Effective Public Policies Research Articles

Unwinding the tangle of adolescent pregnancy and socio-economic functioning: leveraging administrative data from Manitoba, Canada

BackgroundUnderstanding the relationship between adolescent pregnancy and adult education and employment outcomes is complicated due to the endogeneity of fertility behaviors and socio-economic functioning. Studies exploring adolescent pregnancy have often relied on limited data to measure adolescent pregnancy (i.e. birth during adolescence or self-reports) and lack access to objective measures of school performance during childhood.MethodsWe use rich administrative data from Manitoba, Canada, to assess women’s functioning during childhood (including pre-pregnancy academic performance), fertility behaviors during adolescence (live birth, abortion, pregnancy loss, or no history of pregnancy), and adult outcomes of high school completion and receipt of income assistance. This rich set of covariates allows calculating propensity score weights to help adjust for characteristics possibly predictive of adolescent pregnancy. We also explore which risk factors are associated with the study outcomes.ResultsWe assessed a cohort of 65,732 women, of whom 93.5% had no teen pregnancy, 3.8% had a live birth, 2.6% had abortion, and < 1% had a pregnancy loss. Women with a history of adolescent pregnancy were less likely to complete high school regardless of the outcome of that pregnancy. The probability of dropping out of high school was 7.5% for women with no history of adolescent pregnancy; after adjusting for individual, household, and neighborhood characteristics, the probability of dropping out of high school was 14.2 percentage points (pp) higher (95% CI 12.0-16.5) for women with live birth, 7.6 pp. higher (95% CI 1.5-13.7) for women with a pregnancy loss, and 6.9 pp. higher (95% CI 5.2-8.6) for women who had abortion. They key risk factors for never completing high school are poor or average school performance in 9th grade. Women who had a live births during adolescence were much more likely to receive income assistance than any other group in the sample. Aside from poor school performance, growing up in poor households and in poor neighborhoods were also highly predictive of receiving income assistance during adulthood.DiscussionThe administrative data used in this study enabled us to assess the relationship between adolescent pregnancy and adult outcomes after controlling for a rich set of individual-, household-, and neighborhood-level characteristics. Adolescent pregnancy was associated with higher risk of never completing high school regardless of the pregnancy outcome. Receipt of income assistance was significantly higher for women having a live birth, but only marginally higher for those who had a pregnancy that ended in loss or termination, underlining the harsh economic consequences of caring for a child as a young mother. Our data suggest that interventions targeting young women with poor or average school marks may be especially effective public policy priorities.

The Echoes of Noise: Residential Exposure to Traffic and Risk of Tinnitus.

The Echoes of Noise: Residential Exposure to Traffic and Risk of Tinnitus.

Social distancing and COVID-19: Randomization inference for a structured dose-response relationship

Social distancing is widely acknowledged as an effective public health policy combating the novel coronavirus. But extreme forms of social distancing, like isolation and quarantine, have costs, and it is not clear how much social distancing is needed to achieve public health effects. In this article we develop a design-based framework to test the causal null hypothesis and make inference about the dose-response relationship between reduction in social mobility and COVID-19 related public health outcomes. We first discuss how to embed observational data with a time-independent, continuous treatment dose into an approximate randomized experiment and develop a randomization-based procedure that tests if a structured dose-response relationship fits the data. We then generalize the design and testing procedure to a longitudinal setting and apply them to investigate the effect of social distancing during the first phased reopening in the United States on public health outcomes using data compiled from Unacast™, the United States Census Bureau, and the County Health Rankings and Roadmaps Program. We rejected a primary analysis null hypothesis that stated the social distancing from April 27, 2020 to June 28, 2020, had no effect on the COVID-19-related death toll from June 29, 2020 to August 2, 2020 (p-value < 0.001), and found that it took more reduction in mobility to prevent exponential growth in case numbers for nonrural counties compared to rural counties.

