Steroid Use in Professional Sports :: Athletics Drugs Papers

Steroid Use in Professional Sports For fans, the issue of steroid use in professional sports is one of growing concern. Professional athletes were once hailed as roll models for young Americans, now there is an asterisk next to many names once idolized. Is he legitimately getting bigger, faster, and stronger? Is he one of the league’s best, strictly due to his talent and work ethic alone? Or is he one of â€Å"those guys†? Maybe former NBA great, Charles Barkley, had it right when he said, â€Å"I am not a roll model.† But maybe, just maybe, these men and women have a responsibility to the kids who adore them to do the right thing; to compete at the highest level with absolute legitimacy in the way they go about doing it. Maybe they are roll models and because they are, they must conduct themselves in a way that is respectable and â€Å"right†. The problem of steroid use in professional sports is perpetuated because the current testing policies in such leagues as Major League Baseball are n ot strict or comprehensive enough to curb the benefits athletes gain from steroid use. They have sub-par policies and are conducting sub-par testing practices. Since we cannot count on the athletes themselves to rid the leagues of this problem, the leagues need to take steroids on and defeat it with stricter regulations. Testing of steroids is simply ineffective in professional sports and until something is done the negative influence it has upon America’s youth will continue to grow. Anabolic steroids, which can be taken as a pill or as an injection, are a derivative of and mimic the effects of the male sex hormone testosterone. Both men and women naturally produce testosterone, although women make very small amounts in comparison to men. Testosterone's role in the body is two-fold: first, it maintains the male reproductive system, including production and maintenance of the male sexual characteristics of a deeper voice, greater amounts of body hair, larger body size, and greater muscle mass. Second, for a short period of time at the onset of puberty in young men, testosterone production rises dramatically to stimulate the bulk of the male physical maturation process which leads to full bone growth, deepening voice, and growth of facial hair. It is this ability to promote muscle growth, increase lean body mass, and decrease body fat that entices teenagers to take anabolic steroids.

National Health Insurance Ghana Health And Social Care Essay

Health in Ghana includes the bar, attention and intervention of diseases and other maladies. As parts of the Ghanese economic system are non to the full industrialised, issues arise that are common to turning healthcare systems, such as waterborne diseases and sanitation jobs. Diseases in Ghana are reasonably similar to those endemic in other Sub-saharan states, with diseases as malaria and HIV/AIDS holding important impact on the population. Like many other states in Africa, Ghana spent much of the 1980s and 1990s paying off debt and ordaining asceticism steps designed to shore up its economic system. The state ‘s wellness sector perceptibly suffered under the economic cutbacks, ensuing in staff deficits and hapless care of wellness installations ( Oppong, 2001: 357-70 ) . In order to control the impairment of wellness services and to hike the quality of wellness attention bringing, Ghana finally implemented a pay-per-service wellness attention theoretical account. This normally referred to as the â€Å" cash-and-carry † system. However, the pay-per-service theoretical account unwittingly ended up know aparting against Ghana ‘s most vulnerable communities, rendering wellness services unaffordable to them. Not surprisingly, a significant diminution in the figure of people accessing wellness attention services in infirmaries became apparent shortly after, with estimations proposing at least a 25 per centum bead in use. The greatest diminutions were recorded among the hapless, aged, adult females, and rural occupants ( Anyiman 1989: 531-47 ; Hutchful 2002: 129-40 ; Konadu-Agyemang, 2000: 475-81 ; Waddington and Enimayew, 1990: 287-312 ) . Ghana ‘s National Health Insurance Scheme ( NHIS ) has been described as ‘pro-poor ‘ because it is scaled to income, leting entree to affordable wellness attention for low-income Ghanaians. There is ongoing argument over the existent rate of registration in the NHIS ; official figures put it at over 60 per centum of Ghana ‘s population, while other surveies cite Numberss that range every bit low as 18 to 34 per centum. Despite efforts to portray the NHIS as pro-poor, there is grounds to suggest that Ghana is fighting to inscribe hapless sections of the population, with the rich at least twice every bit likely to inscribe compared to the hapless. NO. 8 July 2011 The failure of the cash-and-carry system to provide for the wellness attention demands of the