RESUMO
This study was aimed at examining the impacts of the Sharing economy on the individual and community Quality of Life (QOL) and wellbeing by looking at their associated influencing factors using Village Savings and Loans Associations as a model of sharing economy in Malawi. An online community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted from November 2020 through January 2021. In the survey, 402 Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) members from the Mzuzu City area participated, recruited using snowball and respondent-driven sampling techniques. The sample size was computed using a single population proportion using the Yamane formula. Descriptive statistics and ordinal logistic regression model techniques were also employed. Additionally, we used the Chi-Square test, two-way ANOVA, and Ordinal regression model to determine statistical associations between socioeconomic data and QOL and wellbeing variables with a 5% level of significance. On the aspect of community wellbeing, the findings of our study indicated that income (levels and disposal) provided members with options to live a better QOL and wellbeing within the community by either facilitating payment for better education, eating healthier foods, acquiring assets, etc. Further, the absence of discrimination provided a platform for voice, inclusion, and social trust, enhancing freedom of expression. We also found that education facilitated better earnings and knowledge of public health-related issues. As for the contribution to the sharing economy, our study has emphasized the role played by trust in enhancing sharing economy. We recommend and encourage people to join these VSLAs so as to improve their QOL and wellbeing. However, there is a need to replicate the study on a larger scale to validate our study findings for effective policy formulation and implementation geared to improving the overall quality of people's lives. Based on these findings, we further recommend that authorities reinstate programs like National Strategy for Financial Inclusion 2016-2020 and Savings and Loan Groups Best Practice Guidelines (SLG BPGs) 2016-2017 that could further enhance the future of VSLAs, which are vital for QOL and community wellbeing of the people in developing countries like Malawi.
RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: The tobacco industry has for decades been associated with environmental damage, health-related diseases, human rights violations and corruption issues. The World Health Organisation formulated the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control with the aim of controlling tobacco production and consumption. Most of the countries on the continent of Africa were also the target of the framework given the high importation and use of tobacco products. The main aim of this study was to find out the current status of tobacco control policies and their effectiveness in Africa. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study was a systematic literature review that was conducted between the months of August and November 2020 by extracting data from the databases of PubMed, Elsevier Scopus and Web of Science. Only English articles were culled from the retrieved papers. Out of the 910 papers retrieved, only 17 papers from African countries were selected on the quality synthesis after meeting the inclusion criteria. RESULTS: The results of the study showed that three governance resources were identified of regulatory (64.70%, N=11) which had smoke-free environment, advertisement bans, and cessation programs, economics (29.41%, N=5) which were taxation measures and informative (5.886%, N=1) which were mass media campaigns. Furthermore, Western African countries especially South Africa reported many pronouncements on smoke-free environment and taxation measures. Mass media campaigns proved to be more effective policies as compared to others. CONCLUSION: This study recommends that the future research should be done on the effectiveness of mixed policy instruments as compared to single application. Furthermore, the researcher recommends the use of more informative policies in dealing with inelastic behaviours like those related to tobacco due to the addictive nature.