Understanding the interplay of occupational, public health, and climate-related risks for informal workers: A new framework with findings from Zimbabwe and India.

Globally, there are 2 billion 'informal' workers, who lack access to social protection while facing profound health risks and socioeconomic exclusions. The informal economy has generated most jobs in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), but few studies have explored informal workers' complex health vulnerabilities, including in the face of climate change. This paper will discuss recent action-research in Indore (India), Harare, and Masvingo (Zimbabwe) with informal workers like vendors, waste-pickers, and urban farmers. We conducted qualitative interviews (N = 110 in India), focus group discussions (N = 207 in Zimbabwe), and a quantitative survey (N = 418 in Zimbabwe). Many informal workers live in informal settlements ('slums'), and we highlight the interrelated health risks at their homes and workplaces. We explore how climate-related threats-including heatwaves, drought, and floods-negatively affect informal workers' health and livelihoods. These challenges often have gender-inequitable impacts. We also analyse workers' individual and collective responses. We propose a comprehensive framework to reveal the drivers of health in the informal economy, and we complement this holistic approach with a new research agenda. Our framework highlights the socioeconomic, environmental, and political determinants of informal workers' health. We argue that informal workers may face difficult trade-offs, due to competing priorities in the face of climate change and other risks. Future interventions will need to recognise informal workers' array of risks and co-develop multifaceted solutions, thereby helping to avoid such impossible choices. We recommend holistic initiatives to foster health and climate resilience, as well as participatory action-research partnerships and qualitative, intersectional data-collection with informal workers.

Impact of sleep apnoea on 30 day hospital readmission rate and cost in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.

AIMS: In this study, we estimated the 30 day all-cause and heart failure-specific readmission rates, predictors, mortality, and hospitalization costs in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea admitted with acute decompensated heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. METHODS AND RESULTS: This is a retrospective cohort study using the Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality's National Readmission Database for the year 2019. The primary outcome was the 30 day all-cause hospital readmission rate. The secondary outcomes were (i) in-hospital mortality rate for index admissions; (ii) 30 day mortality rate for index hospitalizations; (iii) the five most common principal diagnosis for readmission; (iv) readmission in-hospital mortality rate; (v) length of hospital stay; (vi) independent risk factors for readmission; and (vii) hospitalization costs. We identified 6908 hospitalizations that met our study definition. The mean patient age was 62.8 years, and women comprised only 27.6% of patients. The 30 day all-cause readmission rate was 23.4%. 48.9% of readmissions were due to decompensated heart failure. The in-hospital mortality rate during readmissions was significantly higher than that of the index admission (5.6% vs. 2.4%; P < 0.05). The mean length of stay for patients during index admissions was 6.5 days (6.06-7.02), while during readmissions, it was 8.5 days (7.4-9.6; P < 0.05). The mean total hospitalization charges at index admissions were $78 438 (68 053-88 824), while during readmissions, they were higher at $124 282 (90 906-157 659; P < 0.05). The mean total cost of hospitalization during index admissions was $20 535 (18 311-22 758), while at readmissions, it was higher at $29 954 (24 041-35 867; P < 0.05). The total hospital charges for all 30 day readmissions were $195 million, and total hospital costs was $46.9 million. The variables found to be associated with increased rate of readmissions were patients with Medicaid insurance, higher Charlson co-morbidity Index, and longer length of stay. The variables associated with lower rate of readmissions were prior percutaneous coronary intervention and patients with private insurance. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with obstructive sleep apnoea admitted with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, we found a substantial all-cause readmission rate of 23.4% with heart failure readmission constituting about 48.9% of readmissions. Readmissions were associated with higher mortality and resource use.

Slum Health: Arresting COVID-19 and Improving Well-Being in Urban Informal Settlements.

The informal settlements of the Global South are the least prepared for the pandemic of COVID-19 since basic needs such as water, toilets, sewers, drainage, waste collection, and secure and adequate housing are already in short supply or non-existent. Further, space constraints, violence, and overcrowding in slums make physical distancing and self-quarantine impractical, and the rapid spread of an infection highly likely. Residents of informal settlements are also economically vulnerable during any COVID-19 responses. Any responses to COVID-19 that do not recognize these realities will further jeopardize the survival of large segments of the urban population globally. Most top-down strategies to arrest an infectious disease will likely ignore the often-robust social groups and knowledge that already exist in many slums. Here, we offer a set of practice and policy suggestions that aim to (1) dampen the spread of COVID-19 based on the latest available science, (2) improve the likelihood of medical care for the urban poor whether or not they get infected, and (3) provide economic, social, and physical improvements and protections to the urban poor, including migrants, slum communities, and their residents, that can improve their long-term well-being. Immediate measures to protect residents of urban informal settlements, the homeless, those living in precarious settlements, and the entire population from COVID-19 include the following: (1) institute informal settlements/slum emergency planning committees in every urban informal settlement; (2) apply an immediate moratorium on evictions; (3) provide an immediate guarantee of payments to the poor; (4) immediately train and deploy community health workers; (5) immediately meet Sphere Humanitarian standards for water, sanitation, and hygiene; (6) provide immediate food assistance; (7) develop and implement a solid waste collection strategy; and (8) implement immediately a plan for mobility and health care. Lessons have been learned from earlier pandemics such as HIV and epidemics such as Ebola. They can be applied here. At the same time, the opportunity exists for public health, public administration, international aid, NGOs, and community groups to innovate beyond disaster response and move toward long-term plans.

Roundtable on Urban Living Environment Research (RULER).

