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Sara.Till

Dr. Ticktin states in her introduction the report came about through both her personal experience with humanitarian efforts & sexual violence treatment and through supplemental studies. Her bibliography reflects this, and includes multiple studies/reports from humanitarian organizations. Additionally, she utilized multiple independent media sources discussing sexual violence in conflicts, the targeting of female populations, and humanitarian efforts within this realm. The bibliography also includes a multitude of research articles from various human rights journals and publications pertaining to female rights during conflicts.

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Andreas_Rebmann

Doctors without Borders has facilities in many countries already established for humanitarian aid. For instance, they had been in Haiti since 1991, so their assistance in 2010 was aided by their already established position there. In that case they upped their projects within the country in response to the disaster.

UN Scientific Committee on Effects of Atomic Radiation, Fukushima Report

Sara.Till

The report encompasses reports on the proceedings of the UN Scientific Comittee during its 60th session, May 2013. The UN report presents an unbiased plethora of data surmising Fukushima radiation exposure to both human an biological life. It primarily focuses on 2 reports detailing aspects of radiation exposure during the 2011 nuclear accident. The first report gives estimated levels of radiation experienced by individuals and non-human biota. Human individuals estimates are based on age and ongoing proximity to the accident. Evacuated adult citizens had an estimated exposure <10 mSv, while workers experienced doses >10mSv, with the highest exposure  an estimated 100 mSv. It places these values within the context of lifelong anticipated exposure and international expected exposures. This first report also briefly discusses effects beyond radiation, including the adverse outcomes thousands faced by evacuating. The second report concentrates on radiation exposure of children during the accident. While it concludes longer epidemological studies are needed to accurately assess the prevailing biolgogical effects, several important facts are highlighted. At a given radiation dose, children are more at risk of tumor induction than adults. In addition to this increased radiosensitivity (partially due to physical factors such as size), children also demonstrate increased prevalence of several cancers. These include leaukemia, brain, and thyroid cancers, all of which show radiosensitivity. The report also suggests narrowing the scope of inquiry, as radiation-induced cancers can be influenced by factors such as age and gender.

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Sara.Till

This article was meant to highlight the gaps in data available for violence against health care/aid workers in unsecured areas. As such, a large portion of the methods segment is dedicated to discussing the difficulties in locating this data and any patterns in data gaps. The primary method of collection, it appears, was through an initial search for peer-reviewed work that transformed into an accumulation of accounts from media, documentary, and editorial reports. It should be noted that some data is available from various organizations, regarding their specific statistics; however, this mainly tends to focus on larger incidents, such as kidnappings and deaths (as mentioned in the paper). There is also some information available through Aid Workers Security Database, but shortcomings in this area are also heavily noted.

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Andreas_Rebmann

The personal stories of the event, especially of the one paramedic whose name I didn't catch (Hispanic, Female). The emotional tellings of the events were incrediably visceral. I cannot conceive a scenario worse than what they had to deal with. 

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Sara.Till

The latter part of the piece addresses current plans to combat the cholera epidemic sparked during relief efforts post-quake. However, due to many of the factors discussed earlier in the article, donors are hesitant to put money towards efforts. Moreover, the UN's plan worked on a 10-year timeline given the appropriate funding; stalling finances have pushed that timeline out to almost 40 years. Currently a lawsuit is being put forth by the Haitian government to obtain the promised money and support from the UN.

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Andreas_Rebmann

-“…since the era in which demand for foreign labor made immigration a social necessity seem so remote, the immigrant’s body was entirely legitimized through its function as an instrument of production, the performance of which was interrupted by illness or accident.” – Succinctly captures modern views of illness of foreigners.

-Unless his presence constitutes a threat to public order, any foreigner habitually resident in France whose health is such that he requires medical treatment the lack of which could lead to exceptionally serious consequences, and provided that he is effectively unable to receive appropriate treatment in his country of origin, will be granted a temporary residence permit validated ‘for private and family life.’” Ordinance of November 2, 1945; modified on May 11, 1998 to bring into line with the European Convention of Human Rights

-“Should we accept ‘getting our hands dirty’ by agreeing to work with the immigrants’ service of the prefect’s office on the difficult issue of deportations?” asked Charles Candillier, a medical officer in the Seine-Saint-Denis Directorate of Healthy and Social Welfare, in an internal memo. His answer is crystal clear: “Although we recognize the ethical ambiguities of the situation, we did agree, on the grounds that our intervention could only be beneficial in helping to prevent arbitrary explusions.”

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Sara.Till

The policy does not make any specific mentions of how to deal with vulnerable populations. However, if one were to consider the nature of New York, it can be argued that the city's entire population is vulnerable to outbreak. As a hub of trade, finance, travel, and business, New York is at a considerably higher risk than a city without this high metropolitan activity. The policy does include measures on how to treat individuals who show signs and symptoms in public locations, but does not mandate testing or health checks for individuals involved in transport, travel, or who have limited access to health care (the homeless).