A Public Health, Whole-of-Government Approach to National Suicide Prevention Strategies

A Public Health, Whole-of-Government Approach to National Suicide Prevention Strategies

Effect of alcohol ad content regulations on young people: a multi-method study

PurposeUpstream social marketers advocate implementing effective public policies to protect vulnerable populations from the impacts of advertising harmful products. This study aims to explore how alcohol ad content restrictions (as practised in some countries where ads may only convey factual information and objective properties of alcohol products) versus non-regulated advertising affect consumers’ product perceptions, attitude towards the ad and desire to drink. This study also examines how such restrictions influence the noticeability of text health warnings in ads (signalling alcohol-related risks) depending on their prominence.Design/methodology/approachA multi-method study was used to increase the validity of results. An online quantitative survey (n = 348) and an eye-tracking study (n = 184) were conducted on young French people (15–30). The eye-tracking method is particularly relevant for objectively measuring visual attention.FindingsResults show that content restrictions on alcohol advertising reduce ad appeal and desire to drink. A more prominent format enhanced attentional processing of the text warning, whereas none of the tested ad contents influenced its noticeability.Practical implicationsThis study assesses scientific evidence of the effect on alcohol ad content regulations adopted by some countries and provides arguments for upstream social marketers to inform and influence policymakers.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first multi-method study that assesses the effect of regulated vs non-regulated alcohol ads in terms of persuasion and of text warning visibility.

Strategic management accounting within the system of integrated management of enterprises

Introduction. The paper develops recommendations for improving the methodology of strategic management accounting in the system of complex management of enterprises. The influence of the practice of strategic management accounting on the performance of logistics companies has been studied. The purpose of the paper is development of recommendations for improving the methodology of strategic management accounting in the system of complex management of enterprises. Results. Strategic management accounting is based on various elements, such as: the use of technology, the use of effective information and public policy. They are of crucial importance for the implementation of strategic management accounting in the practical activities of enterprises. It is proved that one of the concepts of strategic management accounting includes the following elements: technology, information and state policy. Partial least squares (PLS) modeling was used to analyze the collected data. A structural model of the influence of elements of strategic management accounting on the profitability of logistics companies is built. The results show that strategic management accounting practices had a significant positive relationship with supply chain performance, and supply chain performance had a significant positive relationship with logistics company profitability. Conclusion. The element Technology was found to have a significant positive relationship with supply chain performance with a value of 6.311. Increasing technology efficiency improves supply chain outcomes. Moreover, it was found that information also had a significant positive relationship with 6.872. In the same vein, it was investigated that public policy had a significant positive relationship with supply chain performance with a value of 3.246. Finally, supply chain performance had a significant positive relationship with logistics company performance with a t-value of 23.412. Prospects for further research are the study of the role of leadership in the competencies of managers and audit in strategic management accounting in order to eliminate the asymmetry of accounting information.

The rainbow reality: income difference and discrimination based on sexual orientation and occupations

PurposeThe article aimed to identify and analyze the income differences across the income distribution between homosexuals and heterosexuals by occupational groups in Brazil.Design/methodology/approachPNAD-C microdata was used in two periods (2013–2015 and 2016 to 2019), highlighting the different economic, social and political contexts in Brazil. Recentered influence function and quantile income decomposition were estimated to verify the difference and income discrimination according to the guideline the worker’s sexuality.FindingsFor some cases homosexual workers earn more and in others, homosexuals earn less than heterosexuals. The differences in remuneration according to sexual orientation were smaller in positions that demand low qualification and competence. The quantile income decomposition between 2013 and 2015 revealed the positive effect of discrimination was the generator of income disparities between homosexuals and heterosexuals, with greater impact for the 10th and 90th quantiles and on groups that require small levels of complexity and education. Between 2016 and 2019, there was the presence of both effects, but the explained effect was the promoter of wage disparities in most occupational groups.Research limitations/implicationsGiven the dataset, it was only possible to work with proxies of homosexual couples.Originality/valueThere has been little research linking the themes of discrimination based on sexual orientation and occupational groups, and so far, it does not exist similar in Latin America. This study found that sexual orientation influences remuneration according to the occupational group that the worker belongs to, affecting income and, consequently, occupational choice. This connection of issues will contribute to new insights into discrimination based on sexual orientation, as well as more effective public policies aimed at reducing discrimination against homosexuals.

