Sub-district Level Research Articles

Added-value of mosquito vector breeding sites from street view images in the risk mapping of dengue incidence in Thailand.

Dengue is an emerging vector-borne viral disease across the world. The primary dengue mosquito vectors breed in containers with sufficient water and nutrition. Outdoor containers can be detected from geotagged images using state-of-the-art deep learning methods. In this study, we utilize such container information from street view images in developing a risk mapping model and determine the added value of including container information in predicting dengue risk. We developed seasonal-spatial models in which the target variable dengue incidence was explained using weather and container variable predictors. Linear mixed models with fixed and random effects are employed in our models to account for different characteristics of containers and weather variables. Using data from three provinces of Thailand between 2015 and 2018, the models are developed at the sub-district level resolution to facilitate the development of effective targeted intervention strategies. The performance of the models is evaluated with two baseline models: a classic linear model and a linear mixed model without container information. The performance evaluated with the correlation coefficients, R-squared, and AIC shows the proposed model with the container information outperforms both baseline models in all three provinces. Through sensitivity analysis, we investigate the containers that have a high impact on dengue risk. Our findings indicate that outdoor containers identified from street view images can be a useful data source in building effective dengue risk models and that the resulting models have potential in helping to target container elimination interventions.

SARS-CoV-2 Sero-Prevalence Among General Population and Healthcare Workers in India, December 2020 - January 2021

Background: Repeated cross-sectional serosurveys in the same geographic area establish the trend of the evolving pandemic. We present the findings of the third round of a national serosurvey to estimate the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among the general population and health care workers of India. Methods: We conducted the third population-based serosurvey between Dec 18, 2020 and Jan 6, 2021 in the same 700 villages or wards from 70 districts in 21 states across India, which were selected for the first and second serosurveys. We enrolled from each district, at least 400 individuals aged ≥ 10 years from general population and 100 HCWs from sub-district level public health facilities. Serum samples from general population were tested for the presence of IgG antibodies against nucleocapsid (N) and spike protein (S1-RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 using the Abbott and Siemens assays respectively, whereas sera from HCWs were tested for anti-S1-RBD. For general population, sera positive for either of the antibodies were considered positive, while sera positive for anti-S1-RBD were considered as positive for HCW. Weighted seroprevalence estimates were adjusted for sensitivity and specificity of respective assays. Findings: Of the 28,598 sera from general population, 4585 (16%) had IgG antibodies against N, 6647 (23.2%) against S1-RBD and 7436 (26%) against either. The weighted and assay characteristic adjusted seroprevalence against either of the antibodies was 24.1 (95%CI: 23.0% to 25.3%). Seroprevalence was lower in rural areas (21.4%, 95% CI: 20.3% to 22.6%) compared to urban non-slum (29.4%, 95% CI: 26.9% - 32.1%) and slum areas (34.6%, 95% CI: 31.0% to 38.3%). Among 7385 HCWs, the seroprevalence of anti-S1-RBD IgG antibodies was 25.6% (95% CI: 23.5% to 27.8%). Interpretation: Nearly one in four individuals aged 10 years or older from general population as well as HCWs were exposed to SARS-CoV-2 by December 2020 amounting to 271 million infections in India.Funding Statement: Indian Council of Medical ResearchDeclaration of Interests: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form at www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf and declare no competing interestsEthics Approval Statement: The project was approved by Institutional Human Ethics Committee at ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology.

Do Political Economy Factors Influence Funding Allocations for Disaster Risk Reduction?

Considering the importance of political economy in implementing Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), this research investigates the significance of political economy in the distribution of DRR funding in Bangladesh. The study analysed data from self-reported surveys from 133 members of the sub-district level disaster management committee and government officials working with DRR. Employing the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) method, we find that political economy factors explain 68% of the variance in funding allocations. We also show that four categories of political economy factors—power and authority, interest and incentives, institutions, and values and ideas—are significantly influential over the distribution of DRR funding across subdistricts of Bangladesh. Our findings offer important policy implications to reduce the potential risks surrounding political economy influences in fund allocation and advance climate finance literature.