state ‘s most vulnerable populations placed wellness attention services and bringing betterments on top of the state ‘s development docket. In 2003, the National Health Insurance Act was approved by parliament, followed by the launch of the National Health Insurance Scheme ( NHIS ) in 2004. The NHIS was designed to offer low-cost wellness attention to the state ‘s hapless, with grownups lending a minimum one-year payment in comparing with the value of their possible wellness attention use. The creative activity of the NHIS has been widely extolled as a imperfect and â€Å" pro-poor † policy. Since its debut in 2004, entree to wellness attention in Ghana has improved significantly, but there are many defects under the plan. This proposal seeks to research the impact of the NHIS in Ghana, stressing both the wellness features and results of adult females who are enrolled with those outside the strategy. It besides seeks to analyze the differences in wellness and use between these two groups of adult females and understand why some adult females join while others do non.Research OBJECTIVESThe chief aim of this survey is to carry on a comprehensive appraisal of the national wellness insurance strategy through the lens of adult females. The survey will further seek to ; Understand how the NHIS work in Ghana. Understand the impact of the NHIS on wellness features. Understand the impact of the strategy ‘s registration on the hapless and pro-poor. Ascertain how the strategy is lending to the wellness demands of adult females in Ghana.RESEARCH QUESTIONSThe chief research inquiry of the survey is to look into how the NHIS is impacting on the wellness of adult females in Ghana. The survey besides aims to look into the followers ; Why are some adult females seeking wellness attention outside the strategy? Why is the registration of the rich to the strategy increasing every bit compared to the hapless or pro-poor? What are the differences in wellness features between adult females who join the strategy and those who do non?RESEARCH TARGETS, MAIN CONCERNS AND CONTENTThis research will aim adult females between the ages of 15 to 49 old ages and their kids. The research will be conducted in two parts of Ghana, that is the Brong Ahafo part and the Upper East part. The Brong Ahafo part was chosen because it has the longest period runing the wellness insurance strategy ; it besides has a good mix of rural and urban colonies which is representative of Ghana. It besides has an first-class mix of formal and informal activities. Last it is the largest part in Ghana and lies in the geographic centre of the state. The Upper East part was chosen for assorted grounds ; one being that it is the most sparsely populated and poorest part in Ghana and rather representative of the northern half of the state. It was besides chosen because of immensely savanna flora and predominately rural hapless, supplying contrast to the Brong Ahafo part and the southern half of the state.NARATIVE DESCRIPTION OF THE POLICYHealth insurance is an agreement that provides the chance to contribute to a fund that can be drawn from when in demand of medical attention. Under Ghana ‘s NHIS, unanticipated wellness attention costs are transferred into fixed premiums, replacing lump-sum out-of-pocket wellness attention payments with a more low-cost and frequent outgo in the signifier of premium payments. In other words, wellness insurance participants portion the fiscal load of wellness attention costs by pooling together their fiscal resources ( Atim, 1999: 881-96 ; Edoh and Brenya, 2002: 41 ; Ekman, 2004: 249-50 ) . In add-on to the premium payments made by enrolled grownups, the NHIS besides draws support from the federal authorities and a 2.5 per centum value added revenue enhancement, applied to all goods and services. The â€Å" pro-poor † perceptual experience of the NHIS is based on three distinct features of the plan. First, the broad benefits bundle creates a degree playing field by easing wellness attention entree for everyone regardless of their fiscal position. Second, the premium sum is measured by incomes, non demand, and are based on the member ‘s ability to pay. On these skiding graduated tables, those who earn more, pay more and those who earn less, wage less, with exact premium payments changing across the state based on the rates set at the territory degree. Harmonizing to the National Health Insurance Authority, the one-year premiums range between Ghanaian Cedis 7.20 to 48.00 ( or about US $ 4.59 to US $ 30.61 ) . Those who work for the authorities are automatically covered by the NHIS through their societal security payments, though they must officially register themselves within their territory. Third, from its oncoming, the NHIS has allowed free wellness coverage for all those considered to be destitute and unable to pay. Under the National Health Insurance Act, an ‘indigent ‘ is considered to be any