Development practice and violence against women

Oral health in an urban slum, Nigeria: residents' perceptions, practices and care-seeking experiences

BACKGROUND/INTRODUCTION

One of the key recommendations for the new WHO global strategy for oral health is inclusion of disadvantaged populations and their engagement in policy dialogues such that their needs and views are addressed in policy decisions.

OBJECTIVES

This study explored oral health perceptions, practices and care-seeking experiences of slum residents in Ibadan, Nigeria.

METHOD

Focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted with family health-decision makers in an urban slum site. Oral health perceptions, practices, and care-seeking experiences were discussed. FGDs were recorded, transcribed, and translated. ATLAS.ti qualitative research software was deployed for analysis using thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Six FGD sessions, divided by gender and age, were conducted between September-October 2019, (N = total 58 participants, aged 25 to 59 years). Common dental ailments mentioned were dental pain, tooth sensitivity, bleeding gums, tooth decay, mouth odor, gum disease, and tooth fracture. Perceived causes of dental conditions included poor dental hygiene and habits, sugary diets, ignorance, and supernatural forces. Mouth cleaning was mostly done once daily using toothbrush and paste. Other cleaning tools were ground glass, wood ash, charcoal, "epa Ijebu" (a dentrifice), and "orin ata" (a type of chewing stick). Remedies for relieving dental pain included over-the-counter medicines, warm salted water, gin, tobacco (snuff/powdered), cow urine/dung, battery fluid, and various mixtures/ concoctions. Visits to the dentists were mentioned by a few but this was usually as last resort. Main barriers to accessing care from dental care facilities were unaffordability of service charges and fear of extreme treatment measures (extraction). Suggested measures to improve timely access to dental health care included reducing/subsidizing costs of treatments and medications, offering non-extraction treatment options, and oral health education programmes.

CONCLUSION

The slum residents experience various forms of dental ailments mostly pain-related. The residents perceived formal dental clinics as unaffordable, thereby engaging in self-care remedies and harmful oral health practices before seeking professional help. Policymakers and decision-makers may leverage this empirical evidence for the people's education on early dental care and address challenges to affordable, available, and acceptable oral healthcare services among slum residents to improve access to care facilities.

Sexual Violence Against Women in India: Daily Life and Coping Strategies of Young Women in Delhi

This study assesses the current situation concerning sexual violence against women in India and women's individual coping strategies. We conducted 15 semistructured interviews with 17- to 22-year-old Indian college students. First, results about the current situation showed threatening circumstances for women and revealed how deeply sexual violence affects women's lives. Second, to cope with sexual violence women mentioned three types of strategies, namely (a) safety, (b) avoidance, and (c) empowerment strategies. In the discussion, we suggest that women's use of safety and avoidance strategies are safety behaviors that play a key role in maintaining women's fear and societal dynamics.

Gender and HIV/AIDS impact mitigation in sub-Saharan Africa--recognising the constraints

In discussions of gender and HIV/AIDS, attention has focused on prevention. This is a vital area. However, we argue that there is also a need to focus more attention on the resulting impact of the epidemic, because inequalities that promote the spread of infection are also hampering containment and impact mitigation. We propose a framework highlighting the gendered constraints exacerbated by the epidemic. These constraints are reviewed under the following headings: Gender-specific constraints: stemming from the specific nature of gender relations themselves, such as the availability of labour in agriculture, business and for household tasks, as well as access to services and markets, and the incidence of gendered violence. Gender-intensified disadvantages: stemming from the uneven and often inequitable distribution of resources between men and women, including cultural/religious conventions, and the social rules and norms that regulate property rights, inheritance practices and resource endowments. Gender-imposed constraints: resulting from biases and partialities of those individuals who have the authority and power to allocate resources. These include provision of credit, information, agricultural extension and health care. The differential involvement of men and women in development programmes affects access to resources, as does political participation, including involvement in the formulation of policies aimed at poverty reduction. These constraints take us beyond gender relations and sexual behaviour. But women's lives will not change in the short term. The challenges they face in mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS will not be addressed by focusing only on their specific vulnerability to HIV/AIDS infection. Unequal gender relations and the nature of'development' need to be changed too.