Evaluating context-specific evidence-based quality improvement intervention on lymphatic filariasis mass drug administration in Northern Ghana using the RE-AIM framework

BackgroundOver a decade of implementing a global strategy to eliminate lymphatic filariasis in Ghana through mass drug administration, the disease is still being transmitted in 11 districts out of an initial 98 endemic districts identified in 2000. A context-specific evidence-based quality improvement intervention was implemented in the Bole District of Northern Ghana after an initial needs assessment to improve the lymphatic filariasis mass drug administration towards eliminating the disease. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the process and impact of the lymphatic filariasis context-specific evidence-based quality improvement intervention in the Bole District of Northern Ghana.MethodA cross-sectional mixed methods study using the RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance) framework to evaluate the context-specific evidence-based quality improvement intervention was employed. Quantitative secondary data was extracted from the neglected tropical diseases database. A community survey was conducted with 446 randomly selected participants. Qualitative data were collected from 42 purposively selected health workers, chiefs/opinion leaders and community drug distributors in the study area.ResultsThe evaluation findings showed an improvement in social mobilisation and sensitisation, knowledge about lymphatic filariasis and mass drug administration process, willingness to ingest the medication and adherence to the direct observation treatment strategy. We observed an increase in coverage ranging from 0.1 to 12.3% after implementing the intervention at the sub-district level and reducing self-reported adverse drug reaction. The level of reach, effectiveness and adoption at the district, sub-district and individual participants’ level suggest that the context-specific evidence-based quality improvement intervention is feasible to implement in lymphatic filariasis hotspot districts based on initial context-specific needs assessment.ConclusionThe study provided the groundwork for future application of the RE-AIM framework to evaluate the implementation of context-specific evidence-based quality improvement intervention to improve lymphatic filariasis mass drug administration towards eliminating the disease as a public health problem.

Analysis and Design of Web-Based Health Service Information Systems (E-Health), in the Industrial Revolution Era 4.0

This research is motivated by an analysis of the need for a health service information system which is an important part that cannot be separated from the health system in a country. This study aims to provide fast service information to the public and can increase the role of health care institutions through the provision of information about health complaints that occur in the surrounding environment. Especially in the era of the industrial revolution 4.0 which is also known as the digital era, where many sectors of life are inseparable from the participation and use of computer technology. Community Health Centres (Puskesmas) is one of the health service centers at the sub-district level. The number of patients is quite large, causing problems in getting information about the patient, the number of patients, the number of visits, total income, data on drug supply and drug data that has been used by the puskesmas. Based on the existing problems, it is necessary to design a web-based health service information system using the PHP and HTML programming languages and MySQL as its storage media or database. The system development methodology that I use is the prototype methodology. The result of the development of the system is that the system can help the Public Health Service Center to manage existing health services, especially helping the community to obtain important information about health services.

Public service innovation through the application of mobile-based smart city concepts in Sukun sub-district, Malang City

Public service provides services to the public carried out by the government whose services can be in the form of goods, services, or administration. The sub-district is a public service provider from the application stage to the publication phase of the document. Where people need not go to several agencies to take care of licensing documents, but enough to come to the district in their respective regions. Districts as the spearhead of government administrators must carry out their functions as the embodiment of excellent public service. However, in reality, public services at the sub-district level are of poor quality. Less responsive, less informative, and convoluted bureaucracy is often a major problem in service. Even though in the current technological era, the sub-districts should adopt technology for their activities. Innovation in using smart city concept technology in sub-districts is the key to solving existing problems because integrating entities in the smart city concept can facilitate the exchange of information, speed of data exchange, and rapid decision-making by service officers the public. So that the public services organized by the sub-district become more quality.

