Supporting adolescent girls to stay in school, reduce child marriage and reduce entry into sex work as HIV risk prevention in north Karnataka, India: protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Low caste adolescent girls living in rural northern Karnataka are at increased risk of school drop-out, child marriage, and entry into sex-work, which enhances their vulnerability to HIV, early pregnancy and adverse maternal and child health outcomes. This protocol describes the evaluation of Samata, a comprehensive, multi-level intervention designed to address these structural drivers of HIV risk and vulnerability. METHODS/DESIGN: The Samata study is a cluster randomised controlled trial that will be conducted in eighty village clusters (40 intervention; 40 control) in Bijapur and Bagalkot districts in northern Karnataka. The intervention seeks to reach low caste girls and their families; adolescent boys; village communities; high school teachers and school governing committees; and local government officials. All low caste (scheduled caste/tribe) adolescent girls attending 7th standard (final year of primary school) will be recruited into the study in two consecutive waves, one year apart. Girls (n = 2100), their families (n = 2100) and school teachers (n = 650) will be interviewed at baseline and at endline. The study is designed to assess the impact of the intervention on four primary outcomes: the proportion of low caste girls who (i) enter into secondary school; (ii) complete secondary school; (iii) marry before age 15; and (iv) engage in sex before age 15. Observers assessing the outcomes will be blinded to group assignment. The primary outcome will be an adjusted, cluster-level intention to treat analysis, comparing outcomes in intervention and control villages at follow-up. We will also conduct survival analyses for the following secondary outcomes: marriage, sexual debut, pregnancy and entry into sex work. Complementary monitoring and evaluation, qualitative and economic research will be used to explore and describe intervention implementation, the pathways through which change occurs, and the cost-effectiveness of the intervention. DISCUSSION: This is an innovative trial of a comprehensive intervention to improve the quality of life and reduce HIV vulnerability among marginalised girls in northern Karnataka. The findings will be of interest to programme implementers, policy makers and evaluation researchers working in the development, education, and sexual and reproductive health fields. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.Gov NCT01996241 . 16th November 2013

Ensuring occupational safety of desludging operators through a hierarchy of controls

This record includes an extended abstract and MP4 presentation. Presented at the 42nd WEDC International Conference

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Not AvailableIndia produces more than 620 million tons of agricultural waste annually. Out of that only 25–30% is utilized as livestock fodder and energy production and the remainder is waste. For next crop sowing, most of the farmers practice incineration to clean the fields in the rice-wheat crop system and others. This practice releases harmful gases like CO2, CH4, N2O, H2S, O3, and smog, which cause air pollution. It also affects public life and disturbs soil physical, biological, and chemical properties by destroying beneficial soil microorganisms. Along with crop production, other enterprises like dairy, fishery, poultry, agro-forestry, goat, and sheep rearing produces huge agricultural waste like crop residues, cow dung, and so on. Therefore, engineering interventions to mitigate the agricultural waste in India can be an option to solve the above problems and also provide better inputs to crop productivity.Not Availabl