Turning Research into Practice: Key Strategies for Developing a Shared Vision Approach for Health Education Advocacy

Public health studies thus far have not identified methods toward developing a shared vision to reduce health disparities in a unique area such as the U.S./Mexico border region. Purpose: To identify strategies to foster a shared vision among those in the media, the public, and policy arenas to help reduce health disparities in the U.S.- Mexico border. Methods: The Healthy Border 2010 research project included qualitative structured face-to-face interviews with ten individuals, each from Las Cruces, NM, El Paso, TX, and Cd. Juarez, Chih, Mexico, for a total of 30 interviewees from the media, the public and policy affiliations. Participants were identified and selected from the population of agenda-setters in the Paso Del Norte region. A snowball sample was used for studying the sometimes “hidden” population of border region agenda-setters. Data-analysis included extraction, coding, and quantifying of common themes from a transcription of interviews. Findings: Most participants (93%) suggested a systems level approach is required. The second most suggested strategy with 63% of participant support was sensitizing border leaders of the reality of issues in the area. Participants (46%) also suggested networking and media advocacy (40%) strategies as more important than the inclusion of priority audience (23%) or the proper allocation of resources (23%). Conclusion: In review of many current border health issues, there are significant gaps where a clear, shared vision is yet to emerge. When a common vision is well developed in a group or population, that is when genuine cooperative actions foster health policy development

Portable Rabies Virus Sequencing in Canine Rabies Endemic Countries Using the Oxford Nanopore MinION

As countries with endemic canine rabies progress towards elimination by 2030, it will become necessary to employ techniques to help plan, monitor, and confirm canine rabies elimination. Sequencing can provide critical information to inform control and vaccination strategies by identifying genetically distinct virus variants that may have different host reservoir species or geographic distributions. However, many rabies testing laboratories lack the resources or expertise for sequencing, especially in remote or rural areas where human rabies deaths are highest. We developed a low-cost, high throughput rabies virus sequencing method using the Oxford Nanopore MinION portable sequencer. A total of 259 sequences were generated from diverse rabies virus isolates in public health laboratories lacking rabies virus sequencing capacity in Guatemala, India, Kenya, and Vietnam. Phylogenetic analysis provided valuable insight into rabies virus diversity and distribution in these countries and identified a new rabies virus lineage in Kenya, the first published canine rabies virus sequence from Guatemala, evidence of rabies spread across an international border in Vietnam, and importation of a rabid dog into a state working to become rabies-free in India. Taken together, our evaluation highlights the MinION’s potential for low-cost, high volume sequencing of pathogens in locations with limited resources

Conceptualising metabolic disorder in Southern Africa: Biology, history and global health

This paper traces the history of the concept of metabolic disorder in global health and its application to the collection of health metrics relating to the ‘epidemic’ of non-communicable diseases in Southern Africa, with a focus on Malawi. Although the contemporary science of metabolism points to complexity and contingency, the application of a simplified version of ‘metabolic disorder’ or ‘metabolic syndrome’ as the supposed central driver of non-communicable disease in low- and middle-income countries runs the risk of obscuring the ways in which local circumstances and histories interact with global forces to produce epidemiological change. The paper discusses health data collection and its interpretation in Malawi to demonstrate how the use of this concept has led to a narrowing of the category of non-communicable disease and a neglect of the role of infectious disease in producing chronic conditions. Finally, the paper points to alternative approaches which might yield a better understanding of pressing health problems

Stressful Life Events among Adolescents in Wuhan, China: Associations with Smoking, Alcohol Use, and Depressive Symptoms

The associations among stress and adolescent smoking, alcohol use, and depression have been well documented in the United States, but few studies have evaluated the evidence for these associations in Asian cultures. This study developed a scale of stressful life events among 7th-grade adolescents in Wuhan, China. The events reported as most frequent involved bad grades or punishment at school, and the events reported as most severe involved disruptions in family life, such as death, divorce, or disability of parents. Associations were observed between life events (especially negative school-related events) and smoking, alcohol use, and depressive symptoms. Results indicate that school-related stress may lead to substance use and mental health problems among Chinese adolescents