Digital psychiatry in low-and-middle-income countries:New developments and the way forward

Low-and middle-income countries(LMICs)bear the greater share of the global mental health burden but are ill-equipped to deal with it because of severe resource constraints leading to a large treatment gap.The remote provision of mental health services by digital means can effectively augment conventional services in LMICs to reduce the treatment gap.Digital psychiatry in LMICs has always lagged behind high-income countries,but there have been encouraging developments in the last decade.There is increasing research on the efficacy of digital psychiatric interventions.However,the evidence is not adequate to conclude that digital psychiatric interventions are invariably effective in LMICs.A striking development has been the rise in mobile and smartphone ownership in LMICs,which has driven the increasing use of mobile technologies to deliver mental health services.An innovative use of mobile technologies has been to optimize task-shifting,which involves delivering mental healthcare services in community settings using non-specialist health professionals.Emerging evidence from LMICs shows that it is possible to use digital tools to train non-specialist workers effectively and ensure that the psychosocial interventions they deliver are efficacious.Despite these promising developments,many barriers such as service costs,underdeveloped infrastructure,lack of trained professionals,and significant disparities in access to digital services impede the progress of digital psychiatry in LMICs.To overcome these barriers,digital psychiatric services in LMICs should address contextual factors influencing the delivery of digital services,ensure collaboration between different stakeholders,and focus on reducing the digital divide.

Curriculum Development and Teachers for Cultivating OECD Student Agency in Japan:From an Examination of Educational Thought,Educational System,History,and Contemporary Science and Mathematics Education Practices

The purpose of this paper is to examine the development of a curriculum in Japan to foster the agency(OECD Student Agency)necessary for children living in the future,as outlined in the OECD Education2030 Project,and the role of teachers who implement this curriculum.Therefore,I aim to achieve this goal by taking an overview of educational thought,educational systems and history,and examining several initiatives in the OECD Project and the situation of a Japanese high school that practices science and mathematics education.As a result of analyzing previous research and the narratives obtained from interviews with Teacher A(pseudonym)of a certain F High School(pseudonym),it was found that school education should not simply teach subjects,but should aim to enable student to help student exercise agency in the future.It was suggested that it is not necessary to add content to the curriculum,but rather to prepare to provide students with competencies that will enable them to use the content in various contexts,situations,and circumstances,suggesting that in order to discover such important competencies,teachers and other related parties are required to implement curricula that allow students to slowly and carefully explore the competencies surrounding the content,and to conceive and build curricula that include both hidden and intended curriculum that allows student to reflect on the curriculum they have achieved.

Impact of taxes on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development:Evidence from Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD)countries

Multiple ecological and socioeconomic problems have occurred worldwide,raising the awareness of sustainability.This study aims to examine the impact of taxes on Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs)in the context of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD)countries.This research used effective average tax(EAT),tax on personal income(TPI),tax on corporate profits(TCP),and tax on goods and services(TGS)as the variables of taxes,and employed secondary data from 38 OECD countries covering 2000–2021.The study also used Breusch-Pagan Lagrange Multiplier(LM),Pesaran Scaled LM,Bias-Corrected Scaled LM,and Pesaran Cross-sectional dependence(CSD)tests to analyze the existence of crosssectional dependency.Then,we established the stationarity of variables through second-generation panel unit root tests(Cross-sectional Augmented Dickey-Fuller(CADF)and Cross-sectional Im,Pesaran,and Shin(CIPS)),and confirmed the long-run cointegration of the variables by using secondgeneration panel cointegration test(Westerlund cointegration test).The results showed that EAT,TPI,TCP,and TGS are positively associated with SDGs.However,the change in TPI has a smaller effect on SDGs than the change in EAT or TCP or TGS.The result of panel causality indicated that EAT,TPI,and TGS have a unidirectional causal relationship with SDGs.The study also found that TCP has a bi-directional causal relationship with SDGs.Moreover,the finding indicated that the OECD countries need to focus on tax policies to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.This study is based on the theory of optimal taxation(TOT),which suggests that tax systems should be designed to maximize social welfare.Finally,we suggests the importance of taking a comprehensive approach for the managers and policy-makers when analyzing the impact of taxes on SDGs.

