The development of a human right to water and sanitation under international law has created an imperative to implement human rights in water and sanitation policy. Through forty-three interviews with informants in international institutions, national governments, and non-governmental organizations, this research examines interpretations of this new human right in global governance, national policy, and local practice. Exploring obstacles to the implementation of rights-based water and sanitation policy, the authors analyze the limitations of translating international (...) human rights into local water and sanitation practice, concluding that system operators, utilities, and management boards remain largely unaffected by the changing public policy landscape for human rights realization. To understand the relevance of human rights standards to water and sanitation practitioners, this article frames a research agenda to ensure that human rights aspirations lead to public policy reforms and public health outcomes. (shrink)

The right to water and sanitation has emerged from the penumbra of associated rights in the past few decades and now plays an important role in international debates. This right has emerged “from below”, through the efforts of social movements seeking transformation in the lives of the world’s poor, and it has been recognized “from above”, with major international actors such as the United Nations, international financial institutions, and even large corporate actors affirming its existence. As the obligations (...) and entitlements inherent in this right are increasingly clarified, the role of interdisciplinary collaboration has never been more important. This short Commentary examines one such collaborative effort, led by the United Nations Joint Monitoring Programme, to devise post-2015 goals, targets, and indicators for water, sanitation, and hygiene. The Commentary calls for renewed partnerships to advance human rights-based policy among advocates, development practitioners, and water and sanitation experts from diverse scientific fields. (shrink)

The expansion of the corpus of international human rights to include the right to water and sanitation has implications both for the process of recognizing human rights and for future developments in the relationships between technology, engineering and human rights. Concerns with threats to human rights resulting from developments in science and technology were expressed in the early days of the United Nations (UN), along with the recognition of the ambitious human right of everyone “to enjoy the benefits (...) of scientific progress and its applications.” This comment explores the hypothesis that the emerging concepts most likely to follow recognition of the human right to water primarily involve issues of science and technology, such as access to medicines or clean and healthy environment. Many threats to human rights from advances in science, which were identified in the past as potential, have become real today, such as invasion of privacy from electronic recording, deprivation of health and livelihood as a result of climate change, or control over individual autonomy through advances in genetics and neuroscience. This comment concludes by urging greater engagement of scientists and engineers, in partnership with human rights specialists, in translating normative pronouncements into defining policy and planning interventions. (shrink)

Willingness to collaborate across disciplinary boundaries is necessary but not sufficient for project success. This is a case study of a transdisciplinary project whose success was constrained by contextual factors that ultimately favoured technical and scientific forms of knowledge over the cultural intelligence that might ensure technical solutions were socially feasible. In response to Alaskan Water and Sewer Challenge, an international team with expertise in engineering, consultative design and public health formed in 2013 to collaborate on a two-year project (...) to design remote area water and sanitation systems in consultation with two native Alaskan communities. Team members were later interviewed about their experiences. Project processes are discussed using a ‘Knowledge Ecology’ framework, which applies principles of ecosystems analysis to knowledge ecologies, identifying the knowledge equivalents of ‘biotic’ and ‘abiotic’ factors and looking at their various interactions. In a positivist ‘knowledge integration’ perspective, different knowledges are like Lego blocks that combine with other ‘data sets’ to create a unified structure. The knowledge ecology framework highlights how interactions between different knowledges and knowledge practitioners are shaped by contextual factors: the conditions of knowledge production, the research policy and funding climate, the distribution of research resources, and differential access to enabling infrastructures. This case study highlights the importance of efforts to negotiate between different knowledge frameworks, including by strategic use of language and precepts that help translate social research into technical design outcomes that are grounded in social reality. (shrink)

Resolutions in the United Nations Human Rights Council and General Assembly provide clarification of economic, social, and cultural (ESC) rights, and most of these resolutions pass by consensus. Yet these resolutions are more contentious than they appear. This article analyzes a case study of contestation over resolutions on two ESC rights: water and sanitation. Drawing from theories of norms contestation, this article analyzes how the USA, UK, and Canada challenged the creation of the rights to water and (...) sanitation as rights and as norms. An analysis of all resolutions, archival research, and interview data reveals that while challengers failed to stop water and sanitation from becoming legal human rights, they successfully delayed the process and weakened the normative aspect of the rights. The findings show that while powerful actors may not be opposed to ESC rights in theory, they worked to keep these rights weak and aspirational. (shrink)

Child mortality differentials according to water supply and sanitation in many urban areas of developing countries suggest that access to piped water and toilet facilities can improve the survival chances of children. The central question in this study is whether access to piped water and a flush toilet affects the survival chance of children under five in urban areas of Eritrea. The study uses data collected by the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) project in Eritrea in (...) 1995. The results show that while the unadjusted effect of household environment (water supply and toilet facility) is large and statistically significant during the post[hyphen]neonatal and child periods, it is relatively small and statistically insignificant during the neonatal period. The effect of household environment remains substantial during the post[hyphen]neonatal and child periods, even when other socioeconomic variables are held constant. However, the household environment effect totally disappears during the neonatal period when the socioeconomic factors are controlled for. (shrink)

