The Effect of Housing Quality on Self-Reported Health Status in Cameroon

Housing and health nexus has become a widely area of concern among many researchers. This study concentrates on housing quality and self-reported health status in Cameroon. The two concepts are inextricably intertwined. Housing quality is an essential social determinant of health but in Cameroon it tends to be a neglected site for public health action. Housing conditions play a major role in the health status of the individual and a wide variety of housing features have been reported to influence the physical, social, economic, healthy living and well-being of occupants. This study uses the 2014 Cameroon Household Consumption Survey (CHCS 4, 2014) from the National Institute of Statistics. This dataset is built from a survey study on 46,090 households. The method of data analysis employed is the ordered logistic regression given that self-reported health status is an ordered dependent variable. The respondents were asked to declare their state of health through a Linkert scale question-whether it is very good, good, bad and very bad. The 38 housing components contained in this data are computed in to an index with the use of the multiple correspondence analysis and a housing quality normalized score constituted as the dependent variable. The Analytical tool used for objective one is the simple Multiple Regression Analysis. The results indicate that most of the housing components have a significant negative impact on housing quality. This is an indication of poor housing of most low-income earners in Cameroon. Objective two Results of the ordered logistic regression technique indicate that an improvement in the housing quality of household members will create a likelihood of their health having a 1% significant change from a lower health category to a higher health category by 27%. In other words, high standard housing condition guarantees protection against communicable diseases, protection against injury, poisoning, and chronic diseases, and reduce psychological and social stress to a minimum. This study recommends that the local governments should provide a variety of housing alternatives with regards to tenancy and payment, such as short-term rental, long-term lease, cohousing, and financed purchase. This will help remedy the problem of availability and affordability thus curbing the problem of housing inequality in Cameroon. Secondly, the government could ensure a free access to medical facilities. If the majority of the population have sponsored health expenses from the government, this will curb even the health inequalities among the poor and non-poor. Keywords: Housing quality, Environmental housing components, Internal housing Components, Physical Housing indicators, Self-Reported Health Status DOI: 10.7176/JESD/12-10-02 Publication date:May 31st 202

Determinants and Spatial Distribution of Multidimensional Poverty in Cameroon

The aim of this study is to target poverty following a multidimensional approach. The Multiple Correspondence Analysis, the Pα class of poverty measures and the logistic regression permitted us to construct a Composite Welfare Index, to draw up multidimensional poverty profiles and to identify its determinants. The results show that, with regard to the spatial distribution, Cameroon’s regions can be divided into three: an area of extreme multi-poverty, an area of non-multi-poverty, and an area in between. With regard to socio-economic characteristics, the residential area variable was found to be an absolute determinant. Monetary poverty is obviously considerable in this distribution, and so are existence poverty, infrastructural poverty and human poverty. Policies aimed at fighting poverty must target the areas of extreme multi-poverty and rural areas on the basis of shortages of capabilities in all these dimensions

Non-timber forest incomes and economic welfare in the South-West region of Cameroon: The incidence of rural income inequality

Abstract. With the aim of answering the question whether or not Non-Timber Forest Products can contribute in reducing rural income inequality in the South-West region of Cameroon, the study used primary data collected from a survey on 408 rural household heads. The Data was collected using a structured questionnaire. We adopted three different methodologies – The Gini Coefficient, The Lorenz curve, and The Income Decomposition by income sources to obtain identical results. The results revealed that incomes from non-timber forest products reduces rural income inequality in the rural parts of the region significantly, and occupy an important position amongst the different income sources which were investigated. We therefore recommend improved value-added for Non-Timber Forest Products through processing. A better management of the forest in general and the forest resources in particular will ensure improved benefits to the community as a whole especially in the areas of total income and income inequality..Keywords. Economic Welfare, Rural Income Inequality, Non-Timber Forest Incomes, Gini Coefficient Income Decomposition by income sources and Cameroon.JEL. O11, E20, Q13, C30

EVOLUTION DU CAPITAL HUMAIN AU CAMEROUN ENTRE 2001 ET 2007 : UNE ANALYSE PAR LES TESTS DE DOMINANCE STOCHASTIQUE

The Objective of this study is to analyze the stochastic dominance of Human Capital between 2001 and 2007. To capture the Human Capital the multiple component analysis was used to generate a composite indicator of education and health. The data Used is coming from the second and third Cameroonian household survey. The results show that the level of education has increase between 2001 and 2007 while the level of health has decrease. Taking into account these results, the construction of school and hospital in the urban and rural zones, the promotion of girl education, the equipment of old and new health center with modern material for primary necessity, the reduction of consultation and drug cost are therefore our principal recommendations

International Military Peacekeepers and Sex Offenses Committed in the Central African Republic

