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olivialum

Mental Health Care in West Africa Is Often a Product of Luck - The New York Times - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...s-often-a-product-of-luck.html

shared by olivialum on 12 Oct 15 - No Cached
  • A growing number of innovative groups have begun experimenting with a similar approach in Africa and Asia: providing therapy without clinics or doctors, relying instead on mobile nurses, cheap generic drugs and community support systems.
  • In impoverished parts of the world where psychiatry is virtually nonexistent, they say, it is the only way to begin reaching the millions of people in need.
  • “Here, if we had to wait for a psychiatrist, the people who desperately need treatment would never get it,”
  • ...19 more annotations...
  • slash rates of premature death from mental disorders by a third by 2030.
  • By one analysis, which includes Western countries and developing regions like West Africa, depression, drug abuse and schizophrenia are on track to be the three leading causes of lost economic output by 2030.
  • Among the successes have been group therapy for rape victims in the Democratic Republic of Congo, family and individual counseling for survivors of torture in Myanmar, and talk therapy and medication for people with depression in rural India.
  • But without reliable support, follow-up and medical supplies — particularly psychiatric drugs when needed — interventions can quickly lose traction, no matter how well trained and devoted the workers are.
  • One moment, she was dozing off during a rest period; the next, she felt the presence of strange men coming after her. She screamed at them to stop. “My shouting didn’t stop the men; they kept coming for me,” she said. “So, what did I do? I ripped off my school uniform and ran.”
  • The medical staff had little training in how to handle a psychotic break: the hallucinations and delusions characteristic of schizophrenia. They sent her home, where the sensation of being hunted seeped back into her thoughts.
  • Sometimes, she ran out onto the open savanna to escape the demons pursuing her.
  • Family members took turns keeping watch and exhausted traditional methods of healing. Precious animals were sacrificed to drive away the spirits disturbing her. Healers administered herbal powders, and one applied a pale dye to her face and body in an effort to purge demons.
  • Mental illness is a source of shame here, as in most of the world, and families do not advertise its presence. Yet each community has a chief or subchief responsible for keeping an eye out for the sick.
  • One is known as task sharing.
  • The second is community self-help.
  • The third is raising awareness
  • The evidence that a combination of these services can lead to lasting improvement for people with severe mental illnesses is thin, but a foundation is being laid.
  • “The key thing is that it’s not simply home-based care for people with schizophrenia,” Laura Asher, who is running the study, said by email. “It also involves awareness raising and community mobilization.”
  • the cost of these programs is minute compared with the cost of standard psychiatry
  • $8 per client per month on average, according to Peter Yaro, its executive director. In the United States, it costs $200 to $700 for a single appointment with a psychiatrist, depending on the provider, the type of care and the location.
  • In global cost-benefit terms, economists typically rate health care programs by the amount of disability they reduce per dollar. Historically, mental health interventions have scored poorly compared with efforts that save young lives, like neonatal care or treatment of diarrhea. A new analysis of mental health strategies in Ethiopia, for instance, found that treating schizophrenia with generic medications was about as cost-effective as treating heart disease with a combination of drugs, like aspirin and a statin — and much less cost-effective than treating depression or epilepsy. The findings, though preliminary, suggest that treating psychosis is relatively costly.
  • the studies do not take into account the effect of chronic psychosis on an entire family. “The person with psychosis becomes a full-time job for someone else in the family, and depending on how aggressive the person is, maybe more than one person,” said Dr. Simliwa Kolou Valentin Dassa, a psychiatrist in neighboring Togo
  • And if the disorder is seen as a result of a curse on the family, carried down through generations — a common interpretation here — the entire clan comes under suspicion.
Matthew Schweitzer

The AfPak Channel | FOREIGN POLICY - 1 views

afpak.foreignpolicy.com

Afghanistan Pakistan AfPak Comparative Politics

shared by Matthew Schweitzer on 24 Sep 10 - Cached
  • Matthew Schweitzer on 24 Sep 10
     
    A great resource from one of the most respected foreign policy journals in the United States about the current situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and how they may affect the world, not just the United States. It is updated very often, and could act almost as a periodical of sorts, like TIME or Newsweek, but more focused.
Kay Bradley

The Challenges of A Transnational Organization - 3 views

www.ieee.org/...index.jsp

EU

shared by Kay Bradley on 15 Oct 10 - No Cached
  • Kay Bradley on 15 Oct 10
     
    An interesting perspective on what transnational means from the IEEE, world's oldest association of electrical engineers!
  • ...3 more comments...
  • Nick Petru on 17 Oct 10
     
    I really appreciate the IEEE's philosophy and I think this is the proper outlook that our military should follow in Pakistan- not taking matters into our own hands so actively and instead conforming to the Pakistani's laws.
  • Rachel Katzoff on 18 Oct 10
     
    I think it is interesting how many difficult questions must be asked when trying to understand how a transnational organization should act ethically. A transnational organization has to pay close attention to all of the different countries that it works with and understand all of the customs and laws. When trying to work with 100+ countries this is a difficult task. If you think about all of the trouble domestic companies have with laws, permits, etc., I can only imagine how much work it would take to run a transnational organization.
  • Catherine Binder on 18 Oct 10
     
    I think that the writer touches on the theory of transnational organizations perfectly - that its members should adhere to the transnational vision but remain sensitive to nations' interests and needs. But this is, after all, a theory. I'm doubtful as to whether transnational organizations will ever operate as they are supposed to. Many claim to work ethically with transnational organizations, but the reality is that everyone has egos and political agendas.
  • Harrison Lee on 18 Oct 10
     
