Evaluating Social Protection Policies With an Implementation Science Framework: India's Direct Benefit Transfer for Tuberculosis Comment on "Does Direct Benefit Transfer Improve Outcomes Among People With Tuberculosis? - A Mixed-Methods Study on the Need for a Review of the Cash Transfer Policy in India"

Addressing the social and structural determinants of tuberculosis (TB) through social protection programs is a central feature of global public health policy and disease elimination strategies. However, how best to implement such programs remains unknown. India's direct benefit transfer (DBT) program is the largest cash transfer program in the world dedicated to supporting individuals affected by TB. Despite several studies aimed at evaluating the impact of DBT, many questions remain about its implementation, mechanisms of action, and effectiveness. Dave and Rupani's mixed-methods evaluation of this program previously published in this journal offers valuable insights into the strengths and limitations of the DBT program in improving TB treatment outcomes. Their results also provide an opportunity for demonstrating how systematically collected data may be further analyzed and presented using implementation science, a field of study using methods to promote the systematic uptake of evidence-based interventions to support sustainable program scale-up.

[Social rights: difficult to construct, easy to destroy]

The purpose of this article is to reflect on contemporary tensions between the social protection system in Brazil - which in the past 30 years has come to be organized as a social right and has been part of the construction of democracy in the country - and the current process of its dismantling under an authoritarian populist regime. From the theoretical perspective adopted in this article, structural characteristics and circumstantial factors are examined in order to explain the difficulties that have been faced in constructing a legal and institutional architecture for social rights, and on the other hand, why at present it is so easy to destroy it in practice.

[Proactivity in the face of adversity: The action of mutuality in support of governments in the fight against Covid-19]

The impact of Covid-19 on the African continent has been and remains one of the major concerns regarding the consequences of the pandemic. However, far from remaining passive, mutual health insurance companies have been implementing a series of actions since the spring of 2020 to raise awareness, support the population and support their governments' actions. These actions capitalized on the strengths of mutual insurances: local deployment among communities and socio-professional categories, but also among mutualists and health center staff. The action of the mutual insurances with the populations has made it possible to take stock of their qualities, which will be important in the context of a balanced exit from the coming socio-economic crisis, the real challenge facing Africa.

Social vulnerability, parity and food insecurity in urban South African young women: the healthy life trajectories initiative (HeLTI) study

Social vulnerability indices (SVI) can predict communities' vulnerability and resilience to public health threats such as drought, food insecurity or infectious diseases. Parity has yet to be investigated as an indicator of social vulnerability in young women. We adapted an SVI score, previously used by the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC), and calculated SVI for young urban South African women (n = 1584; median age 21.6, IQR 3.6 years). Social vulnerability was more frequently observed in women with children and increased as parity increased. Furthermore, young women classified as socially vulnerable were 2.84 times (95% CI 2.10-3.70; p < 0.001) more likely to report household food insecurity. We collected this information in 2018-2019, prior to the current global COVID-19 pandemic. With South Africa having declared a National State of Disaster in March 2020, early indicators suggest that this group of women have indeed been disproportionally affected, supporting the utility of such measures to inform disaster relief efforts.

Forced Migration and Global Responsibility for Health Comment on "Defining and Acting on Global Health: The Case of Japan and the Refugee Crisis"

Forced migration has become a world-wide phenomenon in the past century, affecting increasing numbers of countries and people. It entails important challenges from a global health perspective. Leppold et al have critically discussed the Japanese interpretation of global responsibility for health in the context of forced migration. This commentary complements their analysis by outlining three priority areas of global health responsibility for European Union (EU) countries. We highlight important stages of the migration phases related to forced migration and propose three arguments. First, the chronic neglect of the large number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the discourses on the "refugee crisis" needs to be corrected in order to develop sustainable solutions with a framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Second, protection gaps in the global system of protection need to be effectively closed to resolve conflicts with border management and normative global health frameworks. Third, effective policies need to be developed and implemented to meet the health and humanitarian needs of forced migrants; at the same time, the solidarity crisis within the EU needs to be overcome. These stakes are high. EU countries, being committed to global health, should urgently address these areas.

A Global Social Support System: What the International Community Could Learn From the United States' National Basketball Association's Scheme for Redistribution of New Talent

If global trade were fair, it is argued, then international aid would be unnecessary and inequalities inherent to the economic system would be justifiable. Here, we argue that while global trade is unfair, in part because richer countries set the rules, we believe that additional interventions must go beyond trade regulation and short-term aid to redress inequalities among countries that will persist and possibly worsen in spite of such measures. Drawing on an example of measures taken to redress the characteristics of a system that inherently increases inequality, the ability of dominant teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA) to recruit the most talented players, we argue that market-based competition even in the context of fair rules will create and amplify economic inequalities. We argue that, just as the NBA created a draft to reduce the emergence of severe inequalities among teams, systems of social support within richer countries should be paralleled by a global system to counterbalance persisting inequalities among countries that are produced by market forces. We explain how such a mechanism might operate among integrated market economies, and identify the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund) as an example of such an emerging form of global social support.

