ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Global Emergency Medicine: A Review of the Literature from 2018

Objectives: The Global Emergency Medicine Literature Review (GEMLR) conducts a systematic annual search of peer-reviewed and gray literature relevant to global emergency medicine (EM) to identify, review, and disseminate the most rigorously conducted and widely relevant research in global EM. Methods: An electronic search of PubMed, a comprehensive retrieval of articles from specific journals, and search of the gray literature were conducted. Title and abstracts retrieved by these searches were screened by a total of 22 reviewers based on their relevance to the field of global EM, across the domains of disaster and humanitarian response (DHR), emergency care in resource-limited settings (ECRLS), and emergency medicine development (EMD). All articles that were deemed relevant by at least one reviewer, their editor, and the managing editor underwent formal scoring of overall methodologic quality and importance to global EM. Two independent reviewers scored all articles; editors provided a third score in cases of widely discrepant scores. Results: A total of 19,102 articles were identified by the searches and, after screening and removal of duplicates, a total of 517 articles underwent full review. Twenty-five percent were categorized as DHR, 61% as ECRLS, and 15% as EMD. Inter-rater reliability testing between the reviewers revealed a Cohen’s kappa score of 0.213 when considering the complete score or 0.426 when excluding the more subjective half of the score. A total of 25 articles scored higher than 17.5 of 20; these were selected for a full summary and critique. Conclusions: In 2018, the total number of articles relevant to global EM that were identified by our search continued to increase. Studies and reviews focusing on pediatric infections, several new and traditionally underrepresented topics, and landscape reviews that may help guide clinical care in new settings represented the majority of top-scoring articles. A shortage of articles related to the development of EM as a specialty was identified.

Source: UG
Global encounters: Slavery and slave lifeways on nineteenth century Danish plantations on the Gold Coast, Ghana

The global processes unleashed due to the European maritime exploration and commercial activities as from 1500 AD onwards affected indigenous peoples and cultures of the Atlantic world. In West Africa, the European presence precipitated the Atlantic slave trade, which involved the exportation of millions of Africans into slavery. In the nineteenth century a so-called legitimate trade in colonial agricultural commodities replaced the Atlantic slave trade. As a result, the Danes established agricultural plantations on the Gold Coast and exported tropical crops for processing and consumption in Denmark and the West Indies. Enslaved Africans were used by the Danes to cultivate the plantations in the foothills of the Akuapem Mountains and along the estuary of the Volta River. This paper combines information from written sources, ethnography, oral information and archaeology to investigate the living conditions of the enslaved workers on the plantations. The archaeological data was recovered from the Frederiksgave plantation at Sesemi near Abokobi in the Akuapem Mountains of southeastern Gold Coast (Ghana).

Source: UG
The Global Environmental Hazard of E-Waste and its Threat to Human Security: A Case Study of Agbogbloshie E-Waste Dumpsite

The rapid and intense digitization of most developing economies has set these nations on a course towards becoming the most prolific source of e-waste generation in the coming years. The adverse implications for health due to exposure to hazardous e-waste have long been recognized. However, questions remain regarding the efforts made by relevant Ghanaian authorities in implementing the key international convention on e-waste in Ghana and also, the effect e-waste has on people living in and around Agbogbloshie dumpsite. A descriptive study was carried out with the aim of assessing the extent the global e-waste problem is negatively affecting the environment and the workers and dwellers in and around Agbogbloshie e-waste dump site. This study involved 30 participants from the Agbogbloshie community in Accra, Ghana, and subject matter experts. The results showed that e-waste workers and permanent residents had common environmental exposures and hence, shared respiratory and other health symptoms. Findings also revealed that Government and other agencies have since made considerable efforts to ensure the problem of electronic waste is effectively managed. However, a lot more remains to be done in that regard. The researcher suggested that there should be immediate policy development and law enforcement on a ban of crude e-waste recycling practices such as open-air burning which poses environmental and human health hazards. Also, both e-waste workers and permanent residents should be educated on the hazards and risk associated with their work or otherwise, stays in the Agbogbloshie community and how they can minimize exposures. Lastly, the researcher recommended that there is the need to adopt modernized and less hazardous e-waste recycling practices to help minimize exposure levels and hence protect both workers as well as vulnerable populations nearby.