国际视野下高质量职教师资队伍建设研究——基于OECD教育调研报告的分析

职教师资是支持各国建设高质量职业教育体系、实施高质量职业教育的根本力量。基于OECD发布的系列教育调研报告,深度检视国际视野下职教师资队伍建设存在的主要问题有:供需结构不平衡;数字素养与技能不高;培养培训体系不健全。相关国家为建设高质量职教师资队伍采取的实践举措有:加大职业发展支持力度,缓解职教教师队伍的供需矛盾;完善配套数字教育资源,提升职教教师的数字素养与技能;强化培养培训协同机制,健全职教教师的培养培训体系。在此基础上,我国高质量职教师资队伍建设的行动路向为:优存量、扩增量、提质量,强力保障职教师资队伍的供需平衡;兴基建、立标准、研评估,系统提升职教教师的数字素养与技能;强职前、优职后、促贯通,合力完善职教教师的培养培训体系,全面推进我国高质量职教师资队伍建设。

OECD国家人口老龄化水平与卫生资源配置的门槛效应研究

文章搜集32个已进入中重度老龄化社会的经济合作与发展组织(OECD)国家1965—2021年的1 824条面板数据,分析人口老龄化水平与卫生资源配置的内在规律,为我国规划卫生资源提供参考。结果显示,人口老龄化水平与卫生支出占国内生产总值(GDP)比重、每千人口医生数呈显著正相关,但与每千人口住院床位数呈负相关。人口老龄化水平与卫生支出占GDP比重存在14.486%水平的结构性跃升,相关系数从0.112 9上升到0.169 1;在17.599%的水平上与每千人口医生数存在结构性跃升,相关系数从0.008 2上升到0.025 9;人口老龄化水平与每千人口住院床位数在中重度老龄化时期不存在显著的门槛效应。建议我国中重度老龄化地区加大卫生人力资源培养和资金投入力度,其他地区提前规划,以积极应对人口老龄化。

Nutrition impacts of non-solid cooking fuel adoption on under-five children in developing countries

This paper examines the nutrition impacts of using non-solid cooking fuel on under-five children in developing countries.We draw on data from more than 1.12 million children in 62 developing countries from the Demographic and Health Surveys(DHS).Results from both fixed effects(FE)and instrumental variable(IV)estimates show that using non-solid cooking fuel significantly improves the nutrition outcomes of under-five children.Compared with their peers from households mainly using solid fuel,children from households mainly using non-solid fuel exhibit a lower probability of experiencing stunting(by 5.9 percentage points)and being underweight(by 1.2 percentage points).Our further investigation provides evidence for several underlying mechanisms,such as improved indoor air quality,induced reduction in children’s respiratory symptoms,benefits on maternal health,and reduction in maternal time spent on fuel collection or cooking.Heterogenous analyses suggest that the nutrition benefits of using non-solid cooking fuel are more prominent among boys,children above three years old,and those from households of lower socioeconomic status,rural areas,and Southeast Asia.

Socio-economic development of countries based on the Composite Country Development Index(CCDI)

World experience indicates the existence of significant imbalances in the development of countries.The problem of assessing the rational development of the regional and national economy is becoming urgent,since such assessments can prevent development imbalances across countries.The aim of this study is to elaborate a methodology to assess the countries’socio-economic development by integraring 12 modern indices of socio-economic development into the Composite Country Development Index(CCDI).The methodology of this research was based on a set of key indices that described socio-economic development level in four fields(social development,digital development,economic development,and environmental security)and then these indices were integrated into the CCDI.The study further applied factor analysis and R-Studio software to define the gaps of social and economic development in 59 selected countries using the trigonometric function of the angle sine.The correlation analysis confirmed the existence of a close interrelation among the studied countries.This paper noted that due to the emergence of new priorities,it is necessary to revise the assessment methodology of socio-economic development level and expand them to cover the decisive factors.This was confirmed by the results obtained,demonstrating various combinations of the development level in the four fields and their impact on the CCDI.The scientific contribution of this research is to form a methodology(e.g.,the CCDI)for evaluating the socio-economic development level of countries in the world.

Is there regional convergence between Morocco and its OECD partner countries in terms of well-being?