individual who meets the undermentioned standards: a ) is unemployed and has no seeable beginning of income ; B ) does non hold a fixed topographic point of abode harmonizing to criterions determined by the strategy ; degree Celsiuss ) does non populate with a individual who is employed and who has a fixed topographic point of abode ; and or vitamin D ) does non hold any identifiable consistent support from another individual. The destitute freedom position is intended to protect those missing the fiscal and societal support necessary to get rank in the strategy. However, there have been many unfavorable judgments of the indigent and other freedom positions. Since the execution of the NHIS over seven old ages ago, the state ‘s wellness attention system has increasingly improved. In its original format, the NHIS includes payment freedoms for indigents, those over 70 old ages of age, and members of the formal economic system. Over the old ages, important add-ons have been made to the freedom lists, including coverage of all pregnant adult females since 2008, in acknowledgment of the importance of neonatal attention. Most late, kids under 18 old ages of age whose parents are presently enrolled in the NHIS became eligible for free wellness coverage. In an attempt to farther better young person wellness coverage, Ghana ‘s authorities has promised since 2009 to spread out this to all individuals under the age of 18, and non merely those with parents who are enrolled. This has non yet been rolled out. Reports show that NHIS coverage has been an of import tool in increased use of wellness installations ( Ministry of Health Ghana, 2010: 35 ; Witter and Garshong, 2009: 6 ) . In-patient use increased from 28,906 in 2005 to 846,311 in 2009 ( National Health Insurance Authority, 2010: 31 ) . The figure of out-patient visits increased to 18.7 million in 2010 ( from 2.4 million in 2006 ) and the Ministry of Health studies that the huge bulk of these patients were covered by the NHIS ( Ministry of Health Ghana, 2011: 39 ) While initial figures are assuring, the existent figure of Ghanaians enrolled in the NHIS remains a topic of argument and contention. The National Health Insurance Authority put the state ‘s registration at over 60 per centum in 2009, out-performing marks set for the twelvemonth 2015. But independent surveies and studies have questioned these official figures. For case, a survey in 2011 indicates that the registration rate sits closer to between 18 and 34 per centum if factors such as population additions and non-renewal of ranks are accounted for ( Apoya and Marriott, 2011 ; 58-61 ) . Similarly, informations from the 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey found registration to be between 30 and 40 per centum ( see Dixon, Tenkorang and Luginaah, under reappraisal ) . Even more concerning is the fact that the figure of flush persons take parting in the NHIS is far greater than the figure of hapless Ghanaians enrolled in the strategy. Despite efforts to portray the NHIS as pro-poor, persons with low incomes covered under the strategy are outnumbered by flush 1s and a important part of hapless people still do non hold wellness coverage. Furthermore surveies show that ( though figures vary by part ) the rich are frequently twice every bit likely to inscribe in the strategy as compared to the hapless ( Asante and Aikins, 2008: 3 ; Jehu-Appiah, Aryeetey, Spaan, de Hoop, Agyepong and Baltussen, 2011: 157-63 ; Dixon, Tenkorang and Luginaah, under reappraisal ; Health Systems 20/20, 2009: 12 ; Sarpong et Al, 2010: 195 ; Witter and Garshong, 2009: 6 ) . There is a long list of grounds that hinder the engagement of hapless people in the strategy. First, paying wellness insurance fees on an on-going footing is frequently excessively expensive for hapless people, despite the long-run benefits of inscribing in the strategy. As persons begin to pay into the strategy, the immediate impact of wellness insurance fees can interpret into a lessening in financess for nutrient, communicating, or transit outgos ( Koch and Alaba, 2010: 180-1 ) . With the inexplicit trade-off between basic necessities and wellness insurance, NHIS premiums may be deemed to be an impractical disbursal by persons with low incomes. Although the strategy has made room for freedom positions, there have been jobs in their existent executing. For case, merely one per centum of those populating under Ghana ‘s poorness line were registered for the NHIS in 2008 ( Witter and Garshong, 2009: 5 ) , which seems to propose the uneffective execution of the indigent position freedom. It has been argued that the standard for the destitute freedom are excessively rigorous and should take into history specific local concepts of poorness in order to make those truly in demand of freedoms ( Aikins and Dzikunu, 2006: 12 ) . A treatment on the defects of Ghana ‘s wellness attention system can non be concluded without