Variegated racism: exploring experiences of anti-Black racism and their progression in medical education.

BACKGROUND: Addressing anti-Black racism in medical education in Canada has become increasingly urgent as more Black learners enter medical institutions and bring attention to the racist harms they face. We sought to gather evidence of experiences of racism among Black medical learners and to explore the contexts within which racism is experienced by learners. METHODS: Drawing on critical race and structural violence theories, we conducted interviews with Black medical faculty, students, residents, and staff at the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine between May and July 2022. We thematically analyzed interviews using instrumental case study methodology. RESULTS: Thematic analyses from 13 interviews revealed 5 central themes describing experiences of racism and the compounding nature of racist exposures as learners progressed in medicine. Medical learners experienced racism through uncomfortable encounters and microaggressions. Blatant acts of racism were instances where patients and superiors harmed students in various ways, including through use of the N-word by a superior in 1 instance. Learners also experienced curricular racism through the absence of the Black body in the curriculum and the undue pathologizing of Blackness. Medical hierarchies reinforced anti-Black racism by undermining accountability and protecting powerful perpetrators. Finally, Black women medical learners identified intersecting oppressions and misogynoir that compounded their experience of racism. We propose that experiences of racism may worsen as learners progress in medicine in part because of increases in the sources of and exposure to racism. INTERPRETATION: Anti-Black racism in medical education in Canada is experienced subtly through microaggressions or blatantly from different sources including medical faculty. As Black learners progress in medicine, anti-Black racism may become worse because of the compounding effects of exposures to a wider range of sources of racist behaviour.

Public health surveillance through community health workers: a scoping review of evidence from 25 low-income and middle-income countries.

BACKGROUND: The last 3 years have witnessed global health challenges, ranging from the pandemics of COVID-19 and mpox (monkeypox) to the Ebola epidemic in Uganda. Public health surveillance is critical for preventing these outbreaks, yet surveillance systems in resource-constrained contexts struggle to provide timely disease reporting. Although community health workers (CHWs) support health systems in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), very little has been written about their role in supporting public health surveillance. This review identified the roles, impacts and challenges CHWs face in public health surveillance in 25 LMICs. METHODS: We conducted a scoping review guided by Arksey and O'Malley's framework. We exported 1,156 peer-reviewed records from Embase, Global Health and PubMed databases. After multiple screenings, 29 articles were included in the final review. RESULTS: CHWs significantly contribute to public health surveillance in LMICs including through contact tracing and patient visitation to control major infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, Ebola, neglected tropical diseases and COVID-19. Their public health surveillance roles typically fall into four main categories including community engagement; data gathering; screening, testing and treating; and health education and promotion. The use of CHWs in public health surveillance in LMICs has been impactful and often involves incorporation of various technologies leading to improved epidemic control and disease reporting. Nonetheless, use of CHWs can come with four main challenges including lack of education and training, lack of financial and other resources, logistical and infrastructural challenges as well as community engagement challenges. CONCLUSION: CHWs are important stakeholders in surveillance because they are closer to communities than other healthcare workers. Further integration and training of CHWs in public health surveillance would improve public health surveillance because CHWs can provide health data on 'hard-to-reach' populations. CHWs' work in public health surveillance would also be greatly enhanced by infrastructural investments.

Employing the equity lens to understand multisectoral partnerships: lessons learned from a mixed-method study in Canada.

BACKGROUND: Multisectoral approaches to health are collaborations between stakeholders across multiple sectors, usually formed to address issues that affect health but go beyond the purview of one particular sector. The significance of multisectoral partnerships to attain health equity has been widely acknowledged. However, the extent which equity can be attained depends upon the perceptions of various stakeholders. We examine how multisectoral partnerships promoting healthy eating and active living conceptualized and employed an equity lens in their work. METHOD: This study is part of a larger pan-Canadian mixed-method research and knowledge sharing program entitled MUSE (Multisectoral Urban Systems for health and Equity in Canadian cities). Data collected from both quantitative and qualitative sources for two sites of the MUSE project-Saskatoon and Toronto were analyzed. In the qualitative part, 30 semi-structured key informant interviews were conducted with key stakeholders from six different multisectoral partnerships based in Saskatoon and Toronto. Data were analyzed in an inductive way. In the quantitative part, a survey with 37 representatives of stakeholder organizations was carried out. Simple descriptive statistics (means and percentages) were used to observe the distribution of data and to complement the qualitative analysis. RESULTS: Equity was not a central component in program design although participants addressing equity, did so by discussing accessibility. How much consideration was given to equity varied as a function of the type of partnership. Most participants emphasized geographical accessibility but a few mentioned financial accessibility. Collaborative leadership style facilitated a participatory decision-making process, and thereby upholding equity in the partnership decision-making process. Communication, networking, and negotiation skills were found to be core competencies of a leader that contributed in upholding equity in partnership dynamics. The study also showed some challenges to embed equity in partnership works, such as the lack of comprehensive understanding of population health and its equity tenet. CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that multisectoral partnerships aimed at promoting healthy eating and physical activity experience several challenges to attain equity within the partnership as well as in the partnership-based works aimed at reducing health equity in populations. Factors identified can support decision makers commit to and work to attaining equity within their partnerships as well as in the partnership-based work in the community and beyond.

