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From Jo Spratt on The economic burden of physical inactivity in the Asia-Pacific
Thanks, Ian. I am always pleased to read your blogs about this important issue.
I was surprised to see that out-of-pocket expenditure on health in the Solomon Islands was so low. The out-of-pocket expenditure for healthcare I saw in the Solomon Islands seemed high, but potentially hard-to-count. People I knew had to leave home, travel to Honiara and stay there for days/weeks to receive certain types of medical care. So while I don't dispute the overall findings, I think it would be great to get solid country-level data on this stuff to get a clear sense of who pays for NCDs. (The article used WHO calculations - do you know how these are derived? Presumably from HIES?)
I do dispute the idea that physical activity is squarely a "personal choice". This brings to the fore the age-old 'structure-agency' debate. As you point out, social, environmental and cultural (and I would add economic) factors play a large role in shaping human behaviour. Some of these are powerful forces. For example, if a woman lives in a culture where it is frowned upon to engage in rigorous physical activity, and she endures social 'punishment' for doing so, does she really have a choice?
Further, human brains have a present-bias: we are bad at making good decisions today for our future selves. I didn't exercise this morning because a warm bed was more enticing than a -3 degree morning. Every day I do this I make my future self less healthy. I have a very simple life, and I can't always muster up the energy to overcome this present bias even when I know it is bad for my future self. For people who have complicated lives, such as experiencing economic stress, systematic discrimination, overwhelming care-giving demands, etc. etc., it is hard to find the energy (or the time) to exercise. What kind of choice do they have?
Ultimately, of course, people need to engage in more physical activity. While education/information is important, the knowledge-attitutes-behaviour behaviour change model implied here doesn't work that well. As you indicate in your conclusion, we need to build societies and communities that support and encourage physical activity of multiple sorts - making the healthy choice the easy choice. We also need to spend much more time addressing the socio-economic determinants of health: poverty, inequality and discrimination.
From Adriaan den Dulk on Fortnightly links: banking and cash transfers, Angola, redistribution, and Rio 2016
While all eyes are focused on Brazil, and the impeachment process, very little notices is taken of the plundering of Angola.
From JP on Settling as an expat in Port Moresby – a personal account
I'm 9% body fat, black belt in TKD, have 1000+ hours small arms experience, a photographic memory and I can fix electronics - and I don't remotely feel like I have the skills to survive in Port Moresby. The climate, diving and wildlife look amazing but it just isn't worth hiding behind barbed wire with guns hoping to not get dismembered. No doubt there are a lot of nice Melanesians but until "raskols" are dealt with, POM is never going to be livable.
From Stephen Howes on The economic burden of physical inactivity in the Asia-Pacific
Thanks Ian. Fascinating blog. Get moving people! Are those numbers for Tongan and Nauruan school children low compared to other countries, including Australia?
From Garth Luke on Can the SDGs guide us to a ‘new economy’?
Terry, while I agree with you that the SDGs are a first step, I don't think that they offer too vague a prescription. Of course there is plenty of room for interpretation and much is to be worked out through implementation, but I would be very happy to live in the world of 2030 if it has substantially achieved the 17 goals and 169 specific internationally agreed targets.
From JAMAL H MUNSHI on A critic’s guide to anti-corruption conferences
This is an article that needed to be written. Thank you, Grant. I will share this on social media.
From Adriaan den Dulk on A critic’s guide to anti-corruption conferences
Dear Grant,
what a refreshing (and long overdue) piece. It is quite clear that the whole anti-corruption "industry" is fixated on a Developed World understanding of corruption as only consisting of bribery, as Brown and Cloke state - "The common “Western” conception of corruption, including that used by the Bank, depends on the existence of a public domain which is recognisably separate from a private sphere, with different codes of acceptable conduct in each. While in the private sector, firms and individuals are expected to seek personal profit and enrichment, organisations and individuals in the public sector are expected selflessly to fulfil a duty to a greater public good. A corrupt action is one which contravenes this model. Akhil Gupta argues from an anthropological perspective that this distinction between public and private is far from universal and is predicated on a particular European cultural and historical experience."
As William Lazonick <a href="https://hbr.org/2014/09/profits-without-prosperity" rel="nofollow">wrote in the HBR</a> most of the top 500 companies in the USA used dividends and share buy-backs to prop up shares mainly because CEO remuneration is based on share prices. This, in my view, is corrupt behavior which is not reflected in the literature and conference papers.
Most Australian corporations have rules about gifts and entertainment, which would appear are not enforced, for if they were corporate boxes at the football, cricket, horse racing and other similar events would be quite empty.
Instead of focusing on people in developing countries accepting bribes, I would suggest that organisations should look inwardly and attend to those behaviors that corrupt within.
Well done casting a critical eye on this subject
From Kimami Taufa on Poverty in the Pacific – a forgotten priority?
poverty is becoming serious to pacific islands
From Mareweiti. on Poverty in the Pacific – a forgotten priority?
poverty is becoming a serious concern in the society
From Elizabeth Morgan on Settling as an expat in Port Moresby – a personal account
Jake - we read the same article! We responded differently to you - simple as that - Port Moresby is far from a nightmare as we all noted - and that was exactly the point Carmen was making. Not sure whether you live there or whether it's your home - but it was mine for 7 years and I have ongoing short term visits. Yes there are constraints and yes we can leave. But some of us really love Port Moresby despite the constraints. And for the record - Victoria alone has had over 170 car jackings in the past 12 months and many armed robberies. Violent crime happens in my home city every day. And I'm afraid I disagree strongly with you - to pretend that my country (or the US - with massive and repeated death tolls from domestic gun violence) is without risks to personal safety is dishonest, to constantly denigrate someone else's home city is neither helpful nor respectful. That post was written 2 years ago - Port Moresby is even more vibrant now - in my view. You may see it differently and that's fine. It may be your home and you may have very good reasons for being outraged. Or you may be judging something quite wrongly.
From JAMAL H MUNSHI on Can the SDGs guide us to a ‘new economy’?
building a new world economy is well outside the scope of providing development aid as a way of reaching the long held goal of "the end of poverty".
that we would so corrupt a poverty eradication effort may mean that having failed to end poverty we have given up on meeting the needs of the poor and are ready to use this program for our own needs.
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2812034
From Den Einstein Hezron on Fourth time’s the charm: a brief history of ‘free education’ policies in PNG