Pandemic sociomaterial bricolage: how vulnerable communities used social media to tackle the COVID-19 crisis

PurposeThis research was conducted to understand how vulnerable communities used social media (SM) tools to face the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Affected by the lack of information and the absence of effective public policies, residents from slums in the city of Rio de Janeiro displayed new and unexpected uses to SM tools to tackle the health and socio-economic impacts of the pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThe research methodology consisted of a qualitative, exploratory study, combining a series of in-depth interviews with the analysis of various posts, containing videos and texts, extracted from SM during the first six months of the pandemic. The data were collected in the context of 10 different communities in Rio de Janeiro city.FindingsIn the context of the pandemic, people combined different uses of SM not only to inform themselves and communicate with others but also to articulate and execute fundraising and food donation strategies within vulnerable communities. Accordingly, this SM use is characterized by improvisation, learning by doing and building resilience, which are all constructs related to the concept of bricolage. Users had no specific SM knowledge, and adjusted these technological tools to emergent new activities in practice, which is characteristic of sociomaterial process. In addition to emphasizing the importance of context for the emergence of the phenomenon, this work also highlights reliability, validity and authority as characteristics related to the citizen-led participation approach that was observed.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research can develop approaches based on pandemic sociomaterial bricolage (PSB) aspects, which could guide governments and practitioners on building innovative solutions for the use of SM by the population, especially in emergency situations.Originality/valueThis study proposes a framework, termed PSB, to represent SM usage promoted by the pandemic context, which emerged from the triangulation of empirical data and an analysis based on the concepts of bricolage and sociomateriality.

Effect of Policy Network Collaboration on Public Policy Process Outcomes in the Road Transport Sector in Nairobi City County, Kenya

Purpose: Policy networks approach has gained prominence among scholars due to myriad complex problems in public policy processes and management. Yet, many policies are designed and implemented without meaningful participation of citizens particularly through the informal institutions of policy networks. Despite its vital role in allowing different stakeholders to come together, share their expertise and knowledge, and work to create effective solutions to public policy issues many public making processes seems to have considered policy network collaborations to low extent. Furthermore, other benefits of policy network collaborations such as allowing different perspectives to be heard and considered leading to more informed and effective public policy. Considering that, this study interrogated the effect of policy network collaboration on public policy process outcomes in the road transport sector in Nairobi City County, Kenya.&#x0D; Methodology: The study adopted a descriptive research design. The target population of the study was 470 policy actors in the road transport sector within Nairobi City County out of which 407 were purposefully sampled to respond to the questionnaire and 45 were sampled to participate in focused group discussions as well as key informant interviews. The sampling approach adopted was a purposeful sampling procedure. A mixed methodology was adopted whereby both quantitative and qualitative data was collected through structured questionnaires, key informant interviews and focused group discussions. The quantitative data was analyzed through descriptive statistics that is mean, frequencies and percentages as well as regression analysis. On the other hand, qualitative data was analysed through thematic analysis and reported in a narrative format.&#x0D; Findings: The findings established that the level of policy network collaboration involving but not limited to information sharing, cooperation and agreement in road transport sector within Nairobi City County, Kenya was very high which was associated with a positive and significant effect on policy process outcomes.&#x0D; Recommendations: The study recommends the policy makers and stakeholders in the transport sector in Nairobi City County to develop a shared understanding of the public policy process, increase transparency and communication in the process, encourage cross-sector collaboration, utilize technology in enhancing collaboration as well as develop a culture of trust in the policy making process as a way of improving policy network collaboration.