Where is the pain? A qualitative analysis of Ghana's opioid (tramadol) 'crisis' and youth perspectives.

Over the last five years, media reports in West African countries have suggested a tramadol abuse 'crisis' characterised by a precipitous rise in use by youth in the region. This discourse is connected to evidence of an emerging global opioid crisis. While the reported increase in tramadol abuse in West Africa is likely true, few studies have critically interrogated structural explanations for tramadol use by youth. Nascent academic literature has sought to explain the rise in drug use as a function of moral weakness among youth. This Ghanaian case study draws on primary and secondary data sources to explore the pain that precedes tramadol abuse. Through a discourse analysis of 295 media articles and 15 interviews (11 with youth who currently use tramadol and 4 with health system stakeholders), this study draws on structural violence and moral panic theories to contribute to the emerging literature on tramadol (ab)use in West Africa. The evidence parsed from multiple sources reveals that government responses to tramadol abuse among Ghanaian youth have focused on arrests and victim blaming often informed by a moralising discourse. Interviews with those who use tramadol on their lived experiences reveal however that although some youth use the opioid for pleasure, many use tramadol for reasons related to work and feelings of dislocation. A more complex way to understand tramadol use among young people in Ghana is to explore the pain that leads to consumption. Two kinds of pain; physical (related to strenuous work) and non-physical (related to anxiety and the condition of youth itself) explain tramadol use requiring a harm reduction and social determinants of health approach rather than the moralising 'war on drugs' approach that has been favoured by policy makers.

"It feels like somebody cut my legs off": Austerity, transportation and the 'web of dispossession' in Saskatchewan, Canada.

Mounting global evidence reveals a rise in austerity driven by neoliberalisation. We explored the health impacts of an austerity decision to shut down the Saskatchewan Transportation Company (STC) in Saskatchewan, Canada. We conducted 100 semi-structured interviews and 4 focus group discussions with former bus riders and stakeholders in health and social services followed by a member checking exercise. The STC closure has negatively affected health through a web of dispossession where the absence of the bus affects individual former users (through healthcare access, psychosocial and financial impacts), family members (through broken relationships and other burdens), communities (through shrinking commons), and entire systems (such as health services through health worker stress and inefficiencies). Analyses of the health impacts of austerity decisions need to move beyond aggregates of individual users of public services to understand the complex ways in which various communities and systems might be caught up in a web of dispossession through austerity.

Improving health through multisectoral collaboration: enablers and barriers.

OBJECTIVE: Multisectoral partnerships (MPs) are increasingly viewed as an excellent strategy for promoting population health, although the Canadian evidence on MPs remains scant. The objective of this research was to identify enablers and barriers to multisectoral collaboration across three MPs (focused on food systems, urban development, and active transportation) in a Canadian urban centre. METHODS: This study is part of a pan-Canadian research program-MUSE (Multisectoral Urban Systems for health and Equity in Canadian cities). A qualitative case study methodology was used to explore enablers and barriers to collaboration among three MPs in a mid-sized Canadian city. Key strategy documents of the MPs and 13 in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with stakeholders from each MP. Interview data were transcribed and subjected to thematic analysis using NVivo 12 software, with rigour ensured through member checking. RESULTS: Enablers to collaboration included agenda and goal alignment among partners, quality of relationships in MPs, and external enabling factors. Barriers to multisectoral collaboration included agenda and priority differences, factors related to partnership structure, constitution and processes, and external barriers. Based on these factors, we developed a multisectoral collaboration matrix that dichotomizes enablers and barriers into intrinsic/internal and extrinsic/external to increase understanding of health-promoting MPs in Canada. CONCLUSION: Various enablers and barriers promote or inhibit multisectoral partnerships. By casting these factors into a matrix, members of ongoing or emerging MPs could take advantage of the factors that promote their work and are in their control (intrinsic enablers) or outside their control (extrinsic enablers) while working to overcome challenges presented by collaboration barriers.

