The Health of Indigenous Populations in South Asia: A Critical Review in a Critical Time.

Despite South Asia's promising social inclusion processes, staggering social and health inequalities leave indigenous populations largely excluded. Marginalization in the South Asian polity, unequal power relations, and poor policy responses deter Adivasi populations' rights and opportunities for health gains and dignity. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is likely to result in a disproportionate share of infections and deaths among the Adivasis, given poor social conditions and exclusions.

The price of a woman: Re-examining the use of financial incentives for women's health in India.

The use of financial incentives is a common instrument to advance women's health across low and middle-income countries. Since the 1990s, the conditional cash transfer (CCT) for health has been generally lauded by researchers, policy makers and international financial institutions due to demonstrated improvements in access to health services and a range of health outcomes. Some scholars, however, have cautioned that CCTs should be further scrutinised to assess potential unintended consequences and moral concerns in a variety of contexts.

Can Short-term Economic Policies Hurt the Health of the Poor? Demonetization in India.

In November 2016, the Government of India (GOI) demonetized the commonly used Rs500 and Rs1,000 denominations. This was a short-term economic policy, known as notebandi, implemented as a means to address black money, counterfeit currencies, and terrorist activities. Notebandi was unrolled in a chaotic, confusing, and complex manner, leaving many people with limited access to cash in their daily activities.

Public Health Research and Scheduled Tribes: An ethical lens.

In this commentary, it is argued that greater attention paid to ethical considerations related to doing Public Health Research with Scheduled Tribes (STs) should be prioritized. Given the high levels of health needs among STs as well as their high levels of deprivation, cultural oppression, and impingement on their rights, there is a need to revisit our research practices to contribute to better health and overall empowerment. Specific strategies that could be integrated into research practice are offered.

Promoting women's health in an era of globalization: a South Asian perspective.

Promoting the health of women requires an understanding of the full range of factors shaping their health, including globalization. Focusing on South Asia, I outline some of the critical global women's health issues that warrant further attention by health promotion researchers. I discuss the inadequacy of international approaches for improving the health of South Asian women, occupational health hazards associated with global industries targeting women, new forms of gender based violence, gendered ethical challenges arising as global and local forces collide and the rise of transnational feminist networks that can be harnessed for advancing women's health across the region.

Research and the health of indigenous populations in low- and middle-income countries.

In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)-when there are available data-a 'health divide' exists between indigenous and non-indigenous populations living in the same society. Despite the limited available evidence suggesting that indigenous populations have high levels of health needs, there is scant research on indigenous health, especially in Africa, China and South Asia. Pursuing research, however, is clouded by the prior negative experiences that indigenous populations have had with researchers.

Urban food insecurity in the context of high food prices: a community based cross sectional study in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Background: High food prices have emerged as a major global challenge, especially for poor and urban households in low-income countries such as Ethiopia. However, there is little empirical evidence on urban food security and how people living in urban areas are coping with sustained high food prices. This study aims to address this gap by investigating the food insecurity situation in urban Ethiopia -a country experiencing sustained high food prices, high rates of urban poverty, and a growing urban population.

Globalization and the rise of precarious employment: the new frontier for workplace health promotion.

Global market integration over the past three decades has led to labour market restructuring in most countries around the world. Employment flexibility has been emphasized as a way for employers to restructure their organizations to remain globally competitive. This flexibility has resulted in the growth of precarious employment, which has been exacerbated by the global financial crisis and resulting recession in 2007/2008, and the ongoing economic uncertainty throughout much of the world.

From bulldozing to housing rights: reducing vulnerability and improving health in African slums.

Forced evictions heighten vulnerability among slum dwellers who already face multiple risks of ill health. They constitute a well-documented violation of economic and social rights and are reaching epidemic proportions in sub-Saharan Africa as economic globalization creates and strengthens incentives for forced evictions. We describe evictions in the slums of four African metropolitan areas: Accra (Ghana), Lagos (Nigeria), Luanda (Angola) and Nairobi (Kenya).

Debt, shame, and survival: becoming and living as widows in rural Kerala, India.

Background: The health and well-being of widows in India is an important but neglected issue of public health and women's rights. We investigate the lives of Indian women as they become widows, focussing on the causes of their husband's mortality and the ensuing consequences of these causes on their own lives and identify the opportunities and challenges that widows face in living healthy and fulfilling lives.

Methods: Data were collected in a Gram Panchayat (lowest level territorial decentralised unit) in the south Indian state of Kerala.

"Health divide" between indigenous and non-indigenous populations in Kerala, India: population based study.

Background: The objective of this study is to investigate the magnitude and nature of health inequalities between indigenous (Scheduled Tribes) and non-indigenous populations, as well as between different indigenous groups, in a rural district of Kerala State, India.

Methods: A health survey was carried out in a rural community (N = 1660 men and women, 18-96 years). Age- and sex-standardised prevalence of underweight (BMI < 18.

Towards the next generation of public health research in India: a call for a health equity lens.

Background: Public health research is at a cross road in India. Despite a high level of health needs and new public health challenges arising in the context of rapid economic growth and social change, public health research is not keeping up with the needs of Indian society. There are, however, new initiatives creating opportunities to increase public health research, thereby raising debates about public health research priorities.

Reducing inequalities in health and access to health care in a rural Indian community: an India-Canada collaborative action research project.

