Protection Coverage Research Articles

Challenges and Opportunities for Universal Health Coverage in South Asia: A Scoping Review.

With a significant proportion of the population facing considerable deficits in access to health care and financial protection, progress toward universal health coverage (UHC) continues to be a challenge in South Asia. The objective of this scoping review is to examine the challenges and opportunities for UHC in South Asia. We used the six-stage Arksey and O'Malley methodological framework for investigation and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis extension for Scoping Reviews checklist to structure and report the review. A systematic search retrieved 2776 records from three databases and 13 gray literature sources, of which 27 records were reviewed. Frequently emerging challenges include underfunding of the health system, the nascent stage or inadequate coverage of the social protection or insurance system, fragmentation in the health system, the inability to effectively regulate the private sector, a health system that is unprepared to effectively address non-communicable diseases, and concerns about the quality of and equality of access to health care. While a diversity of challenges, mostly driven by the country-specific context, continue to falter progress toward UHC in the South Asia region, several consistent themes emerge. Considering this as an initial attempt to map the existing literature, we recommend future research to examine how the challenges and priorities evolve over time.

The heterologous expression of novel recombinant protein composed of HN and F moieties of Newcastle disease virus and immunogenicity evaluation in mouse model.

The rapid spread of Newcastle disease (ND), driven by extensive commercial exchange in the poultry industry, necessitates urgent preventive measures. Although effective vaccines against the Newcastle disease virus (NDV) have been used since 1940, recent outbreaks and the limitations of current vaccines highlight the need for improved solutions. Advances in synthetic biology, reverse vaccinology, molecular biology, and recombinant DNA technology over the past 20 years have led to the development of recombinant vaccines, which offer enhanced protection and broader immunogenic coverage against NDV. This study aimed to express the immunogenic domains of Hemagglutinin Neuraminidase (HN) and Fusion (F) glycoproteins, linked to the heat-labile enterotoxin B subunit (LTB) bio-adjuvant, to develop an effective and reliable recombinant vaccine for NDV. In this study, the L(HN)2F protein, composed of the LTB bio-adjuvant and the immunogenic regions of the doubled Hemagglutinin Neuraminidase (HN-HN) and Fusion (F) epitope, was expressed in Escherichia coli. Subcutaneous injection was used to evaluate the humoral immune response in mice and the result was compared with B1 vaccine. The induction of strong humoral immune responses proved the strong immunoreactivity of the recombinant protein. The IgG elicited by the recombinant proteins was comparable to that of the commercial B1 vaccine against NDV, indicating its potential as a viable candidate for further development and evaluation as a recombinant vaccine against NDV.

Year-round differences in the use of roosting sites in an endangered vulture reveal gaps in protected areas coverage

Year-round differences in the use of roosting sites in an endangered vulture reveal gaps in protected areas coverage

Revisiting a decade of inequality in healthcare financial burden in Cambodia, 2009–19: trends, determinants and decomposition

BackgroundOut-of-pocket healthcare expenditure (OOPHE) without adequate social protection often translates to inequitable financial burden and utilization of services. Recent publications highlighted Cambodia’s progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) with reduced incidence of catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) and improvements in its distribution. However, departing from standard CHE measurement methods suggests a different storyline on trends and inequality in the country.ObjectiveThis study revisits the distribution and impact of OOPHE and its financial burden from 2009–19, employing alternative socio-economic and economic shock metrics. It also identifies determinants of the financial burden and evaluates inequality-contributing and -mitigating factors from 2014–19, including coping mechanisms, free healthcare, and OOPHE financing sources.MethodsData from the Cambodian Socio-Economic Surveys of 2009, 2014, and 2019 were utilized. An alternative measure to CHE is proposed: Excessive financial burden (EFB). A household was considered under EFB when its OOPHE surpassed 10% or 25% of total consumption, excluding healthcare costs. A polychoric wealth index was used to rank households and measure EFB inequality using the Erreygers Concentration Index. Inequality shifts from 2014–19 were decomposed using the Recentered Influence Function regression followed by the Oaxaca-Blinder method. Determinants of financial burden levels were assessed through zero-inflated ordered logit regression.ResultsBetween 2009–19, EFB incidence increased from 10.95% to 17.92% at the 10% threshold, and from 4.41% to 7.29% at the 25% threshold. EFB was systematically concentrated among the poorest households, with inequality sharply rising over time, and nearly a quarter of the poorest households facing EFB at the 10% threshold. The main determinants of financial burden were geographic location, household size, age and education of household head, social health protection coverage, disease prevalence, hospitalization, and coping strategies. Urbanization, biased disease burdens, and preventive care were key in explaining the evolution of inequality.ConclusionMore efforts are needed to expand social protection, but monitoring those through standard measures such as CHE has masked inequality and the burden of the poor. The financial burden across the population has risen and become more unequal over the past decade despite expansion and improvements in social health protection schemes. Health Equity funds have, to some extent, mitigated inequality over time. However, their slow expansion and the reduced reliance on coping strategies to finance OOPHE could not outbalance inequality.

