24 records from EconBiz based on author Name

1. Glue Sniffing and Other Risky Practices Among Street Children in Urban Bangladesh

abstract

The inhalation of solvents among children and adolescents for recreational purposes has been a long standing problem in the developed world, although it is an emerging issue in South Asia, especially in urban areas. This study explores the linkage between glue sniffing and other drug use and high risk practices related to increased vulnerability and risk for HIV and AIDS in Bangladesh and also documents the serious health effects of glue sniffing. Although Bangladesh has an overall low prevalence of HIV, it is facing a concentrated HIV epidemic among injecting drug users. There is a risk that young children who inhale glue may also be more likely to use other drugs, and that this early introduction to drugs lead to injecting drug habits, associated with increased risk for transmission of HIV, hepatitis C and other sexually transmitted diseases. This study aimed at assessing the nature of drug use and other risky practices among street children aged 11 to 19 years in Dhaka and Chittagong, the two major metropolises of Bangladesh. The study highlights the vulnerability of street children in general and the problems they face on the streets, primarily due to their lack of social protection. Inhalation of glue and use of other substances like cannabis and pharmaceuticals, smoking and chewing tobacco, were found to be prevalent among these children. They were also found to be sexually active early and most of them were engaged in unprotected sex, most girls selling sex, and most boys reporting low condom use. Although this study was not designed to determine a direct causal link between early solvent abuse, injecting drug use and HIV, the study shows an association between glue sniffing, injecting drug use and other risky sexual practices, which amplifies the risk for HIV among these children, making the case for intervening early.

Mahmud, Iffat; Ahsan, Karar Zunaid; Claeson, Mariam;
2013
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2. Inequalitites in Child Health : Are We Narrowing the Gap?

abstract

This paper reviews what is known about the causes of socioeconomic inequalities in child health and thus the points where programs aimed at reducing child health inequalities should be focused. The proximate determinants affect child health directly and include food and nutrition, indoor air pollution, hygiene and other preventive activities, and care during illness. The underlying determinants affect outcomes indirectly through their effect on the proximate determinants, and include financial barriers, health care provision, maternal education, and water, sanitation and the home environment. The authors review the socioeconomic distribution of both determinants and find that for most determinants, poor children fare significantly worse than their better-off peers. We also overview what is known about the success of actual programs in narrowing socioeconomic inequalities in child health. The paper ends with lessons learned and with a call for action - for a new approach to improving the health of all children that is evidence-based, broad, and multifaceted, and for the development of better evidence on how programs can reduce child health inequalities.

Wagstaff, Adam; Bustreo, Flavia; Bryce, Jennifer; Claeson, Mariam; Axelsson, Henrik;
2013
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3. The Family Health Cycle : From Concept to Implementation

abstract

For children in developing countries, health outcomes are determined largely by decisions made within the household, by the family and the mother and father, in particular. From infancy to adulthood, parents provide (or fail to provide) everything from nutrition and shelter to education and health care. The family is also typically the source of care and support for older people, who in turn often contribute to care of children. The authors develop a model for placing public health policies and programs in the context of the family and the outside forces that influence a family's decisions. This life-cycle model, which is called the "family health cycle," connects children, mothers, fathers, and grandparents in a system that, as a whole, shapes the health of individual family members. The model starts with the birth of a child, who passes through the first stage of the cycle as an infant boy or girl, becomes a child, and reaches adolescence. At this stage, the person is biologically "eligible" to pass through another stage of the cycle as a parent, and then, barring early adult mortality or childlessness of the offspring, can cycle through the system once again as a grandparent. Each stage carries with it age- and gender-specific health risks, and thus calls for different health interventions. Interventions at each stage can be viewed as inputs to help the individual survive (and benefit from lower morbidity) until the next stage, when new intervention inputs are required. This framework helps identify which kinds of interventions- biomedical, social, economic, environmental-are likely to be most effective at each stage of the cycle. It thus has the potential to improve understanding of the linkages among the many interventions available and help put scarce public health resources to better use. Finally, the authors review how the family health cycle approach - or the "life-cycle " approach as it is more commonly called in World Bank analysis and operations - has been used for programming and policy development in different contexts beyond maternal and early childhood health: in developing poverty reduction strategies, in conducting risk assessments for social protection initiatives, in linking school health with health and nutrition interventions in other age groups, and in nutrition programming.

