Long-term National Strategy Research Articles

Structural and investment policy as an instrument for modernizing the Russian economy

The article considers the current situation of the structural and technological imbalance in the Russian economy, as well as the nonproportional distribution of the factors of production and financial resources. The need for structural reforms in industrial production and income generation has been shown. The author discusses priorities of structural and investment policy, direction of new technological breakthrough in the long-term national strategy of entering international technological space. Special features of development of key economic sectors have been analyzed. In conclusion, quantitative estimates of economic dynamics in the long term up to 2035 have been given, which are predetermined by implementation of planned measures of structural and investment policy that provides potential for GDP growth until 2035 at a rate of no less than 3.5% on average per year.

Professionalizing Healthcare Management: A Descriptive Case Study.

Despite international recognition of the importance of healthcare management in the development of high-performing systems, the path by which countries may develop and sustain a professional healthcare management workforce has not been articulated. Accordingly, we sought to identify a set of common themes in the establishment of a professional workforce of healthcare managers in low- and middle-income country (LMIC) settings using a descriptive case study approach. We draw on a historical analysis of the development of this profession in the United States and Ethiopia to identify five common themes in the professionalization of healthcare management: (1) a country context in which healthcare management is demanded; (2) a national framework that elevates a professional management role; (3) standards for healthcare management, and a monitoring function to promote adherence to standards; (4) a graduatelevel educational path to ensure a pipeline of well-prepared healthcare managers; and (5) professional associations to sustain and advance the field. These five components can to inform the creation of a long-term national strategy for the development of a professional cadre of heathcare managers in LMIC settings.

Suicide burden and prevention in Nepal: The need for a national strategy.

Suicide is a major cause of deaths worldwide and is a key public health concern in Nepal. Although routine national data are not collected in Nepal, the available evidence suggests that suicide rates are relatively high, notably for women. In addition, civil conflict and the 2015 earthquake have had significant contributory effects. A range of factors both facilitate suicide attempts and hinder those affected from seeking help, such as the ready availability of toxic pesticides and the widespread, although erroneous, belief that suicide is illegal. Various interventions have been undertaken at different levels in prevention and rehabilitation but a specific long-term national strategy for suicide prevention is lacking. Hence, to address this significant public health problem, a multisectoral platform of stakeholders needs to be established under government leadership, to design and implement innovative and country-contextualized policies and programmes. A bottom-up approach, with active and participatory community engagement from the start of the policy- and strategy-formulation stage, through to the design and implementation of interventions, could potentially build grass-roots public ownership, reduce stigma and ensure a scaleable and sustainable response.

A Study on the Ex-ante Evaluation on Government R&D Programs Using Fuzzy Reasoning

In 2007, the Korean government officially introduced an ex-ante evaluationsystem, the preliminary feasibility study (PFS), for supporting the decisionmaking process that informs R&D investment budgets, which uses economic, policy, and technological criteria to evaluate prospective R&D programs. Froman analytical perspective, this kind of balanced assessment is very important inbudget allocation decision making and thus the need for objective quantitativevalues that can lead to a conclusive judgment on the status of an R&D investmenthas been growing. However, owing to measurement problems and a lack of information, PFSsas well as economic feasibility assessments, a critical subdimension of PFSs, have faced difficulties in deriving a satisfactory single assertive conclusivevalue. Furthermore, the emphasis on expected economic returns of the R&Dinvestment from the perspective of long-term national strategy in PFSs seems tocontradict the original intention of ex-ante evaluation system, which is supposedto take not only economic but also technological and policy dimensions intoaccount independently. The aim of this study is to investigate the question of independency in PFSs, especially in the assessment of economic feasibility raised by many critics. Ifthere are some systematic connections between assessments of other dimensionsof feasibility and the economic one, it becomes hard to sustain the basic assumptionof the PFS, and we need to explicitly take this linkage into account in performingPFSs. To verify the existence of this connection, I propose a method toderive pseudovalues that provide an economic assessment of the R&D programfrom those originally derived via analyses: a method of a fuzzy reasoningapproach that converts experts` judgments into systematic calculations. Furthermore, I suggest that the results generated by fuzzy reasoning can be used tocomplement a traditional economic analysis, since fuzzy reasoning can informthe development of a comprehensive structure for ex-ante evaluation for governmentprograms.