POLITIK PARTISIPATIF MASYARAKAT PADA PILKADA TAHUN 2020 DI KECAMATAN MORAMO UTARA KABUPATEN KONAWE SELATAN

The purpose of this study was to find out how the participation of the people of North Moramo took part in the success of the regional head election democratic party, the indicators of this study were community participation and political behavior. This study uses Max Waber's theory of social action in which there is rational action. The research location is in the village of Lalowaru, North Moramo sub-district. Furthermore, there were 37 informants in this research, while the sample was taken using a purposive sampling technique and the data collection technique was using an interview technique. The conclusion of this study is the level of community participation in the 2020 Pilkada in Lalowaru Village, North Moramo District, South Konawe Regency, namely voting as, this form of political participation is very high because almost 78% gave their right to vote. The inhibiting factors for participation are the busyness of daily activities, and the prohibition from the family and the driving factors are: first curiosity and the desire to become the main political actor at the sub-district level.

The Potential Impact of Monthly Income Transfers on Child Stunting in India: A Sub-National Geospatial Perspective

Background: Approximately one-third of the world’s stunted (low height-for-age) preschool-aged children live in India and is related to poverty. However, the potential impact of intervention like increments on household income are not known at a granular sub-district level, nor linked to existing wealth. Methods: Geolocations of primary sampling units from National Family Health Survey-4 were used to map stunting prevalence at 14x14 square kilometres resolution and by wealth. These data were statistically matched with data from the National Sample Survey Office-68 to approximate monthly consumer expenditure per capita and estimate the impact of monthly income transfers on stunting at this granular scale. Findings: A monthly transfer of $7 (₹500) per capita was estimated to reduce stunting across India by 3·8% (95% Uncertainty Interval: 0.14–10%), but with substantial geographical variation. Higher income transfers had larger effects for households in the Gangetic Plain and in pockets of Northern and North-Eastern India. The largest effect was observed in North-Eastern Odisha, with the potential to reduce stunting by as much as 10·8% (95% UI:8·8–12·7%). Interpretation: Higher household income, achieved through transfers, has the potential to reduce stunting in some regions of India where the burden of both stunting and poverty are high. For other regions, income improvement may contribute to improved nutrition, but it would need to be supplemented by other complementary programs for effectively reducing stunting. While having value for the whole country, the impact of improved household income will vary by context and will need nuanced, complementary interventions. Funding Statement: Exceptional Fellow Funding of Margdarshi Fellowship, The Wellcome Trust / DBT India Alliance Grant # IA/M/14/1/M/501681 to AVK India Alliance (Wellcome Trust/Department of Biotechnology) Clinical/Public Health Research Centre Grant # IA/CRC/19/1/610006 to TT, HPSS and AVK. Declaration of Interests: None to declare Ethics Approval Statement: The analysis was reviewed by the St. John’s Medical College Institutional Review Board; it was considered exempt from full review because it is based on an anonymous public use data set with no identifiable information on survey participants.

‘It’s a Long Way from Kuusamo to Kuhmo’: Mapping Candidates’ Electoral Constituencies in the Finnish Open-List Single Preference Voting System

This article seeks an insight into the nature of intraparty competition in an open-list single preference voting system, and it does so by analysing the distribution of votes for Centre Party candidates in the 40 or so municipalities making up the northern Finnish constituency of Oulu in each of the five general elections between 2003 and 2019. It builds on Grofman’s distinction between a geographical constituency and a candidate’s electoral constituency to map the ecology of candidate support in a constituency with (1) a larger than average district magnitude (M); (2) a significantly larger than average territorial magnitude (T); and (3) a substantially larger than average Centre party magnitude (P). Setting M, T and P within a party organisational framework, the article identifies (1) a significant disparity between levels of intraparty competition at district and sub-district levels; (2) several contextual factors that act more as disincentives than incentives to engage in personal vote seeking across the electoral district.

