Search Results (42)

Background: This scoping review aims to systematically examine the extent of the literature on African health histories throughout the pre-colonial, colonial, post-independence, primary health care (PHC), Millennium Development Goals (MDG), and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) periods. Methods: This scoping review followed the Arksey and O’Malley framework, enhanced by Levac’s updates and adaptations from the Joanna Briggs Institute’s methodology. Data from eligible records were extracted based on inclusion criteria and summarized narratively. Results: We included 83 records, of which the majority (n = 70) were narrative reviews. Eighteen of these provide evidence from Africa as a whole, while country-specific evidence was obtained from 21 countries. South Africa had the most records (n = 17), followed by Ghana (n = 6) and Nigeria (n = 6). The majority of evidence came from the colonial period (n = 13), followed by the PHC and MDG periods (n = 12 each). Health systems in the pre-colonial era were rooted in indigenous practices and community-driven systems; the colonial period introduced Western-style health care systems; the post-independence period focused on health promotion initiatives and infectious disease eradication; the PHC era focused on community-centered health care and equitable service provision; the MDG era expanded on targeted interventions for infectious diseases, and the SDG era aims to build resilient and inclusive health care systems towards universal health coverage. Conclusion: This review revealed diverse influences on health systems from the pre-colonial to SDG eras. However, these records are not exhaustive and require country-specific records, archived documents, and a centralized repository. Addressing these gaps will provide a comprehensive understanding of African health histories and aid in future health interventions. Full article

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) build on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and aim to promote sustainable global development by addressing poverty, inequality, and environmental sustainability. Among the key objectives of the SDGs, Goal 6 targets universal access to safely managed drinking water and sanitation by 2030, recognizing the critical link between water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH), and public health. However, global challenges persist, particularly in rural areas, where infrastructure deficits and socio-economic barriers hinder progress. In regions like rural Kazakhstan, where sanitation monitoring is limited and much of the water grid is substandard, addressing these gaps is essential to meet SDG 6 targets. For this purpose, we used structured questionnaires to assess water access, sanitation services, and a multinomial logistic regression analysis to examine the factors influencing households’ willingness to pay (WTP) for individual water supply systems in Atyrau households. Water sources, sanitation availability, and household practices were investigated offering insights into sustainable water and sanitation management. Indoor taps served 44.2% of households, while 60.5% used centralized systems for drinking water. Daily interruptions affected 19.9%, with 23.0% dissatisfied with quality. Outdoor toilets were used by 79.6%, and 43.7% relied on pit-filling. While 82.5% of respondents favored free individual water supply installations, only 11.6% were willing to pay the $426 installation cost, highlighting financial constraints. Consequently, there are persistent challenges in ensuring safe drinking water and sanitation in rural areas of Kazakhstan. Infrastructure gaps, poor water quality, and reliance on outdoor toilets pose health risks. Financial constraints further limit access. Targeted investments, improved oversight, and community engagement are critical for sustainable solutions aligned with the SDGs. Full article

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on drinking water were reported to have been achieved five years earlier than the target date of 2015 in all the continents, except Africa and Oceania. This study assessed the performance of selected state water utilities in Nigeria in Africa over a period of years to determine improvements, if any, in their service coverage and demand gap in meeting the ambitious SDG target 6.1, which aims to achieve sustainable drinking water for all by 2030. Employing the key performance indicator (KPI) methodology, encompassing operational and maintenance efficiency, investment efficiency, and financial sustainability, this research unveils a widening disparity between water supply and demand gap. Alarming is the revelation that the revenue from water sales falls short of covering operation and maintenance costs, rendering these utilities financially unsustainable. This underperformance of state water utilities signals a formidable barrier to Nigeria’s prospects of attaining the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 6.1, thereby jeopardizing the nation’s ability to ensure universal and affordable access to safe drinking water by 2030. Full article