AbstractStudies have been conducted on the sexual offending of the local population by peacekeepers, but few have been conducted on the lived experience of professionals providing support and assistance to these victims. This qualitative phenomenological study was conducted to explore the lived experiences of experts providing support and assistance to victims of sex offenses committed in the Central African Republic by international military peacekeepers. The classical deterrence and retributive justice theories guided the study. Participants were recruited through snowball sampling and data collected through face-to- face interviews and analyzed using the Modified Van Kaam method. Two research questions were used to explore the professionals’ lived experiences in supporting sex victims and the essence they make of those experiences. The study findings were analyzed and interpreted with some findings aligning with the study theoretical framework and existing literature while others were new and helped in advancing and strengthening the existing literature. The findings of the study revolved around the vulnerability and powerlessness of the victim and the desire for increase justice, and education aimed at empowering them. The study may help various peacekeeping stakeholders in effecting positive social change through reformulating peacekeeping policies that would address sexual offending by peacekeepers as well as protective measures for the vulnerable local population

Public Private Partnership (PPP) and collaboration in education: A panacea for sustainable development of Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria

Every country’s development is practically anchored on education and its basic conditions for socio-economic and technological transformation of the nation. This paper examined the extent to which public-private partnership and collaboration in education contributes in the sustainable development of tertiary institutions in the areas such as infrastructural and human development. The paper x-rays the concepts of public private partnership and sustainable development of tertiary institutions, types of public-private partnership. The paper also examine the benefits public-private partnership and collaboration in education, such as cost saving, enhancement of revenue generation and others. It further examines the role of public-private partnership and collaboration in education; it also highlighted the risks associated with public–private partnership in development programmes. The paper further reveals that the attainment of meaningful and sustainable development requires the genuine participation of the public, the organized private sectors, donor agencies, individuals and civil society. Such as loss of control by the public sector where private partners commit more funds to a project than the public sector, there is a likelihood that private partners would seek for more control over how services are provided and priced. It further examined the ten tips for successful public- private partnership in higher institution. The paper recommended among others that public-private partnership should be encouraged for sustainability of our university systems

Investigating the role of male advantage and female disadvantage in explaining the discrimination effect of the gender pay gap in the Cameroon labour market. Oaxaca-Ransom decomposition approach

The paper assesses the sources of gender-based wage differentials and investigates the relative importance of the endowment effect, female disadvantage and male advantage in explaining gender-based wage differentials in the Cameroon labour market. Use is made of the Ordinary Least Square technique and the Oaxaca-Ransom decomposition. Oaxaca-Ransom decomposition results show that primary education, secondary education, tertiary education and professional training are sources of the gender pay gap.  Our results also underline the importance of working experience, formal sector employment and urban residency in explaining wage differentials between male and female workers in the Cameroon labour market. Our findings reveal that education human capital explains a greater portion of the endowment effect and contributes little to the discrimination effect. Essentially, we observe that the discrimination effect has a worsening effect on the gender pay gap compared to the mitigating role of the endowment effect. Again, our results show that a greater part of the discrimination effect of the gender pay gap is attributed to female disadvantage in the Cameroon labour market

Eye Care Seeking Behaviours of Patients in Rural Cross River State, Nigeria

The major causes of blindness in Cross River State, Nigeria are refractive error, glaucoma and cataract. The World Health Organization had estimated that about 145 million people have significant distance refractive errors and at least 13 million of these were children. About 80% of these causes of blindness are avoidable at the primary level of care. The aim of this study was to determine factors responsible for the eye care seeking behaviour of patients in three rural communities of Cross River State, Nigeria. A 39-item structured questionnaire was used to interview 290 patients who visited selected primary health centers (PHC). Most patients, 40.7% were 20 – 29 years and 44% walked to the center. Reasons for clinic visit included, fever, 44.5%; immunization, 30.7%; antenatal care, 13.1%; and eye care, 4.5%. About 51% had a history of eye problems, of these; only 29.7% visited a hospital while 42% visited either a patent medicine vendor or traditional healers. About 49% had family history of spectacle use, of these; 34.5% got glasses from lay eyeglass sellers, 33.8% from hospital/eye clinic, 25.4% from outreach eye screening, and only 4.2% from PHC. Due to reported unavailability of eye care services at the PHC, patients tend to use available albeit questionable eye care services closest to them before visiting secondary health facilities when symptoms persist. The PHC’s proximity to the patients may likely increase access to blindness prevention services if made available at the primary care level. Keywords: Eye-care, health seeking behaviour, rural health, primary health car

Institutions and Leakage of Public Funds in the Cameroonian Healthcare Delivery Chain

ABSTRACT This study attempts to examine the extent of leakage in the Cameroonian health sector and identify its sources. The analyses in the study are based on the Public Expenditure Tracking Survey data collected in Cameroon in 2004. The findings reveal that 18.8% of the actual budget allocations of decentralized health services in the Ministry of Public Health do not reach them. Health centers, which are the frontline healthcare providers, receive only 26.4% of their actual budgets contained in the recurrent expenditures of the decentralized health services. We investigate the institutional factors that correlate with the leakage rates and identified the factors that affect the likelihood of health centers receiving public funds. The study finds weak compact and voice institutional links in the Cameroonian health accountability system. The need to effectively control and monitor public funds, improve the information flow mechanism and improve the wage/allowance scale is highlighted. Finally, spending rules should be strictly respected and extra-budgetary spending restricted