Global Transitions最新文献

Background

A low COVID-19 vaccination rate has been observed in some countries. Misinformation regarding COVID-19 vaccines is commonly available on social media. This study aims to conduct an empirical, in-depth analysis of the digital space, particularly misinformation regarding COVID-19 vaccines across social media, including socio-demographic factors on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. This provides opportunities to set policies to properly utilize social media in public health and vaccination.

Methods

A web-based questionnaire was administered to elicit responses from social media users ages 15 years and older. Data regarding the level of social media usage, attitudes toward information on social media, and COVID-19 vaccines were collected.

Results

A total of 2231 people completed the questionnaire. The majority of the participants were concerned about the negative consequences of taking COVID-19 vaccines, but they had more confidence in the aspects of vaccine safety, importance, and effectiveness. Social media is not considered a credible channel to disseminate information about COVID-19, its vaccination, and its consequences, with females expressing a higher level of distrust. People who are spending more time using social media tend not to believe in vaccination in terms of safety and importance.

Conclusions

Social media has played a negative role and led to vaccine hesitancy among the public, especially young people. Public health institutions should establish health education initiatives using both traditional and social media platforms to immunize the public against misinformation.

Objectives

Amid the challenges posed by the global COVID-19 pandemic, understanding how the crisis shapes people' environmental behaviours and consciousness becomes paramount. This study aimed to unravel the implications of the global pandemic on individuals' environmental protection activities, environmentally prioritized attitudes, and confidence in future environmental protection movements.

Methods

By combing detailed COVID-19 surveillance data from the World Health Organization and the Integrated Values Surveys, this study analysed information from 54,951 participants aged 15 years and above across 18 countries spanning 6 continents. Utilizing the global pandemic as a natural experiment, Logistic regressions with Difference-in-Difference (DID) models were employed for a robust estimation of the pandemic's effects on environmental outcomes.

Results

The findings revealed a notable reduction in the likelihood of environmental protection activities among individuals (adjusted OR: 0.34, 95% CI: 0.23–0.51). However, pandemic exposure was linked to an increased environmentally prioritized attitude (1.35, 1.18–1.54) and enhanced confidence in environmental protection movements (1.16, 1.01–1.32). Notably, the beneficial effects of the pandemic on environmental attitudes (1.42, 1.21–1.67) and confidence (1.19, 1.01–1.39) were significantly observed exclusively among younger individuals and women exhibited heightened sensitivity to the pandemic's positive impact on environmental attitudes (1.55, 1.30–1.86), while men displayed increased sensitivity in confidence regarding future environmental movements (1.23, 1.00–1.50).

Conclusions

This study contributes valuable insights to the existing literature by elucidating the intricate relationship between global crises and individual environmental protection. The evidence generated provides policymakers with essential information for formulating comprehensive post-pandemic strategies aimed at jointly promoting and achieving high-quality development of the population and the environmental dimension of SDGs.

Background

Vision loss is a leading cause of healthy life loss in late adulthood. We aimed to comprehensively examine the impact of population aging on vision loss prevalence worldwide.

Methods

This population-based study used repeated cross-sectional data on vision loss and its related causes from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 study. We investigated the impact of population aging by decomposing changes in vision loss prevalence into contributions of population growth, population aging, and epidemiological rate changes using the latest decomposition method and comparing the net effect of population aging and epidemiological rate changes.

Results

The global vision loss prevalence attributed to population aging increased from 1991 to 2019, reaching 183.37 million in 2019. In relation to the 19 vision loss causes, the greatest increase in population aging-attributed vision loss prevalence was observed for near vision loss, refraction disorders, and cataract, whereas the contributions of glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and age-related macular degeneration were not substantial. The impact of population aging on vision loss prevalence varied greatly worldwide based on development levels. However, in most countries, the increase in vision loss prevalence caused by population aging exceeded far and could not be offset by epidemiological rate variations.

Conclusions

With the aging of the population, vision loss has become one of the most serious public health concerns. It is imperative that policy makers invest more in vision health preventive medicine and implement proven, cost-effective interventions to combat the epidemic of vision loss as the population ages.

Trends and factors associated with cervical cancer screening (CCS) among women of reproductive age are essential for designing cancer prevention strategies to reduce mortality. The present study investigates the factors contributing to CCS in India through multilevel modeling on data from women files of the fifth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS- 5). Districts, villages, and individuals were considered as the levels under investigation. Age, contraception use, and wealth index impacted the CCS significantly. The percentage of CCS is 1.2, and it varies across socioeconomic factors. The prevalence of cervical cancer screening is high among women in the 30–49 age group, in the rich wealth index, and not utilizing condoms as contraception. The screening percentage was found to be highest in southern states. A pressing need was felt for organizing awareness camps and all-inclusive dissemination of information, especially in the Northern part of India.

Background

Climate change has shifted and will continue to alter the patterns of daytime and nighttime temperatures. However, it remains unclear whether hot days and nights, as well as cold days and nights, have varying impacts on mental disorders.