Implementasi Family Development Session Program Keluarga Harapan

This study aims to determine the implementation of the Family Development Session of the family hope program in the Kelurahan Pekan Selesai, Selesai Subdistrict, Langkat Regency of North Sumatra. This type of research uses a qualitative descriptive approach, data collection methods in the form of observation, documentation and interviews with the informants who have been determined. The results of this study indicate that the implementing agencies of the PKH Social and HR Service have carried out socialization about FDS at the district, sub-district, sub-district level and to beneficiaries, the existence of social assistants in implementing problem identification using the MPA technique (participatory assessment method) to recipients. Furthermore, the material learning stage shows that the compliance of the social facilitator has also implemented the FDS module learning, but there are still obstacles to the use of teaching material components for beneficiaries. The reporting stage shows that the social facilitator has complied with reporting on FDS implementation activities every month either manually by collecting hard copies or reports based on the E-PKH application.

PENERAPAN METODE ELL-COUNTERFACTUAL UNTUK PEMETAAN KEMISKINAN LEVEL KECAMATAN DAN DESA/KELURAHAN

Program pembangunan yang dilaksanakan pemerintah selama ini memberikan perhatian besar terhadap upaya pengentasan kemiskinan dalam rangka meningkatkan kesejahteraan masyarakat. Program penanggulangan kemiskinan memerlukan pendataan yang akurat dan menjangkau sampai wilayah terkecil. Informasi mengenai indikator kemiskinan diperoleh dari Survei Sosial Ekonomi Nasional (SUSENAS) yang diselenggarakan oleh BPS. SUSENAS didesain untuk mendapatkan indikator tersebut sampai level estimasi Kabupaten/Kota, sehingga untuk mendapatkan estimasi hingga level yang lebih kecil belum memenuhi syarat kecukupan sampel. Metode Small Area Estimation (SAE) dapat dimanfaatkan untuk mendapatkan penduga indikator kemiskinan dengan mengoptimalkan data yang tersedia atau tanpa disertai dengan penambahan jumlah sampel. Penelitian ini membahas penerapan metode Elbers, Lanjouw, dan Lanjouw (ELL) yang dikombinasikan dengan metode Counterfactual untuk mendapatkan estimasi indikator kemiskinan pada level Kecamatan maupun Desa/Kelurahan di Kota Yogyakarta serta memetakannya. Data yang digunakan yaitu Sensus Penduduk (SP2010), SUSENAS (2010 dan 2018), PODES (2011 dan 2018), serta publikasi BPS lainnya. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa pendugaan indikator kemiskinan dengan metode ELL memiliki nilai relative standar error (RSE) yang lebih kecil dibandingkan dengan hasil pendugaan langsung. Dengan mendapatkan indikator kemiskinan pada level agregasi yang lebih rendah diharapkan dapat menambah kredibilitas pengambilan keputusan pemerintah dalam rangka pengentasan kemiskinan yang tepat sasaran.

Impacts of reservation

Reservation policy in India's local governments, known as Gram Panchayats, is one of three major affirmative action strategies for ensuring that lower caste groups are equitably represented in political institutions.Local political reserves for SC and ST populations have been linked to more SC and ST-friendly policies, more welfare spending and infrastructure investment, and reduced household poverty levels, according to researchers.This research looks at one possible indirect advantage of reservations: higher educational attainment. The theory of role model effects is applied to the context of political reservations - more SC and ST Presidents in Gram Panchayats could operate as a positive role model of stereotype-defying success for SC and ST youngsters, motivating increased investment in educational attainment. Using a sample of 13,408 SC children and 6,066 ST children aged 5 to 18 in Karnataka, the research uses a dose-response regression model to examine the link between reservation rates and average completed years of schooling at the sub-district level. More SC and ST Presidents in Gram Panchayats are linked to higher educational achievement among SC and ST children, according to the findings of the study. To strengthen these findings and increase the literature on indirect advantages of reserves, more study is needed.

Chosen forms of participation in physical culture in the multinational Stanisławowski province in the period 1920-1939

The aim of this paper is to present an outline of the history of physical culture in the Stanisławowski province (an area that is currently within the borders of Ukraine) in the period 1920-1939 in the times of the Second Polish Republic. In the inter-war period the development of physical culture took place in the Stanisławowski province. In the period of the 1920s and 1930s there was a development of sports infrastructure. Social and sports associations were established, while also sports clubs, as well as the fact that sports organizations were reactivated that had operated in the period prior to the outbreak of the First World War among the Polish, Ukrainian and Jewish communities. Organizational structures of sporting movements were established, among others, Stanisławowski District Football Association, as well as structures at a sub-district level. The development of sporting competition took place. The most popular sporting discipline was football; while also gymnastics, horse riding, cycling, athletics, shooting, skiing, table tennis.

