Project description:BackgroundThe recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals call for the end of poverty and the equitable provision of healthcare. These goals are often at odds, however: health seeking can lead to catastrophic spending, an outcome for which cancer patients and the poor in resource-limited settings are at particularly high risk. How various health policies affect the additional aims of financial wellbeing and equity is poorly understood. This paper evaluates the health, financial, and equity impacts of governmental and charitable policies for surgical oncology in a resource-limited setting.MethodsThree charitable platforms for surgical oncology delivery in Uganda were compared to six governmental policies aimed at improving healthcare access. An extended cost-effectiveness analysis using an agent-based simulation model examined the numbers of lives saved, catastrophic expenditure averted, impoverishment averted, costs, and the distribution of benefits across the wealth spectrum.FindingsOf the nine policies and platforms evaluated, two were able to provide simultaneous health and financial benefits efficiently and equitably: mobile surgical units and governmental policies that simultaneously address surgical scaleup, the cost of surgery, and the cost of transportation. Policies that only remove user fees are dominated, as is the commonly employed short-term "surgical mission trip". These results are robust to scenario and sensitivity analyses.InterpretationThe most common platforms for increasing access to surgical care appear unable to provide health and financial risk protection equitably. On the other hand, mobile surgical units, to date an underutilized delivery platform, are able to deliver surgical oncology in a manner that meets sustainable development goals by improving health, financial solvency, and equity. These platforms compare favorably with policies that holistically address surgical delivery and should be considered as countries strengthen health systems.
Project description:BackgroundPoverty is a well-known risk factor for poor health. This scoping review (ScR) mapped research linking early childhood caries (ECC) and poverty using the targets and indicators of the Sustainable Development Goal 1 (SDG1).MethodsWe searched PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus in December 2023 using search terms derived from SDG1. Studies were included if they addressed clinically assessed or reported ECC, used indicators of monetary or multidimensional poverty or both, and were published in English with no date restriction. We excluded books and studies where data of children under 6 years of age could not be extracted. We charted the publication year, study location (categorized into income levels and continents), children age, sample size, study design, measures of ECC, types and levels of poverty indicators and adjusted analysis. The publications were also classified based on how the relation between poverty and ECC was conceptualized.ResultsIn total, 193 publications were included with 3.4 million children. The studies were published from 1989 to 2023. Europe and North America produced the highest number of publications, predominantly from the UK and the US, respectively. Age-wise, 3-5-year-olds were the most studied (62.2%). Primary studies (83.9%) were the majority, primarily of cross-sectional design (69.8%). Non-primary studies (16.1%) included reviews and systematic reviews. ECC was mainly measured using the dmf indices (79.3%), while poverty indicators varied, with the most common used indicator being income (46.1%). Most studies measured poverty at family (48.7%) and individual (30.1%) levels. The greatest percentage of publications addressed poverty as an exposure or confounder (53.4%), with some studies using poverty to describe groups (11.9%) or report policies or programs addressing ECC in disadvantaged communities (11.4%). In addition, 24.1% of studies requiring adjusted analysis lacked it. Only 13% of publications aligned with SDG1 indicators and targets.ConclusionThe ScR highlight the need for studies to use indicators that provide a comprehensive understanding of poverty and thoroughly examine the social, political, and economic determinants and impact of ECC. More studies in low and middle-income countries and country-level studies may help design interventions that are setting- and economic context-relevant.
Project description:BackgroundDecades of conflict in eastern Myanmar have resulted in high prevalence of human rights violations and poor health outcomes. While recent ceasefire agreements have reduced conflict in this area, it is unknown whether this has resulted in concomitant reductions in human rights violations.Methods and findingsWe conducted a two-stage cluster survey of 686 households in eastern Myanmar to assess health status, access to healthcare, food security, exposure to human rights violations and identification of alleged perpetrators over the 12 months prior to January 2012, a period of near-absence of conflict in this region. Household hunger (FANTA-2 scale) was moderate/high in 91 (13.2%) households, while the proportion of households reporting food shortages in each month of 2011 ranged from 19.9% in December to 47.0% in September, with food insecurity peaking just prior to the harvest. Diarrhea prevalence in children was 14.2% and in everyone it was 5.8%. Forced labor was the most common human rights violation (185 households, 24.9%), and 210 households (30.6%) reported experiencing one or more human rights violations in 2011. Multiple logistic regression analysis identified associations between human rights violations and poor health outcomes.ConclusionHuman rights violations and their health consequences persist despite reduced intensity of conflict in eastern Myanmar. Ceasefire agreements should include language that protects human rights, and reconciliation efforts should address the health consequences of decades of human rights violations.
Project description:ObjectiveThe goal of this study is to assess the correlation between protection of women's economic and social rights (WESR), health improvement and sustainable development.MethodsA cross-country analysis of 162 countries was employed to assess development, health and human rights of the countries by measuring associated variables. Data sets for the health, human rights and economic and social rights of these countries were from 2004 to 2010. The dependent variables are health and human development and the independent variables are the human rights variables. Regression analysis and principle axis factoring were used for extraction and varimax method for rotation. Country grouping was made using cluster analysis. Potential biases, resulting from measurement differences in human rights values, were eliminated by using z-transformation to standardise variables.ResultsRegression results reveal that WESR variable is correlated with the health outcomes. Cluster analysis separated the countries into three clusters, based on the WESR variable. Countries where WESR were 'highly respected' (44 countries) are categorised into cluster 1; countries where WESR were 'moderately respected' (51 countries) are categorised into cluster 2 and countries where WESR were 'poorly respected' (63 countries) are categorised into cluster 3. Countries were then compared in their respective clusters based on health and human development variables. It was found that the countries which 'highly respected' WESR had better average health values compared with the second and third clusters. Our findings demonstrate that countries with a strong women's rights status ultimately had better health outcomes.ConclusionWESR status has correlation with the health and human development. When women's rights are highly respected, the nation is more likely to have higher health averages and accelerated development.