RéSUMé: OBJECTIF: L'établissement de partenariats multisectoriels (PM) est de plus en plus reconnu comme une excellente stratégie pour promouvoir la santé des populations bien que les données probantes canadiennes soient disponibles en quantités limitées. L'objectif de cette étude est d'identifier les leviers et les obstacles à la collaboration multisectorielle dans trois PM (visant respectivement le système alimentaire, le développement urbain et le transport actif) œuvrant dans un centre urbain canadien. MéTHODES: Cette étude fait partie d'un programme de recherche pancanadien ­ MUSE (Multisectorielles et urbaines : santé et équité dans les villes canadiennes). Une étude de cas méthodologie qualitative a été utilisée pour explorer les leviers et les obstacles à la collaboration dans trois PM dans une ville canadienne de taille moyenne. Les documents décrivant les orientations stratégiques de chacun des PM ont été examinés et 13 entrevues approfondies et semi-dirigées ont été menées avec les parties-prenantes de chacun des PM. Les verbatim d'entrevues ont été transcrits et soumis à une analyse thématique en utilisant le logiciel NVivo 12. La rigueur a été assurée via des vérifications entre codeurs. RéSULTATS: Les leviers à la collaboration incluent une bonne adéquation entre les agendas et les objectifs des différents membres d'un PM, la qualité des relations interpersonnelles entre membres des PM et des facteurs facilitants externes. Les obstacles à la collaboration multisectorielle incluent des agendas et priorités divergents, des facteurs reliés à la structure du partenariat, la composition et les processus de fonctionnement du PM, et les barrières externes. Les leviers et obstacles ainsi identifiés ont été catégorisés comme étant intrinsèques/internes ou extrinsèques/externes menant à la création d'une matrice de collaboration multisectorielle qui permet de mieux comprendre les enjeux vécus dans les PM qui font la promotion de la santé au Canada. CONCLUSION: Différents leviers et obstacles soutiennent ou entravent les partenariats multisectoriels. En illustrant ces facteurs dans une matrice, les membres de PM existants ou émergeants peuvent prendre acte des facteurs qui soutiennent leurs travaux ­ qu'ils soient maniables (leviers intrinsèques) ou non (leviers extrinsèques) ­ tout en surmontant les défis occasionnés par les obstacles à la collaboration.

The influence of travel time to health facilities on stillbirths: A geospatial case-control analysis of facility-based data in Gombe, Nigeria.

Access to quality emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC); having a skilled attendant at birth (SBA); adequate antenatal care; and efficient referral systems are considered the most effective interventions in preventing stillbirths. We determined the influence of travel time from mother's area of residence to a tertiary health facility where women sought care on the likelihood of delivering a stillbirth. We carried out a prospective matched case-control study between 1st January 2019 and 31st December 2019 at the Federal Teaching Hospital Gombe (FTHG), Nigeria. All women who experienced a stillbirth after hospital admission during the study period were included as cases while controls were consecutive age-matched (ratio 1:1) women who experienced a live birth. We modelled travel time to health facilities. To determine how travel time to the nearest health facility and the FTHG were predictive of the likelihood of stillbirths, we fitted a conditional logistic regression model. A total of 318 women, including 159 who had stillborn babies (cases) and 159 age-matched women who had live births (controls) were included. We did not observe any significant difference in the mean travel time to the nearest government health facility for women who had experienced a stillbirth compared to those who had a live birth [9.3 mins (SD 7.3, 11.2) vs 6.9 mins (SD 5.1, 8.7) respectively, p = 0.077]. However, women who experienced a stillbirth had twice the mean travel time of women who had a live birth (26.3 vs 14.5 mins) when measured from their area of residence to the FTHG where deliveries occurred. Women who lived farther than 60 minutes were 12 times more likely of having a stillborn [OR = 12 (1.8, 24.3), p = 0.011] compared to those who lived within 15 minutes travel time to the FTHG. We have shown for the first time, the influence of travel time to a major tertiary referral health facility on the occurrence of stillbirths in an urban city in, northeast Nigeria.