Methods

Daily hospital-based data on 1.2 million outpatient visits for mental disorders were obtained from 15 Chinese cities (2011-2015). The index of hot day excess, hot night excess, cold day excess, and cold night excess were used to measure the intensity of hot/cold days and nights. Firstly, a distributed lag non-linear model was used to estimate the risk of mental disorders associated with hot/cold days and nights for each city. Secondly, city-specific estimates were pooled by multivariate meta-analysis to obtain national effect estimates. Thirdly, the attributable fraction of mental disorders was estimated for the nation, genders, age groups, heating methods, and air conditioning penetration rates.

Results

Our findings revealed that both hot and cold nights were associated with a higher risk of mental disorders compared to hot and cold days. The attributable fraction of mental disorders was higher for cold (night: 25.74%; day: 19.65%) in contrast to heat (night: 16.91%; day: 7.24%). Males, the elderly, cities using central heating, and cities with low air conditioning penetration rates were vulnerable to cold nights.

Conclusions

This nationwide study highlights the adverse effects and significant burden of hot and cold nights on mental disorders. It underscores the potential for mitigating these impacts through the adoption of air conditioning, particularly in southern cities across China.

Objective

The study aimed to evaluate the potential effect of creative concepts and scripts of different short videos for the “National Anti-Cigarette Gift Giving Campaign” during the Chinese Lunar New Year.

Methods

The concept testing study used a mix-method design combining quantitative survey and qualitative group discussion. Online focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted among general population in Beijing, the capital city, and Xining City, Qinghai Province in China in December 2021. A total of 192 participants were recruited and divided into 16 FGD groups by age, sex, smoking history, and socio-economic level.

Results

A total of five short videos were tested. Both quantitative and qualitative findings showed that the concepts and scripts of all the alternative short videos were easy to understand, but differences were observed in their potential to change participants’ behavioral intentions of cigarette gift-giving and culture appropriateness. “Gamified couple at home” was considered as the most suitable short video for wide dissemination during the Chinese Lunar New Year because of its innovative style and potential effectiveness in changing behavioral intentions. Although the short video themed “Gifting harm” showed a pronounced impact on personal motivation to not give cigarettes as gifts, it was not recommended due to the cultural inappropriateness.

Conclusion

Future development of public service advertisements such as short videos targeting tobacco control is suggested to use evidence-based research to identify the most effective and appropriate concepts. Due consideration should be extended to the cultural appropriateness of communication content and its alignment with the relevant occasion.

The European Union has implemented various strategies and policies to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus-19 pandemic and promote recovery. This article reviews the European Union’s response and management decisions, examines the public health measures implemented to contain the virus, and explores the Union’s economic recovery and support initiatives. These include the “NextGenerationEU” recovery fund, the “European Support” instrument to mitigate “Unemployment Risks in an Emergency” (SURE) program, and the Multiannual Financial Framework recognizing the EU’s efforts to promote social welfare and inclusion during the pandemic. The challenges and lessons learned from the EU’s experience are analyzed, highlighting the importance of solidarity, cooperation, and resilience in crisis management. Drawing from the pandemic, this study explores the prospects and conclusions drawn from the pandemic, the need for building more resilient healthcare systems, fostering environmentally sustainable initiatives, strengthening social protection and inclusion, enhancing crisis preparedness and response, and promoting global health and equity.

Newly emerging infectious diseases are vital issues that impact global health, social stability, economic development, and national security. While infectious disease prevention and control is a highly practical discipline, effective theoretical guidance remains indispensable in infectious disease prevention and control practices. During the past three years of responding to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, we have observed that the traditional “Three-Step Two-Factor” theory is not sufficient to meet the contemporary societal needs for newly emerging infectious disease prevention and control. Building upon years of experience in responding to infectious diseases, we have innovatively developed the “Triangle Model” theory for the prevention and control of infectious diseases. This model has been successfully applied in China's practices and management decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic. We introduce the definition, characteristics of the “Triangle Model” theory, as well as shared practical experience in China, to provide a theoretical reference for future prevention and control of newly emerging infectious diseases in China and other countries.

This article delves into social entrepreneurship experience and fills a void in the extant literature by determining the post-COVID perspective contribution of social entrepreneurship activities. The research presents a nuanced perspective on the potential impact of social entrepreneurship on sustainable development across various geographical areas. We highlight an essential discovery that social entrepreneurship impacts sustainable development across diverse geographical regions. When addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, we must consider economic reasoning, theoretical implications, and geographical and socio-economic factors. Such considerations would significantly contribute to our collective efforts to overcome this global crisis. Adopting a strategic and effective method towards social entrepreneurship can accelerate the achievement of SDGs and promote equitable, sustainable development.

Despite an increasing global demand for the implementation of necessary measures to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the increasing number of disaster and public health emergencies, and the outcomes of recent crises, have proven to be a real obstacle to achieving these goals. The outcomes of several past events, in particular the coronavirus-19 pandemic crisis, illustrate a turning point in achieving these goals due to its political, economic, and sociocultural impacts. Since the United Nations' sustainable development goals are interrelated, they are all prone to internal and external disturbances. The analysis of past events has particularly revealed that the lack of partnership, peace, justice, and strong institutional structure, is the main obstacle to achieving these goals. This rapid review confirms the impact of disasters and public health emergencies on two major sustainable development goals, i.e., goals 16 and 17, indicating a need for global partnership (goal 17) to achieve peace, justice, and a strong institutional structure (goal 16) as a prerequisite to achieving the entire United Nation's development goals.