Transitioning from the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) is a big challenge, particularly for SDG 6.1, as the effective delivery of drinking water services drops due to more stringent indicators, especially for water quality constraints. Salinity in groundwater has received less attention compared to arsenic and E. Coli in the MDG era, while its presence and widespread variability has considerable implications in larger coastal areas for achieving SDG 6.1 targets. This article analyzes drinking water security in southwest coastal Bangladesh, through an in-depth field investigation. It reveals that the exponential growth of groundwater-based technologies, such as tube wells, does not necessarily indicate the actual safe drinking water coverage in coastal areas, due to complex hydrogeology with the high spatial variability of groundwater salinity risks. The spatial variability of hydrogeologic constraints and groundwater salinity risks also reinforces concerns of access, reliability, and affordability with different water supply technologies. National estimates can be misleading as the presence of salinity substantially lowers the effective drinking water coverage. Infrastructural investments for drinking water supply need to consider a sound knowledge of hydrogeologic heterogeneity, and the monitoring of water quality, if the SDG 6.1 targets are to be met. Full article

This study sought to investigate the macro determinants of maternal mortality in Southern African Development Community (SADC) states. The study drew on the fact that maternal mortality remains a major public health issue in developing countries. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were adopted by UN member states in 2000, and one of them was to reduce maternal deaths by three-quarters by 2015. While the Millennium Development Goals increased efforts, the goal was not met in the countries with the highest death rates. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that every single day about 810 women die from pregnancy or childbirth-related complications around the world. This is despite several international initiatives being adopted to reduce maternal mortality. The study was quantitative, and it used secondary data to achieve its objective. A panel data estimation (Generalized Method of Moments) covering the period from 2005–2019 was used to examine how various factors affect maternal mortality. The analysis included the following variables: education, fertility, GDP per capita, institutional quality, health expenditure and HIV infection. The econometric analysis reveals a significant positive impact of fertility, GDP per capita and HIV on maternal mortality. This implies that when fertility, GDP per capita and HIV are increasing, maternal mortality also increases. The analysis also showed that education has a negative relationship with maternal mortality. This implies that when literacy levels (education) increase, maternal mortality decreases. Based on the results, this study emphasizes that, in order to improve maternal health and consequently reduce maternal mortality, access to family planning (to reduce fertility), access to early prenatal care and promoting women’s access to education should be a priority in government policies. Full article

Substantial progress has been seen in the drinking water supply as per the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), but achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), particularly SGD 6.1 regarding safely managed drinking water with much more stringent targets, is considered as a development challenge. The problem is more acute in low-income water-scarce hard-to-reach areas such as the southwest coastal region of Bangladesh, where complex hydrogeological conditions and adverse water quality contribute to a highly vulnerable and insecure water environment. Following the background, this study investigated the challenges and potential solutions to drinking water insecurity in a water-scarce area of southwest coastal Bangladesh using a mixed-methods approach. The findings revealed that water insecurity arises from unimproved, deteriorated, unaffordable, and unreliable sources that have significant time and distance burdens. High rates of technical dysfunction of the existing water infrastructure contribute to water insecurity as well. Consequently, safely managed water services are accessible to only 12% of the population, whereas 64% of the population does not have basic water. To reach the SDG 6.1 target, this underserved community needs well-functioning readily accessible water infrastructure with formal institutional arrangement rather than self-governance, which seems unsuccessful in this low-income context. This study will help the government and its development partners in implementing SDG action plans around investments to a reliable supply of safe water to the people living in water-scarce hard-to-reach coastal areas. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic has widened the gap regarding access to educational opportunities, which was included in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This descriptive, quantitative study aims to examine the communication strategies employed by secondary schools in Spain during the lockdown, as well as to analyse the co-responsibility of the educational process between schools and families. An ad hoc questionnaire (GIESBAFCOV-19) was designed and implemented to gather information. The results show that, in most cases, mothers were responsible for assisting and supervising their children’s homework as persons in charge of education-related matters. Additionally, before the lockdown was put in place, about half of the participating families received information from the educative centres regarding the disease and sanitary measures. Once the lockdown took place, families put the focus on their children’s schoolwork, not without difficulties in academic and digital literacy. In general, the families were satisfied with the communication established with the educational centres. The present study has raised the necessity to improve communication between centres and families and to reflect on the tools and systems used for its exchange. Consequently, it seems that information and digital competences should be promoted to guarantee an equalitarian education for all. Full article