Identifying Gaps in the Protection of Mediterranean Seagrass Habitats Using Network‐Based Prioritisation

ABSTRACTAimSeagrass meadows represent a key marine ecosystem owing to the significant biodiversity they host. Protection actions are often implemented without considering connectivity between habitats. In this article, we project and prioritise Mediterranean seagrass habitats (Posidonia oceanica and Cymodocea nodosa) based on their potential as sources/retention and stepping stones for dispersal propagules of the associated biotic communities. We use this information to identify gaps in the protection of highly ranked habitats.LocationMediterranean Sea.MethodsWe related seagrass observations with marine environmental predictors to run species distribution models and infer the distribution of Mediterranean seagrasses. We then used a network‐based approach (CONEFOR) to rank patches of seagrass suitable areas based on their contribution to the seascape in terms of patch area, potential as source/retention of propagules and stepping stone. Finally, by overlaying our ranking with the spatial distribution of marine protected areas (MPAs), we identified potential gaps in the protection of important seagrass habitats across the Mediterranean and its basins.ResultsMost of the identified patches of seagrass suitable areas are not included in MPAs, only reaching a maximum protection coverage of ~50% in the Northwestern Mediterranean. Relatively few patches contribute disproportionately to connectivity, but top‐ranked habitat patches are not included within the existing MPAs network, both at the Mediterranean scale and for most basins. The largest gaps for the source/sink role are in the Aegean and Ionian Sea, and largest gaps for the stepping stone role are in the Adriatic, Ionian and Tyrrhenian Sea.Main ConclusionsOur results suggest that the current MPAs network fails to protect highly relevant patches of seagrass suitable areas in most of the Mediterranean basins. However, this gap could be filled by a few well‐placed MPAs. Overall, we provide novel insights for the identification of key habitats and planning novel coastal MPAs in the region.

Examining Post Hip Fracture Bone Protection At 30 days After Admission To An Irish Hospital

Abstract Background The Irish Hip Fracture Database (IHFD) includes a national standard of bone assessment during the acute episode of care. Furthermore, IV Zoledronic Acid (IVZ) is now recommended after hip fracture to provide longer term bone protection. It is not known however, how many patients commence appropriate bone therapy, by 30 days after admission. This audit aimed to examine commencement of bone protection medication for hip fracture patients across one acute hospital and its associated rehabilitation sites. Methods A retrospective audit was conducted. Consecutive patients admitted between December 2022 and December 2023, with hip fracture to a single acute hospital were included. Patients that did not meet IHFD inclusion criteria, were excluded. Patients were contacted in-person or by telephone by a physiotherapist to ask about bone-protection medication at 30 days after hip fracture admission, as part of a broader follow-up. Results A total of 146 patients were included for follow-up at 30 days after hip fracture admission. Of these patients, n=13 (9%) had died within this time and n=7 were not contactable at 30 days. A further n=8 (5%) did not receive bone-health follow-up. Only n= 3 patients contacted were not started on bone medication because it was contraindicated. While it is known that many patients were given IVZ as inpatients, it was not possible to determine this information accurately from patient report or current information recorded in the IHFD. Conclusion Most participants were administered bone protection medication by day 30 post hip fracture admission, however in some cases this was difficult to determine. The process of conducting the audit has improved commencement and recording of specific medication, in particular IVZ. The introduction of long-term outcomes into the IHFD should facilitate our hospital to benchmark our bone protection coverage nationally.

