Air quality and attributable mortality among city dwellers in Kampala, Uganda: results from 4 years of continuous PM concentration monitoring using BAM 1022 reference instrument.

Background: Air pollution is a known risk factor for non-communicable diseases that causes substantial premature death globally. Rapid urban growth, burning of biomass and solid waste, unpaved sections of the road network, rising numbers of vehicles, some with highly polluting engines, contribute to the poor air quality in Kampala.

Objective: To provide evidence-based estimates of air pollution attributable mortality in Kampala city, with focus on ambient fine particulate matter (PM).

Mixed-methods community assessment of drowning and water safety knowledge and behaviours on Lake Victoria.

Background: Drowning is a major cause of death in Uganda, especially among young adults with water-based occupations and livelihoods. Information about drowning and other water-related deaths and injuries is limited. To address this gap in knowledge, study partners assessed knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about drowning and drowning prevention interventions in the Mayuge district of eastern Uganda.

Content Analysis of E-mail Marketing Communications Among Online E-cigarette Retailers.

Introduction: Online e-cigarette retailers use e-mail communications to promote products directly to consumers, which may facilitate e-cigarette use. Little is known about the content of these e-mails. As such, this study collected e-mails from online e-cigarette retailers in California to conduct a content analysis.

A phone-based tobacco use cessation program for people living with HIV in Uganda and Zambia: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and short messaging service (SMS)-based tobacco cessation interventions have demonstrated effectiveness in reducing tobacco use in many populations, but evidence is needed on which tailored treatments are most efficacious in meeting the complex medical and psychosocial factors confronting people living with HIV (PLWH) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This paper describes the protocol of a study to test the efficacy of both NRT and a tailored SMS-based tobacco use cessation intervention among PLWH in Uganda and Zambia.

Methods: In a randomized controlled trial, 800 adult PLWH who use tobacco will be recruited by health care professionals at HIV treatment centers where they are receiving care.

Adolescent mental health in post-conflict communities: results from a cross-sectional survey in Northern Uganda.

Purpose: This study evaluated adolescents' mental health their knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about mental health conditions, and their access to critical mental health services in Lira District, northern Uganda. The political history of the region, the epicenter of the decades-long conflict between the Lord's Resistance Army and the Ugandan government, makes for an interesting case study of the political and social determinants of mental health of those directly impacted by conflict, and on subsequent generations growing up in post-conflict communities.

Methods: This paper presents the results of a community-based participatory research study carried out by youth public health ambassadors in Lira District, Uganda.

Monitoring website marketing among leading e-cigarette brands and vendors in California: content analysis.

Background: Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) brands and vendors use websites to promote pro-tobacco messages that may increase susceptibility to use e-cigarettes among never users or help sustain continued e-cigarette use among current users. E-cigarette website marketing is lightly regulated, and little is known about promotional strategies used on e-cigarette companies' websites. This study conducted a content analysis of website marketing from leading e-cigarette companies selling products in California.

Policy-relevant differences between secondhand and thirdhand smoke: strengthening protections from involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke pollutants.

Starting in the 1970s, individuals, businesses and the public have increasingly benefited from policies prohibiting smoking indoors, saving thousands of lives and billions of dollars in healthcare expenditures. Smokefree policies to protect against secondhand smoke exposure, however, do not fully protect the public from the persistent and toxic chemical residues from tobacco smoke (also known as thirdhand smoke) that linger in indoor environments for years after smoking stops. Nor do these policies address the economic costs that individuals, businesses and the public bear in their attempts to remediate this toxic residue.

Smoking-related psychosocial beliefs and justifications among smokers in India: Findings from Tobacco Control Policy (TCP) India Surveys.

Background: Previous research in high-income countries (HICs) has shown that smokers reduce their cognitive dissonance through two types of justifications over time: risk minimizing and functional beliefs. To date, however, the relationship between these justifications and smoking behaviors over time has limited evidence from low- and middle-income countries. This study examines these of justifications and their relation to quitting behavior and intentions among smoking tobacco users in India.

Engaging youth in global health and social justice: a decade of experience teaching a high school summer course.

Background: Education and training in global health and social justice is crucial to ensuring the next generation of health professionals are poised to tackle the pressing issues of our time.