Spatial mapping of natural disaster at Palu Bay

Referring to data on natural disasters in three regions, namely Palu City and Donggala Regency, it shows that there were 3 natural disasters that occurred in the last 5 years, namely; landslides, earthquakes, tsunamis. The high level of disaster activity in the three regions is due to the geographical conditions in these two areas which are in the Palu koro fault line, with the morphology of the valley area. Handling of natural disaster management still leaves many problems, one of which is the absence of spatial information related to areas prone to natural disasters at the sub-district level,. The approach used is a spatial approach with an overlay method utilizing geographic information systems (GIS). The results showed that for landslides, the area around the bay is at a low to moderate level of vulnerability, while for the earthquake and tsunami it shows that the southern and eastern parts of the Palu bay are the areas that have the highest level of vulnerability.

Spatiotemporal distributed lag modelling of multiple Plasmodium species in a malaria elimination setting.

In much of the Greater Mekong Sub-region, malaria is now confined to patches and small foci of transmission. Malaria transmission is seasonal with the spatiotemporal patterns being associated with variation in environmental and climatic factors. However, the possible effect at different lag periods between meteorological variables and clinical malaria has not been well studied in the region. Thus, in this study we developed distributed lagged modelling accounting for spatiotemporal excessive zero cases in a malaria elimination setting. A multivariate framework was also extended to incorporate multiple data streams and investigate the spatiotemporal patterns from multiple parasite species via their lagged association with climatic variables. A simulation study was conducted to examine robustness of the methodology and a case study is provided of weekly data of clinical malaria cases at sub-district level in Thailand.

Prevention and control of cardiovascular diseases in India needs a strengthened and well-functioning primary health care system: A narrative review

This article reviews the ongoing initiatives to prevent and control cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in India and analyses the role of primary health care (PHC) system. The authors note that in last 2 decades, there has been increasing policy recognition of the challenges posed by CVDs and NCDs in India. The review of ongoing government health program in India indicate that while the interventions to tackle CVDs and NCD have also been launched and scaled up, a majority of these initiatives continue to be delivered through district or sub-district levels. Though, there has been plans, the scale up through PHC system is at early stage only. There is sufficient scientific evidence that the effective prevention and control of CVDs need accessible health services and a series of public health interventions through strengthened PHC system. There are learnings from COVID-19 pandemic response in India (in areas such as private sector engagement, effective enforcement of health regulation, community engagement and the use of tele-consultations), which can be useful. The authors conclude that a strengthened and well-functioning PHC system can ensure increased access to CVD and NCD services. As India plans to scale up ongoing health programs and launch a few new initiatives, the learnings from the past, documented in this paper, could be useful. These steps would help India to accelerate progress towards universal health coverage.

Sub-district level correlation between tuberculosis notifications and socio-demographic factors in Dhaka City corporation, Bangladesh.

We developed a novel method to align two data sources (TB notifications and the Demographic Health Survey, DHS) captured at different geographic scales. We used this method to identify sociodemographic indicators - specifically population density - that were ecologically correlated with elevated TB notification rates across wards (~100 000 people) in Dhaka, Bangladesh. We found population density was the variable most closely correlated with ward-level TB notification rates (Spearman's rank correlation 0.45). Our approach can be useful, as publicly available data (e.g. DHS data) could help identify factors that are ecologically associated with disease burden when more granular data (e.g. ward-level TB notifications) are not available. Use of this approach might help in designing spatially targeted interventions for TB and other diseases in settings of weak existing data on disease burden at the subdistrict level.