The role of government and accounting in the development of academic research commercialization: The New Zealand experience

Over the past three decades, many nations have accelerated their efforts to develop academic research commercialization to help drive their innovation and productivity goals. Despite failure to achieve the desired results, surprisingly very few studies have examined how research commercialization initiatives are designed at the government level. This study reviews the historical role of the government and the interplay between significant shifts in research direction, funding and accounting that contributed to the development of academic research commercialization in New Zealand. The paper concludes that funding pressures combined with the government’s lack of early recognition and formal endorsement of research commercialization as a vital activity contributed to previous low levels of academic research commercialization. The important lessons to be learnt from the New Zealand case are that academic research commercialization requires a coherent long-term national strategy that is responsive, promises results and has funding incentives.

Vitamin A deficiency and child feeding in Beijing and Guizhou, China

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is one of the three major micronutrient deficiencies in the world. In order to investigate the status of VAD and child feeding in China, we conducted the survey in Beijing city and Guizhou province. We included a high socioeconomic area (Beijing) and a low socioeconomic area (Guizhou province) in China in our study. Participants included 1236 randomly selected children aged 0-71 months from stratified clusters (628 in Beijing and 608 in Guizhou), 409 from urban and 827 from rural areas. A food intake frequency questionnaire was used for dietary assessment. Fluorescence microanalysis was carried out to measure serum retinol concentrations. Serum retinol cut-off values of less than 20 microg/dl and 30 microg/dl were defined as sub-clinical VAD and suspected sub-clinical VAD, respectively. No xerophthalmia or night blindness was found. The mean concentration of serum retinol was 31.5 microg/dl in the high socioeconomic group, and 26.5 microg/dl in the low socioeconomic group. Rural infants had lower concentrations of serum retinol compared with the urban ones (26.9+/-8.1 microg/dl vs 31.8+/-7.3 microg/dl). The prevalence of sub-clinical VAD among all the children was 7.8%, and increased to 15.7% in children from the low socioeconomic group. In infants from the high socioeconomic area, the prevalence of suspected subclinical VAD was 38.0%, increasing to 59.5% in infants from the low socioeconomic area. The children from the low socioeconomic area had significantly lower fequency of intake of meat than the children in other groups. The prevalence of suspected sub-clinical VAD was higher in the children with lower consumption frequency of vitamin A rich foods than the children with higher consumption frequency of vitamin A rich foods. VAD appears to be a moderate public health problem in certain areas of China. In areas with low socioeconomic status, VAD in childrean is more severe, and infants may be the group at the highest risk for VAD. Inadequate intake of vitamin A rich foods may result in VAD. A comprehensive long-term national strategy needs to be fostered in China for the treatment and prevention of the deficiency.

Vitamin A Deficiency Among Children-- Federated States of Micronesia, 2000

Vitamin A, a fat-soluble, heat-stable nutrient (retinol) derived from animal sources and certain fruits and vegetables, forms the basic component of retinal pigments and plays a vital role in optimal health, growth, and development. Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) (serum retinol < or = 20 microg/dL [< or = 0.7 micromol/L] for subclinical VAD) can substantially increase the risk for childhood mortality from infectious and noninfectious causes. VAD impairs the mobilization and transport of iron and is usually associated with anemia and reduced growth. VAD is a major public health problem in parts of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Western Pacific. In Chuuk and Pohnpei, two of the four Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) (2000 population: 107,008), nutrition surveys during the early 1990s documented VAD prevalences among the highest in the world (CDC, unpublished data, 1991; U.S. Public Health Service, unpublished data, 1994). In response to these findings, FSM health authorities, with support of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), began distributing vitamin A supplements in 1993 and 1998 in Chuuk and Pohnpei, respectively. In November 1999, FSM requested assistance from CDC in VAD assessment surveys of children in Kosrae and Yap, the other two FSM states. This report summarizes levels of serum retinol and prevalence of VAD and other indicators of nutritional status among children aged 24-59 months in Kosrae and Yap. The findings indicated low serum retinol levels and high VAD prevalences but no substantial stunting or wasting. A comprehensive, long-term national strategy is needed in FSM to promote sustained improvement in vitamin A status.