Source: UG
Global epidemiology, health burden and effective interventions for elevated blood pressure and hypertension

High blood pressure is one of the most important risk factors for ischaemic heart disease, stroke, other cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney disease and dementia. Mean blood pressure and the prevalence of raised blood pressure have declined substantially in high-income regions since at least the 1970s. By contrast, blood pressure has risen in East, South and Southeast Asia, Oceania and sub-Saharan Africa. Given these trends, the prevalence of hypertension is now higher in low-income and middle-income countries than in high-income countries. In 2015, an estimated 8.5 million deaths were attributable to systolic blood pressure >115mmHg, 88% of which were in low-income and middle-income countries. Measures such as increasing the availability and affordability of fresh fruits and vegetables, lowering the sodium content of packaged and prepared food and staples such as bread, and improving the availability of dietary salt substitutes can help lower blood pressure in the entire population. The use and effectiveness of hypertension treatment vary substantially across countries. Factors influencing this variation include a country’s financial resources, the extent of health insurance and health facilities, how frequently people interact with physicians and non-physician health personnel, whether a clear and widely adopted clinical guideline exists and the availability of medicines. Scaling up treatment coverage and improving its community effectiveness can substantially reduce the health burden of hypertension.

Source: UG
The Global Financial Crisis and African Economies: Impact and Transmission Channels

This paper is intended to highlight the general impact of the crisis on African countries in terms of economic performance and then show some variations across countries by discussing how the different transmission channels operated in them, and what their effects have been. The paper has noted that the global financial and economic crisis has affected African economies in a significant way, mostly indirectly through the harm it causes to the real sectors of the economies. In aggregate terms, the impact has been quite strong, as shown by the sharp drop in aggregate output around the region. Even though there are both direct and indirect channels for transmitting the crisis to African economies from the rest of the world, the indirect channels have been more pronounced in their effects largely on account of the structures of these economies. The integration of these economies into the global economy has been largely on account of trade in goods and also the consequence of migration, hence the effects on the real sectors and in remittance flows. There have been significant variations in the impact of the crisis across countries, and this has been influenced largely by the quality of institutions, particularly for regulation, and initial conditions prevailing in the countries.

Source: UG
The global food and financial crises and the poor in Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa was significantly affected by the global food and economic crises of the late 2000s, with the continent suffering pronounced negative impacts on many of its countries and people. Given its widespread poverty, dependence on commodity exports, and status as a net food importer, the continent experienced a series of shocks as it was hit first with sharply rising food prices in 2007-2008, then by falling global prices for its exports, and finally by the depletion of foreign reserves to pay for imports and necessary goods. These impacts reversed past gains in poverty reduction and led to increased undernourishment, poor health, infant mortality and social unrest. The global financial crisis and economic recession which followed immediately thereafter further worsened the state of many African economies and people, most notably the poor. The financial and economic crises were transmitted to African economies both through direct channels-stock and bond markets, the banking sector, declines in foeign direct investment, and depreciated exchange rates-and even more strongly through indirect channels-significant declines in export prices, export revenues, official development assistance, and remittances. Economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa-in oil-producing and non-oil producing countries alike-slowed significantly in 2009 following impressive performance earlier in the decade. This chapter highlights developments in three countries-Ghana, Zambia and Nigeria-to illustrate the diverse impacts of the crises. Overall, the poor in sub-Saharan Africa experienced a 'double agony' as a result of the simultaneous crises, with negative consequences for poverty, undernourishment and infant mortality. Although the economic recovery followed more rapidly than expected and is now well underway, sub-Saharan Africa continues to be at risk once again with rising food prices in 2010-2011. While African governments made significant strides in mitigating the impact of the crises on their economies, much less progress has been made in softening the blows of the food and financial crises on the poor. Just as governments have adopted counter-cyclical macroeconomic policies, governments must, in the future, do a better job of implementing counter-cyclical social protection programs to assist poor and vulnerable populations and help ensure that external economic shocks do not derail long-term poverty reduction goals. © CAB International 2011.

