JAMA
December 22/29, 2015, Vol 314, No. 24
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/issue.aspx

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The Sustainable Development Goals: One-Health in the World’s Development Agenda
Lawrence O. Gostin, JD; Eric A. Friedman, JD
This Viewpoint discusses financial, political, and practical challenges to realizing the United Nations’ 2015 Sustainable Development Goals.

“We are resolved to free the human race from the tyranny of poverty and want to heal and secure our planet.”1 So pronounces the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, adopted on September 25, 2015, succeeding the Millennium Development Goals. The Sustainable Development Goals embody a one-health strategy—healthy people living on a habitable planet…

Journal of Human Trafficking
Volume 1, Issue 4, 2015

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Fighting Human Trafficking Through Transit Monitoring: A Data-Driven Model Developed in Nepal
Jonathan Hudlow a*
DOI:10.1080/23322705.2015.1098521 pages 275-295
Published online: 08 Dec 2015
Abstract
Transit monitoring is an innovative approach to fighting human trafficking that involves identifying and intercepting potential victims of human trafficking before they are exploited. In doing so, it relies upon established indicators of trafficking, local staff with special training, and data from a customized human-trafficking fusion center. As an anti-trafficking strategy, it provides tangible impact on the dollar, and, by focusing on trafficking as it is occurring, it creates otherwise rare opportunities for engagement. Among these is the opportunity for gathering actionable intelligence on traffickers, which can then be used in proactive investigations. Intervening prior to the exploitation phase of trafficking also presents a number of exceptional challenges from navigating situations with inconclusive evidence to ensuring that interceptions do not infringe upon the human rights of migrants. Transit monitoring has developed as an anti-trafficking strategy through the work of nongovernmental organizations in Nepal, where a unique combination of factors created an urgent need for such an approach. Initial efforts have been made to replicate the model in India and Bangladesh, and there is reason to believe that transit monitoring could be an effective strategy for fighting human trafficking in many other countries as well.

The Lancet
Jan 02, 2016 Volume 387 Number 10013 p1-94
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/current

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Editorial
Rights of refugees—collaboration is key
The Lancet
Summary
As a result of conflicts in countries such as Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, 1 million migrants have fled conflict areas and arrived at the borders of Europe in 2015. With more than 2 million refugees from Syria and roughly 230 000 refugees from other countries, Turkey has the largest population of refugees worldwide.

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Comment
Universal access to medicines
Louis W Niessen, Jahangir A M Khan
Published Online: 20 October 2015
Summary
Medicines account for 20–60% of health spending in low-income and middle-income countries, whereas in high-income countries the proportion is 18% or lower.1 Up to 90% of low-income populations purchase medicines through out-of-pocket payments, making medicines the largest household expenditure item after food.1 Strategies to make medicines more available and affordable are therefore crucial in increasing their use in low-income and middle-income countries, in which the burden of non-communicable diseases, in addition to awareness of the benefits of prevention and treatment, are increasing.

PLoS Medicine
http://www.plosmedicine.org/
(Accessed 2 January 2016)

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Progress in Medicine: Experts Take Stock
The PLOS Medicine Editors , Andrew Beck, Ewan Birney, Manuel Graeber, James Tumwine, Phillipa Hay, Hyeong Sik Ahn, Anushka Patel, Philipp du Cros, Lorenz von Seidlein, Nick Wareham, Nicola Low
Editorial | published 29 Dec 2015 | PLOS Medicine
10.1371/journal.pmed.1001933
Introduction
For the 2015 end-of-the-year editorial, PLOS Medicine asked 11 researchers and clinicians spanning a range of specialties to comment on the state of their field and what they expect or hope to see next year. From cardiovascular diseases and diabetes to cancer to infectious diseases, from new research and technologies to clinical practice, and from training to health policy and strategy, our contributors had plenty to say. Here’s to a healthy 2016!

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Public Health and International Partnerships in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
John Grundy, Beverley-Ann Biggs, David B. Hipgrave
Policy Forum | published 29 Dec 2015 | PLOS Medicine
10.1371/journal.pmed.1001929
Summary Points
:: The health system in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is suitable for high public health program coverage, with a wide facility network and high staff-population ratios.
:: Economic difficulties, natural disasters, and poor resourcing of the health sector in the 1990s had catastrophic impacts on public health and system functioning, leading to sharp declines in vaccination coverage.
:: With considerable international support, diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTP) vaccine coverage has risen from 37% in 1997 to 96% in 2013. Major challenges related to immunization services and the health sector more generally have been reduced.
:: This recovery demonstrates the potential for international partners to support DPRK’s national health agencies and improve public health programming, notwithstanding tensions in international relations and challenging domestic conditions.
:: Sustained collaboration is required to improve population health and health services in DPRK. This has regional and global public health implications and may influence ongoing political tensions.

PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
http://www.plosntds.org/
(Accessed 2 January 2016)

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Quantifying Poverty as a Driver of Ebola Transmission
Mosoka P. Fallah, Laura A. Skrip, Shai Gertler, Dan Yamin, Alison P. Galvani
Research Article | published 31 Dec 2015 | PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
10.1371/journal.pntd.0004260

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Pregnancy Outcomes after a Mass Vaccination Campaign with an Oral Cholera Vaccine in Guinea: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Lise Grout, Isabel Martinez-Pino, Iza Ciglenecki, Sakoba Keita, Alpha Amadou Diallo, Balla Traore, Daloka Delamou, Oumar Toure, Sarala Nicholas, Barbara Rusch, Nelly Staderini, Micaela Serafini, Rebecca F. Grais, Francisco J. Luquero
Research Article | published 29 Dec 2015 | PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
10.1371/journal.pntd.0004274

Access to Routine Immunization: A Comparative Analysis of Supply-Side Disparities between Northern and Southern Nigeria
Ejemai Eboreime, Seye Abimbola, Fiammetta Bozzani
Research Article | published 21 Dec 2015 | PLOS ONE
Abstract
Background
The available data on routine immunization in Nigeria show a disparity in coverage between Northern and Southern Nigeria, with the former performing worse. The effect of socio-cultural differences on health-seeking behaviour has been identified in the literature as the main cause of the disparity. Our study analyses the role of supply-side determinants, particularly access to services, in causing these disparities.
Methods
Using routine government data, we compared supply-side determinants of access in two Northern states with two Southern states. The states were identified using criteria-based purposive selection such that the comparisons were made between a low-coverage state in the South and a low-coverage state in the North as well as between a high-coverage state in the South and a high-coverage state in the North.
Results
Human resources and commodities at routine immunization service delivery points were generally insufficient for service delivery in both geographical regions. While disparities were evident between individual states irrespective of regional location, compared to the South, residents in Northern Nigeria were more likely to have vaccination service delivery points located within a 5km radius of their settlements.
Conclusion
Our findings suggest that regional supply-side disparities are not apparent, reinforcing the earlier reported socio-cultural explanations for disparities in routine immunization service uptake between Northern and Southern Nigeria. Nonetheless, improving routine immunisation coverage services require that there are available human resources and that health facilities are equitably distributed.
10.1371/journal.pone.0144876

PLoS One
http://www.plosone.org/
[Accessed 2 January 2016]

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The Relationship between Health Literacy and Health Disparities: A Systematic Review
Sarah Mantwill, Silvia Monestel-Umaña, Peter J. Schulz
Research Article | published 23 Dec 2015 | PLOS ONE
10.1371/journal.pone.0145455
Abstract
Objectives
Health literacy is commonly associated with many of the antecedents of health disparities. Yet the precise nature of the relationship between health literacy and disparities remains unclear. A systematic review was conducted to better understand in how far the relationship between health literacy and health disparities has been systematically studied and which potential relationships and pathways have been identified.
Methods
Five databases, including PubMed/MEDLINE and CINAHL, were searched for peer-reviewed studies. Publications were included in the review when they (1) included a valid measure of health literacy, (2) explicitly conceived a health disparity as related to a social disparity, such as race/ethnicity or education and (3) when results were presented by comparing two or more groups afflicted by a social disparity investigating the effect of health literacy on health outcomes. Two reviewers evaluated each study for inclusion and abstracted relevant information. Findings were ordered according to the disparities identified and the role of health literacy in explaining them.
Results
36 studies were included in the final synthesis. Most of the studies investigated racial/ethnic disparities, followed by some few studies that systematically investigated educational disparities. Some evidence was found on the mediating function of health literacy on self-rated health status across racial/ethnic and educational disparities, as well as on the potential effect of health literacy and numeracy on reducing racial/ethnic disparities in medication adherence and understanding of medication intake.
Conclusion
Overall the evidence on the relationship between health literacy and disparities is still mixed and fairly limited. Studies largely varied with regard to health(-related) outcomes under investigation and the health literacy assessments used. Further, many studies lacked a specific description of the nature of the disparity that was explored and a clear account of possible pathways tested.

PNAS – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/
(Accessed 2 January 2016)