Trends in obesity by socioeconomic status among non-pregnant women aged 15-49 y: a cross-sectional, multi-dimensional equity analysis of demographic and health surveys in 11 sub-Saharan Africa countries, 1994-2015.

BACKGROUND: Global obesity estimates show a steadily increasing pattern across socioeconomic and geographical divides, especially among women. Our analysis tracked and described obesity trends across multiple equity dimensions among women of reproductive age (15-49 y) in 11 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries during 1994-2015. METHODS: This study consisted of a cross-sectional series analysis using nationally representative demographic and health surveys (DHS) data. The countries included were Cameroon, Comoros, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The data reported are from a reanalysis conducted using the WHO Health Equity Assessment Toolkit that assesses inter- and intra-country health inequalities across socioeconomic and geographical dimensions. We generated equiplots to display intra- and inter-country equity gaps. RESULTS: There was an increasing trend in obesity among women of reproductive age across all 11 SSA countries. Obesity increased unequally across wealth categories, place of residence and educational measures of inequality. The wealthiest, most educated and urban dwellers in most countries had a higher prevalence of obesity. However, in Comoros, obesity did not increase consistently with increasing wealth or education compared with other countries. The most educated and wealthiest women in Comoros had lower obesity rates compared with their less wealthy and less well-educated counterparts. CONCLUSION: A window of opportunity is presented to governments to act structurally and at policy level to reduce obesity generally and prevent a greater burden on disadvantaged subpopulation groups in sub-Saharan Africa.

Population and Individual-Level Double Burden of Malnutrition Among Adolescents in Two Emerging Cities in Northern and Southern Nigeria: A Comparative Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Over the past three decades, double burden of malnutrition (DBM), a situation where high levels of undernutrition (stunting, thinness, or micronutrient deficiency) coexist with overnutrition (overweight and obesity), continues to rise in sub-Saharan Africa. Compared to other countries in the region, the evidence on DBM is limited in Nigeria. Objective: This paper aimed to determine the comparative prevalence of population-level and individual-level DBM among adolescents in two emerging cities in northern and southern Nigeria. Methods: This was a comparative cross-sectional study among apparently healthy secondary school adolescents aged 10-18 years in Gombe (northern Nigeria) and Uyo (southern Nigeria) between January 2015 and June 2017. A multistage random sampling technique was implemented to recruit adolescents from 24 secondary schools in both cities. Measures of general obesity (body mass index) and stature (height-for-age) were classified and Z-scores generated using the WHO AnthroPlus software, which is based on the WHO 2006 growth reference. Population-level DBM was defined as the occurrence of thinness and overweight/obesity within the population. Individual-level DBM was defined as the proportion of individuals who were concurrently stunted and had truncal obesity or stunted and were overweight/obese. Findings: Overall, at the population-level in both settings, 6.8% of adolescents had thinness, while 12.4% were overweight/obese signifying a high burden of population-level DBM. Comparatively, the population-level DBM was higher in Gombe compared to Uyo (thinness: 11.98% vs 5.3% and overweight/obesity: 16.08% vs 11.27% in Gombe vs Uyo respectively). Overall, at the individual level, 6.42% of stunted adolescents had coexisting truncal obesity, while 8.02% were stunted and had coexisting general overweight/obesity. Like the trend with population-level DBM, individual-level DBM was higher in Gombe (northern Nigeria) compared to Uyo (southern Nigeria). Conclusion: High levels of population-level and individual-level DBM exist in Gombe and Uyo. However, the level of DBM (under- and over-nutrition) is higher in Gombe located in northern Nigeria compared to Uyo in southern Nigeria.

Access to skilled attendant at birth and the coverage of the third dose of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine across 14 West African countries - an equity analysis.