Formation of state policy in the sphere of digital platforms and ecosystems

Problem setting. The scientific work is devoted to the study of directions and measures of regulation of digital platforms and digital ecosystems. The functioning of digital platforms and ecosystems has its advantages, but citizens, businesses and the state face risks of information security, inequality of relations, loss of sovereignty. That is why in countries with a developed digital economy, the issue of state regulation of platforms and ecosystems is among the priorities. For Ukraine, which is significantly lagging behind in the application of breakthrough innovations, it is important to study world experience in order to develop its own state policy. analysis of recent researches and publications. The issues of regulation of digital platforms and ecosystems are discussed in the scientific literature. In the studies of scientists, in particular, B. Chew, M. Jacobides, B. Kyra, J. Wu, a wide range of aspects are considered, such as the complexity of developing regulatory solutions in the digital economy due to constant innovations, the specifics of protecting competition, data, and human rights in digital ecosystems, the need for regular rethinking and updating of state influence approaches, the need for big data analytics by regulators to identify patterns of behavior of subjects, the feasibility of building a national digital ecosystem of state regulation. The question of the specifics of the development and implementation of an effective state policy in the field of digital ecosystems for emerging economies remains unexplored. Purpose of the research is to substantiate theoretical provisions, analyze legislation and develop practical recommendations for the formation of a state policy for the regulation of digital platforms and ecosystems in Ukraine. article’s main body. To solve the problems of the ecosystem economy, the European Union adopted a number of regulatory documents regulating the activities of digital platforms, in particular the Law on Digital Markets and the Law on Digital Services. The regulatory requirements of the EU for digital platforms are aimed at reducing the risks of monopolization, unfair competition, security of data and operations, misuse of information. Similar requirements can and should be introduced in developing countries. It is important for all countries to ensure the security and stability of a single digital ecosystem. To measure progress in achieving the EU’s digital development goals by 2030, the EU has introduced monitoring measures. On the basis of monitoring, it is expedient for each country to form state supervision over the functioning of digital ecosystems. The systematic approach to the formation of state policy is as follows. The strategic goal of regulating digital platforms and ecosystems must be aligned with national goals. The chosen goal should be decomposed by levels and directions for systematic processing and implementation of strategic decisions. Policy tasks should be defined taking into account the goals, identified weaknesses, risks and threats. conclusions and prospects for the development. States should respond to the potential and existing dangers of the ecosystem economy through the implementation of a policy for the regulation of digital platforms and ecosystems and its systematic updating. In conditions of insufficient funding and in the case of technological lag, emerging countries can implement effective low-cost public policy by implementing regulatory requirements for digital platforms, state supervision in the field of ecosystem economy, development of regulatory measures taking into account a systemic approach. The perspective of further research is the systematic analysis of risks in digital ecosystems and the development of regulatory measures for their management.

Estimating the Prevalence of Dementia in India Using a Semi-Supervised Machine Learning Approach

Introduction: Accurate estimation of dementia prevalence is essential for making effective public and social care policy to support individuals and families suffering from the disease. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the prevalence of dementia in India using a semi-supervised machine learning approach based on a large nationally representative sample. Methods: The sample of this study is adults 60 years or older in the wave 1 (2017–2019) of the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI). A subsample in LASI received extensive cognitive assessment and clinical consensus ratings and therefore has diagnoses of dementia. A semi-supervised machine learning model was developed to predict the status of dementia for LASI participants without diagnoses. After obtaining the predictions, sampling weights and age standardization to the World Health Organization (WHO) standard population were applied to generate the estimate for prevalence of dementia in India. Results: The prevalence of dementia for those aged 60 years and older in India was 8.44% (95% CI: 7.89%–9.01%). The age-standardized prevalence was estimated to be 8.94% (95% CI: 8.36%–9.55%). The prevalence of dementia was greater for those who were older, were females, received no education, and lived in rural areas. Discussion: The prevalence of dementia in India may be higher than prior estimates derived from local studies. These prevalence estimates provide the information necessary for making long-term planning of public and social care policy. The semi-supervised machine learning approach adopted in this paper may also be useful for other large population aging studies that have a similar data structure.