For 18 months in 2009-2010, the Rockefeller Foundation provided support to establish the Roundtable on Urban Living Environment Research (RULER). Composed of leading experts in population health measurement from a variety of disciplines, sectors, and continents, RULER met for the purpose of reviewing existing methods of measurement for urban health in the context of recent reports from UN agencies on health inequities in urban settings. The audience for this report was identified as international, national, and local governing bodies; civil society; and donor agencies. The goal of the report was to identify gaps in measurement that must be filled in order to assess and evaluate population health in urban settings, especially in informal settlements (or slums) in low- and middle-income countries. Care must be taken to integrate recommendations with existing platforms (e.g., Health Metrics Network, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation) that could incorporate, mature, and sustain efforts to address these gaps and promote effective data for healthy urban management. RULER noted that these existing platforms focus primarily on health outcomes and systems, mainly at the national level. Although substantial reviews of health outcomes and health service measures had been conducted elsewhere, such reviews covered these in an aggregate and perhaps misleading way. For example, some spatial aspects of health inequities, such as those pointed to in the 2008 report from the WHO's Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, received limited attention. If RULER were to focus on health inequities in the urban environment, access to disaggregated data was a priority. RULER observed that some urban health metrics were already available, if not always appreciated and utilized in ongoing efforts (e.g., census data with granular data on households, water, and sanitation but with little attention paid to the spatial dimensions of these data). Other less obvious elements had not exploited the gains realized in spatial measurement technology and techniques (e.g., defining geographic and social urban informal settlement boundaries, classification of population-based amenities and hazards, and innovative spatial measurement of local governance for health). In summary, the RULER team identified three major areas for enhancing measurement to motivate action for urban health-namely, disaggregation of geographic areas for intra-urban risk assessment and action, measures for both social environment and governance, and measures for a better understanding of the implications of the physical (e.g., climate) and built environment for health. The challenge of addressing these elements in resource-poor settings was acknowledged, as was the intensely political nature of urban health metrics. The RULER team went further to identify existing global health metrics structures that could serve as platforms for more granular metrics specific for urban settings.

Birth preparedness and complication readiness among slum women in Indore city, India.

Three hundred twelve mothers of infants aged 2-4 months in 11 slums of Indore, India, were interviewed to assess birth preparedness and complication readiness (BPACR) among them. The mothers were asked whether they followed the desired four steps while pregnant: identified a trained birth attendant, identified a health facility, arranged for transport, and saved money for emergency. Taking at least three steps was considered being well-prepared. Taking two or less steps was considered being less-prepared. One hundred forty-nine mothers (47.8%) were well-prepared. Factors associated with well-preparedness were assessed using adjusted multivariate models. Factors associated with well-preparedness were maternal literacy [odds ratio (OR) = 1.9, (95%) confidence interval (CI) 1.1-3.4] and availing of antenatal services (OR = 1.7, CI 1.05-2.8). Deliveries in the slum-home were high (56.4%). Among these, skilled attendance was low (7.4%); 77.3% of them were assisted by traditional birth attendants. Skilled attendance during delivery was three times higher in well-prepared mothers compared to less-prepared mothers (OR: 3.0, CI 1.6-5.4) Antenatal outreach sessions can be used for promoting BPACR. It will be important to increase the competency of slum-based traditional birth attendants, along with promoting institutional deliveries.

Association between child immunization and availability of health infrastructure in slums in India.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between presence of an urban health center (UHC) in proximity to a slum and immunization status of slum children in a city in India. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Slums of Agra, India. PARTICIPANTS: Data were obtained from a baseline survey conducted by the US Agency for International Development Environmental Health Project in 2005 in slums in Agra. The study population consisted of 1728 children aged 10 to 23 months. Information about children's immunization was obtained from interviews with mothers aged 15 to 44 years. Main Exposure Availability and proximity to a UHC that provides immunization services. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Immunization status of children, which was measured as "complete" if the child had received 1 dose of BCG vaccine, 3 doses each of diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus and oral polio vaccines, and 1 dose of measles vaccine; "partial" if any 1 or more vaccines were missing; and "not" if no vaccine was received. Adjusted relative risk ratios compared children receiving complete or partial immunization with those not immunized. RESULTS: Adjusted models showed that presence of a UHC within 2 km of a slum was associated with more than twice the likelihood of children being completely (relative risk ratio, 2.03; 95% confidence interval, 1.12-3.66) or partially (relative risk ratio, 2.33; 95% confidence interval, 1.55-3.50) immunized. CONCLUSIONS: We found that presence of a UHC was positively associated with immunization status of children in slums. These results suggest a need for greater public attention to expand coverage of slums through UHCs.

Social determinants of children's health in urban areas in India.

Children of the urban poor in India suffer a much poorer health status than the urban non-poor, influenced to a large extent by social determinants. In this paper, National Family Health Survey-3 (2005-06) data were analyzed to assess the health status of urban poor children vis-à-vis the non-poor, and to identify the social determinants precipitating disparities. The analysis shows sharp disparity between child health indicators between urban poor and non-poor. Key findings include under-five mortality per thousand (urban poor 72.7 and non-poor 41.8) and children under-five underweight for age (urban poor 47% and non-poor 26.2%). Significant demographic and social correlates of child health in urban areas included poverty, gender, caste status, religion, mother's educational attainment, occupational status of parents, and women's autonomy in the household. They influenced different facets of child health, such as nutritional status and access to immunization.

Determinants of childhood mortality and morbidity in urban slums in India.

The large and continuous increase in India's urban population and the concomitant growth of the population residing in slums has resulted in overstraining of infrastructure and deterioration in public health. The link between urbanization, a degraded environment, inaccessibility to healthcare and a deteriorating quality of life is significant and particularly evident in the sharp inequities in IMR if one looks at urban specific studies. It is hence, germane to address the appalling inequalities in the distribution and access to basic amenities and health services with a focus on enhanced service coverage, improved sanitation and water supplies and mobilization of community action for effectively mitigating the childhood death and disease burden in urban slums.