BACKGROUND: Universal Health Coverage (UHC) remains a critical public health goal that continues to elude many countries of the global south. As countries strive for its attainment, it is important to track progress in various subregions of the world to understand current levels and mechanisms of progress for shared learning. Our aim was to compare multidimensional equity gaps in access to skilled attendant at birth (SAB) and coverage of the third dose of Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis (DTP3) across 14 West African countries. METHODS: The study was a cross sectional comparative analysis that used publicly available, nationally representative health surveys. We extracted data from Demographic and Health Surveys, and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys conducted between 2010 and 2017 in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d' Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. The World Health Organization's Health Equity Assessment Toolkit (HEAT Plus) software was used to evaluate current levels of intra-country equity in access to SAB and DTP3 coverage across four equity dimensions (maternal education, location of residence, region within a country and family wealth status). RESULTS: There was a general trend of higher levels of coverage for DTP3 compared to access to SAB in the subregion. Across the various dimensions of equity, more gaps appear to have been closed in the subregion for DTP3 compared to SAB. The analysis revealed that countries such as Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ghana have made substantial progress towards equitable access for the two outcomes compared to others such as Nigeria, Niger and Guinea. CONCLUSION: In the race towards UHC, equity should remain a priority and comparative progress should be consistently tracked to enable the sharing of lessons. The West African subregion requires adequate government financing and continued commitment to move toward UHC and close health equity gaps.

Equity dimensions of the decline in under-five mortality in Ghana: a joinpoint regression analysis.

BACKGROUND: There has been a global rise in interest and efforts to improve under-five mortality rates, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Ghana has made some progress in improving this outcome; however, the extent of such progress and its equity implications remains understudied. METHODS: This study used a joinpoint regression analysis to assess the significance of changes in trends of under-five mortality rates in Ghana between 1988 and 2017 using data from seven rounds of the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey. Annual percentage change (APC) was estimated. The APCs of different dimensions of equity (residence, administrative region, maternal education and wealth quintile) were compared by coincidence test - to determine similarity in joinpoint regression functions via 10 000 Monte Carlo resampling. RESULTS: There has been progress in reduction of under-five mortality in Ghana between 1988 and 2017 with an annual percentage change of -3.49%. Disaggregation of the trends showed that the most rapid improvement in under-five mortality rates occurred in the Upper East Region (APC = -5.0%). The closing of under-five mortality equity gaps in the study period has been uneven in the country. The gap between rural and urban rates has closed the most, followed by regional gaps (between Upper East and Ashanti Region), while the most persistent gaps remain in maternal education and wealth quintile. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that programmatic interventions have been more successful in reducing geographic (rural-urban and by administrative region) than non-geographic (maternal education and wealth quintile) inequities in under-five mortality in Ghana. To accelerate reduction and bridge the inequities in under-five mortality, Ghana may need to pursue more social policies aimed at redistribution.

CONTEXTE: Il y a eu une augmentation mondiale de l'intérêt et des efforts pour améliorer les taux de mortalité des moins de cinq ans, en particulier dans les pays à revenu faible et intermédiaire. Le Ghana a fait quelques progrès dans l'amélioration de ce résultat; cependant, l'ampleur de ces progrès et ses implications en termes d'équité restent sous-étudiées. MÉTHODES: Cette étude a utilisé une analyse de régression à point de jonction pour évaluer l'importance des changements dans les tendances des taux de mortalité des moins de cinq ans au Ghana entre 1988 et 2017 en utilisant les données de sept cycles de l'enquête démographique et de santé du Ghana. La variation annuelle en pourcentage (VAP) a été estimée. Les VAP des différentes dimensions d'équité (résidence, région administrative, éducation de la mère et quintile de richesse) ont été comparées par test de coïncidence, pour déterminer la similarité des fonctions de régression à point de jonction via 10000 rééchantillonnage de Monte Carlo. RÉSULTATS: Des progrès ont été atteints dans la réduction de la mortalité des moins de cinq ans au Ghana entre 1988 et 2017 avec une VAP de -3,49%. La désagrégation des tendances a montré que l'amélioration la plus rapide des taux de mortalité des moins de cinq ans s'est produite dans la région du Haut-Est (VAP = -5,0%). La réduction des écarts d'équité en matière de mortalité des moins de cinq ans au cours de la période d'étude a été inégale dans le pays. L'écart entre les taux ruraux et urbains s'est le plus resserré, suivi des écarts régionaux (entre le Haut-Est et la région Ashanti), tandis que les écarts les plus persistants restent dans l'éducation des mères et le quintile de richesse. CONCLUSION: Les résultats suggèrent que les interventions programmatiques ont mieux réussi à réduire les inégalités géographiques (rurales-urbaines et par région administrative) que les inégalités non géographiques (éducation des mères et quintile de richesse) dans la mortalité des moins de cinq ans au Ghana. Pour accélérer la réduction et combler les inégalités en matière de mortalité des moins de cinq ans, le Ghana pourrait avoir besoin de poursuivre davantage de politiques sociales visant à la redistribution.