Ultra-processed food consumption and the incidence of obesity in two cohorts of Latin-American young children: A longitudinal study

PurposeWe evaluated the potential associations between the consumption of ultra-processed food (UPF) and the incidence of obesity among Uruguayan and Brazilian preschoolers. Design and methodsWe conducted a longitudinal analysis using data from preschool children from Uruguay and Brazil. The “Health, child development and nutritional survey” (ENDIS) was conducted in Uruguay in 2013–2014 and 2015–2016. The Brazilian survey (Pelotas 2015 Birth Cohort) has measures from 2017 and 2019. The main outcome measure was obesity defined as body mass index (BMI) for age and sex ≥ +3 z-scores. The score of UPF consumption was the main exposure measured. Multilevel crude and adjusted Poisson regressions were performed to estimate risk ratios and the respective 95% Confidence Intervals (95% CI). ResultsThe overall incidence of obesity in this group of young Latin-American children with a mean age of 48 months was 4.1%. We observed a relationship between UPF and obesity with statistical significance (RR: 1.10 (95% CI, 1.02–1.18). Adjustment for weight at birth, age, sex, breastfeeding, country, and time between waves resulted in a similar relationship but lack of statistical significance. ConclusionsWhilst in this study we did not find strong evidence of an association between the incidence of obesity and the intake at baseline and currently of UPF, results suggest that higher UPF consumption is more favorable than reduced consumption for the development of obesity.Practice implications: The present study reinforces the importance of nutrition education and more effective public policies for promoting healthier food choices in early childhood.

Psychological Distress Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Protective Role of Hope.

The COVID-19 outbreak and the worldwide lockdown measures had an impact on the global mental health and psychological well-being of the general population. Several studies attempted to investigate the protective and risk factors for psychological distress related to the pandemic. However, to date, little is known about the role of hope in this context. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between hope and psychological distress related to the COVID-19 outbreak in the general population. The sample consisted of 504 Pakistani people who completed cross-sectionally the COVID-19 Peritraumatic Distress Index (CPDI) and the Adult Hope Scale (AHS). Bivariate Pearson correlation analysis was run to measure the relationship between hope and psychological distress; hierarchical regression analysis was run to investigate the association between demographics and hope with psychological distress. Higher levels of hope predicted lower levels of psychological distress. Being female, being older, lower level of education, urban residence, being married and living in nuclear family systems were associated with higher levels of psychological distress. The study highlights the protective role of hope on psychological distress related to COVID-19, contributing to knowledge on factors promoting positive mental health during emergency times and providing useful information for implementing effective public health policies and programmes.

Urban growth in peri-urban, rural and urban areas: Mexico City

This remote sensing study compares growth occurring in three urban types between 2005 and 2014: peri-urban, rural and urban, in a fast-growing metropolitan region west of Mexico City. Future urban growth for the period 2014–24 is modelled using the land-use/cover change (LUCC) model Geomod. Urban expansion is correlated with some socio-territorial factors and the impacts are assessed for the loss of biomass. In both periods, the urban zone differed the most from the other two in terms of urban expansion. The Geomod predictions overestimate the urban expansion in the urban zone and underestimate it in the peri-urban and rural zones. Significant differences exist in the average urban expansion between zones. The main urban growth drivers were elevation, population density, distance to previous urban land and distance to roads. A substantial loss of biomass is due to urban growth, including expansion and infill. The research reveals significant differences in growth between peri-urban, rural and urban areas, and contributes spatial information for designing focused land-use policies in dynamic urban contexts. <em><strong>Policy relevance</strong></em> This article contributes to understanding the differentiated urban growth of urban, peri-urban and rural areas, which can translate into more precise and effective public policies. Urban expansion and infill patterns differ. For peri-urban and rural areas, the main growth is infill, so actions should be implemented to sustainably manage the vacant or undeveloped land within an existing human settlement to prevent further expansion, but also to avoid the loss of priority areas for the provision of ecosystem services. In urban areas where the main urban increment is expansion, sensible consolidation decisions need to be taken to avoid further urban expansion and the incorporation of urban green space.

