scholarly journals Southern African responses to the COVID-19 pandemic: A study of Botswana and South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyanai Masiya ◽  
David Mandiyanike ◽  
Dintle Molosiwa ◽  
Adrino Mazenda
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
World Health ◽  
Effective Management ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
The World ◽  
Response Measures ◽  
Health Organization

Background: Southern African countries adopted diverse responses to the challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, which manifested itself as both a health and economic disaster.Aim: Using a case study approach of two South African countries, namely Botswana and South Africa, the article assessed their response measures to the COVID-19 pandemic.Setting: Southern African countries applied ‘domesticated’ forms of responses thus, there has been no one-size-fits-all approach to managing the pandemic.Methods: The study adopted a qualitative approach. Two case studies namely Botswana and South Africa were used. Documentary evidence was drawn from these case studies.Results: To ensure that Southern African countries and indeed the world in general navigate the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) developed operational planning guidelines that had sought to balance the demands of responding effectively to COVID-19 and the need to serve economies from collapse. However, an analysis of the programmes of responses in South African countries such as Botswana showed the ‘domestication’ of the guidelines. Nevertheless, the guidelines, although having met with criticism in some cases had significantly contributed to the effective management of COVID-19 health and economic effects.Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic required the state and its institutions to exercise effective leadership and unified action. In South African countries such as Botswana and South Africa, this pandemic showed the importance of governments in shaping the effectiveness of national responses, strategies and approaches in tackling the crisis.

scholarly journals An Evaluative Study of Criminalistics: A Case of South African Counterfeiting and Knock-Off Menace

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-60
Author(s):  
Godfrey Thenga
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Health Hazard ◽  
Capital Flight ◽  
Tax Revenue ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Counterfeit Goods ◽  
Evaluative Study ◽  
The World

Counterfeit goods are a health hazard to human life, environment and business. More so as the goods destroy the viability of legitimate businesses across the world. Counterfeit goods are characterized as a threat to the financial viability of legitimate businesses and has a dire impact on the tax revenue of countries, necessitating its effective and efficient policing for the financial wellbeing of countries. If not well managed, counterfeit goods could lead to unemployment, disinvestment and capital flight in countries. The available evidence reveals that even though counterfeit goods has dire consequences for the economic wellbeing of countries, its penalties in most African countries are less severe in comparison to penalties for other crimes. The sight of counterfeit goods in many places, such as on busy street corners and transportation terminals in the Southern parts of Africa, attests to its prevalence in the continent. Especially in South Africa as the country has become a transit point for contrabands. Post 1994, South Africa opened its borders to the world of branded and protected goods and this enabled rogue people to trade in counterfeit goods. Effective policing is hindered by the use of sophisticated skills and expertise that leads to counterfeit goods resembling genuine goods. Moreover, in South Africa, the problem persists despite the promulgation of the Counterfeit Goods Act 37 of 1997, thus questioning the effectiveness of the policing strategies in use to quell the problem.

scholarly journals Tuberculosis registration rates analysis and prediction based on exponential smoothing model: could tuberculosis control milestones be achieved in 2020, 2025 in Henan province, China?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanqiu Zhang ◽  
Xinxu Li ◽  
Weibin Li ◽  
Jianguo Jiang ◽  
Guolong Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Confidence Interval ◽  
Early Response ◽  
Information Management System ◽  
Exponential Smoothing ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Henan Province ◽  
World Health ◽  
The World ◽  
Response Measures ◽  
Health Organization

Abstract Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) End TB Strategy meant that compared with 2015 baseline, the reduction in pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) incidence should be 20% and 50% in 2020 and 2025, respectively. The case number of PTB in China accounted for 9% of the global total in 2018, which ranked the second high in the world. From 2007 to 2019, 854,672 active PTB cases were registered and treated in Henan Province, China. We need to assess whether the WHO milestones could be achieved in Henan Province.Methods: The active PTB numbers in Henan Province from 2007 to 2019, registered in Chinese Tuberculosis Information Management System (CTIMS) were analyzed to predict the active PTB registration rates in 2020 and 2025, which is conductive to early response measures to ensure the achievement of the WHO milestones. The time series model was created by monthly active PTB registration rates from 2007 to 2016, and the optimal model was verified by data from 2017 to 2019. Monthly active PTB registration rates and 95% confidence interval (CI) from 2020 to 2025 were predicted.Results: High active PTB registration rates in March, April, May and June showed the seasonal variations. The exponential smoothing winter’s multiplication model was selected as the best-fitting model. The predicted values were approximately consistent with the observed ones from 2017 to 2019. The annual active PTB registration rates were predicted as 49.1 (95% CI: 36.2-62.0) and 34.4 (95% CI: 18.6-50.2) per 100,000 population in 2020 and 2025, respectively. Compared with the active PTB registration rate in 2015, the reduction will reach 23.7% (95% CI: 3.2%-44.1%) and 46.8% (95% CI: 21.4%-72.1%) in 2020 and 2025, respectively.Conclusions: The high active PTB registration rates in spring and early summer indicate that high risk of tuberculosis infection in late autumn and winter in Henan Province. Without regard to the confidence interval, the first milestone of WHO End TB Strategy in 2020 will be achieved. However, the second milestone in 2025 will not be easily achieved unless there are early response measures in Henan Province, China.

scholarly journals Expanding Waistlines: A "Nutrition Transition" in China

Elements ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kitsy Smith
Keyword(s):  
Nutrition Transition ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
World Health ◽  
Economic Productivity ◽  
Obesity Epidemic ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Medical Advances