Morocco wants its 12 regions to play the role as the main lever of its public policies to initiate harmonized spatial multidimensional development. In the context of this goal and Morocco’s openness over the past two decades to bilateral and multilateral cooperation in an effort toward regional integration, this article studies the convergence of 389 regions in 36 countries(Morocco and 35 of its partner member countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD)) between 2000 and 2019 in terms of well-being. To this end, we considered the territorial dimension of β-convergence models for well-being and its four domains(economic, social, environmental, and governance). Then, we adapted the absolute β-convergence model by taking into account the existence of spatial heterogeneity according to five specifications of spatial models. Thus, apart from environmental domain, we found that β-convergence of regions is significant for well-being and three of its domains(economic, social, and governance). These convergences are made by a spatially autocorrelated error model(SEM). However, the speed and period of convergence are relatively low for social domain, partly explaining the very exacerbated tensions at the territorial level. The fastest convergence was achieved in governance domain, followed by economic domain. This suggests that emerging countries must pay particular attention to national public action in favor of social cohesion at the territorial level. The lack of convergence in environmental domain calls for common actions for all countries at the supranational level to protect the commons at the territorial level.

Digital Development Rights in Developing Countries:Where the Governance Rules for Cross-Border Data Flows

The digital development rights in developing countries are based on establishing a new international economic order and ensuring equal participation in the digital globalization process to achieve people's well-rounded development in the digital society.The relationship between cross-border data flows and the realization of digital development rights in developing countries is quite complex.Currently,developing countries seek to safeguard their existing digital interests through unilateral regulation to protect data sovereignty and multilateral regulation for cross-border data cooperation.However,developing countries still have to face internal conflicts between national digital development rights and individual and corporate digital development rights during the process of realizing digital development rights.They also encounter external contradictions such as developed countries interfering with developing countries'data sovereignty,developed countries squeezing the policy space of developing countries through dominant rules,and developing countries having conflicts between domestic and international rules.This article argues that balancing openness and security on digital trade platforms is the optimal solution for developing countries to realize their digital development rights.The establishment of WTO digital trade rules should inherently reflect the fundamental demands of developing countries in cross-border data flows.At the same time,given China's dual role as a digital powerhouse and a developing country,it should actively promote the realization of digital development rights in developing countries.

China’s Industrial Modernization:Development Rationale,Current Status,and Policy Directions

Economies that have effectively escaped the“middle-income trap”demonstrate common traits in their industrial restructuring as they progressed to high-income status.These include a relatively stable share of an economy’s manufacturing sector,a reasonable economic structure,enhanced industrial capabilities,and growth driven by innovation.However,late-moving countries face a number of hurdles as they strive to cross this threshold.China’s development advantages include,among other things,a complete industrial system,a more balanced industrial structure,growing indigenous innovation capabilities,continual expansion and upgrading of domestic demand,and a greater degree of openness.These capabilities have provided continuous momentum for industrial growth,allowing China to capitalize on the next wave of technological and industrial revolutions while also promoting long-term,steady industrial development.During its modernization efforts,China has seen substantial changes in the external environment surrounding its industrial development.We must not only recognize the increasing complexity,intensity,and uncertainty of these changes,but also take proactive steps to solve diverse issues and capitalize on opportunities arising from global digital and green transitions.Equal focus should be placed on strengthening reforms and promoting high-level openness,improving policy coordination and consistency,and pursuing an innovation-driven strategy.This will speed the development of a modern industrial system and encourage the formation of new,high-quality productive forces.

An Analysis of Liberia’s Vulnerability to Climate Change in the Context of Least Developed Countries (LDCs): A Review

Climate change is an alarming global challenge, particularly affecting the least developed countries (LDCs) including Liberia. These countries, located in regions prone to unpredictable temperature and precipitation changes, are facing significant challenges, particularly in climate-sensitive sectors such as mining and agriculture. LDCs need more resilience to adverse climate shocks but have limited capacity for adaptation compared to other developed and developing nations. This paper examines Liberia’s susceptibility to climate change as a least developed country, focusing on its exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. It provides an overview of LDCs and outlines the global distribution of carbon dioxide emissions. The paper also evaluates specific challenges that amplify Liberia’s vulnerability and constrain sustainable adaptation, providing insight into climate change’s existing and potential effects. The paper emphasizes the urgency of addressing climate impacts on Liberia and calls for concerted local and international efforts for effective and sustainable mitigation efforts. It provides recommendations for policy decisions and calls for further research on climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Food Security in Developing Countries: Factors and Mitigation

Since 1976, eradicating hunger has become one of the priority objectives of the United Nations, which is included in the Charter of Human Rights;the right to get adequate food. The qualification of food security in time and space must analyze not only the three components it covers but also the relationships that these three components maintain. Climate change contributes to food insecurity, but it is not the only factor. To address food insecurity in various forms, greater food security must be combined with improved sustainable agricultural practices with minimal strain on the environment. This review of literature insists on the principles of food security, which in particular allows a better understanding of food insecurity in developing countries and favors a greater contribution of agriculture and food systems in general to nutritional progress.