Convergence of public expenditures and revenues in EU28 during 2002–2019: Evidence from club‐clustering analysis before and after the European debt crisis

AbstractThis paper explores the convergence of public expenditures and revenues in the EU28 by applying the panel cluster convergence methodology to updated quarterly data for the period 2002–2019. In order to explore whether the recent debt crisis in EU has affected the harmonisation path, the paper, for the first time, considers both the whole period 2002–2019 and two equally‐sized sub‐periods, that is, 2002–2009 and 2012–2019, which correspond to pre‐and post‐debt‐crisis years. The issue is important for the debate on fiscal harmonisation in Europe, given that the EU's debt crisis has generated many asymmetries across the member states, whilst the design of effective public policies remains a key tool for achieving higher economic growth. Overall, our results provide evidence of divergence, especially for public expenditures since the European debt crisis, which suggests that in the future further efforts towards a stronger harmonisation path will be required by policymakers in EU member states.

Assessing Political Demoralization: A Framework for Public Policy Analysis and Evaluation

Background: The United States symbolizes democracy in the new world and contributes to global prosperity. Nevertheless, incrementalism is a historically dominant national approach to public policy implementation that delays democracy and undermines human dignity. Human flourishing and national development are endangered by slow-moving democratic changes. This necessitates a social justice framework that traces the exploitation of incrementalism and the consequences of opportunity gaps. Objectives: This study aimed to answer and address the following research question: Are anti-democratic concepts part of a process or strategy that hinders democratic change, and what reinforces it, if anything? Methods: Two categories emerged from a grounded theory of democratic social change. This combination of anti-democratic tenets and democratic principles led to abductive reasoning to fill the research gap. Results: The key finding was the existence of a systematic approach that led to democracy while simultaneously disempowering the same group through legal and extralegal means. Two processes hinder democracy: incrementalism and an anti-democratic demoralizing process. A constructivist social justice grounded theory was developed to analyze and evaluate public policy for barriers and facilitators of democracy. A thorough analysis and evaluation of the impact and consequences of public policy is recommended to better understand how such policies impede democracy and influence American perceptions of justice.

The impact of public transport on the diffusion of COVID-19 pandemic in Lombardy during 2020

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the world, affecting health, economy, education, and social behavior. Much concern was raised about the role of mobility in the diffusion of the disease, with particular attention to public transport. Indeed, understanding the relationship between mobility and the pandemic is key for developing effective public health interventions and policy decisions. In this work, we aim to understand how mobility, and more specifically mobility by public transport, has affected the diffusion of the pandemic at the regional scale. We focus our attention on Lombardy, the most populated Italian region severely hit by the pandemic in 2020. We explore static mobility data provided by Regione Lombardia, the regional service district, and dynamic mobility data provided by Trenord, a railway operator which serves Lombardy and neighboring areas. We develop an inventive pipeline for the dynamic estimation of Origin-Destination matrices obtained from tickets and passenger counts. This allows us to spot potential triggers in pandemic diffusion enhanced by the concept of proximity induced by mobility. We also develop a novel perspective for assessing the relationship between mobility and overall mortality based upon a functional approach combined with a spatial correlation analysis aimed at identifying the diversified effects on mortality in small geographical areas as a result of the restrictions on mobility introduced to contrast the pandemic.

Appraising the decision-making process concerning COVID-19 policy in postsecondary education in Canada: A critical scoping review protocol.