As China's coffers have swelled over the past three decades, its citizens' waistlines have also expanded. Western goods and lifestyles habits are consistently being imported into the Asian giant, including the obesity epidemic. Chinese children are particularly susceptible and future generations face tremendous health risks despite medical advances. States and international bodies such as the World Health Organization are alarmed at the damage obesity is already producing. The price tag to treat the health problems associated with obesity and the rsulting loss in economic productivity is staggering. While this essay uses China as a case study to examine the causes of obesity and its consequences, social and economic health, the grim reality is that this pattern is occurring worldwide as countries develop and their people adopt Western "nutritional" norms.

scholarly journals The Impact of COVID-19 on Tourism: A Case Study of Lumbini, Nepal

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-43
Author(s):  
Bhim Bahadur Kunwar
Keyword(s):  
Tourism Industry ◽  
World Health ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Tourism Sector ◽  
The World ◽  
Global Tourism ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Impact

This research aims to discover and present the impacts of COVID-19 in tourism in the context of Lumbini and its premises. As COVID-19 spread globally, it has created many challenges in health and security, daily lives, the national economy, and the global tourism industry. The COVID-19 outbreak has been considered as the most challenging tragedy that occurred in the world after the 2nd world war. The World Health Organization (WHO) had listed Nepal also as a country with a high-risk zone of COVID-19.The travel restriction and nationwide lock-down implemented by many countries including Nepal have resulted in a stranded traveler’s movement. As the consequences ticket reservation, flight services, transportation, hotel, and restaurants were closed and several job losses were registered in the tourism sector. The negative effects like fear, threat, frustration, and losing the confidence of tourism entrepreneurs appeared. This has brought changes in the tourists’ behavior and their motivation to travel for the next few years. In Lumbini businesses like lodges, hotels, restaurants, and travel offices were also severely affected by the pandemic. Thus, the tourism sector has been facing serious threats due to the prolonged lockdown and closing of tourism activities than the terror of COVID-19 itself.

scholarly journals Time series analysis of tuberculosis registration rates from 2007 to 2019 and prediction: could tuberculosis control milestones be achieved in 2020 and 2025 in Henan Province, China?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanqiu Zhang ◽  
Weibin Li ◽  
Jianguo Jiang ◽  
Guolong Zhang ◽  
Yan Zhuang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Confidence Interval ◽  
Early Response ◽  
Information Management System ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Henan Province ◽  
World Health ◽  
The World ◽  
Response Measures ◽  
Health Organization

Abstract Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) End TB Strategy meant that compared with 2015 baseline, the reduction in pulmonary tuberculosis(PTB) incidence rate should be 20% and 50% in 2020 and 2025, respectively. The incidence number of PTB in China accounted for 9% of the global total in 2018, which ranked the second high in the world. From 2007 to 2019, 854,672active PTB cases were registered and treated in Henan Province, China. We need to assess whether the WHO milestones could be achieved in Henan Province. Methods: The active PTB numbers in Henan Province from 2007 to2019, registered in Chinese Tuberculosis Information Management System (CTIMS) were analyzed to predict the active PTB registration rates in 2020 and 2025, which is conductive to early response measures to ensure the achievement of the WHO milestones. The time series model was created by monthly active PTB registration rates from 2007 to 2016, and the optimal model was verified by data from 2017 to 2019. Monthly and annual active PTB registration rates and 95% confidence interval (CI) from 2020 to 2025 were predicted. Results: High active PTB registration rates in March, April, May and June showed the seasonal variations. The exponential smoothing winter’s multiplication model was selected as the best-fitting model. The predicted values were approximately consistent with the observed ones from 2017 to 2019. The annual active PTB registration rates were predicted as 49.2 (95% CI: 36.0-62.5) and 34.3 (95% CI: 17.7-50.8) per 100 ,000 population in 2020 and 2025 , respectively. Compared with the active PTB registration rate in 2015, the reduction will reach 23.7% (95% CI: 3.1%-44.2%) and 46.9% (95% CI: 21.3%-72.5%) in 2020 and 2025, respectively. Conclusions: The high active PTB registration rates in spring and early summer indicates that high risk of tuberculosis infection in late autumn and winter in Henan Province. Without regard to the confidence interval, the first milestone of WHO End TB Strategy in 2020 will be achieved. However, the second milestone in 2025 will not be easily achieved unless there are early response measures in Henan Province, China. Trial registration: Not applicable

scholarly journals Reducing environmental hazard caused by disposed mobile phones in developing countries

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 92-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfred Coleman
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Mobile Phones ◽  
Environmental Effect ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Environmental Hazard ◽  
Case Study Approach ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Phone Service

The utilization of unused and retired mobile phones in South Africa and other African countries poses a significant environmental hazard. Disposing of retired mobile phones in a safe manner has become an issue of concern in South Africa because of health and environmental hazards associated with it. This study investigates the methods of disposing and recycling of old, unused and retired mobile phones and their associated environmental effect on humans and plants in Africa. A case study approach was used in this paper. Participants were selected from three cities in South Africa, targeting three government institutions and three mobile phone service providers. Semi-structured, open-ended interview questions were used to get evidence from the participants regarding how old, unused and retired mobile phones are disposed and possible effect of these on the environment. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and coded. Findings revealed that most common method of disposing of old, retired mobile phones was donating them as gifts, selling to second-hand shops or storing in homes as spare phones. Based on findings, a proposed framework was developed to guide the collection process, reducing, reusing and recycling of old and retired mobile phones in Africa. The framework will not only assist manufacturers and retailers in selecting a better option of disposing old mobile phones, but also will to improve the hazardous environmental conditions, which affect humans and plants.

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