Simon, Jonathon; Rosen, Sydney; Claeson, Mariam; Breman, Anna; Tulloch, James;
2013
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4. Investing in the Best Buys : A Review of the Health, Nutrition, and Population Portfolio, FY1993-99

abstract

This review of the "best buys" in the health, nutrition, and population portfolio, FY93-99, shows that content, as well as process must receive attention in health systems development, in order to achieve increased access to quality health services. The report suggest that significant gains can be made, and measured within lending, by increasing efforts to identify, and invest in the best buys. It describes the Bank's mixed lending for the best buys, ranging from direct support to public health, and clinical services (i.e., investment in disease control programs), to health systems strengthening (i.e., investment in surveillance, and pharmaceutical systems, managerial and technical capacity building) that indirectly support delivery of basic services. Recommendations suggest linking the guidelines of this review to the knowledge management system, and training in basic public health, and Poverty Reduction Strategy work. Moreover, an in-depth review of data at the regional level, could explicitly define options for inclusion of best buys in project implementation, based on case studies that show the role of process, and content in selecting, and setting priorities for best buys.

Claeson, Mariam; Mawji, Tazim; Walker, Christopher;
2013
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5. The Millennium Development Goals for Health : Rising to the Challenges

abstract

The extent of premature death and ill health in the developing world is staggering. In 2000 almost 11 million children died before their fifth birthday, an estimated 140 million children under five are underweight, 3 million died from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis claimed another 2 million lives, and 515,000 women died during pregnancy or child birth in 1995, almost all of them in the developing world. Death and ill health on such a scale are matters of concern in their own right. They are also a brake on economic development. These concerns led the international community to put health at the center of the Millennium Development Goals when adopting them at the Millennium Summit in September 2000. This report focuses on the health and nutrition Millennium Development Goals agreed to by over 180 governments. It assesses progress to date and prospects of achieving the goals. The report identifies what developing country governments can do to accelerate the pace of progress while ensuring that benefits accrue to the poorest and most disadvantaged households. It also pulls together the lessons of development assistance and country initiatives and innovations to improve the effectiveness of aid, based on a number of country case studies. It highlights some of the principles of effective development assistance: country driven coordination; strategic coherence expressed in comprehensive poverty reduction strategies, which fully address the issues of health, nutrition, and population; financial coherence embodied in medium term expenditure framework; pooling of donor funds; and a common framework for reporting and assessing progress.

Wagstaff, Adam; Claeson, Mariam;
2013
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6. Tackling HIV-related Stigma and Discrimination in South Asia

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Although HIV prevalence in South Asia is relatively low, the epidemic is growing among marginalized groups, including sex workers, injection drug users, men who have sex with men, and transgender communities. Despite prevention and other efforts to reduce high-risk behaviors such as unprotected sex, buying and selling of sex, and injecting drug use, HIV vulnerability and risk remain high. This problem is partly due to a widespread failure to respond adequately to key social drivers of HIV: stigma and discrimination. Stigmatizing attitudes in the general population and discriminatory treatment by actors ranging from health providers to local policy makers intensify the marginalization of vulnerable groups at highest risk, driving them further from the reach of health services and much-needed prevention, treatment, care, and support. Daily harassment and abuse also cause health problems and adversely affect mental health, thereby leading to depression, social isolation, and an array of adverse socioeconomic outcomes related to HIV and AIDS. The South Asia Region Development Marketplace1 (SARDM) took an innovative and unique approach to addressing these gaps and needs through its 2008 development marketplace, "tackling HIV and AIDS stigma and discrimination." Part one of this reports describes key findings and lessons learned that emerged across the 26 implementers. Part two contains case studies for six of the implementers, offering a more in-depth look at the lessons and challenges of intervening against stigma and discrimination. Part three provides summaries of all 26 projects.

