The 1996 Zambia National Housing Policy

Devising a workable housing policy in a country with apparently insurmountable housing problems, presents a great challenge. With the help of an award from UN-HABITAT, Zambian authorities attempted to do just this, in a process which is an ideal candidate for scrutiny. This study analyzes the goals, means and instruments that were used to formulate the policy, as well as its planned implementation. It examines whether the policy could have achieved its goals had it been implemented, and represents a valuable addition to the body of knowledge which can help to evaluate the potential for success of future housing policies. With its innovative work and the insights it offers into achieving policy implementation in the developing nations of sub-Saharan Africa, this book will be of value to students, academics and practitioners in policy formulation analysis and implementation. &nbsp

The 2019 carbon tax in South Africa: Effects on relative cost of building materials, welfare, emissions, and energy consumption for households

The introduction of the carbon tax by South Africa was primarily aimed at reducing pollution, and possibly improving the welfare of South African households. One of the ways of reducing pollution in the construction industry is to discourage the use of building materials that are high carbon emitters or have high energy intensities. This article used the Input-Output (IO) method and sensitivity analysis to study the effects of carbon tax on welfare distribution of South African households, using the 2014-2015 Living Conditions Survey (LCS). The study also set out to determine the relative sensitivity of price changes of some building materials after application of the 2019 carbon tax. Results showed that non-ferrous, ferrous, and prefabricated-based building materials had higher relative price sensitivities to carbon tax compared to other materials that were predominantly based on glass, cement, and treated metals. Increases in carbon tax may not discourage usage of relatively higher emissions-intensity materials like cement compared to wood. Operational building costs were dominated by electricity costs, with the burden being highest for lower income households. Any revenue-recycling efforts of the 2019 carbon tax for welfare purposes were marginal. However, the tax can be used to subsidize energy for lower income households

User-acceptance of sanitation technologies in South Africa and Malawi

There is a great need for the planning and implementation of sanitation technologies (STs) to take into consideration the user-acceptance factor and, therefore, limit resource wastage. This article aims to determine whether the pattern of relative importance of the factors that affect sanitation technology user-acceptance (STUA) is similar across study areas located in South Africa and Malawi with respect to the STs rolled out. Information from the study is especially critical for resource conservation, considering the recent relatively poor performance of the South African economy (a 7% slump) in 2020. Desktop research methods, using data from previous studies, were used to perform an analysis of the significance of the underlying factors that influence STUA. These were based on a systematic review that uses a structured protocol for literature review, together with the snowball approach. The methodology proposed by the Water Research Commission (WRC) under the sanitation suitability index was used to perform the sanitation technology comparisons. This article adds value to previous research in that, unlike previous research studies, it considers several relevant researched technologies to establish whether there exist similar patterns of relative significance of factors that influence STUA. Reliability, health, user- and technical acceptability were the predominant influencers of STUA. Education, training, and technical support are necessary throughout the sanitation project life cycle.&nbsp

Assessing the inclusion of children's surgical care in National Surgical, Obstetric and Anaesthesia Plans:a policy content analysis

Objective While National Surgical, Obstetric and Anaesthesia Plans (NSOAPs) have emerged as a strategy to strengthen and scale up surgical healthcare systems in low/middle-income countries (LMICs), the degree to which children's surgery is addressed is not well-known. This study aims to assess the inclusion of children's surgical care among existing NSOAPs, identify practice examples and provide recommendations to guide inclusion of children's surgical care in future policies. Design We performed two qualitative content analyses to assess the inclusion of children's surgical care among NSOAPs. We applied a conventional (inductive) content analysis approach to identify themes and patterns, and developed a framework based on the Global Initiative for Children's Surgery's Optimal Resources for Children's Surgery document. We then used this framework to conduct a directed (deductive) content analysis of the NSOAPs of Ethiopia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania and Zambia. Results Our framework for the inclusion of children's surgical care in NSOAPs included seven domains. We evaluated six NSOAPs with all addressing at least two of the domains. All six NSOAPs addressed € human resources and training' and € infrastructure', four addressed € service delivery', three addressed € governance and financing', two included € research, evaluation and quality improvement', and one NSOAP addressed € equipment and supplies' and € advocacy and awareness'. Conclusions Additional focus must be placed on the development of surgical healthcare systems for children in LMICs. This requires a focus on children's surgical care separate from adult surgical care in the scaling up of surgical healthcare systems, including children-focused needs assessments and the inclusion of children's surgery providers in the process. This study proposes a framework for evaluating NSOAPs, highlights practice examples and suggests recommendations for the development of future policies.</p

Follow-up study to assess the use and performance of household filters in Zambia.