Simultaneous integrated boost-intensity modulated radiation therapy (SIBIMRT) planning for pelvic tumours: dose coverage to target volume and normal tissue sparing.

To evaluate the better radiotherapy plan for pelvic tumours that may achieve a high target coverage dose and low normal tissue tolerance dose using simultaneous integrated boost-intensity-modulated radiation therapy technique. The analytical, cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted from October 2020 to March 2021 at Al- Amal National Hospital for Cancer Treatment, Baghdad, Iraq, and comprised male pelvic cancer patients aged 50-80 years. Computed tomography scans were randomly selected. For each patient, 4 treatment plans (phases Ι and Π) were generated using the simultaneous integrated boost-intensity-modulated radiation therapy technique while keeping all parameters constant except the number of beams, which were 5, 7, 9 and 11. The optimal and safe dose was defined as the one to cover 95% planning target volume. Homogeneity and conformity indices were used to assess the uniformity of dose distribution in the target volume, and various treatment plans in the same patient were compared. Data was analysed using SPSS 24. There were 15 males with mean age 67.12±2.84 years. There was a significant variance in the target volume dose and organ at risk in the 4 different plans generated using the simultaneous integrated boost-intensitymodulated radiation therapy technique (p<0.05). The 9-beam treatment plan was the best for coverage of tumours and protection of healthy organs assessed through homogeneity and conformity indices (p<0.05). The 9-beam treatment plan showed significant tumour coverage, homogeneity and conformity values, and sparing dose for organs at risk.

The mitigating effect of social protection on undernourishment during economic downturns: A longitudinal study of 46 low- and middle-income countries over the last two decades

BackgroundLow- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of economic downturns on the Prevalence of Undernourishment (PoU). Our study aimed to evaluate the impact of Social Protection and Labor Programs (SPL) on PoU in 46 LMICs from 2001 to 2019, and to estimate SPL mitigating effects during economic downturns. MethodsThis cohort study used a multi-country ecological design with two-ways fixed effects multivariable linear regression models, adjusted for relevant demographic, socioeconomic, and contextual variables. Interaction terms between economic downturns and SPL were used to evaluate SPL mitigating effects. FindingsOur study cohort displayed an average 15.30% PoU and 34.34% SPL coverage in the initial year, contrasting with 8.58% PoU and 43.81% SPL coverage in the final year. A 10% SPL coverage was associated with a 0.51% PoU reduction (95%CI: 0.04–0.99) across all countries and 0.78% reduction within the poorest subgroup. SPL have been able to prevent an estimated 1.01 billion (95% UI: 0.16–1.86) cases of undernourishment over the study period in the 46 LMICs. Economic downturns were associated with a 4.55% PoU increase (95% CI: 1.28–7.81) in all countries, and a 6.06% PoU increase in the poorest subgroup. High SPL coverage during the downturns had significant mitigating effects, reducing an overall 1.17% PoU for every 10% SPL coverage in all countries, and 1.81% PoU in the poorest nations. InterpretationAmid the ongoing multiple global crises, expanding the coverage of social protection could effectively mitigate the potential increases in undernourishment during economic downturns, contributing to the achievement of nutrition-related Sustainable Development Goals in LMICs.

