Wheat policy reform in Egypt: adjustment of local markets and options for future reforms

Many developing countries are in transition from a state-dominated to a more market-oriented economy. Because agriculture is of primary importance in most developing countries,the state is usually heavily involved in both input and output markets and in controlling prices and trade. However, concerns that market liberalization will result in higher consumer food prices and hurt the poor means that many countries, such as Egypt, have, at best, undertaken only partial agricultural sector reforms. It has been argued that such concerns are unwarranted and that further market liberalization is not only needed, but achievable without increasing impoverishment. IFPRI Research Report 115 sheds light on these critical issues through an analysis of wheat policy reform in Egypt.Consumers Egypt., Wheat trade Government policy Egypt., Food supply Government policy Egypt., Agricultural policies, Markets Prices., Developing countries. ,

Coordination risk and cost impacts on economic development in poor rural areas

This paper addresses issues relevant to a critical problem in economic development: how to get rapid pro-poor economic growth in poor rural areas in Africa and South Asia where most of the world’s dollar a day poor live. It examines constraints to the development of coordinated exchange systems in poor rural areas, focusing on the core problem of thin markets and low density of economic activity in these areas. Transaction cost and risk analysis is integrated into a conventional neoclassical production economics framework to describe the existence of low level equilibrium traps in transactions and supply chains and to generate important insights for development policy

Doctor YouTube’s Opinion on Seasonal Influenza: A Critical Appraisal of the Information Available to Patients

Background: Seasonal influenza is a respiratory illness caused by the influenza virus. During the 2017–2018 flu season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted approximately 959,000 hospitalizations and 79,400 deaths from influenza. We sought to evaluate the educational quality of informational videos pertaining to seasonal influenza on the popular social media forum, YouTube. Methods: Using the keywords “seasonal influenza,” all videos from 28 January to 5 February 2017 were included and analyzed for characteristics, source, and content. The source was further classified as healthcare provider, alternative-medicine provider, the patient and/or their parents, company, media, or professional society. Videos about other categories of influenza (e.g. swine or Spanish) or in foreign languages were excluded. A total of 10 blinded reviewers scored each video independently. Results: Overall, 300 videos were analyzed, with a median of 341.50 views, 1.00 likes, 0 dislikes, and 0 comments. Based on the average scores of videos by source, there was statistically significant difference in the average score among videos by video source (p \u3c 0.01). Healthcare provider videos had the highest mean scores whereas alternative medicine provider videos had the lowest. Conclusions: Although the aforementioned video sources scored higher than others, these videos did not fulfill our criteria as far as educating patients thoroughly. Our data also suggest alternative medicine and patient source videos were misleading for patients. Clinical implications: Although videos by healthcare providers were a better source of information, videos on seasonal influenza were shown to be poor sources of valid healthcare information. This study reiterates the need for higher-quality educational videos on seasonal influenza by the medical community