The politics of Norway take place in the framework of a parliamentary, representative democratic constitutional monarchy. Executive power is exercised by the Council of State, the cabinet, led by the Prime Minister of Norway. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the legislature, the Storting, elected within a multi-party system. The judiciary is independent of the executive branch and the legislature.The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Norway a "full democracy" in 2019. Reporters Without Borders ranked Norway 1st in the world in the 2019 Press Freedom Index. Freedom House's 2020 Freedom in the World report classified Norway as "free," scoring maximum points in the categories of "political rights" and "civil liberties".
The WHO Regional Office for Europe conducted 9 country studies of migration of doctors and nurses. This paper identifies similarities and variations in migratory flows, factors that influence them, and related policy responses. The 9 countries include 4 that integrate the European Economic Area (EEA), Ireland, Malta, Norway, and Romania, and 5 non-EEA, Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Tajikistan. Case writers used a common study template that covered international outflows and inflows, mobility push, and pull factors, and related policy interventions. Data sources include the WHO/Europe-OECD-Eurostat joint questionnaire and country databases. Emigration is motivated by low wages, dissatisfaction with working conditions, inadequate practice environment, excessive workloads and lack of opportunities for professional development. Flows for doctors and nurses vary in volume over time, and in countries of origin and destination. Pull factors include the free circulation of persons within the EEA for citizens of member states, easy access to work permits, common or easily learned language, and the presence of a diaspora in a destination country. Policies to improve retention include increasing the number of training places, making remuneration and working conditions more attractive and compulsory service. All countries have some health workforce development plan, but implementation is a challenge everywhere. Policies should be tailored to country labour market conditions, migration trends, and institutional capacity. Better understanding of migration flows will improve the effectiveness of policy responses.
Purpose: The report Indicators for Health Inequality in the Nordic Countries was written at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and published by the Nordic Welfare Centre in 2019. It recommended seven indicators for social inequalities in health, including the Gini coefficient, as important to alleviate social health disparities. This article updates the findings from the report and describes developments over time. Methodology: The indicator sources that were used in 2019 were searched for updates, and data were downloaded. When the exact indicators were unavailable, we contacted the data owners to ask for updates. Findings: The majority of data were available from the original data sources with the same definitions. Two indicators had to be redefined, and we chose to use the “new” definitions to retrieve the older data points again. With one exception, there do not seem to have been any momentous changes over time, either within the countries or between the countries, and the socioeconomic gradients remain clear in all the countries. Conclusion: The proportion of everyday smokers decreased for almost all groups in all countries, while the patterns for other indicators were less clear. Nevertheless, monitoring social inequalities in health is important for policy reasons.
AIMS:Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) account for more than two thirds of the burden of disease in Europe. At the population level, substantial disparities exist based on socioeconomic status, geographical area, age, disability, gender, and ethnicity. A large part of this disease burden is preventable. The aim of the Joint Action PreventNCD is to support strategies, policies, and practices designed to reduce the burden of NCDs and their common risk factors. This is achieved through collaboration between Member States of the European Union, Iceland, Norway, and Ukraine acting on health determinants and increasing protective factors for health and wellbeing, both at a personal and societal level. A critical objective is to contribute to reduced social inequalities associated with NCDs. This paper presents the overall design and rationale behind PreventNCD, highlighting the efforts to provide strategic direction and guidance while fostering consolidated efforts to NCD prevention and health promotion. METHODS:Methods include analyzing opportunities for implementing evidence-informed intersectoral policies for preventing NCDs, pilot-testing innovative practices, and scaling up best practices, including both population-based and targeted prevention efforts. Furthermore, methods include building monitoring capacity in the fields of NCD mortality and morbidity, exposure to risk factors, cost of NCD care, and the impact of health promotion and disease prevention efforts. CONCLUSIONS:This is an ambitious effort to strengthen the European Member States' abilities and efforts related to NCD prevention. Key outputs include the identification and implementation of effective policies and practices, and long-term institutional mechanisms for sustained NCD prevention and health promotion.
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are major drivers of disability, health expenditure, and productivity loss in Europe. Effective surveillance is essential to understand evolving needs, design and evaluate interventions, and ensure accountability. This paper provides a high-level overview of NCD monitoring in Europe, focusing on cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, and major modifiable risk factors. It draws on three complementary sources: the EU Joint Action on Cardiovascular Diseases and Diabetes (JACARDI, 32 countries), the Joint Action on the Prevention of NCDs (JA PreventNCD, 16 countries), and the WHO NCD Country Capacity Survey (2023, 53 WHO European Region Member States). These sources provide a comprehensive assessment of surveillance capacity, infrastructure and gaps, showing that NCD monitoring remains fragmented, underfunded, and limited in equity-sensitive data and policy integration. Strengthening governance, investment, and cross-country collaboration is crucial to build interoperable, and equity-oriented systems supporting evidence-informed decisions, accountability, and the right to health.
Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky infestation causes severe post-harvest losses of grains in Ghana leading to a major reduction in the quality and economic value. The combined efficacy of three botanical powders against adult S. zeamais was assessed. The botanical powders of Aframomum melegueta, Pipper nigrum, and Zingiber officinale in unmixed and admixed forms and Fossil Shield® 9.0 as a control were evaluated against the adult Sitophilus zeamais in stored maize grains at different dosage rates. The botanical powders in admixed and unmixed forms were used to treat 100 g of maize grains infested with 40 adult S. zeamais at dosage rates of 0 g, 10 g, 20 g, and 30 g. The treatments were kept in glass jars covered with muslin cloth and kept at a constant temperature of 26 ± 2 °C and relative humidity RH of 70 ± 5
