3 research outputs found
Comparing policies to tackle ethnic inequalities in health: Belgium 1 Scotland 4
Ethnic-minority health is a public health priority in Europe. This study compares strategies
for tackling ethnic inequalities in health from two countries, Scotland and Belgium. Methods: We
compared the countries using the Whitehead framework. Official policy documents were retrieved
and reviewed and two databases related to immigrant health policies were also used. Ethnic inequalities
in health were compared using the UK and Belgian Censuses of 2001. We analysed the recognition of
the problem, the policies and the services and described ethnic health inequalities. Results: Scotland has
recognized the problem of ethnic inequalities in health, thanks to better data and the Scottish
Government has come up with a bold strategy. Belgium is a later starter, unable to properly monitor
ethnic inequalities. In addition, there is no clear government commitment to tackling either health
inequalities or ethnic inequalities in health. Both countries provide health-care services to ethnic
minority groups through the mainstream services, although ethnic minority groups have more choice
in Belgium than in Scotland. Overall, ethnic heath inequalities are lower in Scotland than in Belgium.
Conclusion: Scotland has provided a more advanced and comprehensive response to tackling ethnic
inequalities in health than Belgium. It has acknowledged that discrimination exists and that ethnic
minority groups may have different needs. Belgium still assumes non-discrimination in health care
and effectively denies the need for policy to tailor services to meet these needs. In Scotland, public
organizations have been made accountable for promoting equality in health. This is an important
contribution to European health policy
Constraining the nature of the PDS 70 protoplanets with VLTI/GRAVITY
We present K-band interferometric observations of the PDS 70 protoplanets
along with their host star using VLTI/GRAVITY. We obtained K-band spectra and
100 as precision astrometry of both PDS 70 b and c in two epochs, as well
as spatially resolving the hot inner disk around the star. Rejecting unstable
orbits, we found a nonzero eccentricity for PDS 70 b of , a
near-circular orbit for PDS 70 c, and an orbital configuration that is
consistent with the planets migrating into a 2:1 mean motion resonance.
Enforcing dynamical stability, we obtained a 95% upper limit on the mass of PDS
70 b of 10 , while the mass of PDS 70 c was unconstrained. The
GRAVITY K-band spectra rules out pure blackbody models for the photospheres of
both planets. Instead, the models with the most support from the data are
planetary atmospheres that are dusty, but the nature of the dust is unclear.
Any circumplanetary dust around these planets is not well constrained by the
planets' 1-5 m spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and requires longer
wavelength data to probe with SED analysis. However with VLTI/GRAVITY, we made
the first observations of a circumplanetary environment with sub-au spatial
resolution, placing an upper limit of 0.3~au on the size of a bright disk
around PDS 70 b