Amphibian hotspots in Iran: Effectiveness of current protected area and priorities for conservation planning

The identification of conservation priority areas for amphibians in Iran remains unexplored. Although protected areas play a vital role in biodiversity conservation, 40 percent of amphibians are at risk of extinction. The present study aimed to identify the priority areas for amphibian conservation and assess the effectiveness of the current protected conservation areas. 2192 species occurrence points for 23 amphibians, including 16 species of Anura and 7 species of Caudata, were curated. These occurrence points in addition to bioclimatic, anthropogenic, and geographical variables were used to model the species distribution. Then, the richness and rarity maps of amphibians were determined and hotspots identified based on the top 10 % area of the country with the highest richness and rarity values. Finally, Iran's protected areas were overlaid to evaluate the current coverage of hotspots and identify future conservation priorities. Although approximately 12 % of Iran is currently protected, the present study findings indicate that the current network of protected areas is ineffective for amphibian conservation; over 90 % of hotspots for amphibians lie outside the current national protected area network. The most important hotspots are located in the Caspian Hyrcanian Mixed Forest, the western margin of the North Zagros, and the Central Zagros Mountains Forest-Steppe ecoregions of the country. Among different types of protected areas that overlap with amphibian hotspots, protected areas and wildlife refuges respectively ranked the highest in quantity and size, while national parks ranked the lowest. In the current study, a baseline of top candidate areas for expanding protected areas where habitats can be managed to protect amphibians in Iran was provided. To further improve protected areas' coverage, priority conservation areas in the Zagros Mountains Forest-Steppe hotspots were recommended.

Systematic conservation prioritization with the prioritizr R package.

Plans for expanding protected area systems (prioritizations) need to fulfill conservation objectives. They also need to account for other factors, such as economic feasibility and anthropogenic land-use requirements. Although prioritizations are often generated with decision support tools, most tools have limitations that hinder their use for decision-making. We outlined how the prioritizr R package (https://prioritizr.net) can be used for systematic conservation prioritization. This decision support tool provides a flexible interface to build conservation planning problems. It can leverage a variety of commercial (e.g., Gurobi) and open-source (e.g., CBC and SYMPHONY) exact algorithm solvers to identify optimal solutions in a short period. It is also compatible with a variety of spatially explicit (e.g., ESRI Shapefile, GeoTIFF) and nonspatial tabular (e.g., Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet) data formats. Additionally, it provides functionality for evaluating prioritizations, such as assessing the relative importance of different places selected by a prioritization. To showcase the prioritizr R package, we applied it to a case study based in Washington state (United States) for which we developed a prioritization to improve protected area coverage of native avifauna. We accounted for land acquisition costs, existing protected areas, places that might not be suitable for protected area establishment, and spatial fragmentation. We also conducted a benchmark analysis to examine the performance of different solvers. The prioritization identified 12,400km2 of priority areas for increasing the percentage of species' distributions covered by protected areas. Although open source and commercial solvers were able to quickly solve large-scale conservation planning problems, commercial solvers were required for complex, large-scale problems.. The prioritizr R package is available on the Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN). In addition to reserve selection, it can inform habitat restoration, connectivity enhancement, and ecosystem service provisioning. It has been used in numerous conservation planning exercises to inform best practices and aid real-world decision-making.

Casualization of work, free riding and institutional distrust: Explaining social protection preferences of platform workers in Germany

Abstract The social protection of platform workers is widely recognized as a major political challenge but remains vastly understudied. The few existing investigations focus on social protection coverage and the employment status of platform workers, while their social protection preferences remain a black box to date. In this article, we investigate the social protection preferences of platform workers using a mixed methods design based on an online survey (n = 719) and qualitative in-depth interviews (n = 20) with self-employed platform workers in Germany. While the quantitative data indicate that the vast majority of respondents reject compulsory social insurance contributions for platform workers and favour self-employment over dependent employment, the qualitative interviews reveal three main types of explanations for this regulation aversion in different segments of platform work: The casualization of work in the platform economy, free riding on protection derived from ‘regular’ employment and distrust in established welfare state institutions. Against this background, we discuss challenges for social policies aiming at improving social protection for platform workers.

Habitat suitability and protected area coverage for an expanding cougar Puma concolor population in Canada.