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Biological Sciences – Sustainability Science:
Drivers of household food availability in sub-Saharan Africa based on big data from small farms
Romain Frelat, Santiago Lopez-Ridaura, Ken E. Giller, Mario Herrero, Sabine Douxchamps, Agnes Andersson Djurfeldt, Olaf Erenstein, Ben Henderson, Menale Kassie, Birthe K. Paul, Cyrille Rigolot,
Randall S. Ritzema, Daniel Rodriguez, Piet J. A. van Asten, and Mark T. van Wijk
PNAS 2015 ; published ahead of print December 28, 2015, doi:10.1073/pnas.1518384112
Significance
We collated a unique dataset covering land use and production data of more than 13,000 smallholder farm households in 93 sites in 17 countries across sub-Saharan Africa. The study quantifies the importance of off-farm income and market conditions across sites differing strongly in agroecology and derives generally applicable threshold values that determine whether farm households have enough food available to feed their families. These results show there is a strong need for multisectoral policy harmonization and incentives and improved interconnectedness of people to urban centers and diversification of employment sources, rather than a singular focus on agricultural development of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.
Abstract
We calculated a simple indicator of food availability using data from 93 sites in 17 countries across contrasted agroecologies in sub-Saharan Africa (>13,000 farm households) and analyzed the drivers of variations in food availability. Crop production was the major source of energy, contributing 60% of food availability. The off-farm income contribution to food availability ranged from 12% for households without enough food available (18% of the total sample) to 27% for the 58% of households with sufficient food available. Using only three explanatory variables (household size, number of livestock, and land area), we were able to predict correctly the agricultural determined status of food availability for 72% of the households, but the relationships were strongly influenced by the degree of market access. Our analyses suggest that targeting poverty through improving market access and off-farm opportunities is a better strategy to increase food security than focusing on agricultural production and closing yield gaps. This calls for multisectoral policy harmonization, incentives, and diversification of employment sources rather than a singular focus on agricultural development. Recognizing and understanding diversity among smallholder farm households in sub-Saharan Africa is key for the design of policies that aim to improve food security.

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Social Sciences – Anthropology:
Climate challenges, vulnerabilities, and food security
Margaret C. Nelson, Scott E. Ingram, Andrew J. Dugmore, Richard Streeter, Matthew A. Peeples, Thomas H. McGovern, Michelle Hegmon, Jette Arneborg, Keith W. Kintigh, Seth Brewington, Katherine A. Spielmann, Ian A. Simpson, Colleen Strawhacker, Laura E. L. Comeau,
Andrea Torvinen, Christian K. Madsen, George Hambrecht, and Konrad Smiarowski
PNAS 2015 ; published ahead of print December 28, 2015, doi:10.1073/pnas.1506494113
Significance
Climate-induced disasters are impacting human well-being in ever-increasing ways. Disaster research and management recognize and emphasize the need to reduce vulnerabilities, although extant policy is not in line with this realization. This paper assesses the extent to which vulnerability to food shortage, as a result of social, demographic, and resource conditions at times of climatic challenge, correlates with subsequent declines in social and food security. Extreme climate challenges are identified in the prehispanic US Southwest and historic Norse occupations of the North Atlantic Islands. Cases with such different environmental, climatic, demographic, and cultural and social traditions allow us to demonstrate a consistent relationship between vulnerability and consequent social and food security conditions, applicable in multiple contexts.
Abstract
This paper identifies rare climate challenges in the long-term history of seven areas, three in the subpolar North Atlantic Islands and four in the arid-to-semiarid deserts of the US Southwest. For each case, the vulnerability to food shortage before the climate challenge is quantified based on eight variables encompassing both environmental and social domains. These data are used to evaluate the relationship between the “weight” of vulnerability before a climate challenge and the nature of social change and food security following a challenge. The outcome of this work is directly applicable to debates about disaster management policy.

Reproductive Health
http://www.reproductive-health-journal.com/content
[Accessed 2 January 2016]

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Research
Socio-cultural and economic factors influencing adolescents’ resilience against the threat of teenage pregnancy: a cross-sectional survey in Accra, Ghana
Collins K Ahorlu, Constanze Pfeiffer, Brigit Obrist Reproductive Health 2015, 12:117 (23 December 2015)

Sustainability
Volume 7, Issue 12 (December 2015), Pages 15785-16884
http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/12

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Article:
Identifying Challenges to Building an Evidence Base for Restoration Practice
by Phumza Ntshotsho, Karen J. Esler and Belinda Reyers
Sustainability 2015, 7(12), 15871-15881; doi:10.3390/su71215788
Received: 22 September 2015 / Revised: 18 November 2015 / Accepted: 19 November 2015 / Published: 30 November 2015
Abstract:
Global acknowledgement of ecological restoration, as an important tool to complement conservation efforts, requires an effort to increase the effectiveness of restoration interventions. Evidence-based practice is purported to promote effectiveness. A central tenet of this approach is decision making that is based on evidence, not intuition. Evidence can be generated experimentally and in practice but needs to be linked to baseline information collection, clear goals and monitoring of impact. In this paper, we report on a survey conducted to assess practitioners’ perceptions of the evidence generated in restoration practice in South Africa, as well as challenges encountered in building this evidence base. Contrary to a recent assessment of this evidence base which found weaknesses, respondents viewed it as adequate and cited few obstacles to its development. Obstacles cited were mostly associated with planning and resource availability. We suggest that the disparity between practitioners’ perceptions and observed weaknesses in the evidence base could be a challenge in advancing evidence-based restoration. We explore opportunities to overcome this disparity as well as the obstacles listed by practitioners. These opportunities involve a shift from practitioners as users of scientific knowledge and evidence, to practitioners involved in the co-production of evidence needed to increase the effectiveness of restoration interventions.