Objectives: To develop and implement an intensive summer course on global health and social justice for high school students at the University of Southern California.

Methods: This paper reviews the course aims and curriculum, its implementation both onsite and online, and reports on student course evaluations and long-term student outcomes.

Evaluation of a Social Media Campaign Designed to Increase Awareness of Thirdhand Smoke among California Adults.

Despite a growing body of research outlining the harms of thirdhand smoke (THS), the public remains generally unaware of risks and exposure routes. This project built on past tobacco prevention campaigns and the tenants of McGuire's input-output model to implement and evaluate a seven-month Facebook-disseminated campaign seeking to improve THS awareness among California adults ( = 1087). Multilinear regression showed that THS-related knowledge ([6] = 19.

The GEOHealth Hub for Eastern Africa: Contributions and Lessons Learned.

Externalities, such as air pollution and increased occupational hazards, resulting from global trends in climate change, rapid industrialization, and rapidly increasing populations are raising global concerns about the associated health risks. The Global Environmental and Occupational Health Hub for Eastern Africa was established to address some of these problems at national and regional levels through focused training and applied research that would yield evidence supporting policies and investments to mitigate risks of increasing environmental threats throughout the Eastern African region. Emphasis has been placed on air pollution, a leading risk factor for global mortality, accounting for over 7 million premature deaths or 8.

Thirdhand Smoke Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavior: Development of Reliable and Valid Self-report Measures.

Introduction: This study sought to provide essential tobacco control tools by testing the reliability and validity of new self-report scales developed to assess thirdhand smoke (THS) (ie, toxic tobacco residue) related knowledge, attitudes, and behavior (KAB).

Aims And Methods: Items for the KAB scales were adapted from established secondhand smoke (SHS) measures, reviewed to support face validity, and tested in a longitudinal online survey evaluating THS health messages. Participants were California adults at risk of THS exposure.

Characteristics of flavored and non-flavored waterpipe tobacco users: a real-world setting study.

We aimed to compare sociodemographic characteristics, smoking patterns, beliefs and perceptions, nicotine dependence, and psychological indicators between flavored waterpipe (WP) tobacco (FWT) and non-flavored WP tobacco (non-FWT) smokers in Iran. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 94 WP-serving venues surrounding Tehran and Ardabil metropolitans in Iran. Convenience sampling was applied to select 900 current WP smokers [508 (56%) FWT-only and 392 (44%) non-FWT-only smokers] aged 18 years and older.

Tobacco use and E-cigarette regulation: Perspectives of University Students in the Asia-Pacific.

Introduction: The Asia-Pacific is home to 30% of the world's smokers. Additional efforts are needed to reduce negative health impacts of tobacco, including e-cigarettes. The study objectives were to 1.

Investigating global mental health: Contributions from political science.

This article outlines an agenda for political science engagement with global mental health. Other social sciences have tackled the topic, investigating such questions as the link between poverty and mental health disorders. Political science is noticeably absent from these explorations.

The Manila Declaration on Migration and Health: commentary of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities Global Health Program.

Background: Migration has played, and continues to play, an important role in shaping our global economy. As of 2017, there were 258 million international migrants worldwide, over 100 million of whom came from the Asia-Pacific region. Migration is increasingly recognized as a social determinant of health, as migrants often experience vulnerabilities that make them susceptible to a range of negative health outcomes.

Tobacco control in Mexico: a decade of progress and challenges.

Mexico was the first country in the Americas to sign and ratify the World Health Organization's (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2004. More than a decade later, it is appropriate to evaluate legislative and regulatory progress and the associated challenges; and also, to propose a roadmap to prioritize the problems to be addressed to achieve long-term sustainable solutions. Mexico has made substantial progress in tobacco control.

Network influences on policy implementation: Evidence from a global health treaty.

This paper examines whether country implementation of a public health treaty is influenced by the implementation behaviors of other countries to which they have network ties. We examine implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) adopted by the World Health Organization in 2003 and ratified by approximately 94% of countries as of 2016. We constructed five networks: (1) geographic distance, (2) general trade, (3) tobacco trade, (4) GLOBALink referrals, and (5) GLOBALink co-subscriptions.