Suchergebnisse

By taking advantage of the core discourses of the main social movements, Rafael Correa Delgado was elected president of Ecuador in 2006. Promising a 'citizen revolution', the President designed and engaged heavy institutional machinery that disciplined the civil society and other elements of the embryonic Ecuadorian public sphere. Paradoxically, he did so under the pretext of establishing a participatory democracy. This paper examines the processes and mechanisms of governmental control over civil society, the strongest element of the Ecuadorian public sphere, and their consequences for social movements.Resumen: Controlando la esfera pública a través de la manipulación de la sociedad civil: El Caso de la Revolución Ciudadana en el Ecuador.Aprovechándose de los discursos centrales de los principales movimientos sociales, Rafael Correa Delgado fue elegido presidente en el 2006. Prometiendo una 'revolución ciudadana', él diseñó y estableció una pesada maquinaría institucional que disciplinó la sociedad civil y otros elementos de la embrionaria esfera pública Ecuatoriana. Paradójicamente Correa consiguió este objetivo bajo el pretexto de establecer un modelo de democracia participativa. Este artículo examina los procesos y mecanismos de control gubernamental sobre la sociedad civil, el elemento más fuerte de la esfera pública ecuatoriana, y sus consecuencias para los movimientos sociales.

BACKGROUND: Healthcare workers are at a higher risk of COVID-19 infection during care encounters compared to the general population. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) have been shown to protect COVID-19 among healthcare workers, however, Kenya has faced PPE shortages that can adequately protect all healthcare workers. We, therefore, examined the health and economic consequences of investing in PPE for healthcare workers in Kenya. METHODS: We conducted a cost-effectiveness and return on investment (ROI) analysis using a decision-analytic model following the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) guidelines. We examined two outcomes: 1) the incremental cost per healthcare worker death averted, and 2) the incremental cost per healthcare worker COVID-19 case averted. We performed a multivariate sensitivity analysis using 10,000 Monte Carlo simulations. RESULTS: Kenya would need to invest $3.12 million (95% CI: 2.65–3.59) to adequately protect healthcare workers against COVID-19. This investment would avert 416 (IQR: 330–517) and 30,041 (IQR: 7243 – 102,480) healthcare worker deaths and COVID-19 cases respectively. Additionally, such an investment would result in a healthcare system ROI of $170.64 million (IQR: 138–209) – equivalent to an 11.04 times return. CONCLUSION: Despite other nationwide COVID-19 prevention measures such as social distancing, over 70% of healthcare workers will still be infected if the availability of PPE remains scarce. As part of the COVID-19 response strategy, the government should consider adequate investment in PPE for all healthcare workers in the country as it provides a large return on investment and it is value for money.

Public health surveys deployed through automated mobile phone calls raise a set of ethical challenges, including succinctly communicating information necessary to obtain respondent informed consent. This study aimed to capture the perspectives of key stakeholders, both experts and community members, on consent processes and preferences for participation in automated mobile phone surveys (MPS) of non-communicable disease risk factors in Colombia. We conducted semi-structured interviews with ethics and digital health experts and focus group discussions with community representatives. There was meaningful disagreement within both groups regarding the necessity of consent, when the purpose of a survey is to contribute to the formulation of public policies. Respondents who favored consent emphasized that consent communications ought to promote understanding and voluntariness, and implicitly suggested that information disclosure conform to a reasonable person standard. Given the automated and unsolicited nature of the phone calls and concerns regarding fraud, trust building was emphasized as important, especially for national MPS deployment. Community sensitization campaigns that provide relevant contextual information (such as the name of the administering institution) were thought to support trust-building. Additional ways to achieve the goals of consent while building trust in automated MPS for disease surveillance should be evaluated in order to inform ethical and effective practice.

Leading Colombian academics and experienced policy practitioners cast new light on their country in this systematic overview of policy analysis for an international audience. Examining the historical development and current status of policy analysis as a field of study and in practice, it considers public policy analysis in government and the judiciary, and across domains including health, education and the military. Contributors also delve into Colombia's notable success in economic regeneration, the management of cultural diversity and the resolution of long-term internal armed conflict. Not just an important summation of policy analysis in Colombia, this book also provides insights and lessons applicable elsewhere