Health Impacts. Any change in the health of a population or any change in the physical, natural, or social environment that has a bearing on public health.4 Stakeholders: Individuals or organizations who are affected by the policy, plan, or project under consideration; have an interest in the health impacts of the policy, project, or plan under consideration; and/or have direct or indirect influence on the decision-making and implementation process of the policy, project, or plan under consideration. Decision Making Guidelines: When making decisions, the Steering Committee will strive to reach consensus by the entire group. Consensus does not require that every member of the Steering Committee fully supports a particular decision, but that everyone at least agrees that (1) the proposal meets the standard of acceptability for every Steering Committee member present, and (2) the process has been fair (everyone has had full opportunity to express their views and the group has done its best to close the gap). The standard of acceptability for this Steering Committee will be met when each member rates their support for a proposal as at least a 3 on a 1 to 5 scale, where a 1 is “I cannot support this proposal at all,” 3 is “I can live with it,” and 5 is “I fully support it.” 3 World Health Organization. 2016. WHO definition of Health. Available: xxxx://xxx.xxx/about/definition/en/print.html. Accessed: September 8, 2016.
Health Impacts. Harmful social categorization can occur through the existence and continuance of stigmas and dignity violations; this can lead to exclusion and isolation of the outgroup and subsequent feelings of separation from society and loss of belonging and identity.120 Violations of dignity can include being subject to indifference, contempt, labelling, objectification, and discrimination, among other actions. These violations have lasting and devastating impacts on the emotional and mental health and wellbeing of individuals being dehumanized.121 In the short-term, the individual being disrespected may feel an array of damaging and adverse emotions. As Xxxx Xxxxxxxx stated following her research and interviews with marginalized individuals, these can include “[..] a "dwindling spiral" of damage and loss. When a violation occurs, the individual may experience many emotions, including shock, fear, disbelief, hurt, mortification or embarrassment, discomfort or pain, indignation, frustration, or anger. Initial emotions evolve into a range of longer term experiences of "being 119 Xxxxxxxx, Xxxx. “A Taxonomy of Dignity: A Grounded Theory Study.” BMC International Health and Human Rights 9, no. 1 (February 24, 2009): 3. xxxxx://xxx.xxx/10.1186/1472-698X-9-3. 120 Xxxx, Xxxxxxx X., Xxxxx Xxxxxx, and Xxxxxxxxx Xxxxxxxx. “Thwarting Stigma and Dehumanization Through Empathy.” 121 Xxxxx, Xxxxxxx X., and Xx X. Xxxxxx. “Stigma and Status: The Interrelation of Two Theoretical Perspectives.” Social Psychology Quarterly 75, no. 4 (December 2012): 310–33. xxxxx://xxx.xxx/10.1177/0190272512459968.
Health Impacts. The high particle concentrations in southern West African cities present substantial risks to public health and intensify common medical problems. Using the number of medical visits as a proxy for adverse health outcomes, long term relative risk values were calculated for each municipality in Abidjan. This describes the relationship between long-term exposure to PM2.5 and respiratory, cardiac and dermatologic health, as well as emergency room mortality. We estimate the number of visits to the emergency room could be reduced by 3–4% for respiratory or cardiac issues and that up to 4% of emergency room mortalities could be avoided with a reduction of PM2.5 concentrations to the WHO recommended limit of 10 μg m-3. Analyses for all three measuring sites in Abidjan show significant correlations between the number of hospital visits and PM2.5 concentrations, primarily during the rainy (summer) season. This suggests that humidity may play a significant role in the interaction between particulate matter and health, possibly through helping bring pollutants into the lungs. The associations we see between particulate matter and health outcomes differ for each metropolitan area, suggesting not only the concentration levels, but also the source of PM2.5 should be taken into consideration when addressing air quality impacts on health. These are the first health research results for Abidjan showing the associations between PM2.5 and emergency room visits for respiratory and cardiac problems (~3% increase in risk), as well as emergency room mortality (~4% increase in risk) and respiratory visits to outpatient health centres. Due to the extreme concentration levels (see previous section) domestic fires are a huge health risk, while the risks from heavy traffic or waste burning were less extreme. As this study focused more generally on the inhabitants of the neighbourhoods around the DACCIWA measuring sites, rather than specifically on bus drivers, people working in food preparation or at the landfill site, our results may be obscuring the serious risk associated with long periods of time near a significant emission source. In-vitro experiments with aerosols taken from the four air quality sites show that primary organic matter, black carbon and water-soluble organic carbon particles, cause the most inflammation. Thus the highest inflammatory impact on people occurs in the dry season at the domestic burning site. Personal exposure measurements on different groups of the pe...