An eco-theological analysis of African Initiated Churches (AICs) has revealed that most of these churches use water for a myriad of rituals ranging from baptism to consecratory rites. Their affinity with water even qualifies them to be dubbed water-based churches; yet, the world is faced with an imminent scarcity of this natural resource. The United Nations echoed that access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene are the most basic human needs for health and well-being; but (...) it has observed that unless the water situation improves, by 2030, billions of people will lack access to these services because of climate change. Given this reality, there is a genuine need to examine the possibility of having the eco-theologies of AICs adapted to suit these emerging realities. The paper explores how water is used in the religiosity of the AICs in an effort to elucidate the possible challenges to be encountered because of climate change. It then examines the possibility of realigning the water uses to the current climatic trajectory. The article is largely based on desktop research which utilises secondary sources.Contribution: This article makes a critical contribution to the body of knowledge by making an analysis of the adaptability of AICs’ conceptualisation and use of water in a climate change context. An eco-theological analysis is crucial as it enables the nuancing of AICs’ theologies so that they conform to a world in a climate crisis. (shrink)

Water has always played a significant role in religions. This contribution seeks to investigate comparatively the figure of the rainmaker as presented in Traditional African religions and biblical texts. The phenomenon of the rainmaker is at the centre of this investigation. In Traditional African religions, the rainmaker is not only a figure controlling rain but also has a substantial social standing. In biblical texts, the rainmaker (of which Samuel and Elijah can be considered as examples), functions more like a (...) prophet without an elite social and political status. Despite the differences in the status of the rainmaker among Traditional African religions and biblical texts, both traditions make it abundantly clear that rain originates with God. God sends or withholds the rain. The figure of the rainmaker as a social leader can today contribute to instilling a sense of using water responsibly and guiding communities in considering climate action to ensure sustainable living on land and water. A sense of concern over the responsible use of water will bind communities together. In this way, water can be a binding factor and stimulating topic-enhancing interreligious dialogue.Contribution: This contribution is a comparative study of the phenomenon of the rainmaker as presented in Traditional African religions and biblical texts. It aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, number 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation); number 13 (Climate Action) and number 15 (Life on Land). (shrink)

The United Nations (UN) Universal Declaration of Human Rights engenders important state commitments to respect, fulfill, and protect a broad range of socio-economic rights. In 2010, a milestone was reached when the UN General Assembly recognized the human right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation. However, water plays an important role in realizing other human rights such as the right to food and livelihoods, and in realizing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of (...) Discrimination against Women. These broader water-related rights have been recognized but have not yet been operationalized. This paper unravels these broader water-related rights in a more holistic interpretation of existing international human rights law. By focusing on an emerging approach to water services provision—known as ‘domestic-plus’ services—the paper argues how this approach operationalizes a comprehensive range of socio-economic rights in rural and peri-urban areas. Domestic-plus services provide water for domestic and productive uses around homesteads, which challenges the widespread practice in the public sector of planning and designing water infrastructure for a single-use. Evidence is presented to show that people in rural communities are already using their water supplies planned for domestic uses to support a wide range of productive activities. Domestic-plus services recognize and plan for these multiple-uses, while respecting the priority for clean and safe drinking water. The paper concludes that domestic-plus services operationalize the obligation to progressively fulfill a comprehensive range of indivisible socio-economic rights in rural and peri-urban areas. (shrink)

This case study investigates Gram Vikas' innovative social entrepreneurial approach to sustainable rural development through its 'Water and Sanitation Programme'. We explore its key innovation of 100 % inclusion and the process of creating democratic, self-governing management systems. This allows us to demonstrate how a social enterprise tries to realize its vision of "an equitable and sustainable society where people live in peace with dignity", and ultimately, how it contributes to the United Nations Millennium Goals of improving health, (...) empowering women and breaking the vicious circle of poverty. We also discuss the management challenges that the organisation faces in the area of finance, personnel management and scaling up. (shrink)

The human rights that are enshrined in most western democracies are based on enlightenment ideals of freedom, equality, and justice. Although these core principles are inspirational, their application has not necessarily been equitable or complete enough to provide for the stability, safety, health, and security of all citizens. A more modern understanding of human rights encompasses that which is needed to establish human flourishing, including guaranteed access to water, particularly the clean water provided by adequate sanitation. Without (...) confidence in broad safety and health, and established norms for individual protections, it is difficult for a society to be stable and flourish. Although this argument begins with political philosophy, it ends with a case study in Alabama, one of the poorest states in the United States. This study evaluates the dysfunction caused to local communities and greater society when governmental organizations fail to provide sanitation and guarantee public health for their communities. (shrink)