Successful conservation of expanding large carnivore populations and management of human-wildlife conflict to promote coexistence requires sufficient spatiotemporal knowledge to inform appropriate action. In Canada, cougars (Puma concolor) are expanding their range eastwards and little research is available for use in decision making by land managers and conservation planners. To inform proactive management regarding expanding populations of cougars in Canada, we utilized open-source cougar presence and land-cover data in a maximum entropy habitat suitability model to determine potentially suitable habitat for cougars across the country. We then used a gap analysis to determine the effectiveness of existing formal protected areas to protect potential cougar habitat. Suitable habitat exists for range-expanding cougars dispersing eastwards through the central and eastern provinces to the Atlantic coast. While the habitat is highly fragmented, the highest suitability occurs in areas of medium road density, indicating that the potential for new human-cougar conflict will likely involve residents of exurban and rural areas. Protected areas offered 16% coverage of suitable habitat, although most protected areas that overlap predicted cougar habitat are not large enough to effectively conserve the large home range requirements of cougars. Synthesis and Applications: High fragmentation of suitable habitat and the potential for human-wildlife conflict requires proactive management to ensure appropriately sized and connected areas are maintained for the establishment of expanding cougar populations. Many of the management actions intended to aid in the conservation of cougars and their habitat can also serve to mitigate potential human-cougar conflict arising as a consequence of an expanding population, such as highway wildlife crossing structures and formal habitat protection.

Professional Education or Certificate: The Factors Influencing Child Maltreatment Recognition in China

Purpose: This study examines the influences of social work education and social work certificates on the recognition of child maltreatment and its subtypes among social workers in contemporary China. Method: Data from 3,032 child social workers in the 2019 Chinese Social Work Longitudinal Study were analyzed using t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson correlations, and multiple regression models. Results: Social work education showed no significant association with child maltreatment recognition. Individuals with assistant-level or associate-level professional certificates demonstrated higher levels of recognition of child maltreatment and certain subtypes, including emotional abuse and neglect. Conclusions: Compared to the extensive coverage of child protection in certificate exams that reflects practical needs and policy changes, an overall lack of child social work content in degree programs could lead to long-term consequences on child protection practices and calls for a practice-oriented reorganization of social work degree curricula.

An Investigation on the Effect of Savings and Internal Lending Communities Participation on Poverty Reduction among Informal Operators in Shangai Informal Settlement Mpika, Zambia

Social protection comprises policies and programmes that are put in place in order to reduce the lifelong consequences that negatively affect society's well-being. About 4 billion people around the world are not on social protection programmes provided by the government (ILO, 2020). They are either on private formal or traditional and informal mechanisms such as Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC). The participation in SILC in several studies has indicated that the participants had alleviated poverty through asset accumulation. However, the effect of SILC participation by informal operators in Shangai informal settlements on poverty reduction has not been documented, hence this study. The specific objectives of the study were to characterize and determine the effect of Savings and Internal Lending Communities' participation in poverty reduction among informal operators in Shangai informal settlements. The study employed a descriptive research design with a sample size of 112 randomly selected. Questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data. The quantitative data was analyzed and presented as means, frequency and percentages. Examination of the effects of SILC participation and poverty reduction was done using an independent t-test and Binary logistic regression with a p&lt;0.05 as a criterion of Statistical significance. Results showed that participation in SILC led to poverty reduction through the accumulation of sponge mattresses and beds. Therefore, this study recommends that the government build SILC groups as viable social protection coverage for the informal sector.