The Implications of Urbanization Processes in Developed Countries for Africa

Urbanization is the inevitable path of national economic development,and the level of urbanization development in most African countries is still low.By analyzing five typical developed countries in the United States,Britain,France,Germany,and Japan,this paper discusses the promoting factors and problems of the rapid urbanization development in their specific years,as well as the experiences and lessons that Africa can learn,so as to prevent Africa from taking the detour in the urbanization process of Western developed countries and promote the balanced regional development of various African countries.

Challenges to establishing and maintaining kidney transplantation programs in developing countries:What are the coping strategies?

Kidney transplantation(KT)is the optimal form of renal replacement therapy for patients with end-stage renal diseases.However,this health service is not available to all patients,especially in developing countries.The deceased donor KT programs are mostly absent,and the living donor KT centers are scarce.Single-center studies presenting experiences from developing countries usually report a variety of challenges.This review addresses these challenges and the opposing strategies by reviewing the single-center experiences of developing countries.The financial challenges hamper the infrastructural and material availability,coverage of transplant costs,and qualification of medical personnel.The sociocultural challenges influence organ donation,equity of beneficence,and regular follow-up work.Low interests and motives for transplantation may result from high medicolegal responsibilities in KT practice,intense potential psychosocial burdens,complex qualification protocols,and low productivity or compensation for KT practice.Low medical literacy about KT advantages is prevalent among clinicians,patients,and the public.The inefficient organizational and regulatory oversight is translated into inefficient healthcare systems,absent national KT programs and registries,uncoordinated job descriptions and qualification protocols,uncoordinated on-site investigations with regulatory constraints,and the prevalence of commercial KT practices.These challenges resulted in noticeable differences between KT services in developed and developing countries.The coping strategies can be summarized in two main mechanisms:The first mechanism is maximizing the available resources by increasing the rates of living kidney donation,promoting the expertise of medical personnel,reducing material consumption,and supporting the establishment and maintenance of KT programs.The latter warrants the expansion of the public sector and the elimination of non-ethical KT practices.The second mechanism is recruiting external resources,including financial,experience,and training agreements.

OECD学前教育政策的转向及其动因、现实隐忧与反思

自涉足学前教育以来,OECD学前教育政策经历了从主张多样化发展到追求“最佳实践”的转向。“全球教育改革运动”的盛行、构建全球标准化教育治理体系的需要、国家/地区间学前教育发展差异明显是这一转向背后的主要动因。这一转向也带来了多重现实隐忧,体现在矮化学前教育的育人价值、造成学前教育的“文化殖民”、遮蔽学前教育的“复杂性”、引发学前教育政策的“趋同化”。应审慎对待最佳实践的“价值”与“效能”平衡问题、数据依赖性问题以及应用限度问题。

OECD国家小学教师工资水平与工作强度的比较研究

基于OECD国家的数据,对比分析各国小学教师的工资水平与工作强度的特征。研究发现,OECD国家呈现出教师工资水平普遍不高但工作强度分化的特点。按照工资水平高低和工作强度大小,将这些国家进行分类,基于收入-闲暇理论和货币与非货币性报酬理论,探索个体特征和制度特征与工资水平和工作时长的关系,进一步发现“时间长工资低”和“时间短工资低”的两组国家在教师性别、教师资质两方面有显著差异,但是在对教育技能的需求和生师比方面无显著差异。经比较后发现,非货币性报酬是教师职业的重要特征,教师劳动力市场有明显的雇主导向特征,对教师过高的准入技能要求可能对教育体系产生负面影响。

Development and Application of Integrated Indicators for Assessing Healthcare Waste Management Systems in Kenyan Hospitals