There is a gap in studies focussing on Ndau traditional religion and water. Most research addresses nature conservation rather than examining how water is perceived by the Ndau people. This study aims to explore the relationship between the Ndau and water, filling the gap in understanding the significance of water in the Ndau traditional religion of Zimbabwe. The study was based on a literature review focussing on published works, available as open access on the Internet regarding (...) the Ndau people and their relationship with nature. It was presented from an emic perspective by the author, who was born and bred among the Ndau people of Zimbabwe. The author was conscious of the need not to impose his own views. Triangulation of information from other sources was utilised to ensure the integrity of the data presented in this article. The main findings indicate that the Ndau people of Zimbabwe have a complex relationship with water, which they regard as sacred. They believe that water is protected by spirits. Taboos assist the Ndau in safeguarding water resources for both present and future generations. The study concluded that Ndau traditional leadership, along with the broader Ndau community, should take further action to preserve wetlands and water resources. The sacredness of water among the Ndau must be upheld to ensure the sustainability of these vital resources.Contribution: The article contributes to the discourse on water and spiritualities, focussing on the Ndau people of Zimbabwe. The place of water among the Ndau had not been explored before. The article contributes to the Journal’s focus on sustainable development goals, specifically number 6: Clean water and sanitation. (shrink)

There are over 800 seventh to tenth grade students at the College d’Enseignment Generale (CEG) School in Azové, Benin. Like most children in the developing world, these students lack access to clean water and basic sanitation facilities. These students suffer from parasitic infection and health ailments which could be directly offset with short term aid to supply water and medical aid. Promoting proper sanitation and providing the technology to implement water and wastewater treatment in the (...) community will decrease childhood and maternal disease and mortality rates in Azové. However, these measures may take several years to implement and will require a significant investment in the infrastructure of the school. Is it ethical to spend $10,000 towards the long-term goals of providing water and sanitation to the students of CEG Azové, compared to spending the same amount on short-term relief efforts? (shrink)

Retraction note: Figueroa Mendoza, M., & Olivares González, C. (2022). Drought: A current problema and its treatment in the chilean legal order. HUMAN REVIEW. International Humanities / Revista Internacional De Humanidades, 12(6), 2–15. https://doi.org/10.37467/revhuman.v11.4100 The Editorial Office of Eurasia Academic Publishing Group has retracted this article. An investigation carried out by our Research Integrity Department has found a group of articles, among which this one is found, that are not within the thematic scope of the journal. We believe that the (...) editorial process was manipulated and, furthermore, acceptance decisions were made under possibly inappropriate peer review. (shrink)

This timely book by internationally regarded scholar of ethics and social/political philosophy, Michael Boylan, focuses on the history, application and significance of human rights in the West and China. Boylan engages the key current philosophical debates prevalent in human rights discourse today and draws them together to argue for the existence of natural, universal human rights. Arguing against the grain of mainstream philosophical beliefs, Boylan asserts that there is continuity between human rights and natural law and that human beings require (...) basic, essential goods for minimum action. These include food, clean water and sanitation, clothing, shelter and protection from bodily harm, including basic healthcare. The achievement of this goal, Boylan demonstrates, will require significant resource allocation and creative methods of implementation involving public and private institutions. Combining technical argument with four fictional narratives about human rights, the book invites readers to engage with the most important aspects of the discipline. (shrink)

Chronic poverty comes in a variety of forms. It is multi-dimensional in its causes and multi-dimensional in its impacts . Although poverty "has an irreducible economic connotation," this connotation "does not necessarily imply the primacy of economic factors" . For example, violent conflict, access to land, and social relations of power are among the most important factors in food security . Integration into global economic markets is as likely to be a source of immiseration and impoverishment as it is a (...) solution . Access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation are significantly impacted by displacement and violent conflict and its aftermath; displacement and violent conflict often have an ethnic dimension. (shrink)

The United Nation’s (UN) 3rd Annual Multi-stakeholder Forum on ‘Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals (STI Forum) - Transformation Towards Sustainable and Resilient Societies’ was held at the UN Headquarters in New York on 5th and 6th of June, 2018. This STI Forum set out to discuss a suit of the sustainable development goals, namely sustainable management of water and sanitation for all (SDG 6), sustainable consumption and production patterns (SDG 12), and sustainable terrestrial ecosystems (...) (SDG 15). It also discussed how to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all (SDG 7) and how to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable (SDG 11). I participated in the panel debate on ‘Science, Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Terrestrial Ecosystems (SDG 15)’ – emphasizing the importance of food systems in the context of SDG 15. My statement is summarized below. The panel debate aimed at helping to identify good practices and policy recommendations, as well as challenges and needs, especially as they relate to international cooperation, innovation and capacity-building, with a view to facilitate the development, scaling up adoption and dissemination of relevant technologies for SDG 15. A food system can be described as a system that embraces all the elements (environment, people, inputs, processes, institutions, infrastructure, markets and trade) and activities that relate to the production, processing, distribution and marketing, preparation and consumption of food and the outputs of these activities, including socio-economic and environmental outcomes. A sustainable food system delivers food and nutrition security for all in such a way that the economic, social and environmental bases to generate food security and nutrition for future generations are not compromised. (shrink)

