Tuberculosis awareness created through Facebook: a case study approach of TB Proof South Africa’s Facebook page

Text in English with Abstracts in English and AfrikaansHealth promotion is an educational tool that can be used to educate and create awareness of health issues through various media forms. The purpose of this study was to explore the use of TB Proof South Africa‘s Facebook page in creating TB awareness. The literature on TB, social media, health promotional campaigns and health promotional models was reviewed to contextualise this study. A qualitative case study approach was used to collect data from TB Proof South Africa‘s Facebook page. Data was collected using three data collection methods; namely, online ethnographic observation, textual analysis and visual analysis. The findings indicate that TB Proof South Africa‘s Facebook page creates awareness of TB. Results from this study also suggested collaboration between South African healthcare professionals and traditional health practitioners in the fight against tuberculosis. The study advocates the need for comparative studies to explore the use of other health-related Facebook pages.Gesondheidsbevordering is ʼn opvoedkundige werktuig wat gebruik kan word om op te voed en bewustheid van gesondheidskwessies deur middel van verskeie mediavorme te skep. Die doel van hierdie studie was om die gebruik van TB Proof South Africa se Facebook-blad in die skepping van TB-bewustheid te verken. Leesstof oor TB, sosiale media, gesondheidsbevorderingsveldtogte en gesondheidsbevorderingsmodelle is beoordeel om hierdie studie te kontekstualiseer. ‘n Kwalitatiewe gevallestudiebenadering is gebruik om data van TB Proof South Africa se Facebook-blad in te samel. Data is ingesamel deur gebruikmaking van drie data-insamelingsmetodes, naamlik aanlyn etnografiese waarneming, teksontleding en visuele ontleding. Die bevindings dui daarop dat TB Proof South Africa se Facebook-blad bewustheid van TB skep. Resultate van hierdie studie beveel ook samewerking tussen Suid-Afrikaanse gesondheidsorgberoepslui en tradisionele gesondheidspraktisyns in die stryd teen tuberkulose aan. Die studie bepleit die behoefte aan vergelykende studies om die gebruik van ander gesondheidsverwante Facebook-blaaie te verken.Communication ScienceM.A. (Communication

The comparative exploration of mobile money services in inclusive development

Purpose- We respond to some challenges in the transition to Sustainable Development Goals by examining the correlations between mobile and inclusive development (quality of growth, poverty and inequality) in 93 developing countries for the year 2011. Design/methodology/approach- Mobile money service entails: ‘mobile used to pay bills’ and ‘mobile used to receive/send money’. Interactive Ordinary Least Squares are employed. Findings- The following findings are established. First, increasing use of the mobile phones to pay bills: is positively linked to ‘quality of growth’ in lower-middle income countries (LMIC) and negatively correlated with inequality in Latin American countries (LA). Second, growing use of mobile phones to send/receive money is negatively associated with poverty in Asia and Pacific (AP) and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Originality/value- Macroeconomic data on mobile money service is scarce. No study to the best of our knowledge has used this macroeconomic mobile money service data before

Comparative Determinants of Quality of Growth in Developing Countries

This study explores a new dataset in order to present the comparative determinants of growth quality in 93 developing countries for the period 1990-2011. We employ both cross-sectional and panel estimation techniques with contemporary and non-contemporary specifications. The determinants are quite heterogeneous in significance and magnitude with substantial inclinations to specifications and estimation techniques. We present and discuss the findings in increasing magnitude of significance so as to ease comparative readability. We also discuss how specificities in the modelling techniques are relevant for targeting growth quality. The results are timely and relevant for the post-2015 inclusive and sustainable development agenda

The role of mobile phones in governance-driven technology exports in Sub-Saharan Africa

This study assesses how the mobile phone influences governance to improve information and communication technology (ICT) exports in Sub-Saharan Africa with data from 2000-2012. The empirical evidence is based on Generalised Method of Moments and three main governance concepts are used, namely: (i) institutional (comprising the rule of law and corruption-control); (ii) political (involving political stability/no violence and voice & accountability) and (iii) economic (including regulation quality and government effectiveness) governance. The following findings are established. First, there are positive net effects on ICT goods exports from independent interactions between mobile phones and ‘political stability’ ‘voice and accountability’ and corruption-control. Second, significant net effects are not apparent from independent interactions between mobile phones and government effectiveness, regulation quality and the rule of law. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed

The role of mobile phones in governance-driven technology exports in Sub-Saharan Africa

This study assesses how the mobile phone influences governance to improve information and communication technology (ICT) exports in Sub-Saharan Africa with data from 2000-2012. The empirical evidence is based on Generalised Method of Moments and three main governance concepts are used, namely: (i) institutional (comprising the rule of law and corruption-control); (ii) political (involving political stability/no violence and voice & accountability) and (iii) economic (including regulation quality and government effectiveness) governance. The following findings are established. First, there are positive net effects on ICT goods exports from independent interactions between mobile phones and ‘political stability’ ‘voice and accountability’ and corruption-control. Second, significant net effects are not apparent from independent interactions between mobile phones and government effectiveness, regulation quality and the rule of law. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed

The comparative exploration of mobile money services in inclusive development

Purpose- We respond to some challenges in the transition to Sustainable Development Goals by examining the correlations between mobile and inclusive development (quality of growth, poverty and inequality) in 93 developing countries for the year 2011. Design/methodology/approach- Mobile money service entails: ‘mobile used to pay bills’ and ‘mobile used to receive/send money’. Interactive Ordinary Least Squares are employed. Findings- The following findings are established. First, increasing use of the mobile phones to pay bills: is positively linked to ‘quality of growth’ in lower-middle income countries (LMIC) and negatively correlated with inequality in Latin American countries (LA). Second, growing use of mobile phones to send/receive money is negatively associated with poverty in Asia and Pacific (AP) and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Originality/value- Macroeconomic data on mobile money service is scarce. No study to the best of our knowledge has used this macroeconomic mobile money service data before

The Comparative African Economics of Inclusive Development and Military Expenditure in Fighting Terrorism

This study investigates the role of inclusive human development and military expenditure in fighting terrorism in 53 African countries for the period 1998-2012. The empirical evidence is based on contemporary, non-contemporary and instrumental variable Fixed Effects regressions. Inclusive development is not a sufficient condition for the fight against terrorism whereas military expenditure can be effectively employed to mitigate the phenomenon. Significant negative effects are established only when endogeneity is accounted for by means of non-contemporary and instrumental-variables approaches. Hence, the policy effectiveness of employed tools is contingent on whether they are engaged proactively (i.e. non-contemporarily) or not. From the findings, the propensity of military expenditure to fight transnational terrorism is higher in: (i) middle income countries vis-à-vis their low income counterparts; (ii) oil-rich countries compared to oil-poor countries and (iii) Christian-dominated countries vis-à-vis their Islam-oriented counterparts. Furthermore military expenditure is also more effective at combating domestic and transnational terrorism in: (i) North African countries vis-à-vis their sub-Saharan Africa counterparts; (ii) landlocked countries compared to countries that are open to the sea and (iii) politically-stable countries vis-à-vis their politically-unstable counterparts. Contributions to the comparative economics are discussed. Practical and theoretical contributions are also provided

Fighting terrorism in Africa when existing terrorism levels matter

This study examines policy tools in the fight against terrorism when existing levels of terrorism matter in 53 African countries for the period 1998-2012. The empirical evidence is based on contemporary, non-contemporary and Instrumental Variable Quantile regressions (QR) which enable the investigation throughout the conditional distributions of domestic, transnational and total terrorism dynamics. The following findings are established. First, counterterrorism policy instruments of inclusive human development and military expenditure further fuel terrorim. Second, political stability negatively affects terrorism with a negative threshold effect. Political stability estimates are consistently significant with increasing negative magnitudes throughout the conditional distributions of domestic and total terrorism. Policy implications are discussed

The Comparative African Economics of Governance in Fighting Terrorism

This study assesses the comparative economics of governance in fighting terrorism in 53 African countries for period 1996-2012. Four terrorism variables are used, namely: domestic, transnational, unclear and total terrorism dynamics. Nine bundled and unbundled governance variables are employed, notably: political stability/no violence, voice & accountability, political governance, government effectiveness, regulation quality, economic governance, corruption-control, the rule of law and institutional governance. The empirical evidence is based on Fixed Effects regressions. In the analytical procedure, we first bundle governance indicators by means of principal component analysis before engaging the empirical exercise with the full sample. In the final step, specifications are based on a decomposed full sample in order to articulate the fundamental characteristics for comparative purposes. The following broad findings are established. First, good governance is an appealing tool in fighting terrorism. Second, the relevance of the good governance dynamics is as follows in order of increasing relevance: economic governance, institutional governance and political governance. The findings are presented in increasing order of magnitude to emphasise fundamental features in which governance dynamics have the highest effect in mitigating terrorism

Fighting terrorism in Africa: evidence from bundling and unbundling institutions

This study assesses government mechanisms in the fight against terrorism with particular emphasis on the bundling and unbundling of ten governance dynamics. The empirical evidence is based on a panel of 53 African countries for period 1998-2012 and Generalized Method of Moments. The following findings are established. First, for the most part, political governance and its constituents respectively have negative effects on all terrorism dynamics, with the following consistent increasing order of negative magnitude: unclear terrorism, transnational terrorism, domestic terrorism and total terrorism. Second, overwhelmingly for economic and institutional governances, the governance dynamics and their constituent components affect terrorism negatively, with the magnitude on domestic terrorism consistently higher than that on transnational terrorism. Third, for most specifications, the effect of general governance is consistently negative on terrorism variables. Theoretical and practical policy implications are discussed