Effective household water treatment can improve drinking water quality and prevent disease if used correctly and consistently over time. One year after completion of a randomized controlled study of water filters among households in Zambia with children < 2 years old and mothers who were human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive, we conducted a follow-up study to assess use and performance of new filters distributed at the conclusion of the study; 90% of participating households met the criteria for current users, and 75% of participating households had stored water with lower levels of fecal contamination than source water. Microbiologically, the filters continued to perform well, removing an average of 99.0% of fecal indicator bacteria. Although this study provides some encouraging evidence about the potential to maintain high uptake and filter performance, even in the absence of regular household visits, additional research is necessary to assess whether these results can be achieved over longer periods and with larger populations

User-acceptance of sanitation technologies in South Africa and Malawi

There is a great need for the planning and implementation of sanitation technologies (STs) to take into consideration the user-acceptance factor and, therefore, limit resource wastage. This article aims to determine whether the pattern of relative importance of the factors that affect sanitation technology user-acceptance (STUA) is similar across study areas located in South Africa and Malawi with respect to the STs rolled out. Information from the study is especially critical for resource conservation, considering the recent relatively poor performance of the South African economy (a 7% slump) in 2020. Desktop research methods, using data from previous studies, were used to perform an analysis of the significance of the underlying factors that influence STUA. These were based on a systematic review that uses a structured protocol for literature review, together with the snowball approach. The methodology proposed by the Water Research Commission (WRC) under the sanitation suitability index was used to perform the sanitation technology comparisons. This article adds value to previous research in that, unlike previous research studies, it considers several relevant researched technologies to establish whether there exist similar patterns of relative significance of factors that influence STUA. Reliability, health, user- and technical acceptability were the predominant influencers of STUA. Education, training, and technical support are necessary throughout the sanitation project life cycle

The score of integrated disease surveillance and response adequacy (SIA): a pragmatic score for comparing weekly reported diseases based on a systematic review

International audienceBACKGROUND:The Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) strategy implemented by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Africa has produced a large amount of data on participating countries, and in particular on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). These data are increasingly considered as unevaluable and, therefore, as requiring a rigorous process of validation before they can be used for research or public health purposes. The aim of this study was to propose a method to assess the level of adequacy of IDSR morbidity data in reflecting actual morbidity.METHODS:A systematic search of English- and French-language articles was performed in Scopus, Medline, Science Direct, Springer Link, Cochrane, Cairn, Persée, and Erudit databases. Other types of documents were identified through manual searches. Selected articles focused on the determinants of the discrepancies (differences) between reported morbidity and actual morbidity. An adequacy score was constructed using some of the identified determinants. This score was applied to the 15 weekly reported diseases monitored by IDSR surveillance in the DRC. A classification was established using the Jenks method and a sensitivity analysis was performed. Twenty-three classes of determinants were identified in 35 IDSR technical guides and reports of outbreak investigations and in 71 out of 2254 researched articles. For each of the 15 weekly reported diseases, the SIA was composed of 12 items grouped in 6 dimensions.RESULTS:The SIA classified the 15 weekly reported diseases into 3 categories or types: high score or good adequacy (value > = 14), moderate score or fair adequacy (value > = 8 and < 14), and low score or low or non-adequacy (value < 8). Regardless of the criteria used in the sensitivity analysis, there was no notable variation in SIA values or categories for any of the 15 weekly reported diseases.CONCLUSION:In a context of sparse health information in low- and middle-income countries, this study developed a score to help classify IDSR morbidity data as usable, usable after adjustment, or unusable. This score can serve to prioritize, optimize, and interpret data analyses for epidemiological research or public health purposes

Temporal and Spatial Dynamics of Monkeypox in Democratic Republic of Congo, 2000–2015

International audienc