The transmission of cholera, a highly infectious disease, is closely linked to inadequate access to clean water and sanitation facilities, with resource-poor communities, including refugees, rural communities and temporary displacement camps particularly vulnerable to outbreaks. Any disruption in water and sanitation systems or a sudden surge in community size owing to displacement can spark a humanitarian and health crisis, elevating the risk of cholera transmission and possibly triggering a regional epidemic. Recently, Hammanskraal in Gauteng, South Africa, (...) experienced such an epidemic. A multifaceted approach is essential to minimise fatalities and effectively manage healthcare services in such health emergencies. This approach includes early detection, rapid response to contain outbreaks, and the effective deployment of technical support, advocacy, resource mobilisation and partnerships at local, national, and international levels. This paper explores the responsibilities of individuals, healthcare workers, communities and governments in addressing epidemics. It also delves into the concept of collective responsibility with regard to climate change and cholera, as part of the multifaceted approach for cholera prevention and control. While economic development, equal access to safe drinking water, and adequate sanitation are necessary for cholera control, major challenges persist in achieving the fundamental right to a healthy environment in the long term. We also discuss these obstacles and conclude with practical suggestions and recommendations for future cholera prevention. (shrink)

Poverty statistics in many countries of the developing world, with Zimbabwe being no exception, continue to show a gender-skewed trend, with women more than men increasingly being more affected. This is worrying, considering the fact that it is women who are the majority, and they carry the brunt of the burden for most household duties. Zimbabwe adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and yet women continue to be hit hard by poverty. This was a qualitative study involving interviews and focus (...) group discussions with 58 purposively sampled participants from Muchadziya village to determine the extent to which women in Muchadziya village are contributing towards sustainable development in Zimbabwe. The aim of this article, was to explore the ways in which women in Muchadziya village are contributing towards the alleviation of poverty. In the process, they will be contributing towards the attainment of some of the SDGs, such as the ones focusing on ending poverty in all its forms everywhere (SDG 1) and ending hunger, achieving food security and improved nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture (SDG 2). Using Africana womanism theoretical framework, the article maintained that African women should be perceived as agents, not subjects, of development and transformation in their communities. Findings indicated that women in Muchadziya village are selling various products and have sought markets in Beitbridge, Gweru and Zvishavane to sell them; others have set up shops and flea markets, and others make use of the land even though they do not own it to produce farm products to fight against poverty. The study concluded that women, despite being in difficult circumstances, are capable of contributing towards the achievement of the SDGs, particularly SDG 5 focusing on women’s empowerment and attaining gender equality. It is therefore recommended that women be given the necessary support to achieve more. Contribution: In a context where women are the most affected by poverty, Ndau women have proven that they can be agents of change by contributing towards the achievement of SDGs such as ending poverty in all its forms, zero hunger, education, gender equality and women’s empowerment and water and sanitation. Not much scholarly attention has been paid to the agency of women in Chimanimani in enhancing Zimbabwe’s sustainable development. This gap in literature might be influenced by the fact that African women, particularly women in rural areas, are perceived as beneficiaries or recipients of aid or development initiatives. As such, most programmes mainstreamed by aid or donor agencies in Africa have a specific focus on distributing aid to women and girl-children. Unfortunately, such programmes rarely seek to capacitate or empower their beneficiaries; hence, their interventions eventually disempower the intended beneficiaries. (shrink)

In her opening address to the 2011 session of the World Health Organization's governing body, the World Health Assembly, WHO's Director-General, Dr. Margaret Chan, noted that WHO's job was much more straightforward when it was dealing mainly with germs, hygiene, medicines, vaccines and sister sectors, like water supply and sanitation. Today, international public health governance is much more complex. It is not only about forging agreement around shared health problems, but also being concerned with health as an outcome (...) of global policies in areas such as trade, intellectual property, and human rights and, nationally, as an outcome of work in other sectors such as education, agriculture and the environment. Global health governance is increasingly fragmented, and WHO is not the only health game in town. (shrink)

Ancient medical and healing systems are currently attracting considerable interest. This issue includes interdisciplinary studies which focus on new perceptions of some ancient and medieval medical systems, exploring how they related to each other, and assessing their contribution to modern society. It is shown that pre-Greek medicine included some rational elements, and that Egyptian and Babylonian medical systems contributed to a tradition which led from classical antiquity through the Middle Ages and beyond. The reliability of sources of evidence is considered, (...) as well as the legacy of the ancient healing environments and disease treatments. Finally, where documentation survives, the legacy of social attitudes to health and disease is considered. Overarching principles directed policies of social medicine and healthcare in antiquity and the Middle Ages: for example, the causes and transmission routes of infectious diseases, as well as the basic principles of sterilization, were unknown, but nevertheless attempts were made to improve sanitation, provide clean water, and ensure access to trained physicians. In some cases, the need to limit the size of the population prompted the use of contraceptive measures, and surviving information also illuminates attitudes to deformity, disability and the treatment of the terminally ill. (shrink)