reference of the impact of mishandled bureaucratism, fraud and escapes. For case, the enrollment system is inefficient and impractical-names and individualities frequently get lost in the system ensuing in people stoping up either without coverage or being forced to pay unneeded fees ( Health Systems 20/20, 2009: 17 ; Apoya and Marriott, 2011: 30-1 ) . Deceitful claims are besides a major concern. In 2010, the National Health Insurance Authority ‘s ain audits found that 13 per centum of claims were undue. Furthermore, perceivers posit that because of the prevalence of improper showing methods, a proper audit is likely to happen that 20 per centum of claims are without virtue.RESEARCH METHODOLOGYFor this survey, single questionnaires will be distributed to a entire sample size of 300 adult females ; 150 from the Brong Ahafo part and 150 from the Upper East part. Institutional questionnaires will besides be distributed to the territory strategy directors from the two parts. Questions which would be asked in the single questionnaire include ; the socio-economic demographic features, NHIS registration or non registration, general wellness attention entree and use, morbidity, mortality and wellness position, maternal and child wellness attention and bar etc. Questionnaires will besides be distributed to forces who run the strategy in the two parts. Questions which would be asked in the institutional questionnaire will include ; the foundation of the strategy, administration and organisational construction, rank and premium benefits, direction and capacity edifice. The statistical tool employed for the rating will be the Propensity Score Matching ( Rosenbaun and Rubin 1983 ) . The grounds for following this tool are as follows ; There is a practical impossibleness of a randomised experiment. The ability to compare the wellness results of treated and untreated groups that are matched by relevant discernible features.RESEARCH ORGANIZATIONPROPENSITY SCORE ModelingTreatment Variable: NHIS rank. Control Variables: Age Education Marital position Religion Distance to wellness attention Ownership of telecasting Ownership of wireless set. Result Variables: Maternal/child wellness results Birth attended Hospital births Prenatal attention Birth complications Infant mortality These variables will so be subjected to analysis of discrepancy through the statistical treaty for societal scientific discipline ( SPSS ) . Focus group treatment will besides be undertaken with the stakeholders of the strategy. Here subjects such as NHIS procedures, benefit bundles, premiums and freedoms, prescriptions, maternal and child attention coverage, fiscal viability of the NHIS, the position jobs, chances and the manner frontward will be on the docket.

The Pearl By John Steinbeck - 1100 Words

Over the course of history, women have had a stereotype of being subservient, passive, and deferent. However, John Steinbeck’s novella The Pearl disproves this epithet. The story revolves around a husband and wife, Kino and Juana, and their baby son, Coyotito. The characters experience a meaningful journey and learn a manifold of lessons. Although multiple themes unravel in the story, the author vividly writes about the role and development of women. Steinbeck’s The Pearl depicts various women’s roles and their development, especially in Juana’s words and actions. Juana, the wife to fisherman Kino, is one of the main characters in The Pearl. She dresses in a battered blue head shawl and skirt, and a green ribbon knotted in her braids. Many themes in the story revolve around her, especially the roles and development of women. Although Juana understands her role to be a subservient and passive wife, she is also smart, brave, and determined throughout the st ory. Symbolizing the power and strength of women, Juana gradually becomes dominant over her husband. Juana’s second role in The Pearl is to be the caregiver and provider of her husband and son. Lastly, she represents the voice of reason in troubling times and the wise, logical character. Juana’s words and actions emphasize her roles in The Pearl. Throughout The Pearl, Juana conforms to a gender role of being a caring and supporting wife and mother. Her language and words she uses show that she is subservient. Kino,Show MoreRelatedThe Pearl By John Steinbeck900 Words   |  4 PagesThe Pearl by John Steinbeck appears to be a story about a man and his quest to save his son and create financial stability for his family. However, the real plot behind The Pearl tells the story of a man how the sudden experience of wealth corrupts his soul and causes him to turn on those he loves. The main theme of The Pearl is greed and how it breeds nothing but pain to those who are effec ted by it, it can be seen throughout the entire story, from when Kino beats his wife, the priests swarmingRead MoreThe Pearl By John Steinbeck1157 Words   |  5 Pagesshattered by a rare find. A