Social factors associated with pulmonary hydatid cyst in Aegean, Turkey

BACKGROUND

Pulmonary hydatid cysts are caused by larval forms of the tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus. Hydatid disease, which is endemic in Turkey, is an important health problem in agricultural and stockbreeding areas where there are insufficient environmental health and preventive medicine services. Previous studies on this topic reported that hydatid disease was frequently associated with stockbreeding in rural areas.

OBJECTIVES

In this retrospective clinical study, it is aimed to evaluate the social factors associated with pulmonary hydatid cyst in the Aegean region of Turkey.

METHODS

Seventy-one pulmonary hydatid cyst cases reported between 1998 and 2010 in four hospitals in the Aegean region for which data were available on social and lifestyle factors were reviewed.

RESULTS

In contrast to expectations, we found that pulmonary hydatid disease in the Aegean region was associated with city rather than rural life and with occupations other than stockbreeding.

CONCLUSION

The findings are attributed to the presence of uncontrolled dogs in the city and urban environmental pollution. The offices of the public administration have a responsibility to inform citizens about the control of street animals, environmental health, and food hygiene.

In Re A.C., 16 June 1987

The plaintiff hospital sought a declaratory order that a cesarean section be performed on a woman expected to die within two days who was in her twenty-sixth week of pregnancy and objected to the operation. On appeal of a decision granting the order, the Court ruled that the privacy rights of the mother against bodily intrusion should be subordinated to the interests of the unborn child and the state and refused to stay the order even though that might mean that the mother's lifespan would be shortened by a few hours.

Seva Vanitha Movement of Sri Lanka (Incorporation) Act (No. 10 of 1987), 10 March 1987

This Act incorporates the Seva Vanitha Movement of Sri Lanka, which was established by the Women's Bureau of Sri Lanka. Among the objectives of the Movement are the following: "a) to maintain a record of current public affairs with particular reference to the interests of women, children and youths so as to ensure their physical, mental, moral, religious and social development and to protect them from exploitation and discrimination; b) to promote cooperation and mutual confidence among all members irrespective of race, religion, language, occupation and political opinion to enable women to act as a single group interested in National Development; c) to ensure that the women actively participate in development activities outside their homes; and d) to conduct surveys and studies and collect data on problems relating to women and children in collaboration with the Women's Bureau, Children's Secretariat and Governmental and nongovernmental agencies."

Act No. 556, 9 July 1987

This Act amends Section 286 of the Criminal Code, which deals with the sale of minor children, to define "legal fees," which under Section 286 can legally be paid by a person contemplating adopting a minor child not yet born. They are "anything of value paid or received for rendering of legal services in connection with an act of voluntary surrender of a child for adoption and shall not include a broker's fee paid in connection with an act of voluntary surrender." In addition, "broker's fees" are defined as "anything of value paid or received for the procurement, attempted procurement, or assistance in the procurement of a party to an act of voluntary surrender of a child for adoption." A 1986 amendment to Section 286 raised the penalties for sale of minor children to "five thousand dollars or imprisonment with or without hard labor for not more than five years, or both." Previously the penalty figures were one thousand dollars and six months.

Regulations, 30 January 1987

Regulations adopted by the All-Union Women's Committee give recently established women's councils greater scope to initiate legislation and provide that laws and statutory instruments affecting women's interests cannot be discussed without their participation. The Councils are also to play an active role in representing the interests of the female workforce at the enterprise level through participation in formulating and monitoring collective agreements, planning the allocation of resources on the social and day-to-day needs of the staff, and supervising the work of medical, pre-school and educational institutions, commercial and public catering enterprises, and day-to-day services.

Protection of Women and Juveniles (Amendment) Ordinance (No. 53 of 1987), 9 July 1987

Among other things, this Act authorizes certain persons to take a child or juvenile in need of urgent medical or surgical treatment to a hospital instead of only to a place of refuge. It also authorizes the use of force to enter a vessel, house, building, or other place in order to remove a child, woman, or juvenile only if a warrant has been obtained.

National Development Plan, 1985-1991

The following are provisions of this Plan [Botswana National Development Plan] relating to maternal-child health care and family planning: "14.73 Maternal Child Health and Family Planning (MCH/FP) tasks during NDP6 will include: the improvement of maternal and child health and family planning promotion, follow up and participation at the home level through strengthening of the family welfare educators in this area and data collection and use; increased knowledge and support of maternal and child family planning in the general population, with special emphasis on the male population and youth; the development of an integrated approach to MCH/FP care which is effective, efficient, and acceptable at the community level; the identification of high-risk groups among pregnant women, mothers, and children and appropriate intervention; the protection of the health of mothers and infants through planning services, so that each family will be of a reasonable size, corresponding to its socioeconomic and health conditions. 14.74 Specific Maternal and Child Health and Family Planning targets are: infant mortality rate - below 50/1000 live births; women of reproductive age using FP - 25%; pregnant women attending antenatal clinics - 98%; supervised deliveries - 70%; newborn babies with birth weight of at least 2500 g - 90%; children under one year of age fully immunized - 75%. 14.75 In order to reduce infant illness and deaths caused by preventable diseases, the Expanded Programme of Immunization has increased its target to vaccination of all eligible children by the year 1990. For this to be achieved, accessibility of the services to the communities should be improved and this can only be done within the context of the overall development of the basic health services."