Project description:The advent of smart cities has brought about a paradigm shift in urban management and citizen engagement. By leveraging technological advancements, cities are now able to collect and analyze extensive data to optimize service delivery, allocate resources efficiently, and enhance the overall well-being of residents. However, as cities become increasingly interconnected and data-dependent, concerns related to data privacy and security, as well as citizen participation and representation, have surfaced. This article emphasizes the significance of regulating smart cities to foster a culture of citizenship and safeguard civic rights, security, and privacy. Effective regulatory frameworks are crucial in striking a balance between technological innovation and the protection of fundamental rights. The article examines various pivotal policies and regulations concerning data protection, cybersecurity, and citizen involvement in decision-making processes. Data protection regulations play a vital role in safeguarding individuals' personal information and ensuring its collection, processing, and usage comply with legal requirements. Similarly, cybersecurity regulations are indispensable in fortifying smart city systems against cyber threats. Regulations promoting citizen engagement and participation can cultivate a sense of ownership and responsibility among citizens, contributing to the creation of more inclusive and democratic urban environments. This study used an artificial neural network (ANN) to examine the effects of cyber security regulations, citizen participation, information sharing laws, and data protection on smart city development. Implementing these policies led to a 30% increase in citizen participation over 4 years, which continued even when regulations were temporarily suspended. However, unchanged or reduced regulations led to declines in information sharing. The neural network's predictions showed acceptable error compared to experimental results.
Project description:Trans people are exposed to multiple human right violations in clinical practice and research. From 1975 on, gender transition processes have been classified as a mental disorder in diagnostic classification manuals, a classification that was removed recently from ICD, International Classification of Diseases, and continues in DSM, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Trans people in different world regions are forced to accept psychiatric diagnoses and assessment in order to get access to trans health care, subject to reparative therapies and exposed to transphobic institutional and social discrimination and violence. In many countries, gender identity laws include medical requirements, such as psychiatric diagnosis, hormone treatment, genital surgery, or sterilization. In the scientific literature, a frequent pathologization of trans experiences can be identified, by means of pathologizing conceptualizations, terminologies, visual representations, and practices, as well as ethnocentric biases. Trans activism and scholarship have questioned widely the pathologization of trans people in clinical practice and research. Over the last decade, an international trans depathologization movement emerged, demanding, among other claims, the removal of the diagnostic classification of transexuality as a mental disorder, as well as changes in the health care and legal context. International and regional bodies built up a human rights framework related to sexual, gender and bodily diversity that constitute a relevant reference point for trans depathologization activism. The Yogyakarta Principles, published in 2007 and extended in 2017 by means of the Yogyakarta Principles plus 10, establish an application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity, and sex characteristics. International and regional human rights bodies included demands related to depathologization in their agenda. More recently, advancements towards trans depathologization can be observed in the diagnostic classifications, as well as in the health care and legal context. At the same time, trans people continue being exposed to pathologization and transphobic violence. The Human Rights in Patient Care (HRPC) framework offers a human right-based approach on health care practices. The paper aims at analyzing the shared human rights focus and potential alliances between the trans depathologization perspective and the HRPC framework.
Project description:BackgroundTraining healthcare professionals in human rights approaches is fundamental for humanizing medical practice and promoting patient autonomy.AimsTo evaluate the impact of Quality Rights strategy training on human rights engagement, stigma reduction and attitudes towards mental health among medical students in Colombian.MethodA pre-experimental study with pre-post measures was conducted, involving 194 medical students, during the first semester of 2024 in Manizales, Caldas, Colombia. To assess notions and commitment to human rights were used the Human Rights Exposure in Social Work and Human Rights Engagement in Social Work. Attitudes toward people with mental disorders were measured using the Community Attitudes Towards the Mentally III (CAMI) scale, and attitudes toward mental health education were assessed using the Mental Illness Clinicians' Attitude Scale (MICA). The intervention was based on QualityRights, an initiative of the World Health Organization, which aims to improve the quality of care in mental health services and to promote the human rights of people with psychosocial disabilities. Initial data comparisons were made using the Mann-Whitney U test and the Kruskal-Wallis test. Pretest and postest data were compared using the Wilcoxon test.ResultsStatistically significant improvements were observed in human rights understanding, reduced stigmatizing attitudes toward mental health and decreased authoritarianism. While students demonstrated enhanced human rights knowledge and less stigmatizing attitudes, we observed a concurrent decrease in benevolence scores.ConclusionThe Quality Rights training strategy shows promise in improving medical students' understanding of mental health conditions and promoting empathetic practices. However, ongoing sustained and monitoring strategies are necessary to ensure long-term adoption of human rights-based attitudes and practices in healthcare settings.