Healthcare waste management (HCWM) is an important aspect of healthcare delivery globally because of its hazardous and infectious components that have potential for adverse health and environmental impacts. The paper introduces a set of indicators for assessing HCWM systems in hospitals. These indicators are: HCWM policies and standard operating procedures, management and oversight, logistics and budget support, training and occupational health and safety, and treatment, disposal and waste treatment equipment housing. By plotting a mark on a continuum which is defined as good and poor on the extremes and is connected with all other marks in a spoke arrangement, it’s possible to describe a baseline for HCWM in any specific hospital. This baseline can be used to improve awareness of the actors and policy-makers, compare the same hospital at a different point in time, to compare observations by different evaluators and to track improvements. Results suggest that in Kenya, the application of such indicators is useful for evaluating which priorities should be addressed to improve outcomes in HCWM systems. Systematic sampling technique was used to identify and collect data by use of observational checklist, interviews, visual verification and review of documents and a HCWM assessment tool. The objective is to suggest an integrated management tool as a method to identify prevailing problems with a HCWM system. The method can be replicated in other contexts worldwide, with a focus on the developing world. The integrated indicators focus on management of HCW and not its potential impact on human health and environment, an area recognized to be critical for future research.

弹性退休:政策设计、实施机制与政策效应——基于OECD国家多期双重差分的实证分析

弹性退休是经济合作与发展组织(OECD)国家应对劳动力短缺与养老金压力的普遍政策选择。以“弹性退休年龄—弹性养老金制度—弹性退休与工作安排”为内在逻辑,系统分析OECD国家弹性退休政策体系设计与实施机制,并运用多期双重差分法实证检验OECD国家弹性退休政策对劳动供给的规模效应、结构效应与时期效应。研究发现:弹性退休政策提高了48.7%的劳动供给规模,尤其促进了老年及老年女性劳动供给的提升,并具有时期异质性。基于OECD政策实践与中国的现实基础,建议完善以实质公平为政策导向的弹性退休政策体系,建立“早减晚增”且“增多减少”的弹性养老金计发机制,同步探索“部分”退休的弹性退休与工作机制,促进积极延退与积极老龄化。

Nurse-staffing level and quality of acute care services:Evidence from cross-national panel data analysis in OECD countries

Background:Most of previous studies aimed to estimate the effect of nurse staffing on quality of acute hospital care have used stochastic methods and their results are mixed.Objective:To measure the magnitude of effect of nurse-staffing level on increasing quality of acute care services in long-run.Data:The number of practicing nurses'density per 1000 population as the proxy of nurse-staffing level and three Health Care Quality Indicators(HCQI)included 30-day mortality per 100 patients based on acute myocardial infarction(MORTAMIO),hemorrhagic stroke(MORTHSTO)and ischemic stroke(MORTISTO)were collected as a part of ongoing project by OECD.org in panels of 26 OECD countries over 2005-2015 period.Method:Panel data analysis.Results:There were committed relationships from nurse-staffing level to the enhancement of HCQI i.e.1%increase in nurse-staffing level would reduce the rates of patient mortality based on MORTAMIO,MORTHSTO and MORTISTO by 0.65%,0.60%and 0.80%,respectively.Furthermore,the role of nursestaffing level in increasing overall HCQI were simulated at the highest level in Sweden(-3.53),Denmark(-3.31),Canada(-2.59),Netherlands(-2.33),Finland(-2.09),Switzerland(-1.72),Australia(-1.64)and United States(-1.53).Conclusion:A higher proportion of nurses-staffing level is associated with higher quality of acute care services in OECD countries.Also,the nursing characteristics of Sweden,Denmark,Canada,Netherlands,Finland,Switzerland,Australia and United States would be good patterns for other countries to maximize nursing outcomes in the care of patients with acute and life-threatening conditions by reducing the risk of complication,mortality and adverse clinical outcomes.

OECD国家数字教育战略:范式、路径与走向

新兴数字技术为教育高质量发展提供了新机遇。数字技术何以赋能教育高质量发展,已成为时代战略主题。近年来,OECD主要国家陆续出台了教育数字化转型发展的相关战略,包括教育专项和教育嵌入式两种战略类型,从顶层设计部署了国家数字技术赋能教育高质量发展的战略任务,通过数字技术一流新基建、数字平台开放共享、数字技术与教育发展深度融合,为教育高质量发展提供新增长点。尽管各国在推动教育数字化转型发展中采取了一系列积极有效战略举措,但仍面临着师生数字素养缺失、数字鸿沟、伦理危机风险等挑战,需要国际社会在推进教育数字化转型中予以全面的战略关照。审思OECD主要国家数字教育战略,可为我国教育数字化转型发展提供些许启示。