Music as a Third Space? : African musics as a field of collaboration in Finland

The history of African musics in Finland has specific characteristics because the African diaspora communities in Finland are relatively young and small. Many African professional musicians living in Finland moved there because of their personal connections with Finns rather than because of broader flows of migration. Despite the minimal numbers of Africans living in Finland, a lively scene of African musics began to develop from the 1980s, and this scene has continued to be characterised by collaborations between Africans and white Finns. This article discusses the early history of African musics in Finland, with a focus on these collaborations that have created cultural spaces where ideas of ‘Africanness’ are central but not strictly tied to Blackness or Otherness, thereby resembling Homi Bhabha’s idea of a postcolonial ‘Third Space’ that opens conventional meanings to negotiation and redefinition.Peer reviewe

Perceived severity of diabetes and associated factors among patients attending a referral hospital in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Background: Nigeria has recorded a rising profile of diabetes in recent times due to urbanization and transition to westernized lifestyles. Perceived severity, the extent to which people deem their ailment to be severe, is an attitudinal construct that partly explains how likely people would modify their health behaviours. The study aimed to determine the level and associated factors influencing perceived severity among type 2 diabetes patients in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 119 adults at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital. They responded to a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire that included a 7-item scale on perceived severity, and socio-demographic and medical-related characteristics.Results: The mean age was 56.84 ± 11.51 years; 42.0% were males and 58.0% females. Mean diabetes duration was 7.60±5.58 years and 48.7% reported hypertension as a co-morbidity. About half (56.3%) had low Perceived Severity Score (mean score0.05).Conclusions: This study revealed an equal prevalence of low and high perceived severity of diabetes. Findings suggested that an unemployed Christian female with over 5 years’ diabetes history and no co-existing illness was likely to have a low perceived severity. We recommend further studies to examine other attitudinal constructs, beyond perceived severity, for better understanding of beliefs underpinning the health behavior of diabetes patients in different settings

The bourgeois hawks in market arena: a Marxist reading of A Market of Betrayal

Society, at its different stages of development, is said to evolve different modes of economic production- ranging from primitive mode, slavery mode, feudal mode, capitalist mode and sociological mode. Deploying Marxist literary theory, the paper focused on the effects and the implications of socio-economic evolution in A Market of Betrayals by examining the prevailing mode of production in the play, the type of social relations that exist among the people and govern their relation; those who determine these rules and the means of enforcing them as well as the implication for the opposing force and the society at large. Through textual analysis, it is established that the inherent contradictions in the world of A Market of Betrayals stem from the hidden selfish interest and hypocrisy of the dominant economic force which is in conflict with the interest of the working class. The hidden interests are presented as having universal values meant for the well-being of the people. The paper concluded that any socio-economic relations geared towards exploiting the people will eventually lead to a conflict because of its inherent contradictions. This conflict does not always resolve itself into a new position, essentially different from the original position.Keywords: Bourgeois, Proletariat, Superstructure, Hawks, Dialectical materialis

Adaptation with robustness: the case for clarity on the use of 'resilience' in health systems and global health

[Extract] In the last 3 years, the concept of resilience has received much attention in the health systems and global health literature, triggered by the Ebola outbreak in West Africa (which, in 2014, exposed a lack of health system and global health resilience) and followed in 2016 by the Global Symposium on Health Systems Research (with the theme ‘Resilient and responsive health systems in a changing world’). Resilience has been widely embraced in the literature,1–5 and also by the immediate past6 and current7 WHO Director General. BMJ Global Health has also published several reports applying the concept of resilience to how health systems respond to acute shocks and chronic stress

Call for papers-the Alma Ata Declaration at 40: reflections on primary healthcare in a new era

[Extract] The Declaration of AlmaAta was a watershed moment in global health. Indeed, in the four decades since its launch, there is a sense in which all declarations or communiques issued at global health conferences have been aiming for comparable historical impact. Launched in 1978 at the International Conference on Primary HealthCare, the declaration called for 'Health for All by the Year 2000 and promoted comprehen-sive primary healthcare as the preferred back-bone of national health systems alongside a number of other key elements including an emphasis on global cooperation and peace; a new economic order to underpin it; acknowledgement of the social determinants of health; involvement of all sectors in the promotion of health; community participation in planning, implementation and regulation of primary healthcare; and a focus on achieving equity in health status. In totality, these elements—which became known as the 'primary healthcare approach' —flagged a paradigm shift away from the medical model of health planning and service delivery and towards a 'social model' with an emphasis on addressing social determinants of health via intersectoral public health and preventive strategies based on local ownership and community participation

Etude comparative de deux produits de neem (huile et poudre) sur les stades préimaginaux du moustique Culex quinquefasciatus(Diptera : Culicidae)

