Bmc Public Health
-
Twelve of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are related to malnutrition (both under- and overnutrition), other behavioral, and metabolic risk factors. However, comparative evidence on the impact of behavioral and metabolic risk factors on disease burden is limited in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), including Ethiopia. Using data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study, we assessed mortality and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) attributable to child and maternal undernutrition (CMU), dietary risks, metabolic risks and low physical activity for Ethiopia. The results were compared with 14 other Eastern SSA countries. ⋯ In Ethiopia, while there was a decline in mortality and DALYs attributable to CMU over the last two and half decades, the burden attributable to dietary and metabolic risks have increased during the same period. Lifestyle and metabolic risks of NCDs require more attention by the primary health care system of the country.
-
Social accountability is a participatory process in which citizens are engaged to hold politicians, policy makers and public officials accountable for the services that they provide. In the Fifteenth Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union, African leaders recognized the need for strong, decentralized health programs with linkages to civil society and private sector entities, full community participation in program design and implementation, and adaptive approaches to local political, socio-cultural and administrative environments. Despite the increasing use of social accountability, there is limited evidence on how it has been used in the health sector. The objective of this systematic review was to identify the conditions that facilitate effective social accountability in sub-Saharan Africa. ⋯ Although global accountability standards play an important guiding role, the successful implementation of global health initiatives depend on national contexts.
-
A number of prior studies have examined the association between anthropometric measures and mortality, but studies investigating the sex-specific predictive value of novel anthropometric measures on mortality are scarce so far. Therefore, we investigated the sex-specific relevance of the new anthropometric measures body adiposity index (BAI) and waist to height ratio (WHtR) as well as the common measures body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and waist to hip ratio (WHR) for cause-specific mortality risk. ⋯ Central obesity reflects higher all-cause and CVD-mortality risk particularly in women. BAI and WHtR seem to be valid as risk predictors for all-cause and especially CVD mortality in men but not women. There are marked sex-differences regarding cancer mortality risk for the different anthropometric measures.