Historical Perspective and Risk of Multiple Neglected Tropical Diseases in Coastal Tanzania: Compositional and Contextual Determinants of Disease Risk

BackgroundIn the past decade, research on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) has intensified in response to the need to enhance community participation in health delivery, establish monitoring and surveillance systems, and integrate existing disease-specific treatment programs to control overlapping NTD burdens and detrimental effects. In this paper, we evaluated the geographical distribution of NTDs in coastal Tanzania.ConclusionsNTD risks were inequitably distributed over geographic space, which has several important policy implications. First, it suggests that localities of high burden of NTDs are likely to diminish within statistical averages at higher (regional or national) levels. Second, it indicates that curative or preventive interventions will become more efficient provided they can be focused on the localities, particularly as populations in these localities are likely to be burdened by several NTDs simultaneously, further increasing the imperative of multi-disease interventions.     

Analyzing the Relationship between Objective–Subjective Health Status and Public Perception of Climate Change as a Human Health Risk in Coastal Tanzania

Climate change is considered as the biggest threat to human health in the 21st century. Sub-Saharan Africa, which is the most-at-risk region of the world, is estimated to have a disproportionately large share of the burden of climate change–induced environmental and human health risks. To develop effective adaptations to protect public health, it is essential to consider how individuals perceive and understand the risks, and how they might be willing to change their behaviors in response to them. Using a cross-sectional survey of 1253 individuals in coastal Tanzania we analyzed the relationship between subjective health status (self-reported health) and objective health status on the one hand and perceived health risks of climate change. Generally, higher subjective health status was associated with lower scores on perceived health risks of climate change. Concerning objective health status, the results were varied. Individuals who affirmed that they had been previously diagnosed with hepatitis, skin conditions, or tuberculosis had lower scores on perceived health risks of climate change, unlike their counterparts who affirmed that they had been previously diagnosed with malaria in the past 12 months or had been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. These relationships persist even when biosocial and sociocultural attributes are taken into consideration. The results underscore the complex ways in which objective and subjective health interact with both biosocial and sociocultural factors to shape perceived health risks of climate change.     

What Stakeholders Think About Marine Protected Areas: Case Studies from Spain

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are often met with reluctance by affected stakeholders, and in some instances outright objection. Some argue that this is due to insufficient understanding of the functions of MPAs. Others suggest that it could be because of a perception that they are losing more than they are gaining. It is also possible that stakeholders are generally supportive of the idea but think that the MPA should be located elsewhere. We argue that it is images people have about what the MPA is and does that determine how they react. Drawing from three MPA case studies in Spain, we illustrate the importance of critical examination of stakeholders’ images and what they imply for the governance of MPAs.     

Governability Assessment for Fisheries and Coastal Systems: A Reality Check

In this article we argue that in order to understand why some governance systems deliver while others do not, we need to assess contributions and limitations of governability. Here, governability refers to a measure of how governable a particular fisheries and coastal system is. Such a system is always comprised of two parts: a system-to-be-governed and a governing system. Governability also depends on the interactions between these two systems. We provide key variables that must be assessed in order to determine governability related to these systems and their interactions. A governability assessment framework is proposed here to suggest that governance performance can only be judged from what is in the potential of the governing system, given the limitations of the governabiltiy of the system-to-be governed, the governing system itself, and their interactions. Such an assessment helps identify what exactly governing systems can and should do in order to enhance their performance.     

A Public Sentiment Index for Ecosystem Management

Although ecosystem-based management can lead to sustainable resource use, its successful implementation depends on stakeholders’ acceptance. A framework to integrate scientific knowledge about the ecosystems with stakeholders’ preferences is therefore needed. We propose here a ‘Public Sentiment Index,’ or PSI, as an integration framework that combines an ecosystem model (Ecopath with Ecosim; EwE) with a public choice model (the damage schedule). Using Chesapeake Bay as a case study, we demonstrate the development of the PSI, based on judgments of Bay stakeholders, including ‘watermen’ (commercial fishers), seafood wholesalers and retailers, recreational fishers, representatives from non-governmental organizations, scientists and managers on a range of Bay ecosystems. The high PSI for Chesapeake Bay suggests a consensus amongst Bay stakeholders who, understanding the need for restoring the Bay ecosystem, may accept difficult policy choices and support their implementation.     

Global in scope and regionally rich: an IndiSeas workshop helps shape the future of marine ecosystem indicators

This report summarizes the outcomes of an IndiSeas workshop aimed at using ecosystem indicators to evaluate the status of the world??s exploited marine ecosystems in support of an ecosystem approach to fisheries, and global policy drivers such as the 2020 targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Key issues covered relate to the selection and integration of multi-disciplinary indicators, including climate, biodiversity and human dimension indicators, and to the development of data- and model-based methods to test the performance of ecosystem indicators in providing support for fisheries management. To enhance the robustness of our cross-system comparison, unprecedented effort was put in gathering regional experts from developed and developing countries, working together on multi-institutional survey datasets, and using the most up-to-date ecosystem models.