, share information regarding their programs relating to Exercise Science. They have provided information on academic components such as entrance requirements, progression through programs, and professional opportunities available to students following completion; as well as details regarding funding available to students to participate in research, collaboration, and specific research interests

Evolution of embryonic developmental period in the marine bird families Alcidae and Spheniscidae: roles for nutrition and predation?

Background: Nutrition and predation have been considered two primary agents of selection important in theevolution of avian life history traits. The relative importance of these natural selective forces in the evolution of avianembryonic developmental period (EDP) remain poorly resolved, perhaps in part because research has tended to focuson a single, high taxonomic-level group of birds: Order Passeriformes. The marine bird families Alcidae (auks) andSpheniscidae (penguins) exhibit marked variation in EDP, as well as behavioural and ecological traits ultimately linkedto EDP. Therefore, auks and penguins provide a unique opportunity to assess the natural selective basis of variation in akey life-history trait at a low taxonomic-level. We used phylogenetic comparative methods to investigate the relativeimportance of behavioural and ecological factors related to nutrition and predation in the evolution of avian EDP.Results: Three behavioural and ecological variables related to nutrition and predation risk (i.e., clutch size, activitypattern, and nesting habits) were significant predictors of residual variation in auk and penguin EDP based on modelspredicting EDP from egg mass. Species with larger clutch sizes, diurnal activity patterns, and open nests hadsignificantly shorter EDPs. Further, EDP was found to be longer among birds which forage in distant offshore waters,relative to those that foraged in near shore waters, in line with our predictions, but not significantly so.Conclusion: Current debate has emphasized predation as the primary agent of selection driving avian life historydiversification. Our results suggest that both nutrition and predation have been important selective forces in theevolution of auk and penguin EDP, and highlight the importance of considering these questions at lower taxonomicscales. We suggest that further comparative studies on lower taxonomic-level groups will continue to constructivelyinform the debate on evolutionary determinants of avian EDP, as well as other life history parameters