ABSTRACT Trachoma is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide with approximately 150 million people having an active ocular infection and at least 5.5 million blind due to corneal scarring. In Ghana, the disease is a public health problem in the Upper and Northern Regions. In many trachoma endemic areas factors like lack of water, lack of facial cleanliness among children, overcrowding in a household (especially of children) and poor environmental sanitation contribute to the transmis...
ABSTRACT Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease of public health importance, affecting over 10 million people globally in a year. The TB disease is the single largest cause of mortality relative to communicable disease globally. TB treatment success rates have been below the WHO target of at least 85% while defaulter and failure rates have been higher than the national average since 2015 in Central Region. Ghana introduced a nationwide financial incentive known as the enablers’ packag...
ABSTRACT Increasing the proportion of births in health facilities is an important factor in reducing the health risks to both the mother and the baby. Proper medical attention and hygienic conditions during delivery can reduce the risks of complications and infection that can cause morbidity and mortality to both the mother and the baby. The aim of this study was to investigate the factors leading to low facility delivery in the Bilpeila sub district. The study was conducted among 450 three-...
ABSTRACT Background: Vegetarianism is the restriction of diet to disallow some or all foods of animal origin and consuming mainly foods of plant origin. There is paucity of data on dietary intakes of vegetarians in Ghana Vegetarian diets are typically low in certain micronutrients particularly iron, zinc and vitamin B12 but high in dietary fibre, vegetables, whole grains and legumes. The low intake of these micronutrients may affect the serum micronutrient profile of vegetarians. Folate and ...
ABSTRACT Background: Climate change with its associated weather variability affects health leading to mortality. It is estimated that climate change contributed 0.2% of the world’s annual mortality. Mortality in Ghana is mainly due to malaria, diarrhoea, acute respiratory infection, cardiovascular diseases, maternal, neonatal, and road traffic accident, most of which are weather-related. Also, a relatively high clustering of deaths in the population can hinder efforts to reduce mortality i...
ABSTRACT Alcohol consumption is prevalent among young women in Ghana. Many of these women are becoming heavy drinkers. Alcohol has negative effects on pregnancy and health. It is on this backdrop that the researcher carried out this survey to determine the prevalence, and the factors that affect the consumption of alcohol among women of childbearing age in Nandom district of the Upper West region of Ghana. The study, a descriptive cross-sectional, was conducted in seven health facilities pro...
ABSTRACT Introduction: Low birth weight is the weight of the newborn measured immediately after birth and is less than 2500 grams. The global prevalence of LBW is 15.5 percent, which amounts to about 20 million LBW infants born each year. A high proportion (96.5%) of LBW babies are born in developing countries (Wardlaw, T., Blanc, A., Zupan, J., & Ahman, E. 2005). In Ghana, the recent incidence of LBW infants was estimated at 160 per 1000 births and has not witnessed any reduction in the last...
ABSTRACT Health systems are built mainly upon specified building blocks. As effective as they individually are, these building blocks function together to provide the best of healthcare services in the world. Health leadership/governance and health information system (records) are some of the strongest components of the building blocks. The relationship that exists between these two building blocks helps in the management decision making towards the attainment of organizational goals. Th...
ABSTRACT Pain experienced during burns has been linked to discomforts, preventing patients from fully participating in their care. Inadequate burns pain assessment and management has also been associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The nurse has a professional and legal responsibility to promptly assess and manage pain as well as administration of prescribed analgesics and other pain relief methods to facilitate recovery. This research sought to explore the nurses‘ experiences w...
ABSTRACT Snakebite poisoning is a public health concern to persons in agrarian environments and the northern region of Ghana is no exception. Youthful male agricultural and field workers have been reported to be at higher risk of snakebite, hence necessitating a study to determine the full extent of the snakebite problem in the Tamale Teaching Hospital. The objective of this study was to determine the epidemiological characteristics of the snakebite cases that were reported at the Tamale Tea...
ABSTRACT Background: Efficient infection prevention and control (IPC) practices are basic requirements for all health facilities to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with microbial agents and hence excellent patient outcome. Adherence to IPC is important to reduce the transmission of nosocomial infections.
ABSTRACT The role of healthcare institutions in providing quality health care and making decisions strive on the effective management of hospital records which are made up of clinical/medical and nonclinical records. The study therefore sought to inquire into the role of records management practices in improving clinical and administrative decisions at Ashanti Bekwai Municipal Hospital. In view of that, the study used the Hybrid Records Life Cycle Model which encompassed the pre-natal phase o...
ABSTRACT Background: Obesity is a major health problem and a risk factor for morbid conditions such as type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and metabolic syndrome. Dietary modifications and pharmacological agents, among others, are measures often used by individuals to decrease body fat. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of a dietary supplement (MS01) on weight control and serum lipid profile in Sprague Dawley (SD) rats. Methods: A ...
ABSTRACT Since the latter part of the 20th Century to date, climate change has received considerable global attention due to its threats on all sectors of the global economy, particularly agriculture. Sub-Saharan Africa, for which Ghana is part, is considered as most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and variability due to its low adaptive capacity and dependent on predominantly rain-fed agriculture. Farmers in Ghana and beyond are not only prone to climatic stressors but also to n...
ABSTRACT Introduction Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, has been a financial and health burden to households on a global scale. The disease has been on an exponential increase since the onset of modernization. This study sought to compare the cost of hypertension treatment using Complementary and Alternative Medicines against Conventional Medicines among hypertensive patients attending the Ledzokukukrowor (LEKMA) Hospital in Accra. Methods This was a cross sectional cost-of-ill...