    This article intelligently reveals the difficulties of bridging many different countries, which vary politically and culturally, under one goal or line of thought. The specific laws within each country (and each region of each country) must hinder uniform implementation to a notable extent, but I admire the organization's dedication to its vision. However, I wonder if, with the various global regions and political orientations into which the IEEE is divided, interpretations, and not just implementations, of the organization's vision may be different. With that in mind, can implementations change not only according to local laws, but also according to personal biases?
  • Amara Plaza-Jennings on 19 Oct 10
     
    I found the part about regulations in certain countries especially interesting. It seems ridiculous that a country would ban the import a technical journal. The fact that the author never gives specifics about which country he is referring to further backs his points about what it means to maintain a transnational organization. And while I'm sure that the IEEE is committed to its goal, I am not sure how committed its members might be and if they might bring about international disputes despite the IEEE's best efforts.
Kay Bradley

Field Notes: Pulitzer Institute - 1 views

pulitzerfieldnotes.tumblr.com

journey journalism instagram blog

shared by Kay Bradley on 30 Nov 14 - No Cached
  • Kay Bradley on 30 Nov 14
     
    Instagram Blog from journalists in the field.
Kay Bradley

Fact-checking claims about race after Ferguson shooting | Poynter. - 0 views

www.poynter.org/...t-race-after-ferguson-shooting

race Guns statistics

shared by Kay Bradley on 05 Jan 15 - No Cached
  • Fox pundit Juan Williams recently expounded upon a column he wrote for the Wall Street Journal in which he described "thuggish behavior" as creating a culture of violence in African-American communities.
  • We decided to check Williams’ claim that the leading cause of death for African-American males 15-34 is murder. That’s True
  • Compared to other ethnicities, the numbers really stand out. Forty percent of African-American males 15-34 who died were murdered, according to the CDC, compared to just 3.8 percent of white males who died. Overall, 14 percent of all men 15-34 who died in 2011 were murdered.
  • Kay Bradley on 05 Jan 15
     
    "This story originally appeared on the PunditFact website. Poynter.org is republishing with permission. The shooting of 18-year-old African-American Michael Bro"
Kay Bradley

The Political Economy of Venezuela and PDVSA - Georgetown Journal of International Affairs - 1 views

gjia.georgetown.edu/...economy-of-venezuela-and-pdvsa

Venezuela hyperinflation inflation Latin America petrostate petroleum economy international Less Developed World:

shared by Kay Bradley on 16 Nov 21 - No Cached
  • Under the direction of Luis Giusti in the 1994-1998 period, PDVSA’s production soared. This trend changed in 1999, when Hugo Chavez became Venezuela’s president and introduced Chavismo as the guiding economic doctrine.
  • Chavez responded by purging PDVSA of its professionals en masse, replacing them with “reliable” hands—those loyal to Chavez’s socialist regime.
  • This trend has left Venezuela’s output drastically lower than when Chavez took power in 1999.
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • with capital expenditures far below the value of equipment that is being consumed each year by depreciation and amortization.
  • On top of PDVSA’s reduced capital stock and its deteriorating quality, there has also been a drop in the stock and quality of its human capital.
  • It is important to note that PDVSA’s decreased output is not due to dwindling oil reserves,
  • Venezuela’s reserves—which are the world’s largest, at 9.26 billion barrels
  • At the end of 2018, Exxon’s depletion rate was 6.74 percent per year—a rate comparable to that realized by most major oil companies. That rate implies that it would take 9.9 years for Exxon’s oil reserves to be halfway depleted. That is 370.5 years earlier than when PDVSA would deplete half of its reserves
  • The country with the world’s largest oil reserves, Venezuela is plagued by a mismanaged, state-owned oil company in a death spiral—PDVSA.
audreybandel

Can Russia's Press Ever Be Free? | The New Yorker - 0 views

www.newyorker.com/...can-russias-press-ever-be-free

shared by audreybandel on 16 Nov 21 - No Cached
  • audreybandel on 16 Nov 21
     
    This was an absolutely fascinating read that draws into question what one can define as "free press" and what role journalism plays in a country like Russia.
nicksandford

Russia Withdraws More Forces From Northeast Ukraine as Kyiv Presses Advance - 0 views

apple.news/ALDGKtt_PQoWhdNgQobz_SQ

Wall Street Journal Ukraine Russia NATO

shared by nicksandford on 12 Sep 22 - No Cached
  • nicksandford on 12 Sep 22
     
    I predicted that there would be a war of attrition along the Ukrainian front, and this is what it is shaping to be. The Russians are retreating because they have lost substantial amounts of manpower and supplies, which caused them to falter amid renewed Ukrainian counteroffensives. All they can hope to do is retreat and consolidate their power into the remaining territory, and hope that it is enough to hold out. Not that Russia is on the run, what will happen to the international community's committment to Ukraine's soverignty? Will the West provide the means to rebuild the nation and consolidate the liberated territory? Also, how will Russia respond in the end? During every conflict that has seen the loss of territory, particularly the Napoleonic Wars and World War II, The Soviet Union devoted itself to a scorched earth policy and razed entire cities to the ground to stop them from falling into the hands of the enemy. This could lead to a major humanitarian crisis, something that the West will need to help Ukraine recover from.
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