Source: UG
Global food chains, African smallholders and world bank governance

This paper critically examines the World Bank's analysis of the development of agribusiness in Africa in the World Development Report 2008 in relationship to its governance policies, which seek to introduce institutional reforms to promote private and public sector linkages with the participation of civil society. The paper argues that this confuses food chain governance (control over quality and the logistics of production) with democratic governance and essentially promotes oligopolization of the food industry and the interests of the powerful in the name of smallholder farmers. © Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Source: UG
Global health and the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation

David McCoy and colleagues' analysis of the grant-making programme of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation1 raises many questions that can be addressed properly only by extended study and debate. However, as recipients of major Gates Foundation awards for malaria programmes, there are some conclusions in the article, and in the accompanying Comment by Robert Black and colleagues,2 with which we disagree. First, McCoy and colleagues' acknowledged under-representation of developing-country recipients and the failure to take into account subrecipients of awards is a serious flaw in their approach and undermines their conclusions. In fact, six of the Gates-funded malaria programmes with which we are associated, and for which European or American institutions are classified as the major recipients of the awards, are partnerships between southern and northern institutions focused entirely on the needs and priorities of disease-endemic developing countries. The greatest part of the funding in all cases goes to the developing countries. Second, McCoy and colleagues conclude that the awards are made through an informal system of personal networks and relationships, with no independent or technical peer review. This has certainly not been our experience. The relationships developed with the knowledgeable, experienced, and committed project officers (a system also operated by other major funders) have been very beneficial but in no way lessens the rigour of the review process or of the reporting procedures required.

Source: UG
Global health design: Clinical immersion, opportunity identification and definition, and design experiences

We have developed an experiential learning global healthdesign program that emphasizes direct interactions with stakeholders and firsthand exposure to the contexts in which solutions will be implemented. Students in the program gain practical hands-on experience identifying and defining unmet global health needs in low-resource settings, and apply human-centered and co-creative design approaches. Device designs that incorporate rigorously collected and analyzed first-hand data from diverse users and stakeholders rather than anecdotal or poorly represented information are more effective at meeting true needs. To date, more than 100 undergraduate student participants have identified hundreds of needs in collaboration with sub-Saharan and Asian healthcare providers. Approximately 400students from the U.S., Ghana, Ethiopia, and Ugandahave contributed to the generation of technology concept solutions to address these needs. Program outcomes include approximately100student design projects completed at multiple institutions, student-led design-based conference publications and journal articles, device commercialization, and peer-to-peer mentoring within traditional capstone design courses. In this paper we describe the curricular elements of the clinical immersion and design ethnography experience. Additionally, we describe programmatic best practices that have emerged over the past 10 years and challenges students encounter when performing this front-end design work

Source: UG
Global implications of the new WHO and UNICEF implementation guidance on the revised Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative

Although breastfeeding confers both short- and long-term benefits for children and their mothers, breastfeeding practice remains suboptimal, globally. In addition to barriers including misperceptions and inappropriate marketing of breast milk substitutes, inadequate support for breastfeeding remains a challenge in many settings. To improve access to appropriate health system support, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reviewed the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI), which ensures provision of optimal clinical care and support to mothers and their infants. This review has resulted in revision of the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, which form the core standards of (BFHI). These now consist of critical management procedures to support breastfeeding (Steps 1 and 2) and key clinical practices to support breastfeeding (Steps 3-10). In Step 1, there is now specific emphasis on compliance with the WHO Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and relevant World Health Assembly resolutions as well as on internal monitoring. There are also significant position shifts like the recommendation to “Counsel mothers on the use and risks of feeding bottles, teats, and pacifiers,” which is a departure from the earlier position of avoiding reference to these technologies. These revisions require countries and states to revise activities and tools for their local situation but without compromising the standards. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Source: UG
Global marketing in business-to-business contexts: Challenges, developments, and opportunities

This article introduces the special issue on global marketing in business-to-business contexts. The aim is to advance knowledge on the subject that can stimulate further research in this important and emerging area of industrial marketing. The twelve contributions selected for this special issue bring together high quality con temporary research that address challenges and recent developments. The articles specifically offer unique in sights that progress understanding in the area, provide interesting managerial implications, and present intri guing opportunities for future researchers. These contributions reflect the variety of current work in global marketing in the business-to-business context. While most of the contributions in this special issue focus on the development and deployment of unique resources and capabilities to enhance international competitiveness and performance success, insights are also offered on international relationships and/or relationship marketing within the business-to-business context, country of origin effects, and knowledge transfer between international partners in subsidiaries. The article concludes with a summary of important avenues for further research.

