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This book examines ways to ensure that the rights, interests and concerns of young people are properly represented in Western democracies. One new proposal is the introduction of youth quotas in political institutions in order to counter the possible marginalization of young people caused by demographic ageing and, thereby, an overrepresentation of the interests of the elderly. The book explores key questions regarding the implementation of youth quotas from different perspectives, including philosophy, political science, sociology and demography. It examines whether youth quotas and other m

This book examines ways to ensure that the rights, interests and concerns of young people are properly represented in Western democracies. One new proposal is the introduction of youth quotas in political institutions in order to counter the possible marginalization of young people caused by demographic ageing and, thereby, an overrepresentation of the interests of the elderly. The book explores key questions regarding the implementation of youth quotas from different perspectives, including philosophy, political science, sociology and demography. It examines whether youth quotas and other measures that give the young more voice and influence in political institutions are a good means for promoting the cause of intergenerational justice. In particular, it investigates how and if youth quotas can be used to ensure that the environmental interests of young and future generations are being taken into account. In addition, the book introduces an innovative model that would give a right to vote to minors without voting age boundaries. The book also discusses suffrage reforms through lowering the voting age in Western countries, as well as introducing methods especially aimed at raising the skills of children necessary for societal citizenship and empowerment of young citizens. The volume will help raise awareness and knowledge about the intergenerational implications of demographic changes in Western democracies, where ageing societies are increasingly turning into gerontocracies. It offers readers deep insight into how youth quotas in particular (and others forms of youth participation in general) might be efficient methods to ensure that younger generations are included in the political decision making process and other activities in society.

"En plaçant la notion de "transition" dans une perspective historique, cet ouvrage offre un éclairage novateur. Les auteurs approchent en effet l'histoire européenne comme celle d'une civilisation matérielle qui n'a cessé d'être en transition depuis le XVIIIe siècle, à travers des études de cas centrées sur des périodes d'incertitude et de reconfiguration : la recherche de sources d'énergie alternatives au bois puis au charbon, la transformation concomitante des navires et des ports au temps de la rencontre entre voile et vapeur, les débats sur les autoroutes avec l'essor de l'automobilisme et la densification des flux, les investissements européens dans les énergies renouvelables, le passage du minitel aux réseaux numériques, la disparition de la figure de l'entrepreneur héroïque. Une réflexion sur la complexité propre à ces périodes où l'anticipation fait plus que jamais partie de l'histoire."--Page 4 of cover

Background: Donor financing for malaria has declined since 2010 and this trend is projected to continue for the foreseeable future. These reductions have a significant impact on lower burden countries actively pursuing elimination, which are usually a lesser priority for donors. While domestic spending on malaria has been growing, it varies substantially in speed and magnitude across countries. A clear understanding of spending patterns and trends in donor and domestic financing is needed to uncover critical investment gaps and opportunities. Methods: Building on the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation's annual Financing Global Health research, data were collected from organizations that channel development assistance for health to the 35 countries actively pursuing malaria elimination. Where possible, development assistance for health (DAH) was categorized by spend on malaria intervention. A diverse set of data points were used to estimate government health expenditure on malaria, including World Malaria Reports and government reports when available. Projections were done using regression analyses taking recipient country averages and earmarked funding into account. Results: Since 2010, DAH for malaria has been declining for the 35 countries actively pursuing malaria elimination (from $176 million in 2010 to $62 million in 2013). The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is the largest external financier for malaria providing 96% of the total external funding for malaria in 2013, with vector control interventions being the highest cost driver in all regions. Government expenditure on malaria, while increasing, has not kept pace with diminishing DAH or rising national GDP rates, leading to a potential gap in service delivery needed to attain elimination. Conclusion: Despite past gains, total financing available for malaria in elimination settings is declining. Health financing trends suggest that substantive policy interventions will be needed to ensure that malaria elimination is ...

BACKGROUND: The Global Financing Facility (GFF) offers an opportunity to close the financing gap that holds back gains in women, children's and adolescent health. However, very little work exists examining GFF practice, particularly for adolescent health. As momentum builds for the GFF, we examine initial GFF planning documents to inform future national and multi-lateral efforts to advance adolescent sexual and reproductive health. METHODS: We undertook a content analysis of the first 11 GFF Investment Cases and Project Appraisal Documents available on the GFF website. The countries involved include Bangladesh, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kenya, Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda. RESULTS: While several country documents signal understanding and investment in adolescents as a strategic area, this is not consistent across all countries, nor between Investment Cases and Project Appraisal Documents. In both types of documents commitments weaken as one moves from programming content to indicators to investment. Important contributions include how teenage pregnancy is a universal concern, how adolescent and youth friendly health services and school-based programs are supported in several country documents, how gender is noted as a key social determinant critical for mainstreaming across the health system, alongside the importance of multi-sectoral collaboration, and the acknowledgement of adolescent rights. Weaknesses include the lack of comprehensive analysis of adolescent health needs, inconsistent investments in adolescent friendly health services and school based programs, missed opportunities in not supporting multi-component and multi-level initiatives to change gender norms involving adolescent boys in addition to adolescent girls, and neglect of governance approaches to broker effective multi-sectoral collaboration, community engagement and adolescent involvement. CONCLUSION: There are important examples of how the GFF supports adolescents and their sexual and ...