Many studies have stated the results of interventions presented in refugee camps to improve the quality of refugees’ lives and reduce their suffering. However, there has been no formal systematic review and meta-analysis comparing the evidence of the relative effectiveness of these interventions along with sustainability and the current 2030 Agenda. We developed a comprehensive search strategy designed to identify all peer-reviewed articles that presented interventions related to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a refugee camp setting. We examined only articles with a specific focus on development goals. We screened the titles and, where necessary, the abstracts of 1108 publications. Seventy-two studies were judged to contain relevant evidence and were reviewed in detail. Data were extracted from these studies and pooled by meta-analysis to provide summary estimates of the effectiveness of existing procedures. Health and education sectors were the most frequently discussed SDGs. Results and recommendations from included studies were categorized into seven sectors: planning, development, and shelters; health and well-being; education; water and sanitation; energy; work and economic growth; and others. In order to improve the quality of life of refugees and internally displaced persons living in camps, more research that addresses both SDGs and camp planning and management is needed. This study is the first review found in the literature to report on sustainability in refugee camps. Full article

Health has vital importance in maintaining economic development since it is essential for, and a result of, economic development. This indicates that health makes a large contribution in achieving sustainable development and health outcomes. The significance of health is shown in the millennium development goals (MDGs) and in the sustainable development goals (SDGs), where four of the seventeen objectives focus on improving health outcomes (UN, 2021). As compared to other countries, some Asian countries are still worse off regarding health outcomes and are facing challenges in achieving positive outcomes for such goals. This study mainly focuses on identifying the link between public health expenditures and health outcomes in nine Asian economies from 2000 to 2018. The study implements fixed effects panel data estimations by using the Hausman specification test to identify the fixed effects model as the suitable estimator for the study. The empirical results from the fixed effects technique show that immunization, GDP per capita, trade openness, and utilization of basic water service facilities improve under-five and infant mortality in Asian economies. However, ecological footprint increases under-five and infant deaths by damaging the environment. Full article

Guinea-Bissau suffers from political instability and an unusually high HIV/AIDS burden compared to other countries in the West Africa region. We conducted a systematic review on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Guinea-Bissau during the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) period (2000–2015), which dovetailed with a period of chronic political instability in the country’s history. We searched published works on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Guinea-Bissau for references to chronic political instability. Six databases and the grey literature were searched, informed by expert opinion and manual research through reference tracing. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. The search yielded 122 articles about HIV/AIDS in Guinea-Bissau during the MDG years. Biomedical, clinical, or epidemiological research predominated public health research production on HIV/AIDS in Guinea-Bissau in this period. Six articles addressing themes related to chronic political instability, including how political instability has affected the HIV/AIDS disease response, were identified. The results suggest the importance of considering a broader political epidemiology that accounts for socio-political aspects such as governance, human rights, and community responses into which any national HIV/AIDS response is integrated. Full article

During the time before the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are achieved, the international community has set goals to improve people’s lives worldwide. This is in line with the United Nations’ 2030 ambitions to strengthen and advance human society’s sustainable development. Goal number 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), goal number 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), and goal number 13 (Climate Action) are highly correlated to each other. The current study investigates the role of human capital and technological innovation in achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) through a carbon-free energy system. A 19-year dataset covering the years 2000−2018 for the G7 economies has been utilized by using the composite index, Multi-criteria decision analysis, and Quantile Autoregressive Distributed Lag (QARDL) methods. The study’s outcomes indicate that the human capital index and technological innovations contribute positively to SDGs in G7 economies. Both indicators also contribute positively to the carbon-free economy by contributing to carbon-free energy sources. The financial index and energy index results also indicate a positive association with the carbon-free economy in G7 nations. This study suggests policy guidelines for developed as well as for developing economies based on human capital and technological innovation to fulfill the SDGs. Full article