Source: UG
Global Matrix 3.0 Physical Activity Report Card Grades for Children and Youth: Results and Analysis From 49 Countries

BACKGROUND: Accumulating sufficient moderate to vigorous physical activity is recognized as a key determinant of physical, physiological, developmental, mental, cognitive, and social health among children and youth (aged 5-17 y). The Global Matrix 3.0 of Report Card grades on physical activity was developed to achieve a better understanding of the global variation in child and youth physical activity and associated supports. METHODS: Work groups from 49 countries followed harmonized procedures to develop their Report Cards by grading 10 common indicators using the best available data. The participating countries were divided into 3 categories using the United Nations' human development index (HDI) classification (low or medium, high, and very high HDI). RESULTS: A total of 490 grades, including 369 letter grades and 121 incomplete grades, were assigned by the 49 work groups. Overall, an average grade of "C-," "D+," and "C-" was obtained for the low and medium HDI countries, high HDI countries, and very high HDI countries, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The present study provides rich new evidence showing that the situation regarding the physical activity of children and youth is a concern worldwide. Strategic public investments to implement effective interventions to increase physical activity opportunities are needed.

Source: UG
Global Matrix 3.0 Physical Activity Report Card Grades for Children and Youth: Results and Analysis From 49 Countries

Background: Accumulating sufficient moderate to vigorous physical activity is recognized as a key determinant of physical, physiological, developmental, mental, cognitive, and social health among children and youth (aged 5–17 y). The Global Matrix 3.0 of Report Card grades on physical activity was developed to achieve a better understanding of the global variation in child and youth physical activity and associated supports. Methods: Work groups from 49 countries followed harmonized procedures to develop their Report Cards by grading 10 common indicators using the best available data. The participating countries were divided into 3 categories using the United Nations’ human development index (HDI) classification (low or medium, high, and very high HDI). Results: A total of 490 grades, including 369 letter grades and 121 incomplete grades, were assigned by the 49 work groups. Overall, an average grade of “C−,” “D+,” and “C−” was obtained for the low and medium HDI countries, high HDI countries, and very high HDI countries, respectively. Conclusions: The present study provides rich new evidence showing that the situation regarding the physical activity of children and youth is a concern worldwide. Strategic public investments to implement effective interventions to increase physical activity opportunities are needed.

Source: UG
The global nutrition report 2014: Actions and accountability to accelerate the world's progress on nutrition

In 2013, the Nutrition for Growth Summit called for a Global Nutrition Report (GNR) to strengthen accountability in nutrition so that progress in reducing malnutrition could be accelerated. This article summarizes the results of the first GNR. By focusing on undernutrition and overweight, the GNR puts malnutrition in a new light. Nearly every country in the world is affected by malnutrition, and multiple malnutrition burdens are the "new normal." Unfortunately, the world is off track to meet the 2025 World Health Assembly (WHA) targets for nutrition. Many countries are, however, making good progress onWHA indicators, providing inspiration and guidance for others. Beyond the WHA goals, nutrition needs to be more strongly represented in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) framework. At present, it is only explicitlymentioned in 1 of 169 SDG targets despite the many contributions improved nutritional status will make to their attainment. To achieve improvements in nutrition status, it is vital to scale up nutrition programs. We identify bottlenecks in the scale-up of nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive approaches and highlight actions to accelerate coverage and reach. Holding stakeholders to account for delivery on nutrition actions requires a well-functioning accountability infrastructure, which is lacking in nutrition. New accountability mechanisms need piloting and evaluation, financial resource flows to nutrition need to bemade explicit, nutrition spending targets should be established, and some key data gaps need to be filled. For example, many UN member states cannot report on their WHA progress and those that can often rely on data > 5 y old. The world can accelerate malnutrition reduction substantially, but this will require stronger accountability mechanisms to hold all stakeholders to account. © 2015 American Society for Nutrition.

Source: UG