Título Ação comunicativa e ética no acesso e uso sustentável da água: a experiência do saneamento rural de Marechal Cândido Rondon - PR (Communicative action and ethics on the access and sustainable use of water: the experience of rural sanitation of Marechal Cândido Rondon – Paraná, Brazil. DOI: 10.5752/P.2175-5841.2013v11n32p1571 Resumo O texto apresenta um estudo/pesquisa sobre a ética e os recursos hídricos, problematizando a relação entre a ética e o uso sustentável da água, tendo como modelo referencial aproximações (...) na experiência do saneamento rural de Marechal Cândido Rondon, PR que, através da organização dos próprios agricultores e com o apoio da autarquia municipal de água e esgoto, atingiu 100% de acesso à água potável na zona rural do município. A discussão propõe uma sinergia entre comunidades, gestores de sistemas e pesquisadores, que possibilite a criação de contextos comunicativos nos quais se partilha e socializa informações para o debate dos temas e situações que defendam um acesso democrático aos recursos hídricos e ao uso sustentável da água. Os fundamentos para este debate se encontram na obra de Lord Selborne, A Ética do Uso da Água Doce: um levantamento . (2001), e no paradigma da Teoria da Ação Comunicativa de Jürguen Habermas (1989), como um instrumento para propor o debate público sobre o acesso democrático aos recursos hídricos e, assim, criar contextos comunicativos que possibilitem a socialização de conhecimentos necessários relativos aos recursos hídricos e potencializar o debate sobre o uso desse bem natural como um direito humano universal. Palavras-chave: Ética. Água. Uso sustentável. Ação comunicativa. Saneamento rural.The text presents a study/research on ethics and water resources, questioning the relationship between ethics and sustainable water use, taking as reference model approaches in the experience of rural sanitation of Marechal Cândido Rondon, PR that, through the organization's own farmers, with the support of a municipal water and sewer, reached 100% access to safe drinking water in the rural area. The discussion proposes a synergy between communities, systems managers and researchers, enabling the creation of communicative contexts in which information is shared and socialized for discussion of issues and situations that advocate democratic access to water resources and the sustainable use of water. The grounds for this debate are the work of Lord Selborne, The Ethics of Freshwater Use: A survey. (2001), and the paradigm of the Theory of Communicative Action by Jürguen Habermas (1989), as an instrument to propose a public debate on democratic access to water resources and thus create communicative contexts that enable socialization of required knowledge of the water resources and enhance the debate on the use of this natural asset as a universal human right. Keywords: Ethics. Water. Sustainable use. Communicative action. Rural sanitation. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Pains And Gains Of Rural Health Practice:Lessons Books Never TaughtSridevi Seetharam, Bindu Balasubramaniam, G. S. Kumar, and M. R. SeetharamHow The Journey BeganIn the early 1980s, as fresh graduates from Mysore Medical College in southern India, we were brimming with a zeal to "cure the sick" and "change the world." We had an ideal of evidence-based, rational, ethical and equitable health care and set out to serve rural and (...) under-served communities which included displaced forest-based tribes. In the initial years, with the naivety of the inexperienced, we believed that by correcting the dehydration of the doe-eyed six-year-old Mare and giving her a free course of antibiotics, we had made health care accessible to her. Much to our dismay, within a month, Mare was back in the outpatient clinic, with diarrhea all over again and looking thinner than ever. We realized that it was a losing battle to keep her healthy as long as she continued to drink water from the same contaminated stream, live in unhygienic surroundings, and eat only the paltry meals that her family could barely afford. We gradually began to connect these living examples to what our preventive medicine text books had stressed all along—there are many social determinants of health which, if left unaddressed, do not permit realization of the vision of health for all.Such instances continually pulled us out of the hospital building and into the villages and tribal hamlets. We discovered that our textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine (Park, 1986) (P&SM as we used to call it), was our most valuable possession. [End Page 106] We devoured the descriptions of national health programs, sanitation procedures, water treatment protocols, and maintenance of cold chain for vaccines with a completely new perspective. We discovered the Manual of Basic Techniques for a Health Laboratory, (World Health Organization, 1980) detailing how to set up a laboratory with low cost, reliable and simple methods. We learned to drive a jeep to haul supplies and patients. To step up the level of clinical care, some of us pursued post-graduate programs and equipped ourselves to provide more specialized care too. It has been over two decades since we embarked on this journey. We have encountered a variety of perplexing dilemmas with no clear solutions. We have sometimes been compelled to adopt health practices that were not really evidence-based, seemingly irrational, inequitable and even downright unethical. This narration describes only a few of our thousands of cases, and hopefully conveys our periods of self-doubt, despair and hope, as well as, the challenges we face to reconcile with the difficult choices we are forced to make every day.Unforeseen Challenges in Saving Mothers and ChildrenHigh maternal and child mortality rates have been one of the most disturbing aspects of the health care scenario in rural India. To ensure immunization of all children, health workers with vaccine carriers go from village to village and hamlet to hamlet to reach those infants that would have missed visits to the immunization clinics. Our grass-root workers facilitate these visits by identifying households with such children. Occasionally, they encounter families who spirit away the infant into the adjoining woods as soon as the health worker is seen approaching, and blandly proclaim that the child is not at home. Despite reassurance and counseling about the safety and necessity of the vaccine, their apprehensions and misconceptions are insurmountable. What is the extent of the responsibility of the health worker? Is it ethical to hunt down the child and force the administration of the vaccine in view of the public health gains, besides the child's welfare?A few months ago, a pre-term neonate was admitted to our hospital, but worsened and needed referral to a higher centre in the city. The family refused to go despite repeated persuasion and detailed explanation about the technical limitations of care at our centre. From the family's perspective, the variety of social, cultural, and monetary challenges they would face in the city were themselves limitations for care. We were compelled to retain the baby and continue giving the best care we could.Two... (shrink)

