76 research outputs found
Overweight in the Pacific: links between foreign dependence, global food trade, and obesity in the Federated States of Micronesia
The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) has received considerable attention for their alarming rates of overweight and obesity. On Kosrae, one of the four districts in the FSM, 88% of adults aged 20 or older are overweight (BMI > 25), 59% are obese (BMI > 30), and 24% are extremely obese (BMI > 35). Recent genetic studies in Kosrae have shown that obesity is a highly heritable trait, and more work is underway to identify obesity genes in humans. However, less attention has been given to potential social and developmental causes of obesity in the FSM. This paper outlines the long history of foreign rule and social change over the last 100 years, and suggests that a combination of dietary change influenced by foreigners, dependence on foreign aid, and the ease of global food trade contributed to poor diet and increased rates of obesity in Micronesia. The last section of the paper highlights the Pacific tuna trade as an example of how foreign dependence and global food trade exacerbates their obesity epidemic
Estimating PMTCT's Impact on Heterosexual HIV Transmission: A Mathematical Modeling Analysis
Introduction
Prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) strategies include combined short-course antiretrovirals during pregnancy (Option A), triple-drug antiretroviral treament (ART) during pregnancy and breastfeeding (Option B), or lifelong ART (Option B+). The WHO also recommends ART for HIV treatment and prevention of sexual transmission of HIV. The impact of PMTCT strategies on prevention of sexual HIV transmission of HIV is not known. We estimated the population-level impact of PMTCT interventions on heterosexual HIV transmission in southwestern Uganda and KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, two regions with different HIV prevalence and fertility rates.
Materials and Methods
We constructed and validated dynamic, stochastic, network-based HIV transmission models for each region. PMTCT Options A, B, and B+ were simulated over ten years under three scenarios: 1) current ART and PMTCT coverage, 2) current ART and high PMTCT coverage, and 3) high ART and PMTCT coverage. We compared adult HIV incidence after ten years of each intervention to Option A (and current ART) at current coverage.
Results
At current coverage, Options B and B+ reduced heterosexual HIV incidence by about 5% and 15%, respectively, in both countries. With current ART and high PMTCT coverage, Option B+ reduced HIV incidence by 35% in Uganda and 19% in South Africa, while Option B had smaller, but meaningful, reductions. The greatest reductions in HIV incidence were achieved with high ART and PMTCT coverage. In this scenario, all PMTCT strategies yielded similar results.
Discussion
Implementation of Options B/B+ reduces adult HIV incidence, with greater effect (relative to Option A at current levels) in Uganda than South Africa. These results are likely driven by Uganda’s higher fertility rates
A call for epidemic modeling to examine historical and structural drivers of racial disparities in infectious disease
Coital Frequency and Male Concurrent Partnerships During Pregnancy and Postpartum in Agbogbloshie, Ghana
One step ahead: timing and sexual networks in population mobility and HIV prevention and care.
Gonorrhea, infertility, and population decline in Yap during the Japanese occupation
For more about the East-West Center, see http://www.eastwestcenter.org/Revised version published in: Cassels S and Singer B. (2010) “Population Decline Induced by Gonorrhea and Tuberculosis Transmission: Micronesia during the Japanese Occupation, 1919 – 1945.” Journal of Population Research 27(4): 293-313. (NIHMS296292
Geographic Mobility, Place Attachment, and the Changing Geography of Sex among African American and Latinx MSM Who Use Substances in Los Angeles
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