BMJ Glob Health
January 2025
Introduction: Understanding sex and gender differences during outbreaks is critical to delivering an effective response. Although recommendations and minimum requirements exist, the incorporation of sex-disaggregated data and gender analysis into outbreak analytics and response for informed decision-making remains infrequent. A scoping review was conducted to provide an overview of the extent of sex-disaggregated data and gender analysis in outbreak response within low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In October 2021, a large outbreak of cholera was declared in Cameroon, disproportionately affecting the Southwest region, one of 10 administrative regions in the country. In this region, the cases were concentrated in three major cities where a humanitarian crisis had concomitantly led to an influx of internally displaced persons. Meanwhile, across the border, Nigeria was facing an unprecedented cholera outbreak.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the realm of global health policy, the intricacies of power dynamics and intersectionality have become increasingly evident. Structurally embedded power hierarchies constitute a significant concern in achieving health for all and demand transformational change. Adopting intersectional feminist approaches potentially mitigates health inequities through more inclusive and responsive health policies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn a global context, the pernicious effects of colonialism and coloniality are increasingly being recognised in many sectors. As a result, calls to reverse colonial aphasia and amnesia, and decolonise, are getting stronger. This raises a number of questions, particularly for entities that acted as agents of (previous) colonising countries and worked to further the progress of the colonial project: What does decolonisation mean for such historically colonial entities? How can they confront their (forgotten) arsonist past while addressing their current role in maintaining coloniality, at home and abroad? Given the embeddedness of many such entities in current global (power) structures of coloniality, do these entities really want change, and if so, how can such entities redefine their future to ensure that they are and remain 'decolonised'? We attempt to answer these questions, by reflecting on our efforts to think through and start the process of decolonisation at the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) in Antwerp, Belgium.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Pre-existing racial/ethnic disparities in health, sustained by intersecting socio-economic and structural inequities, have widened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, little attention has been paid to the lived experiences of people in ethnic/racialised minority communities, and to the causes and effects underlying the COVID-19-related burden. This hinders tailored responses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Optimising antibiotic use is important to limit increasing antibiotic resistance. In rural Burkina Faso, over-the-counter dispensing of antibiotics in community pharmacies and non-licensed medicine retail outlets facilitates self-medication. We investigated its extent, reasons and dispensing patterns.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHistorically, across Europe, data and research on/with racially minoritised groups have not been collected or carried out in a sufficient, adequate, or appropriate manner. Yet, to understand emerging and existing health disparities among such groups, researchers and policymakers must obtain and use data to build evidence that informs decision-making and action on key structural and social determinants of health. This systematic search and review aims to contribute to closing this gap and promote a race-conscious approach to health research, strengthening the utilisation and deployment of data and research on/with racially minoritised groups in Europe.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Equity Health
May 2022
Background: In high income countries, racialized/ethnic minorities are disproportionally affected by COVID-19. Despite the established importance of community involvement in epidemic preparedness, we lack in-depth understanding of these communities' experiences with and responses to COVID-19. We explored information and prevention needs, coping mechanisms with COVID-19 control measures and their impact on lived experiences among selected racialized/ethnic minority communities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Objectives: Many clinical supervisors in family medicine feel ill-equipped to teach senior care to their family medicine residents (trainees). We therefore sought to explore their preferred learning strategies for improving their clinical and teaching skills with regard to senior care.
Methods: In this qualitative study, we conducted focus groups and interviews with supervisors from four family medicine clinics, to explore their preferred educational strategies.
Background: The importance of community involvement in the response against disease outbreaks has been well established. However, we lack insights into local communities' experiences in coping with the current COVID-19 pandemic. This study explored both the impact of, and response to, COVID-19 within the Orthodox Jewish communities of Antwerp (Belgium) during the first lockdown period (March 2020 - May 2020).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Int Bioethique Ethique Sci
October 2015
This article considers the difficulty of applying ethical norms as part of an anthropological research on moralities and ethics of healing practices in St. Lucia (Caribbean). This reflection is based on the moral evaluations related to obeah, locally conceived as a set of magical, religious and witchcraft practices that helps to manage disease and misfortune.
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