Background: Inadequate public action in vulnerable communities is a major constraint for the health of poor and marginalized groups in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). The south Indian state of Kerala, known for relatively equitable provision of public resources, is no exception to the marginalization of vulnerable communities. In Kerala, women's lives are constrained by gender-based inequalities and certain indigenous groups are marginalized such that their health and welfare lag behind other social groups.

Framing international trade and chronic disease.

There is an emerging evidence base that global trade is linked with the rise of chronic disease in many low and middle-income countries (LMICs). This linkage is associated, in part, with the global diffusion of unhealthy lifestyles and health damaging products posing a particular challenge to countries still facing high burdens of communicable disease. We developed a generic framework which depicts the determinants and pathways connecting global trade with chronic disease.

Alcohol use and its consequences in South India: views from a marginalised tribal population.

Background: Alcohol consumption in India is disproportionately higher among poorer and socially marginalised groups, notably Scheduled Tribes (STs). We lack an understanding of STs own views with regard to alcohol, which is important for implementing appropriate interventions.

Methods: This study was undertaken with the Paniyas (a previously enslaved ST) in a rural community in Kerala, South India.

Women's health in developing countries: beyond an investment?

Most international programs and policies devised to improve women's health in developing countries have been shaped by powerful agencies and development ideologies, including the tendency to view women solely through the lens of instrumentalism (i.e., as a means to an end).

A systematic review of population health interventions and Scheduled Tribes in India.

Background: Despite India's recent economic growth, health and human development indicators of Scheduled Tribes (ST) or Adivasi (India's indigenous populations) lag behind national averages. The aim of this review was to identify the public health interventions or components of these interventions that are effective in reducing morbidity or mortality rates and reducing risks of ill health among ST populations in India, in order to inform policy and to identify important research gaps.

Methods: We systematically searched and assessed peer-reviewed literature on evaluations or intervention studies of a population health intervention undertaken with an ST population or in a tribal area, with a population health outcome(s), and involving primary data collection.

Making sense of the global economy: 10 resources for health promoters.

Population health is shaped by more than local or national influences-the global matters. Health promotion practitioners and researchers increasingly are challenged to engage with upstream factors related to the global economy, such as global prescriptions for national macroeconomic policies, debt relief and international trade. This paper identifies 10 books (A Brief History of Neoliberalism, Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism, The World is Not Flat: Inequality and Injustice in Our Global Economy, Globalization and its Discontents, The Debt Threat: How Debt is Destroying the Developing World, Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy, A Race Against Time, Globalization and Health: An Introduction, Global Public Goods for Health: Health Economics and Public Health Perspectives, Trade and Health: Seeking Common Ground) and several key reports that we found to be particularly useful for understanding the global economy's effects on people's health.

Paniya Voices: a Participatory Poverty and Health Assessment among a marginalized South Indian tribal population.

Background: In India, indigenous populations, known as Adivasi or Scheduled Tribes (STs), are among the poorest and most marginalized groups. 'Deprived' ST groups tend to display high levels of resignation and to lack the capacity to aspire; consequently their health perceptions often do not adequately correspond to their real health needs. Moreover, similar to indigenous populations elsewhere, STs often have little opportunity to voice perspectives framed within their own cultural worldviews.

"My story is like a goat tied to a hook." Views from a marginalized tribal group in Kerala (India) on the consequences of falling ill: a participatory poverty and health assessment.

Background: Indigenous populations tend to have the poorest health outcomes worldwide and they have limited opportunities to present their own perspectives of their situation and shape priorities in research and policy. This study aims to explain low healthcare utilisation rates and opportunities to cope with illness among a deprived indigenous group - based on their own experiences and views.

Methods: A participatory poverty and health assessment (PPHA) was conducted among the Paniyas, a previously enslaved tribal population of South India in a Gram Panchayat in Kerala, India in 2008.

Driving the global public health research agenda forward by promoting the participation of students and new researchers: perspectives from Quebec.

Objectives: Current trends suggest a movement towards driving forward a global health research agenda in Canada in order to redress global health research inequalities. In this paper, we explore how to promote the participation of students and new researchers in global health in Quebec. To accomplish this, we undertook a study in order to: 1) document the state of teaching and research activities in global health in Quebec and 2) obtain the point of view of various actors on conducting global health research in the Quebec context.

Evaluating the unintended health consequences of poverty alleviation strategies: or what is the relevance of Mohammed Yunus to public health?

Public health researchers are increasingly shifting their attention away from merely documenting those factors that determine health--a solid evidence base on health determinants now exists--to improving our understanding of how various interventions influence population health. This paper argues for greater investigations of the potential unintended health benefits associated with participation in a poverty alleviation strategy (PAS) in low-income countries. We focus on microcredit, a PAS that has been spreading across the developing world.

Can microcredit help improve the health of poor women? Some findings from a cross-sectional study in Kerala, India.

Background: This study examines associations between female participation in a microcredit program in India, known as self help groups (SHGs), and women's health in the south Indian state of Kerala. Because SHGs do not have a formal health program, this provides a unique opportunity to assess whether SHG participation influences women's health via the social determinants of health.

Methods: This cross-sectional study used special survey data collected in 2003 from one Panchayat (territorial decentralized unit).

Healthy public policy in poor countries: tackling macro-economic policies.

Large segments of the population in poor countries continue to suffer from a high level of unmet health needs, requiring macro-level, broad-based interventions. Healthy public policy, a key health promotion strategy, aims to put health on the agenda of policy makers across sectors and levels of government. Macro-economic policy in developing countries has thus far not adequately captured the attention of health promotion researchers.