Addressing critical gaps in protected area coverage for bird habitats in China

Currently, protected areas cover approximately 14% of the Earth's land surface, yet 12.2% of the world's bird species remain unprotected by any designated areas and face significant threats. This study investigates the current status of bird conservation in China, aiming to evaluate the effectiveness of existing protected areas, analyze why certain bird species are not adequately protected, and propose strategies for optimizing protected area configurations. Utilizing citizen science data and the zonation optimization algorithm, we comprehensively assessed the conservation value of birds in China. We then employed anthropogenic stressor data to evaluate the conservation of threatened bird habitats through a binary conflict intensity model. Finally, we conducted a spatial overlap analysis to determine the coverage and effectiveness of Chinese nature reserves in regions with high conservation value and high conflict risk. Our findings indicate that only 10.0% of the highest conservation value bird habitats are covered by protected areas, and just 7.3% of these protected areas effectively safeguard these critical habitats. Additionally, only 5.9% of bird habitats impacted by human activity conflicts are within protected areas, and merely 22.0% of the total protected areas can effectively conserve high conflict risk habitats. Overall, China's current protected area system has substantial shortcomings in safeguarding bird habitats and requires further optimization and expansion to maximize conservation benefits.

Overlap between priority conservation areas and natural assets appeals to a shared responsibility for global primate conservation

Expanding protected areas (PAs) coverage to match countries’ conservation responsibility is vital to stemming global biodiversity loss. Uneven biodiversity distribution and conservation responsibility among countries pose challenges to the implementation of conservation targets, and currently diminish conservation effectiveness. Using primates as a global model, we evaluated the conservation responsibility of countries to assess if their PA coverage adequately meets their conservation responsibility. We quantified spatial national responsibility for primate species conservation in each country from their range size of priority conservation areas (PCAs) and protected areas coverage on PCAs. We identified the high-responsibility countries for global primate conservation as countries that held > 1 % of global PCAs. We paid particular attention to the circumstances associated with PCAs in the least developed countries, especially the overlap between PCAs and the areas containing natural assets (natural assets areas). Seventeen countries were identified as high-responsibility countries that in total covered 84 % area of global PCAs. Current protected areas only covered less than 50 % of PCAs for fifteen of these high-responsibility countries. Among these fifteen countries, four countries (DR Congo, PA coverage: 19 %; Myanmar, 9 %; Madagascar, 29 %; Laos, 22 %) were the least developed countries. Most existing PCAs (95 %; SD 6 %) in these 17 countries are located within natural assets areas, which creates tension between primate conservation and local development. Global primate conservation is a shared responsibility among the international community. Developing countries have greater responsibility than most because of the overlapping of their PCAs with natural assets areas. For developing countries to fulfill their conservation responsibilities requires international conservation resources (funding support and cooperation). Protected areas expansion has to be matched with a realizable target for each country to avoid crippling conflicts between conservation and local development. Community-based management models, including other effective area-based conservation measures, may reduce potential conflict and improve conservation effectiveness.

Financial inclusion, socioeconomic shocks and social protection in Nigeria amidst COVID-19 pandemic

Financial inclusion and social protection have been recognised as the primary essential stimuli from the potential they carry as avenues for economic development, especially with respect to reduction in poverty and inequalities, the creation of employment and the enhancement overall welfare and livelihood. However, inclusive access to financial resources and equitable access to social protection interventions have remained a significant concern in Nigeria. In addition, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the weakness of Nigeria in all sectors of the economy such as energy, health, education and food systems and low-level inclusive access to financial resources and social protection coverage. On the other hand, this study argues that financial inclusion and social protection has the potential to mitigation shocks orchestrated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study empirically examines how social protection interventions and access to financial resources responded to COVID-19 pandemic. The study made use of data sourced from the World Bank’s COVID-19 national longitudinal phone survey 2020 and applied the logit regression. The findings show that social protection and access to financial resources significantly associated with the likelihood of shock mitigation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results show that social protection intervention reduces the probability of being severely affected by shocks by 0.431. Given this result, the study recommends that the government should put more effort into proper social protection intervention to mitigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Transforming Lives Through Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (ABPMJAY): A Review