Stangl, Anne; Carr, Dara; Brady, Laura; Eckhaus, Traci; Claeson, Mariam; Nyblade, Laura;
2012
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7. HIV and AIDS in South Asia : An Economic Development Risk

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This book offers an original perspective on HIV and AIDS as a development issue in South Asia, a region with a heterogeneous epidemic and estimated national HIV prevalence rates of up to 0.5 percent. The analysis challenges the common perception of HIV and AIDS, which has been shaped to a large extent by analysis of HIV and AIDS in regions with much higher prevalence rates. The chapters, most of which were commissioned specifically for this volume, can be grouped in three broad themes - the epidemiology of HIV and prevention strategies (chapters one and two), economic and development impacts of HIV and AIDS (chapters three and four), and the implications of HIV and AIDS for the health sector (chapters five and six). Within each theme, one chapter provides a more general discussion of the respective issues in the region (chapters one, three, and five), and one chapter highlights aspects of the respective issue in one particular country (with chapter two dealing with HIV in Afghanistan, and chapters four and six discus sing aspects of the impact of or the response to HIV and AIDS in India). Regarding the broad development themes identified by this book, chapters one and two highlight the epidemiological risks. Chapter three surveys the intersection of HIV and AIDS and key development objectives, and is complemented by chapters four and five. The forward-looking discussion of the challenges of scaling up (chapter five) is complemented by an analysis of the costs of antiretroviral treatment (ART) in India (chapter six) and a cross-country analysis of access to treatment (in chapter three).

Haacker, Markus; Claeson, Mariam;
2012
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8. AIDS in South Asia : Understanding and Responding to a Heterogeneous Epidemic

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South Asia's HIV epidemic is highly heterogeneous. As a result, informed, prioritized, and effective responses necessitate an understanding of the epidemic diversity between and within countries. Further spread of HIV in South Asia is preventable. The future size of South Asia's epidemic will depend on an effective two-pronged approach: firstly, on the scope and effectiveness of HIV prevention programs for sex workers and their clients, injecting drug users and their sexual partners, and men having sex with men and their other sexual partners; and secondly, on the effectiveness of efforts to address the underlying socio-economic determinants of the epidemic, and to reduce stigma and discrimination towards people engaging in high risk behaviors, often marginalized in society, as well as people living with HIV and AIDS.

Moses, Stephen; Blanchard, James F.; Kang, Han; Emmanuel, Faran; Reza Paul, Sushena; Becker, Marissa L.; Wilson, David; Claeson, Mariam;
2012
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9. Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries, Second Edition

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The purpose of this book is to provide information about what works -- specifically, the cost-effectiveness of health interventions in a variety of settings. Such information should influence the redesign of programs and the reallocation of resources, thereby helping to achieve the ultimate goal of reducing morbidity and mortality. As was the case with the first edition, this second edition of Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries will serve an array of audiences. This second edition of Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries (DCP2) seeks to update and improve guidance on the what-to-do questions in DCP1 and to address the institutional, organizational, financial, and research capacities essential for health systems to deliver the right interventions. DCP2 is the principal product of the Disease Control Priorities Project, an alliance of organizations designed to review, generate, and disseminate information on how to improve population health in developing countries. In addition to DCP2, the project produced numerous background papers, an extensive range of interactive consultations held around the world, and several additional major publications.

Jamison, Dean T.; Breman, Joel G.; Measham, Anthony R.; Alleyne, George; Claeson, Mariam; Evans, David B.; Jha, Prabhat; Mills, Ann; Musgrove, Philip;
2012
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10. Glue Sniffing and Other Risky Practices Among Street Children in Urban Bangladesh

Mahmud, Iffat; Ahsan, Karar Zunaid; Claeson, Mariam;
2011
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