BACKGROUND: The Global Financing Facility (GFF) offers an opportunity to close the financing gap that holds back gains in women, children's and adolescent health. However, very little work exists examining GFF practice, particularly for adolescent health. As momentum builds for the GFF, we examine initial GFF planning documents to inform future national and multi-lateral efforts to advance adolescent sexual and reproductive health. METHODS: We undertook a content analysis of the first 11 GFF Investment Cases and Project Appraisal Documents available on the GFF website. The countries involved include Bangladesh, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Kenya, Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda. RESULTS: While several country documents signal understanding and investment in adolescents as a strategic area, this is not consistent across all countries, nor between Investment Cases and Project Appraisal Documents. In both types of documents commitments weaken as one moves from programming content to indicators to investment. Important contributions include how teenage pregnancy is a universal concern, how adolescent and youth friendly health services and school-based programs are supported in several country documents, how gender is noted as a key social determinant critical for mainstreaming across the health system, alongside the importance of multi-sectoral collaboration, and the acknowledgement of adolescent rights. Weaknesses include the lack of comprehensive analysis of adolescent health needs, inconsistent investments in adolescent friendly health services and school based programs, missed opportunities in not supporting multi-component and multi-level initiatives to change gender norms involving adolescent boys in addition to adolescent girls, and neglect of governance approaches to broker effective multi-sectoral collaboration, community engagement and adolescent involvement. CONCLUSION: There are important examples of how the GFF supports adolescents and their sexual and ...

IntroductionUnderstanding the determinants of timely antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation is useful for HIV programmes intent on developing models of care that reduce delays in treatment initiation while maintaining a high quality of care. We analysed patient‐ and facility‐level determinants of time to ART initiation among patients who initiated ART in Kenya.MethodsWe collected facility‐level information and conducted a retrospective chart review of adults initiating ART between 2007 and 2012 at 51 health facilities in Kenya. We evaluated the association between patient‐ and facility‐level covariates at the time of ART eligibility and time to ART initiation. We also explored the determinants associated with timeliness of ART initiation.ResultsThe analysis included 11,942 patients. The median age at the time eligibility was first determined was 37 years (interquartile range [IQR] 31–45). Overall, 75% of patients initiated ART within two months of eligibility. The median CD4 cell count at the time eligibility was first determined rose from 132 (IQR 51–217) in 2007 to 195 (IQR 91–286) in 2011 to 2012 (p<0.001). The cumulative probability of ART initiation among treatment‐eligible patients increased over time: 87.1% (95% confidence interval [CI] 85.1–89.0%) in 2007; 96.8% (96.0–97.5%) in 2008; 97.1% (96.3–97.7%) in 2009; 98.5% (98.0 −98.9%) in 2010; and 99.7% (95% CI 99.4 −99.8%) in 2011 to 2012 (p<0.0001). In multivariate analyses, attending a health facility with high ART patient volumes within two months of eligibility was considered the key facility‐level determinant of ART initiation (adjusted odds ratio 0.57, 95% CI 0.45–0.72, p<0.001). Patient‐level determinants included being eligible for ART in the years subsequent to 2007, advanced World Health Organization clinical stage and low CD4 cell count at the time eligibility was first determined.ConclusionsOverall, the time between treatment eligibility and ART initiation decreased substantially in Kenya between 2007 and 2012, with uniform gains across different types of health facilities. Our findings highlight the slow increase in CD4 cell counts at the time of ART eligibility over time, indicating that a large number of patients are still beginning ART with advanced HIV disease. Our findings also support the decentralisation of ART services at all health facilities that have the capacity to initiate treatment. Continued evaluation of programme‐ and country‐level data is needed to monitor timeliness of ART initiation as countries continue to expand treatment access.

BACKGROUND: Between 2012 and 2016, development assistance for HIV/AIDS decreased by 20·0%; domestic financing is therefore critical to sustaining the response to HIV/AIDS. To understand whether domestic resources could fill the financing gaps created by declines in development assistance, we aimed to track spending on HIV/AIDS and estimated the potential for governments to devote additional domestic funds to HIV/AIDS. METHODS: We extracted 8589 datapoints reporting spending on HIV/AIDS. We used spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression to estimate a complete time series of spending by domestic sources (government, prepaid private, and out-of-pocket) and spending category (prevention, and care and treatment) from 2000 to 2016 for 137 low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Development assistance data for HIV/AIDS were from Financing Global Health 2018, and HIV/AIDS prevalence, incidence, and mortality were from the Global Burden of Disease study 2017. We used stochastic frontier analysis to estimate potential additional government spending on HIV/AIDS, which was conditional on the current government health budget and other finance, economic, and contextual factors associated with HIV/AIDS spending. All spending estimates were reported in 2018 US$. FINDINGS: Between 2000 and 2016, total spending on HIV/AIDS in LMICs increased from $4·0 billion (95% uncertainty interval 2·9–6·0) to $19·9 billion (15·8–26·3), spending on HIV/AIDS prevention increased from $596 million (258 million to 1·3 billion) to $3·0 billion (1·5–5·8), and spending on HIV/AIDS care and treatment increased from $1·1 billion (458·1 million to 2·2 billion) to $7·2 billion (4·3–11·8). Over this time period, the share of resources sourced from development assistance increased from 33·2% (21·3–45·0) to 46·0% (34·2–57·0). Care and treatment spending per year on antiretroviral therapy varied across countries, with an IQR of $284–2915. An additional $12·1 billion (8·4–17·5) globally could be mobilised by governments of LMICs to finance the ...