ABSTRACT Background: The suppression of the immune system by persistent exposure to organic pollutants can induce or exacerbate airway inflammation, which can be a predictor of respiratory infections. Objective: The study examined the association between exposure to pesticides and symptoms of acute respiratory infections (ARIs) among children under five years in the Offinso North District in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Methodology: The study population was derived from a population-based cro...
ABSTRACT Background: Adverse pregnancy outcomes have devastating effects on the survival of both the mother and the infant. There is widespread adverse pregnancy outcomes in developing countries. About 5.4 million children die before their 5th birthday and 46% are neonatal deaths. Another 830 women die every day from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. Several factors can lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes. These include socio-cultural factors, health facility related factors a...
Abstract Background: Measles (Rubeola) remains one of the leading causes of death among children under the age of 5 years globally, and Ghana is no exception. Despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine approximately, 134, 200 people died from measles in 2015 globally. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the epidemiology and genetic diversity of measles virus in Ghana. Materials and Methods: This study was a cross sectional study using archived samples stored at the Nat...
ABSTRACT Introduction Morbidity and mortality of tuberculosis is a rising public health issue worldwide. The Sawla-Tuna-Kalba district of the Northern Region recorded cure rate of 46.4% and completed treatment rate of 22.8%., in 2016. This culminates into a TB treatment success rate of 69.2% (Northern Regional Health Directorate Annual Report, 2016). This is below the WHO sets standards of 85%. This study aimed at assessing the factors that influence ineffective and effective TB treatment out...
ABSTRACT Children under five years of age constitute about 50% of all deaths in Ghana every year therefore any attempt to reduce mortality rate significantly should aim at the under five years. In order to have an effective child survival strategy, the understanding of where, when and why caregivers seek for health care for their under five year is very important. This is what is called the treatment seeking behavior. How communities manage these diseases amidst poor social amenities like tra...
ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a serious condition that increases the risk of ill health and shortens life through complications. The number is increasing globally due to lifestyle changes and diet leading to increasing levels of overweight and obesity. Management of DM poses economic burden to society, healthcare providers and sufferers. Costing study has been used for policy advocacy. It has been used to identify the burden of disease, areas for future intervention and prior...
ABSTRACT Patient safety culture is a fundamental determinant of patient safety. Keeping patients safe ensures the wellbeing of the citizenry which translates into economic productivity. Infrastructural and human resource deficit in Africa and Ghana calls for more attention in the area of patient safety culture. As part of getting better outcomes for patients, the Ghana Health Service patient chatter was developed to guide both patients and health workers to achieve good patient care outcomes....
ABSTRACT Background: The National Health Insurance Scheme is a financial arrangement that enable citizens of Ghana to access health care service without having to pay at the point of service delivery. This somehow ensures an improvement in the quality of basic health rendered to the people. Health insurance schemes are thus seen as viable alternatives in providing more sustainable and equitable health delivery system in countries. To improve fairness in the provision of health care and provid...
ABSTRACT Background: Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for the first six months after birth has been recommended by the WHO as the best infant feeding strategy. Despite this, studies carried out in Ghana among singletons indicate low EBF rates. Data on EBF rates among twin infants in Ghana remain limited and the EBF rate among twins is hypothesized to be low. Objectives: The study sought to identify factors associated with EBF among Ghanaian infants particularly, twins. The duration of EBF among ...
ABSTRACT Unsuccessful attempts at securing NHIS accreditation do not prevent a facility from providing services to the general public. Knowledge on how well these facilities perform during the accreditation process is therefore needed to inform policy on improving quality of healthcare delivery. The study was a cross sectional quantitative review of NHIS accreditation data on all private health care providers who applied to the NHIA for accreditation from July 2009 to July 2012, with the purp...
A B S T R A C T Reduction of infant and maternal mortality is a part of the WHO/UNICEF goals set in 1991 to be achieved by the year 2000. Maternal and infant mortality can be reduced by ensuring favourable outcome of pregnancy. This study sought to assess the effects of nutrition and health habits of pregnant women on pregnancy outcome. A total of 502 pregnant women attending ante-natal clinics in the Greater Accra region participated in an epidemiological study, which involved a study of foo...
ABSTRACT The objective of the study was to investigate the factors that influence mothers’ utilization of health services for supervised delivery in the Lower Manya Krobo District. A cross-sectional study was made. The study involved the administration of structured questionnaires to collect information from 350 women with children under one year in the Lower Manya Krobo district. In-depth interviews were carried out with service managers (Midwives) and community leaders. A combined multi-s...
ABSTRACT Expanded Programme on Immunisation is one of the health intervention that holdout the prospect of reducing infant and childhood mortality in developing countries. In Ghana efforts are being made to folly immunise all children against the six childhood killer diseases. Unfortunately access to and utilisation of the services by the children remains poor in many districts. The Ashanti Akim North district for instance recorded dropout rate of 29% in 1999. This dropout rate is unacceptabl...
ABSTRACT Tuberculosis threatens public health all over the world and affects persons mostly in their productive lives. The proportion of cases with successful treatment outcome is a key indicator to assess the effectiveness and performance of any Tuberculosis Control Programme. Effective treatment is a major element in reducing the transmission of infection and ultimately achieving elimination of the disease. The study was conducted to determine factors associated with treatment outcome and t...
ABSTRACT Background: Promoting the use of contraceptives, particularly in developing countries has been widely noted as an imperative intervention as it has proven to reduce maternal and child mortalities, avert unintended pregnancies and control population explosion. In spite of the enormous benefits of contraceptive use, the uptake still remains low in most developing countries. The objective was to describe the factors influencing modern contraceptive use among reproductive age women in th...