The commitment of governments to sustainable development was materialised in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and later in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the latter being a more ambitious project that positions local governments as the main agents for its implementation. With the aim of improving the sustainability of cities, this research analyses the commitment of Spanish local governments to the SDG-11, indicating possible improvements with the aim of complying with Agenda 2030. We use the X-STATIS study technique with graphic representations. The results indicate a positive trend towards achieving SDG-11, in which progressive governments are concerned with issues of inclusive and sustainable urbanisation as a result of increased citizen participation, and conservative governments focus on slum upgrading and safety in inclusive and accessible public spaces. In addition, the ideological coincidence between different administrative levels is an impetus to the fulfilment of SDG-11. Full article

Research in sustainable development, program design and monitoring, and evaluation requires data analytics for the Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs) not to suffer the same fate as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs were poorly implemented, particularly in developing countries. In the SDGs dispensation, there is a huge amount of development-related data that needs to be harnessed using predictive analytics models such as deep neural networks for timely and unbiased information. The SDGs aim at improving the lives of citizens globally. However, the first six SDGs (SDGs 1-6) are more relevant to developing economies than developed economies. This is because low-resourced countries are still battling with extreme poverty and unacceptable levels of illiteracy occasioned by corruption and poor leadership. Inclusive innovation is a philosophy of SDGs as no one should be left behind in the global economy. The focus of this study is the implementation of SDGs 1-6 in less developed countries. Given their peculiar socio-economic challenges, we proposed a design for a low-budget deep neural network-based sustainable development goals 1-6 (DNNSDGs 1-6) system. The aim is to empower actors implementing SDGs in developing countries with data-based information for robust decision making. Full article

In response to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) commitment, eight selected countries in the South East Asia region have made a remarkable reduction in infant and child mortality, while a few have achieved an SDG 3.2 target of 25 and 12 for child and neonatal mortality rate, respectively, well before 2030. Across these eight countries, there is a large variation in the achievement of the nine dimensions of maternal, neonatal, and child health service coverage. The poorest wealth quintiles who reside in rural areas are the most vulnerable and left behind from access to service. The rich rural residents are better off than the poor counterparts as they have financial means for travel and access to health services in urban town. The recent 2019 global Universal Health Coverage (UHC) monitoring produced a UHC service coverage index and an incidence of catastrophic health spending, which classified countries into four quadrants using global average. Countries belonging to a high coverage index and a low incidence of catastrophic spending are good performers. Countries having high coverage but also a high incidence of catastrophic spending need to improve their financial risk protection. Countries having low coverage and a high incidence of catastrophic spending need to boost service provision capacity, as well as expand financial protection. Countries having low coverage and a low incidence of catastrophic spending are the poor performers where both coverage and financial protection need significant improvement. In these countries, poor households who cannot afford to pay for health services may forego required care and instead choose to die at home. This paper recommended countries to spend adequately in the health sector, strengthen primary health care (PHC) and safeguard the poor, mothers and children as a priority in pathways towards UHC. Full article

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) failed to meet most Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) require knowledge-intensive actions that weigh development goals against sustainability options with several possibilities in various contexts. Land resources are the mainstay for most African communities and the basis of achievement of most SDGs. The “transformation imperative” in Africa will only take place in a differentiated set of resource management and use. The baselines in African countries are rather low in terms of internal policy and economic functions. The objective of this paper is to instate ideas on ways to achieve the SDGs through a new transformative design based on a collective capacity of diverse actors to access a range of land-based practices. We should selectively adapt, adopt, or consolidate various land innovations by targeting place and time where various practices have worked or can work in a range of ecologies; what seems to work over the short-term but reduces risks for the long-term; and what the implications are for wealth, food production, livelihoods, climate change, resilience, and development. This requires a greater capacity to apply what is known about transformative action but also set a collaborative learning system to influence policy-makers and action-takers to support sustainable transformation. Full article