Public Health Science and practice expanded during the course of the 20th century. Initially focused on controlling infectious disease through basic public health programs regulating water, sanitation and food, by 1988 the Institute of Medicine broadly declared that “public health is what we, as a society, do collectively to. assure the conditions for people to be healthy.” Commensurate with this definition, public health practitioners and policymakers today work on ;in enormous range of issues. The 2002 policy agenda of (...) the American Public Health Association reflects positions on genomics’ role in public health; national health and safety standards for child care programs; sodium in Americans’ diets; the health and safety of emergency rescue workers; and war in Central Asia and the Persian Gulf. (shrink)

El objetivo de este trabajo será responder si las potestades de la DGA son idóneas para paliar los efectos de la sequía, a través de tres secciones: primera, Identificación de la sequía como fenómeno fáctico multifactorial y su tratamiento en el CAg; segunda, revisión de las potestades de la DGA de acuerdo al artículo 314 CAg; tercera, revisión de la normativa que incorpora el usos prioritario del aguas y derecho humano al agua, cuya metodología será principalmente descriptiva, a través del (...) método dogmático basado en la legislación y la doctrina, igualmente el método exegético para establecer el sentido de conceptos técnicos. (shrink)

This cross sectional study was carried out among the workers of British American Tobacco Company, Dhaka with a view to explore their nutritional status, personal hygiene and health seeking behavior as because they are working on a tobacco processing company. The sample size was 179 which were selected purposively. The study showed that out of 179 respondents 89 (49.7%) were in the age groups of 30-39 years and the mean age of the respondents were 31.99 ± 6.01 years. A large (...) number of respondents (55.9%) had monthly family income of Taka 10001-20000 and the mean family income was Taka 12776.54 ± 5230.13. Maximum respondents (73.7%) were Muslim, more than half (54.2%) were shift in charge, 39.1% of the respondents consisted of 4 family members, 43.6% respondents were accustomed to other type of eating habit and 38.5% respondents knew that malnutrition was the effect of lack of proper nutrition, 59.8% of the respondents knew that night blindness was the disease due to malnutrition, most of the respondents (91.6%) performed duties to maintain health, majority (62.0%) respondents used to do nothing to maintain healthcare for their children and 35.9% visited doctor’s single time in a month, 40.2% of the respondents told regular tooth brushing as type of healthy habits. Majority (64.8%) respondents used to brush twice a day, majority (50.8%) respondents used to wash hand after toileting, majority (62.08%) respondents used to bath daily, 43.0% and 31.8% of the respondents told that dysentery and diarrhea was due to eating without proper hand washing respectively. Majority (53.6%) respondents informed that they learned about personal hygiene from television, 45.8% respondents understood that use of safe water in every work as sanitation. Majority (50.84%) came from nuclear family; most (84.92%) had exercise habit and 40.22% had education level of class VIII. Most (75.42%) of the respondents had semi pucca houses and majority (69.83%) of the respondents used only water as materials for hand washing. This study provided some important information which might help the concerned authority to take appropriate measures to improve the health status of the workers. (shrink)

In Bangladesh due to improved quality of life the number of people over 60 years is increasing rapidly. This should be seen as an emerging challenge as the elderly will have special needs and require different care-giving services. Since Bangladesh does not have a social welfare system there will be competition for inadequate resources specially health and medical services. It is envisaged that due to more elderly population the demographic structure will undergo a slow change from the present pyramid structure. (...) The growing trend towards nuclear family or where children live abroad will put the elderly parents in a dilemma-the financial and social support that is essential for them has not yet emerged. The nutrition and health status of elderly people depend on adequate food safe water, proper sanitation facilities and maintaining hygienic standards. To provide special medical care for the elderly there is a need to establish WHO recommended Age-Friendly Primary Health Care centers and separate wards /units are to be set up in the hospitals. To reduce vulnerability of older women there is a need to distribute assets and properties according to the law.. Our new generations have to be responsive, informed and attentive about their duties and responsibilities towards the elderly people. Taking proper care of the elderly is our ethical duty and responsibility. (shrink)

