With one billion people on the move or having moved in 2018, migration is a global reality, which has also become a political lightning rod. Although estimates indicate that the majority of global migration occurs within low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), the most prominent dialogue focuses almost exclusively on migration from LMICs to high-income countries (HICs). Nowadays, populist discourse demonises the very same individuals who uphold economies, bolster social services, and contribute to health services in both origin and destination locations.
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November 2016
Background: Tuberculosis elimination in countries with a low incidence of the disease necessitates multiple interventions, including innovations in migrant screening. We examined a cohort of migrants screened for tuberculosis before entry to England, Wales, and Northern Ireland and tracked the development of disease in this group after arrival.
Methods: As part of a pilot pre-entry screening programme for tuberculosis in 15 countries with a high incidence of the disease, the International Organization for Migration screened all applicants for UK visas aged 11 years or older who intended to stay for more than 6 months.
Background: An increasing number of countries with low incidence of tuberculosis have pre-entry screening programmes for migrants. We present the first estimates of the prevalence of and risk factors for tuberculosis in migrants from 15 high-incidence countries screened before entry to the UK.
Methods: We did a population-based cross-sectional study of applicants for long-term visas who were screened for tuberculosis before entry to the UK in a pilot programme between Oct 1, 2005, and Dec 31, 2013.
Background: Trafficking is a crime of global proportions involving extreme forms of exploitation and abuse. Yet little research has been done of the health risks and morbidity patterns for men, women, and children trafficked for various forms of forced labour.
Methods: We carried out face-to-face interviews with a consecutive sample of individuals entering 15 post-trafficking services in Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Project Advancing Cessation of Tobacco in Vulnerable Indian Tobacco Consuming Youth (ACTIVITY) is a community-based group randomized intervention trial focused on disadvantaged youth (aged 10-19 years) residing in 14 low-income communities (slums and resettlement colonies) in Delhi, India. This article discusses the findings of Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) conducted to inform the development and test the appropriateness of Project ACTIVITY's intervention model. The findings of the FGDs facilitated the understanding of factors contributing to increased tobacco uptake and cessation (both smoking and smokeless tobacco) among youth in this setting.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Self-reported tobacco use among young people can underestimate the actual prevalence of tobacco use. Biochemical validation of self-reports is particularly recommended for intervention studies where cessation outcomes are to be measured. Literature on biochemical validation of self-reports of multiple forms of tobacco use in India is sparse, particularly among young people.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntervention programs aimed at preventing tobacco use among youth have been shown to be effective in curbing tobacco use onset and progression. However, the effects of even very successful tobacco prevention programs may not always impress policy-makers and lay audiences. Economic analysis potentially strengthens the case.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Obesity is emerging as a public health problem among adolescents in India. The aim of this study was to describe specific weight-related concerns among school-going youth in Delhi, India and to assess the prevalence of weight control behaviors, including healthy and unhealthy ones. Differences by weight status, gender, grade level, and school-type (a proxy for SES in this setting) are considered.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Not much is known about the academic correlates of tobacco use among students in developing countries. This study investigated associations between multiple forms of tobacco use, psychosocial risk factors, and academic failure among 10- to 16-year-old government school students in Delhi and Chennai, India.
Methods: This study was a secondary analysis of data gathered from students in 7 government schools during a larger tobacco intervention trial in India.
Few studies have explored the relationship between acculturation and health in non-immigrant populations. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between "westernization" and tobacco use among adolescents living in Delhi, India. A bi-dimensional model of acculturation was adapted for use in this study to examine (a) whether young people's identification with Western culture in this setting is related to tobacco use, and (b) whether their maintenance of more traditional Indian ways of living is related to tobacco use.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To provide an overview of Project ACTIVITY, a group randomized intervention trial designed to test the efficacy of a community-based, comprehensive approach to tobacco control for youth (10-19 years) living in low- income communities in India. In doing so, details regarding baseline characteristics of the study sample are provided.
Methods: Fourteen slum communities in Delhi, India were matched and randomized to intervention (n=7) and control (n=7) conditions.
Introduction: In 2004, baseline surveys of Project MYTRI, a randomized intervention trial in Chennai and Delhi, India, found that tobacco use among 6th graders was greater than that among 8th graders. These results were surprising - typically, tobacco use increases with grade level. The present study aimed to assess whether this unique differential was sustained over time, as students moved into higher grades.
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