pearl that seems so perfect, so innocent that it seems as if nothing harmful can come from it. B. In John Steinbeck’s The Pearl, a young man named Kino, his wife, Juana, and their infant child, Coyotito, find a pearl so magnificent that many people will attack Kino to get it. The pearl causes Kino to be overcome with greed and desire and brings misfortune upon him and his family. C. The pearl brings much evil, but a slight amount of good; the pearl elicits the opportunityRead MoreThe Pearl By John Steinbeck871 Words   |  4 PagesThe Pearl A pearl...is it worth $1,000, $100,000, or the risk of the death of your valuable family’s lives? John Steinbeck answers this question with the novella, The Pearl. Kino was an impecunious man. He lived with his wife Juana, and his very young son Coyotito. Together, they lived buoyantly as a family. One day, he uncovered a small yet bijou pearl that affected the whole family and even the entire town! Will the pearl eventually bring wealth and happiness to his family, or will it make theRead MoreThe Pearl By John Steinbeck924 Words   |  4 Pagesnovella, The Pearl by John Steinbeck, Kino lives with his wife, Juana, and his child Coyotito. The family lives in a small village in a town where the Spanish colonized. Coyotito goes through something striking and in order to fix it, Kino finds something life changing. Throughout the story, Steinbeck shows that materialism and greed left unchecked can lead to immoral behavior shown through the unnamed trackers, the doctor, and the ma in character Kino himself. Kino’s attachment to the pearl causes himRead MoreThe Pearl By John Steinbeck815 Words   |  4 Pagesthe characters in The Pearl by John Steinbeck demonstrate great signs of greed others show a lack of greed. Greed can Mentally and physically destroy a man. And in this case it did. Kino. Is of great importance in The Pearl he is brave and smart. But when he fell into wealth while pearl diving in his family canoe. His whole life changed, he went from a simple man with almost no problems to a man who was constantly being robbed and trying to be cheated out of his pearl and his money. KinoRead MoreThe Pearl, By John Steinbeck903 Words   |  4 PagesIn The Pearl, written by John Steinbeck, take place in La Paz, Mexico, where a pleasant family composed of Kino, his wife, Juana, and their son, Coyotito. One day, their son is bitten by a scorpion and Juana and Kino go see a local doctor, who refuses to treat Coyotito. Kino, a pearl diver, finds a pearl with immense value which he believes will pay for the treatment. However, the pearl brings great misfortune upon the family. As the novel progresses, Juana disagrees that the pearl will help herRead MoreThe Pearl, By John Steinbeck809 Words   |  4 Pageshas no one left. In John Steinbeck’s novella, The Pearl, Kino is about to lose sight of what is important by pushing others away. Kino finds a great pearl that, hopefully, should bring happiness to his family, but instead the pearl brings the destruction of all he loves. Steinbeck shows the theme that materialism and greed can lead to immoral behavior through the characters of the priest, the doctor, and Kino. Thus, when news sweeps the town that Kino has just found the Pearl of the World innumerableRead MoreThe Pearl By John Steinbeck1295 Words   |  6 PagesA myriad of people grow up in the grasp of poverty. In the story, The Pearl by John Steinbeck, one such character is featured. Juana is a poor woman who is married to a lowly pearl fisherman, named Kino, and acts as the one who, while still supporting Kino, stands as a voice of logical thought. Throughout the book, a plethora of incidents happen which change Juana. George Eliot says, â€Å"The strongest principle of growth lies in human choice.† Juana made choices throughout the novella to adaptRead MoreThe Pearl, By John Steinbeck1859 Words   |  8 Pagescharacter of John Steinbeck’s ninety-page novel The Pearl, sure felt this way when he discovered the greatest pearl in the world at the point in his life when he needed it most—his son having just being stung by a scorpion and needing expensive medical t reatment. However, when the pearl buyers try to swindle him and then send assassins to kill him, burn his house, and destroy his canoe, his perception of the pearl begins to shift. He decides to flee to the capital and sell the pearl himself, takingRead MoreThe Pearl By John Steinbeck919 Words   |  4 PagesIn the novella â€Å"The Pearl† by John Steinbeck he introduces many themes such as â€Å"Challenging the accepted customs of a society is difficult.† Kino tries to challenge the customs of a society in many parts of this short story and especially when he finds the pearl. Eventually kino tries to gain power from the the pearl but the doctor, three robbers, and three pearl buyers make this very difficult for Kino. The author uses those characters to express the theme â€Å"Challenging the accepted customs of