Background: The Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) program was created in line with the global goal of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), and aims to ensure everyone has access to quality healthcare services without suffering financial difficulties. In India, over 60% of healthcare spending is still borne by households, and a significant portion of the population lacks any form of health protection coverage. Discussion: The High-Level Expert Group (HLEG) recommended a shift from supply-side healthcare financing to demand-side financing, leading to the introduction of government-sponsored health insurance schemes. To achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC), the Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) was launched following the recommendations of the National Health Policy 2017. The PMJAY program is the world's largest publicly sponsored social health insurance program, delivering comprehensive healthcare services covering primary, secondary, and tertiary care levels. The scheme covers approximately 12 crore households, including more than 50 crore beneficiaries, offering healthcare coverage of up to Rs. 5 lakh per family annually. PMJAY operates nationwide in India, covering all states and union territories except for a few.. Conclusion: To move forward, PMJAY can play a transformative role in the healthcare landscape, integrate with primary healthcare, contribute to economic development, and expand its scope to include more healthcare services.

Priority conservation areas for protected saproxylic beetles in Romania under current and future climate scenarios

Climate change threatens species and ecosystems globally, including forest ecosystems that support rich invertebrate diversity. Saproxylic beetles, that depend on old-growth trees and deadwood, are facing increasing pressure. Consequently, conserving these beetles has become a priority for EU Member States. We developed ensemble species distribution models for five saproxylic beetles for current and three future time horizons under two Shared Socioeconomic Pathways and two Global Circulation Models. We used a systematic conservation planning approach to assess the effectiveness and resilience to climate change of the Romanian Natura 2000 network for saproxylic beetles while identifying areas for prospective protected area expansion to meet EU conservation targets. Our study revealed that under all scenarios and time horizons, the saproxylic beetles may lose over 80% of their suitable habitat and restrict their distribution to higher elevations. According to the conservation prioritization analysis, we found that, when considering 30% of the landscape as being protected, an average of 85% of species distribution is retained within priority areas overlapping the Carpathian Mountains, while for the current protected area coverage (18% of Romania’s terrestrial area), the existing Natura 2000 network does not perform satisfactorily, with only ~ 30% of the saproxylic species distributions falling within the network. Our results corroborate previous findings on saproxylic beetle range shifts and contractions due to climate change. Furthermore, our findings question the effectiveness of the current Natura 2000 network, as it is currently inadequate for protecting these species. To achieve the goals of the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 of protecting at least 30% of the EU’s territory, we advocate the expansion of the Natura 2000 sites to future suitable saproxylic beetle habitats.

Missing the vulnerable-Inequalities in social protection in 13 sub-Saharan African countries: Analysis of population-based surveys.

We assessed socioeconomic inequalities in social protection coverage among the public, men and women living with the human immunodeficiency virus (MLHIV, WLHIV), and adolescent girls and young women (AGYW). We used population-based data from Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. We constructed concentration curves (CC) and computed concentration indices (CIX) for each country and population group. A CC represents the cumulative percentage of social protection coverage plotted on the y-axis against the cumulative proportion of the population-ranked by socioeconomic status from the poorest to the richest-on the x-axis. The CIX quantifies the concentration of social protection coverage among the poor or the rich. The sample size ranged from 10,197 in Eswatini to 29,577 in Tanzania. Social protection coverage among the public varied from 5.2% (95% Confidence Interval 4.5%-6.0%) in Ethiopia to 39.9% (37.0%-42.8%) in Eswatini. It ranged from 6.9% (5.7%-8.4%) MLHIV in Zambia to 45.0% (41.2-49.0) among WLHIV in Namibia. Among AGYW, it varied from 4.4% (3.6-5.3) in Ethiopia to 44.6% (40.8-48.5) in Eswatini. Socioeconomic inequalities in social protection coverage favored the poor in 11/13 countries surveyed. It favored the rich in Cameroon and was undefined in Côte d'Ivoire. The CIX in these 11 countries ranged from -0.080 (p = 0.002) among the public in Malawi to -0.372 (p< 0.001) among WLHIV in Zimbabwe. In 8 of these 11 countries, ≥15% of people from the poorest households reported receiving social protection. Only in countries with higher levels of social protection coverage did most people from the poorest households achieve high coverage. Social protection coverage was low and favored the poor. Pro-poor social protection is insufficient to reach the poor. Research is required to reach the poorest households with social protection in Africa.