Comparative study of two neem products (oil and powder) on preimaginal stages of  Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae)Neem (Azadirachta indica) products (neem oil formulated 1 % and neem powder 0.3 %), manufactured by a Senegalese industry (SENCHIM), were applied to mosquito (Culex quinquefasciatus) larvae and nymphs. The doses products were from 0.02 to 0.038 %  (neem oil) and 0.2 to 2 % (powder). In laboratory conditions, results showed that neem powder was more toxic at larval stage (mortalities between 86.1 and 100 %) than nymphal stage (between 14.5 and 95.9 % adults flow away). Neem oil formulated was effective as well as larval stage (mortality between 52.1 and 80 %) than nymphal stage (between 0 and 14 % adults flown away). The histopathological study  reveals that neem products act upon larval digestive system after ingestion, whereas for nymphs only contact effects are showed. Neem oil formulated 1 % appears more effective than neem powder 0.3 % for mosquitoes control in aquatic environment

Access to Routine Immunization: A Comparative Analysis of Supply-Side Disparities between Northern and Southern Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: The available data on routine immunization in Nigeria show a disparity in coverage between Northern and Southern Nigeria, with the former performing worse. The effect of socio-cultural differences on health-seeking behaviour has been identified in the literature as the main cause of the disparity. Our study analyses the role of supply-side determinants, particularly access to services, in causing these disparities. METHODS: Using routine government data, we compared supply-side determinants of access in two Northern states with two Southern states. The states were identified using criteria-based purposive selection such that the comparisons were made between a low-coverage state in the South and a low-coverage state in the North as well as between a high-coverage state in the South and a high-coverage state in the North. RESULTS: Human resources and commodities at routine immunization service delivery points were generally insufficient for service delivery in both geographical regions. While disparities were evident between individual states irrespective of regional location, compared to the South, residents in Northern Nigeria were more likely to have vaccination service delivery points located within a 5 km radius of their settlements. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that regional supply-side disparities are not apparent, reinforcing the earlier reported socio-cultural explanations for disparities in routine immunization service uptake between Northern and Southern Nigeria. Nonetheless, improving routine immunisation coverage services require that there are available human resources and that health facilities are equitably distributed

Stratégies d’Adaptation du Secteur Touristique de La Petite Côte Sénégalaise Face Aux Effets Du Changement Climatique

La présente étude s’intéresse aux incidences des effets du changement climatique sur le tourisme de la Petite Côte. Elle vise, d’une part, à identifier et à analyser ces impacts sur l’activité touristique en tant que telle et d’autre part, elle propose des mesures d’adaptation capables de les atténuer pour une meilleure prise en charge du secteur touristique local en général et de l’activité balnéaire en particulier. Etant entendu que le tourisme est une activité transversale qui agit sur la société, l’économie, l’environnement naturel, le bâti et sur le territoire. Depuis quelques décennies, l’espace côtier sénégalais fait face à d’importantes mutations qui se manifestent notamment par le développement d’infrastructures diverses telles que les installations touristiques qui sont, d’une part, susceptibles d’engendrer des impacts négatifs directs sur le territoire et les écosystèmes marins et côtiers, d’autre part, elles subissement, de par leur proximité à la mer, les effets du changement climatique notamment l’érosion côtière compte tenu de la faiblesse des mesures de protection et de la nature des aménagements.En s’appuyant sur différents exemples de littérature et sur des observations qualitatives par rapport à l’occupation du littoral des territoires touristiques, des enquêtes ont été menées auprès des acteurs, des touristes, des institutions publiques et privées ainsi que des visites de terrains au niveau des sites cibles de la Petite Côte.  Ces enquêtes ont permis d’apporter des réponses à la question soulevée. Par ailleurs, ce travail permettra, à travers les résultats obtenus, de donner des recommandations par rapport au développement du tourisme balnéaire face aux défis actuels du changement climatique.

Hepatitis B, C and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Co-infection in Nigerian Children with Sickle Cell Anaemia

Background: Nigeria which has one of the world's highest burden of children living with Sickle cell anaemia is also endemic for hepatitis B, C and the Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This study set out to determine the prevalence of Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), antibodies to Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) among children with Sickle cell anaemia (SCA) at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH).Methods: This was a prospective hospital based study of children with sickle cell anaemia aged 0.5 years to 18 years presenting at the haematology clinic of UPTH. A serological screening was carried out over a period of five months to determine the presence of hepatitis B virus (HBV), HCV and HIV 1 and 2 infection. Other data obtained included sex, age and other demographic data.Results: There were 182 SCA patients with 72 (54.5%) males and 60 (45.5%) females. Results of HCV anti-body, HBSAg, and HIV were available for 84 patients. Mean age was 7.45 ± 1.6 years, age range was 0.5-18years Seventy-eight (59.1%) had no previous blood transfusion, forty (80.8%) had one previous transfusion while eight (6.1%) had more than one previous transfusions. HBsAg was positive in three patients giving a prevalence of 8.6%; Anti-HCV antibody was not found in any patient while two (2.4%) were positive for HIV 1. There was no patient with Hepatitis, HIV and SCA.Conclusion: This study showed no co-infection with Hepatitis B, C and HIV viral infection among children with SCA at UPTH, Nigeria.Keywords: HBsAg; Anti-HCV antibody; HIV; SCA, Co-infectio