Responses to COVID-19 in Canadian postsecondary education have overhauled usual norms and practices, with policies of unclear rationale implemented under the pressure of a reported public health emergency. To critically appraise the decision-making process informing COVID-19 policy in the postsecondary education sector. Our scoping review will draw from macro and micro theories of public policy, specifically the critical tradition exemplified by Carol Bacchi's approach "What is the problem represented to be" and will be guided by Arksey and O'Malley's framework for scoping reviews and the team-based approach of Levan and colleagues. Data will include diverse and publicly available documents to capture multiple stakeholders' perspectives on the phenomenon of interest and will be retrieved from university newsletters and legal websites using combinations of search terms adapted to specific data types. Two reviewers will independently screen, chart, analyze and synthesize the data. Disagreements will be resolved through full team discussion. Despite the unprecedented nature of the mass medical mandates implemented in the postsecondary sector and their dramatic impact on millions of lives-students, faculty, staff and their families, friends and communities-the decision-making process leading to them has not been documented or appraised. By identifying, summarizing and appraising the evidence, our review should inform practices that can contribute to effective and equitable public health policies in postsecondary institutions moving forward.

Hydrochemical controls on arsenic contamination and its health risks in the Comarca Lagunera region (Mexico): Implications of the scientific evidence for public health policy.

Nearly half of the world's urban population depends on aquifers for drinking water. These are increasingly vulnerable to pollution and overexploitation. Besides anthropogenic sources, pollutants such as arsenic (As) are also geogenic and their concentrations have, in some cases, been increased by groundwater pumping. Almost 40 % of Mexico's population relies on groundwater for drinking water purposes; much the aquifers in semi-arid and arid central and northern Mexico is contaminated by As. These are agricultural regions where irrigation water is primarily provided from intenstive pumping of the aquifers leading to long-standing declines in the water table. The focus of this study is the main aquifer within the Comarca Lagunera region in Northern Mexico. Although the scientific evidence demonstrates that health effects are associated with long-term exposure to elevated As concentrations, this knowledge has not yielded effective groundwater development and public health policy. A multidisciplinary approach - including the evaluation of geochemistry, human health risk and development and public health policy - was used to provide a current account of these links. The dissolved As concentrations measured exceeded the corresponding World Health Organization guideline for drinking water in 90 % of the sampled wells; for the population drinking this water, the estimated probability of presenting non-carcinogenic health effects was >90 %, and the lifetime risk of developing cancer ranged from 0.5 to 61 cases in 10,000 children and 0.2 to 33 cases in 10,000 adults. The results suggest that insufficient policy responses are due to a complex and dysfunctional groundwater governance framework that compromises the economic, social and environmental sustainability of this region. These findings may valuable to other regions with similar settings that need to design and enact better informed, science-based policies that recognize the value of a more sustainable use of groundwater resources and a healthier population.

Dietary pattern in brochial asthma control

Background: Asthma is a noncurable but preventable disease, responsible for higher morbidity worldwide. Approximately, in every fifth asthmatic patient, the possible role of food allergy should be taken into account. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive study of dietary pattern in asthma control in 1 year, between 2021 and 2022 with 100 asthma and 100 healthy controls. Asthma was diagnosed as per Global Initiative for Asthma 2021. The control group had no respiratory ailments in their entire life span. Diabetes and hypertension were excluded from the study. Dietary habits were documented in both groups in a food diary, and five parameters were given thrust in order to simplify the study. Results: There is a positive correlation between consumption of fast food, packed chips, carbonated drinks and worsening of asthma in 36 patients. Low consumption of cereals has a positive correlation with asthma severity in 38 patients and greater than three times a week sugar intake associated with poor asthma control which is found in 26 patients. Conclusion: The correlation between asthma and the consumption of fast food, salted snacks, fried snacks, fats and oils nuts, dry fruits, and carbonated drinks has been observed in India. Consequently, it becomes crucial to lower the intake of these items and enhance public awareness regarding the impact of fast food on asthma through the implementation of effective public health policies.