Law is indispensable to the public's health. The twentieth century proved this true as law contributed to each of the century's ten great public health achievements: vaccination, healthier mothers and babies, family planning, safer and healthier foods, fluoridation of drinking water, the control of infectious diseases, the decline in death from heart disease and stroke, recognition of tobacco use as a health hazard, motor vehicle safety, and safer workplaces.The readers of this journal can give examples of the relevant types (...) of laws with ease: Jacobson v. Massachusetts, the 1905 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutionality of compulsory vaccination; mandatory immunization for school admission; authorization of state prenatal care programs; mandatory fortification of foods; Title X of the Public Health Service Act; the Pure Food and Drugs Act of 1906; the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, and hundreds of state and local enactments regulating food; fluoridation ordinanceswater, and sanitation; the Surgeon General's warning notices on cigarette packs and restrictions on marketing tobacco; seat belt laws and mandated vehicle and highway design features; and laws like the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 that regulate working conditions. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:The Irreplaceable Cannot Be ReplacedEllen HarveyThe Irreplaceable Cannot Be Replaced, Ellen Harvey, 2008. Photographs: Jan Baracz.People in New Orleans were invited to submit images or descriptions of irreplaceable places, people, or things lost to Hurricane Katrina. Eleven submissions were chosen at random and the artist painted 16” x 20” oil paintings based on those submissions. All thirty texts that were submitted were framed and exhibited along with the paintings (...) at the Contemporary Arts Center/New Orleans as part of the exhibition Something from Nothing, curated by Dan Cameron. Texts without a painting were accompanied by a framed black panel. At the end of the exhibition, all of the paintings and the framed texts were given away to the participants.Ellen Harvey was born in the United Kingdom and lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She has exhibited extensively in the US and internationally and was most recently included in the 2008 Whitney Biennial. Recent solo exhibitions include Private Collections at Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, The Museum of Failure at Luxe Gallery, New York, Beautiful/Ugly at Magnus Müller in Berlin, Bad Mirror at Galerie Gebruder Lehmann in Dresden, Mirror at the Pennsylvania Academy, and A Whitney for the Whitney at Philip Morris at the Whitney Museum at Altria. She took part in the Whitney Independent Study Program and the PS1 Studio Program. Recent awards include a Pennies from Heaven Grant, a Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative Grant, a Rema Hort Mann Foundation Grant, a Palm Beach County Cultural Council Grant, and a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship. She has completed projects for both the New York and Chicago Transit Authorities, most recently including a mosaic for the new Metro-North Yankee Stadium Station. The New York Beautification Project was published by Gregory Miller in 2005, and Ellen Harvey: Mirror was published by the Pennsylvania Academy in 2006. Click for larger view View full resolutionI am 87 years old living in a trailer on our property in New Orleans.We had 5 ft of water, which remained in the house 6 weeks creating mold to the ceiling.We lost everything. When I read Chris Rose’s column (he’s my favorite columnist in the whole world) it brought to mind my mother’s two dining room chairs that had been around as long as I can remember. I had them restored in about 1976 by Senior Citizens in classes of the “Peoples Program” sponsored by the nuns on Mirabean Ave. The wood was polished and varnished with a light brown stain and the seats were re-caned. I was born in 1920 so the chairs could be 75 years old. Anyway I can imagine you will have many interesting subjects to choose from but I’m submitting mine hoping I’ll be one of the very fortunate ones selected.I am terrible at drawing but will give you as complete a description as I can.I loved those chairs and enjoyed them for extra seating on holidays and at parties and they were conversation pieces.Alice Delaney[End Page 2] Click for larger view View full resolutionThere are so many “washed away” treasures, that the memorialization of even just one will be everlastingly meaningful to the community.I am submitting photographs of porcelain dolls, which I had crafted prior to the disaster. The dolls shown were created from commercial molds and were ready to go to a “new home.” Needless to say these dolls were submerged under water for at least two weeks. I call them my “children of the flood” but have not had the courage to disassemble them. I was able to rescue some doll parts and am in the process of cleaning, sorting and sanitizing them for future assembly.If I am ever able to get back to my very rewarding hobby, which was helpful in supplementing my retirement income, I will have to replace my electronic kiln and most of my doll making supplies. Many of the molds that were destroyed are no longer available. However, I will keep the memories dear, I have been fortunate enough to replace my sewing machines and some of the fabric used for clothing and doll... (shrink)

This paper examines the social life and sociality of urban infrastructure. Drawing on a case study of land occupations and informal settlements in the city of Belo Horizonte in Brazil, where the staples of life such as water, electricity, shelter and sanitation are co-constructed by the poor, the paper argues that infrastructures – visible and invisible – are deeply implicated in not only the making and unmaking of individual lives, but also in the experience of community, solidarity and (...) struggle for recognition. Infrastructure is proposed as a gathering force and political intermediary of considerable significance in shaping the rights of the poor to the city and their capacity to claim those rights. (shrink)

Experts identified water quality, manure, good handling practices (including personal hygiene and equipment sanitation), and traceability as critical farm problem areas that, if addressed, are likely to decrease risk associated with microbial contamination of fresh produce from all scales of agriculture. However, the diverse nature of production strategies used by produce farmers presents multiple options for addressing foodborne illness issues while simultaneously creating potential complications. We use a mental models methodology to enhance our understanding of the underlying factors (...) and assumptions of small, medium, and large produce growers that influence their decision-making processes for contamination prevention and control. This empirical evidence demonstrates how challenges and opportunities to food safety are related to the scale of production and marketing strategies. We believe that refining the development of standards and existing extension and outreach food safety programs are important to both consumer protection and supporting agricultural communities. Additionally, this approach will help develop and refine food safety programs that will result in empirically grounded recommendations based on identified grower information needs. (shrink)