The spatial dynamics of the Semarang-Surakarta development corridor: two young metropolitan cities of Central Java, Indonesia

The interactions between metropolitan cities can generate so-called development corridors along the regional lines. In Central Java, three cities, namely Yogyakarta (Jogya), Surakarta (Solo), and Semarang, form a triangular development known as Joglosemar. This study aimed to observe the spatial dynamics of the Semarang-Surakarta corridor, regarding the operation of the new toll road connecting these two cities. Spatial analyses based on the geographic information system (GIS) were applied to observe the land-use change in the corridor. Statistical analyses focused on population shift, the poor, and employment at the sub-district (kecamatan) level. The empirical findings confirm previous studies, in that the regional development follows regional lines along both arterial and toll roads, and the existence of the toll road was the magnet for the development. However, the increase in industrial activities did not always benefit the poor, especially in the sub-districts where industrial activities have been developing in the longer term. For this reason, we recommend that local governments consider how to make the positive impacts of industrial development sustainable. The results of this study are also expected to enrich the literature on the spatial dynamics of a development corridor connecting two medium-sized metropolitan cities in developing countries.

Small Area Estimation of Sub-District’s Per Capita Expenditure through Area Effects Selection using LASSO Method

Abstract This paper discusses a small area estimation (SAE) problem when the number of small areas is relatively small compared to size of the observations. This problem is known as a sparsity problem which can caused slow convergence in obtaining the parameter estimates. The sparsity problem on small area can be imposed by assigning zero for i-th area with adequate sample size, whereas it preserve the nonzero value for i-th small area. The sparsity of area specific effects vector brings heavy tails if the SAE method cannot properly handle this complexity of specific area effect characteristic. Thus, the aim of this study is to investigate the sparsity issue by developing small area estimation model using the LASSO method to shrinkage the parameter estimates and select the area specific effects properly. The simulation results showed that the LASSO method produced the smallest mean square error (MSE) while the precision of the prediction were not significantly different when compared to other methods. The LASSO method was also applied to estimate the mean of per capita expenditure of sub-district levels in Kepulauan Bangka Belitung Province and produced smaller MSE when compared to other methods.

SARS-CoV-2 Sero-Prevalence among General Population and Healthcare Workers in India, December 2020 - January 2021

Background: Repeated cross-sectional serosurveys in the same geographic area establish the trend of the evolving pandemic. We present the findings of the third round of a national serosurvey to estimate the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among the general population and health care workers of India. Methods: We conducted the third population-based serosurvey between Dec 18, 2020 and Jan 6, 2021 in the same 700 villages or wards from 70 districts in 21 states across India, which were selected for the first and second serosurveys. We enrolled from each district, at least 400 individuals aged ≥ 10 years from general population and 100 HCWs from sub-district level public health facilities. Serum samples from general population were tested for the presence of IgG antibodies against nucleocapsid (N) and spike protein (S1-RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 using the Abbott and Siemens assays respectively, whereas sera from HCWs were tested for anti-S1-RBD. For general population, sera positive for either of the antibodies were considered positive, while sera positive for anti-S1-RBD were considered as positive for HCW. Weighted seroprevalence estimates were adjusted for sensitivity and specificity of respective assays. Findings: Of the 28,598 sera from general population, 4585 (16%) had IgG antibodies against N, 6647 (23.2%) against S1-RBD and 7436 (26%) against either. The weighted and assay characteristic adjusted seroprevalence against either of the antibodies was 24.1 (95%CI: 23.0% to 25.3%). Seroprevalence was lower in rural areas (21.4%, 95% CI: 20.3% to 22.6%) compared to urban non-slum (29.4%, 95% CI: 26.9% - 32.1%) and slum areas (34.6%, 95% CI: 31.0% to 38.3%). Among 7385 HCWs, the seroprevalence of anti-S1-RBD IgG antibodies was 25.6% (95% CI: 23.5% to 27.8%).Interpretation: Nearly one in four individuals aged 10 years or older from general population as well as HCWs were exposed to SARS-CoV-2 by December 2020 amounting to 271 million infections in India.