Waters, Ian The Australian hierarchy was established by Pope Gregory XVI in 1842. Since then, there have been six national Catholic councils held in Australia. The first two, celebrated in 1844 and 1869, are known as the First Provincial Council of Australia and the Second Provincial Council of Australia, as until 1874 the Australian dioceses were all in the one ecclesiastical province with Sydney being the sole metropolitan see. In 1874, a second province - Melbourne - was established, and the (...) national councils since then - four of them, celebrated in 1885, 1895, 1905 and 1937 - have been called plenary councils, the term used in the Catholic Church in recent centuries for councils whose participants are from more than one ecclesiastical province; in the past, terms such as regional councils or national councils have been used. As we all know, another plenary council for Australia is planned to commence in 2020. (shrink)

Waters, Ian; McGuckin, Robert The following document has been produced to assist priests and deacons of the Latin Catholic Church in their parish pastoral ministry. It does not attempt to be a scholarly or technical treatment. Often, as regards questions about marriage, a canonist will need to be consulted.

The frequency of death from miscarriage is very high, greater than the number of deaths from induced abortion or major diseases.Berg (2017, Philosophical Studies 174:1217–26) argues that, given this, those who contend that personhood begins at conception (PAC) are obliged to reorient their resources accordingly—towards stopping miscarriage, in preference to stopping abortion or diseases. This argument depends on there being a basic moral similarity between these deaths. I argue that, for those that hold to PAC, there are good reasons to (...) think that there is no such similarity. There is a morally relevant difference between preventing killing and letting die, giving PAC supporters reasons to prioritize reducing abortion over reducing miscarriage. And the time-relative interest account provides a morally relevant difference in the badness of death of miscarriages and deaths of born adults, justifying attempts to combat major diseases over attempts to combat miscarriage. I consider recent developments in the literature and contend that these new arguments are unsuccessful in establishing moral similarities between deaths from miscarriage and abortion, and deaths from miscarriage and disease. (shrink)

Preface -- How brave a new world? : God, technology, and medicine -- A theological reflection on reproductive medicine -- Are our genes our fate? : genomics and Christian theology -- Persons, neighbors, and embryos : some ethical reflections on human cloning and stem cell research -- Extending human life : to what end? -- What is Christian about Christian bioethics? -- Revitalizing medicine : empowering natality vs. fearing mortality -- The future of the human species -- Creation, creatures, and (...) creativity : the Word and the final Word. (shrink)

TheJournal of Religious Ethicshas published only two full‐length articles focusing on American Indian religious ethics in the last decade. This may signal that the field is uneasy about integrating American Indian religious ethics into its broader discourse. To fill this research lacuna and take a step toward normalizing religious‐ethical engagement with American Indian ethics, this article argues that the field needs an intentionally anticolonial, self‐aware approach to understanding American Indian religious ethics—one that decenters methods and approaches that may facilitate the (...) analysis of Christian texts, groups, and phenomena, yet limit insights into the religious‐moral beliefs and practices of Native Americans. The article first shows examples of how religious‐ethical methods, definitions, and epistemological starting points can obfuscate rich and accurate understandings of Native American religious‐ethical systems and phenomena. Next, it turns to historical and anthropological studies and Native American philosophy and ethics to outline an interdisciplinary framework for integrating American Indian traditions into the discourses of religious ethics. (shrink)

This paper argues that certain features of postmodernism are bad for feminism and that there are ways in which modernism provides a better platform for a gender analysis. Specifically, by arguing against the category "woman" some forms of postmodernism undermine the political gains of focusing on gender.

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) types are sexually transmitted infections that cause a number of human cancers. According to the competitive exclusion principle in ecology, HPV types that have lower transmission probabilities and shorter durations of infection should be outcompeted by more virulent types. This, however, is not the case, as numerous HPV types co-exist, some which are less transmissible and more easily cleared than others. This paper examines whether this exception to the competitive exclusion principle can be explained by the aggregation (...) of infection with HPV types, which results in patchy spatial distributions of infection, and what implications this has for the effect of vaccination on multiple HPV types. A deterministic transmission model is presented that models the patchy distribution of infected individuals using Lloyd’s mean crowding. It is first shown that higher aggregation can result in a reduced capacity for onward transmission and reduce the required efficacy of vaccination. It is shown that greater patchiness in the distribution of lower prevalence HPV types permits co-existence. This affirms the hypothesis that the aggregation of HPV types provides an explanation for the violation of the competitive exclusion principle. Greater aggregation of lower prevalence types has important implications where type-specific HPV vaccines also offer cross-protection against non-target types. It is demonstrated that the degree of cross-protection can be less than the degree of vaccine protection conferred against directly targeted types and still result in the elimination of non-target types when these non-target types are patchily distributed. (shrink)

This much-anticipated work is a rich and insightful collection of essays that restores women and minorities to the arena of political theory and debate.